Assassins Creed Mirage Review In Progress

mmorpg.com:

Assassin's Creed Mirage is a return to the series' roots in a sense, bringing players to 9th Century Baghdad. But how does it stack up so far compared to the recent series entries? Here is our review in progress.

Assassin's Creede Mirage is a prequel of sorts to the last entry in the Ubisoft series, Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Following Hidden One agent Basim Ibn Is'Haq, who was introduced during Valhalla, Mirage takes players back to his origins in 9th Century Baghdad. It's a more contained adventure compared to the recent entries in the series. While Assassin's Creed Odyssey had players set sail all across the Adriatic and explore Greece proper, while Valhalla took Eivor all over Viking-era England and into Norway, Mirage is focused on the city of Baghdad and its immediate surroundings.

Assassin's Creed Mirage, instead, zooms in on this one iconic and vastly important location for Basim, as it was here the Hidden One was brought up. This is the story of Basim himself and the early days of the Baghdad Assassin's Bureau, and while the stakes are still on a global scale with the Order of the Ancients a threat, centering everything in Basim's backyard makes some sense.

One major criticism that has been levied at the Assassin's Creed franchise in the last few entries is its departure from its stealth gameplay roots. While stealth has always been present in Assassin's Creed, its importance was diminished in favor of more complicated RPG systems and level-gating content. 

As a result, much of the progression of recent entries was down to leveling up skills and the characters themselves rather than focusing on what makes the Hidden Ones so intriguing: their ability to hide in plain sight and strike from the shadows.

Mirage brings