At Ubisoft Forward, Assassin’s Creed Mirage Promises a Return to Series' Roots

gadgets.ndtv.com:

Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft's wildly popular history-hopping series of open-world action games, has long been the jewel in publisher's crown. From its humble, but promising beginnings and its glorious and genre-defining leap, to its eventual dismal decline, Assassins Creed's 15-year run has seen the series — once known for its distinct narrative depth — spread wide and thin. After the pinnacle of its critically acclaimed and fan-favourite Ezio saga, which followed the life and times of master assassin Ezio Auditore, Assassin's Creed started feeling the pressures of its yearly release cycle and changing trends and tastes within the industry. The quality of subsequent titles dipped drastically. Buggy and misfiring releases led to a crisis of faith and identity and, for better or worse, Assassin's Creed transformed into what we see today — an interminable open-world RPG, seemingly designed to maximise playtimes and retain players through never-ending content additions, DLCs, and repetitive checklist chores spread across massive maps.

Increasingly, there have been fewer and fewer assassins in an Assassins Creed game. And while the recent titles in the series have done well commercially, there is a growing clamour among loyalists for the franchise to return to its roots. Old-time fans of the series want an Assassin's Creed game with a smaller scope and increased focus on what made the early games stand out. Ubisoft's answer is Assassin's Creed Mirage — a leaner, stealthier, and shorter Assassin's Creed game, which attempts to recapture the essence of its ancestors.

Mirage started off as a DLC for Assassin's Creed Valhalla and soon became its own thing, with a cinematic reveal trailer in September last year promising a classical