The last two entries to the franchise, including Assassin’s Creed Shadows, have continued to promise a return to the franchise’s roots. While some elements of this promise have come true, it is impossible for the franchise to progress backward. The game will never quite be the game the original trilogy of games was, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s time for the developers to accept that and move forward.

The return to stealth-focused gameplay in Assassin’s Creed Mirage was generally well accepted, and in many ways, Mirage did feel like a return to form in that the map was smaller, the weaponry was more limited, and the way stealth worked felt more intuitive. But that didn’t mean that the franchise returned to its roots. In fact, the series moved forward in a pleasant way.

Assassin’s Creed Will Never Return To Its Roots

The Ship For Returning To The Past Has Long Sailed

Both Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Shadows have promised a return to the franchise roots, but that is never going to happen. The series is a long way past the first few games, and gameplay mechanics have evolved beyond what those games were capable of. And, if those games were to be remade today, it would likely look a lot like the Resident Evil Remakes, where some of the mechanics and plot stay, but the gameplay itself is updated, and key choices are changed to appeal to a modern audience.

This isn’t a bad thing, the Resident Evil 4 Remake ended up being nominated for the Game of the Year title. Any series attempting to stay too rooted in the past is never going to progress forward, and the standards for a good game have changed. Even with a focus on stealth and a much smaller map, Assassin’s Creed Mirage still incorporated some RPG elements, a refined upgrade tree, and some key gameplay mechanics that were very different from the earlier games.

The franchise has moved on to being more open, with a lot more RPG elements, and a more refined combat system. While many may mourn the loss of the original games, there’s never going to be a time when they feel the same way again. And the developers should be embracing moving forward, as opposed to looking back.

AC Shadows Highlighting & Evolving Stealth Is A Good Thing

A Fresh Take On An Old Mechanic

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is changing stealth, and from what it looks like so far, that’s a great thing. There’s not a better time to really lean into the stealth elements than a game set in Japan, and it feels right that this is the game that will push it back into heavy stealth gameplay. While players can choose otherwise, part of the fun of these games is to truly fade into the shadows, and it always feels better to complete a dungeon without being seen.

In fact, some of the parts of Mirage that were less fun were the ones where the player was forced into open combat. An evolved gameplay where the player could get through the game completely unseen would be amazing, although that seems unlikely to occur right now. However, it is nice to see an old element reworked and evolved to accommodate modern standards, become a better overall mechanic, and feel like it belongs in a brand-new game.

It feels like a meaningful update and things that feel like they should have been possible before. Going prone should have been possible for a while now, and disappearing into dark areas also feels like something overdue. If someone can disappear into a hay bale in broad daylight, they should have a bigger advantage in a dark corner at night. Being able to turn off lights and create a unique path is a big change and one that feels good in a series about assassins who are moving in the shadows of society since Julius Caesar got stabbed.

Assassin’s Creed Should Talk More About The Future, Not The Past

Looking At How The Series Can Evoke Positive Change While Keeping The Spirit Alive

Since it seems like all of these things are elements that feel overdue, and the developer keeps making promises about a return to the past, it appears that the focus is too heavy on the past to the exclusion of the future at times. The games need to evolve to stay modern and fresh, not keep attempting the same thing over and over despite knowing it will never work today. There are too many things that have changed, and the games will never feel unique and bespoke as long as they keep trying to recreate something old.

The remakes that have worked recently are ones that keep the spirit of the game without keeping the messy bits. Franchises that try too hard to make fan service and rehash old ground get stuck and are never able to move on. Games should evolve and feel fresh. Both Assassin’s Creed Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed Origins were big leaps forward into new territory for the game. Black Flag added a new element of ship combat and Origins brought the franchise into the open-world, RPG system. Both of them felt fresh and original and were critically well-received.

However, going back and trying to recreate the original games would neglect those big changes. Ignoring the evolution of the games is not the right answer, and only by looking to the future will the games ever capture the spirit of the original games. Capturing the spirit with something new and more bespoke is what makes a sequel on par with its predecessors. The franchise is unlikely to go away anytime soon and to truly make a game feel like, say, Assassin’s Creed 2, Ubisoft needs to look to the future.

While the past holds lessons for everyone and what makes these games what they are needs to be considered, it is time to stop making promises that can’t be kept. Move forward, pull away from those ideas, leave the baggage behind, and think about how to make an Assassin’s Creed game feel evolved and new. If that will happen, only time will tell, but with the major updates to stealth in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the future looks hopeful.