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Other Essays: • Video Essays
Assassin’s Creed Mirage was an important release for the series. It claimed that the series would go back to its roots, that the game would harken back to what made the series special. Hidden blades, hoods, and social stealth were coming back, baby! And you know what, that was relatively true. The game in many ways felt like the old Assassin’s Creed, and colour me foolish for thinking that it would be enough to please the old-school fans; because ho boy did it feel like no one cared about this game. I guess talking about a solid entry in the series isn’t as interesting as demonising one of the RPG games or reminiscing about the good old days. But still, reactions were a mix of people saying it saved the series, and people saying it's another nail in a coffin that is one step away from being encased in concrete. Most simply called it mediocre. The struggle seemed not in the iconography, references, or the feeling of Assassin’s Creed, but rather the design itself. Ironic how one could accurately say it was a bad game, but not a bad Assassins Creed game.
In the few months since the game's release there have been some large updates, most notably to movement, that justify a deeper look at the game. Since I know many of you saw my smaller review of the game I feel inclined to mention that this video will be fundamentally different in that my reviews are made with the objective of determining if a product is, in my opinion worth the money, where as the larger critiques or whatever you want to call them are more about looking at the game as a piece of art, disconnected from its price. I want to see, down to the little details, what mirage did right, what it did wrong, and in this case, if and how my thoughts have changed since release. If you remember my review, then you remember that I liked the game, and generally recommended it. That hasn’t changed here, in fact, if it has, it’s more so in the games favour, mostly due to a post launch update that we will unpack later. So let’s not delay.
Leading up to the release of Mirage, I’d argue that I was less sceptical of its claims and more in pure disbelief. The last time I heard Ubisoft say they were heading back to their roots was with Valhalla, and it was the furthest I had ever seen the series stray from what made it special. Still, I enjoyed Valhalla to an extent and I enjoyed what it went for, but was still convinced that Ubisfot was ironically done trying to go back to the past in a series all about it. When Mirage released, in many ways I had felt like we returned to the series roots, despite my pessimism going into it. Now, months out from this release, I’m left with a feeling that this game desperately needed to save the series, and unfortunately, I don’t think it’s enough. I’m sorry Mirage, but you weren’t enough to save this series, but I still have hope that the spark you ignited is enough to rekindle this series nearly suffocated in the ashes of its former success.
Assassins Creed is a series that lives in its former glory, and Assassins Creed Mirage was an attempt to usher in a new golden age. But, Mirage didn't save Assassin's Creed. This is a companion piece to my Assassins Creed Mirage review, and this Assassins Creed Mirage critique, Assassins Creed Mirage analysis and Assassins Creed Mirage retrospective will be the last mainline game in my Assassins Creed series retrospective. The next video will answer what the best Assasins Creed game is, but for now, this video will cover the Assassins Creed Mirage story explained, Assassins Creed Mirage gameplay, and place a heavy focus on the Assassins Creed Mirage parkour. AC Mirage is a good game, my AC Mirage review is a testament to that. But in this AC Mirage critique and AC Mirage analysis, we will see that perhaps it still isn't enough.