Does Anyone Care About Assassin's Creed's Story Anymore?

Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced was released earlier this month, and despite the usual gamer doomerism about the franchise, it has already sold over three million units worldwide.

Since launch, most of the online discourse has focused on gamers enjoying sailing the high seas with Edward, singing shanties with their crew, and highlighting Ubisoft's controversial cosmetic DLC choices on Steam.

I've also been enjoying my time with it, which was surprising, as I never clicked with Black Flag when it first released. Back then, I had sunk several hours into the Ezio games, and was pretty irked with how the third game ended. Revisiting it now on its own terms, and perhaps, with a greater appreciation after seeing where the series has gone, has made me see what other gamers saw in it.

But there's one thorn that stuck out immediately. Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced opens with the very same Animus Hub cutscene as Assassin's Creed Shadows. It's your standard HR training video explaining the potential of the Animus that quickly gets corrupted, with some digital specter warning you that "you're being lied to" and welcoming you into "the dark".

Playing Shadows on release, I found this opener to be fairly off-putting and had me rolling my eyes at how edgy it came across. Seeing it a second time has put the nail in the coffin for me: I genuinely have no idea what is going on with the modern-day sub-plot, and I don't think Ubisoft does either.

Ubisoft has nearly rebooted the modern storyline three times now, introducing new characters and lore revelations, only to wipe the slate clean and include follow-ups in journals and Codex entries. Which just begs the question: Who even cares about the modern-day plot line anymore? And why is Ubisoft still committed to the narrative framing, if they aren't willing to follow up on any of it?

A Brief Recap of Events

Strap in folks, because this is going to be convoluted.

Since Assassin's Creed 3, the modern-day story has spiraled in several different directions. Between the faithful historical reconstructions, it's easy to forget that Assassin's Creed is a hard sci-fi franchise, with ancient alien races influencing events behind the scenes. But after Desmond's sacrifice, which was meant to give humanity a fighting chance against the Isu Juno, Black Flag chose to pivot entirely away from this story.

Instead of following a named character like before, we play through the perspective of a faceless Abstergo employee devoid of any personality. This point of view only exists to justify the Animus and to convey to us that Abstergo is using their technology as a propaganda machine.

As the game goes on, we learn that Abstergo is manipulating what we see, censoring history, and mining the Animus data for more powerful artifacts. Eventually, we end up with the choice to become a whistleblower and leak Abstergo's secrets. But it's one of those choices that has you question why they even bothered to make it a choice, especially as none of this ends up mattering in future games anyway.

It's this consistent lack of follow-through that's soured players like myself on the entire concept of the modern-day storyline. Ubisoft has tried to rebuild interest in later games with what it called "Phase 2", which spanned Assassin's Creed Origins through to Valhalla. But in my view, this story made things even more complicated.

How Odyssey & Valhalla Broke the Series

Odyssey and Valhalla would simultaneously jump the shark in their own unique ways. While these games would try their hardest to build interest in the modern-day story, these games also introduced some of the strangest lore.

In this phase, Ubisoft introduced Layla Hassan as a welcome replacement to the faceless employee we were previously playing as. Now, we had a proper protagonist, with personality and a connection to the historical setting we're playing through. This was a great start to add some much-needed structure to the franchise.

But, given the ancient mythology setting, Ubisoft started to introduce all of these mystical elements, which quickly overwhelmed the story.

Odyssey introduces its playable character Kassandra, who ends up becoming an immortal by wielding the Staff of Hermes, which is tied to Atlantis (which is real in the game) and the Isu. Valhalla also doubles down with its playable character Eivor, who is revealed to be the reincarnation of Odin, who is trying to take control over your body through ancient tech. We learn that the Aesir Norse gods are actually an Isu faction, and the ancient tree Yggdrasil is actually a machine that preserves their consciousness.

We also learn that Assassin's Creed: Mirage's protagonist Basim is actually the reincarnation of Loki, adding yet another layer to this story that already has too many moving parts.

In Valhalla's final moments, Kassandra passes on the Staff to Layla, Desmond makes a reappearance as "The Reader", and the modern story introduces "The Grey", a weird half-digital, half-spiritual afterlife. I'll admit, the story takes some ambitious liberties with ancient mythology, but man, is it exhausting to think about.

Why Fans are Disgruntled

After wiping the slate clean for a third time, it's understandable why fans are just done with this plot line. During Desmond's story, there was a sense that the series was building towards a full-fledged game set in the modern day. Just when it felt like we were getting that, the rug got pulled out from under us, and the series has spent over a decade flip-flopping on returning to this idea.

Ubisoft would again course-correct away from Layla's story once again with the introduction of its hub platform in 2022. At the time, vice president and executive producer of Assassin's Creed, Marc-Alexis Coté, announced that this hub would be the entry point for fans of the series, and that they wouldn't "need to know who Desmond and Layla [are]". The idea here is that the player is the main character, and the series would commit to the "historical accuracy" aspect of the series.

During a BAFTA event held in London in 2024, Coté once again admitted that the series had been struggling to tell a meaningful, connected narrative between the historical setting and the modern day. He'd also say, "The modern day storyline will explore deeper themes of memory, identity and autonomy, how the past shapes who we are, and how controlling this past can impact our future."

So, we're back in 'Numbskull' territory for the foreseeable future, it seems. To me, it signals that Ubisoft would rather preserve the idea of a larger narrative instead of committing to the work of actually sustaining one.

What Should Assassin's Creed Go Next?

Unfortunately, I think Ubisoft has made its bed here.

I don't think they can ever return to a split focus between their historical setting and their modern-day storyline anymore. Not because it's impossible, but I think the fanbase won't invest themselves into the story once more after having the rug pulled from them so many times.

That said, I could see the franchise pulling a surprise twist and going far into the future instead. While Ubisoft has never argued this point, the modern day would be tough to use as a setting for your dream Assassin sandbox because surveillance and social media make stealth harder to fit into the narrative. A far-off Cyberpunk future not rooted in realism? Now that could have potential.

I won't hold out for anything of the sort, however. If Shadows is anything to go off of, Ubisoft is content to let the modern-day story exist through Codex entries hidden throughout the game, with additional chapters added in patch content later down the line. Perhaps this is the best place for it, as only the most loyal fans are invested in the overarching story, whereas more casual players just want to immerse themselves in the historical setting.

Either way, I hope whatever path Ubisoft makes next, they stick with it for the long run.