As one of Ubisoft’s longest-standing franchises, theAssassin’s Creedseries has certainly seen its fair share of shakeups throughout its 15-year tenure. Next year, the franchise is returning to its roots withAssassin’s Creed Mirage, reported as an expansion forAssassin’s Creed Valhallaand then reworked into a full game.Assassin’s Creed Mirageretreads old ground, returning to the same era of Assassins as Altair’s time, but in a new light. Hopefully,MIragesets the stage for similar sequels.
Assassin’s CreedMirageseems like a return to the franchise’s roots, paying tribute to theoriginalAssassin’s Creedgame from 2007 with its aesthetic and gameplay, and it looks like fans are excited about this return to form. With that in mind,Mirageshould be the stepping stone that Ubisoft uses to explore familiar times and locations but under a new lens, starting with Spain. The story of the Spanish Brotherhood of Assassins is deep and worth exploring, and the country’s best lore overlaps with theAssassin’s Creed 2era of games, making it the perfect potential followup toMirage.
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Assassin’s Creed Mirage Could Kick Off a Series of Throwback Games
Assassin’s Creed Miragetells the origin story of Basim, an Assassin first encountered during Eivor’s journey inValhalla20 years after the events ofMirage.Miragetakes place in Baghdad during the 9th century when the Levantine Assassins were at the height of power and operated as a unified Brotherhood instead of the scattered cells struggling to stay afloat in later games. The parallels betweenAssassin’s CreedMirageand the originalAssassin’s Creedstart taking shape when comparing the two. It’s a return to the Middle East during the early Medieval period and is another exploration of the Levantine Brotherhood of Assassins with their iconic white robes, lore, and all; however, this time through a different lens.Assassin’s CreedMIragefeels like an “homage game,” for lack of a better term.
Mirage’s announcement shows that the time is right to start retreading old ground in the series. Fans have been receptive toMirage’s first trailer, and many are happy to see the series shed its RPG gameplay for at least one future entry. What’s more,Assassin’s Creedhas always had a treasure trove of lore that is impossible to get through in only one game, so the fact that Ubisoft is going back and digging deeper into some of its most iconic time periods is great for fans of the franchise who love learning about this type of stuff. But there is no reason Ubisoft should only make one of these “homage games” and stop there when there is so much lore still left to explore, particularly in theAssassin’s Creed 2eraand how it relates to Spain.
For a country that played such a significant role in the world throughout the events ofAssassin’s Creed 2andBrotherhood, Spain has undoubtedly received the short end of the stick as far as mainline entry games are concerned. For example, Ezio briefly had ties with the Spanish Brotherhood of Assassins during the events ofAssassin’s Creed 2: Discovery, but it is still very much an Ezio game. And while theAssassin’s Creedmovie did take place in Spain, Ubisoft has mostly buried the project and claimed the game’s lore overwrites that of the film. All this is to say that anAssassin’s Creed Mirage-style gameusing Spain as a fresh-but-familiar setting while paying tribute toAssassin’s Creed 2makes sense.
The Spanish Brotherhood of Assassins Is Full of Lore
Diving into the lore of the Spanish Brotherhood of Assassins reveals that Ubisoft could easily choose some great characters for a game in Spain. One of the most notable Assassins in the country during the Renaissance era was Horacio de Heredia, a character who shares many similarities with Ezio but is different enough to feel like a fresh protagonist. Much like Ezio, Horacio descended from nobles and was a high-ranking man before the Inquisition executed his family at the request of the Templar Order. In another similarity, his quest for revenge would be what leads him to the Spanish Brotherhood of Assassins and later cements him as a notable figure in the order. Not much is known about Horacio de Heredia past his initiation into the Brotherhood; however, his story’s open-ended nature makes him a great candidate for anAssassin’s Creedgame based on Spanish history.
The Spanish Brotherhood of Assassins has the lore and the background to create a perfect jumping-off point to tell Horacio’s story. During that time, plenty of turmoil was happening in Renaissance Spain as the Inquisition had eliminated almost all the Assassins before Ezio found himself there during the events ofAssassin’s Creed Discovery.Assassin’s Creed: Rebellionalso has a substantial cast of Renassiance-era assassins that could join the cast, if not star in their own games. What’s more, during this time, the Assassins were involved in a plot to assassinate Queen Isabella - as described inAssassin’s Creed: BrotherhoodandProject Legacy- but details were left rather vague. Needless to say, taking down corrupt monarchs isAssassin’s Creed’s bread and butter and could easily be used as the center point of a 16th-century game set in Spain.
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Spain Could Set Up the Future of the Assassin’s Creed Universe
Spain’s importance could also make it one of the best places for anAssassin’s Creedgame set later in the timeline and into the modern era. Further down the line, the Spanish Brotherhood of Assassins found itself active during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s and was host to one of the most extraordinary Assassins in the whole series: Ignacio Cardona, a Spanish Anarchist and Republican. During the Spanish Civil War, the Spanish Brotherhood and Ignacio banded together to locatethe Koh-i-Noor, a powerful Piece of Eden capable of finding every other missing Piece of Eden in existence. While Ignacio’s story has only been explored in theAssassin’s Creed: Uprisingcomics, he could take the franchise in an exciting new direction while fitting into the homage off-shoot mold thatAssassin’s Creed Mirageis forming.
As a franchise that is generally very single-character-focused, an ensemble cast of Assassins would be a great way to expand the franchise’s storytelling range while also going back to a tighter, more-organized Assassin Brotherhood like in the earlier games. The Koh-i-Noor is also a significant Piece of Eden that is still missing and should have serious implications for the franchise’s future. What’s more, Ignacio Cardona’s story during the Spanish Civil War is more grounded than the mythological-fantasy stories ofAssassin’s Creed Origins,Odyssey, andValhalla, making it a good fit for another back-to-basics game. WhileAssassin’s Creed Mirageis a bit of a smaller experiment for the franchise, its “homage game” precedent has plenty of room to expand into something more in the future.
Assassin’s Creed Miragereleases in 2023 for Luna, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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