Danish Assassins


I'm in need of focus this week, as the work-from-home marathon enters its second month. So I'm going to use some of the time I'd usually spend commuting to write a short post every day, Monday-Friday.

The last two Assassin's Creeds, Origins and Odyssey, were outstanding. Long since freed of the Desmond nonsense, and paying minimal attention to the always boring modern-day rubbish, the are hugely entertaining adventures set during fascinating periods in history. They also gave us interesting characters for the first time since Ezio departed in 2011.

It's really nice to be excited for Assassin's Creed again.

Following some time off, the series is set to return with Valhalla. It was announced yesterday via a weird drip-feed stream, and we're expecting more concrete details later today. Based on the reveal, it's safe to assume that this will be the long rumoured Viking AC. The prospect of marauding across Northern Europe is a tantalizing one, and I wouldn't be surprised if mythology is woven into the tale, as was the case in both Origins and Odyssey. We'll be cutting down monks in Lindisfarne one moment, and conversing with sea serpents the next. The subject matter should allow for a dollop of seafaring, something that has risen in prominence over the latter half of the series. Let us hope that the "stealthily follow this ship in your massive boat" missions are a thing of the past.

I approve of AC's non-linear approach to time progression. We got up to Victorian London, only to jump back two millennia to Ptolemic Egypt and then classical Greece. I'm hoping that this historic back and forth will continue, otherwise we'll miss out on some very interesting periods that fall between the height of ancient Greece and the Viking age.

The life and times of Alexander the Great would be a fascinating subject for a future AC. It could follow his campaigns to the edges of the then-known world. Alternatively, it could focus on a single event, for example Alexander's unsolved death in Babylon, which has been attributed to everything from a fatal hangover to an old-fashioned poisoning. If it were murder, our protagonist could hunt down the culprits; or perhaps we are the one being hunted. Ubisoft, give me a call.

While I've got Assassin's Creed on my mind, here my mainline AC rankings. These are final and not to be debated.

1. Assassin's Creed 2
2. Odyssey
3. Brotherhood
4. Origins
5. Revelations
6. Black Flag
7. Assassin's Creed
8. Unity
9. AC3
(I haven't played Syndicate)

Final Fantasy VII Remake impressions tomorrow, probably.

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