Black Flag took that gameplay and expanded it into a huge pirate simulator, resulting in one of the best games in the series. That was fun, but not a huge part of the overall game. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)Īt a few points in Assassin’s Creed III, you got to command a ship. (And it feels even more bloated with its DLC.) Still, this is one of the best open-world games released in years and it deserves to be ranked this high on our list, even if it is (as of this update) the newest game in the franchise. The main reasons it doesn’t quite blow past the last two games on our list is mainly down to a world that does still feel a tad too overstuffed, a few too many bugs, and some narrative issues, especially toward the very end of the game. Finding quests, puzzles, and secrets is more engaging and interesting than in previous Assassin’s Creed titles and might be some of the best open-world design in a Ubisoft game ever. A lot of this has to do with the way the game focuses on exploration. Its world is huge, maybe too big, but somehow feels more intimate and meaningful than other open-world action games. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (2020)īuilding upon the previous open-world entries in the franchise, Valhalla feels like a true evolution of Odyssey. These experiments may not always work-see Chronicles-but I don’t think Assassin’s Creed games all need to hew to the exact same formula. But I think the franchise is flexible enough to expand beyond the classic format. No hidden blades, no Templars or Assassins, and no big assassinations. For diehard fans of the older games, Odyssey was a step too far away from the classic format. A lot of this stuff felt out of place in an Assassin’s Creed game, and I get it. There was a bigger focus on loot, RPG mechanics, and special abilities.

But it also felt even less like an Assassin’s Creed game than even Origins. I had an awesome experience with Odyssey, and it is one of my favorite games in recent memory.

And like Brotherhood, Odyssey was great even if it felt a little too much like Origins at times. Like that game, It took the base tech and gameplay from the previous game, Origins, and built a bigger world with it, complete with new mechanics and ideas.

Ubisoft assassin's creed black flag