Ubisoft Is Taking Away Everything I Was Excited About With the Next Assassin’s Creed

The Assassin’s Creed franchise has released over a dozen games over the years, largely working from an underlying stealth/action mechanic that has carried through centuries of narrative. While the game may shift character, setting, and time period with each release, fans have long known what they’re getting when they embark on another adventure in the franchise. Every once in a while, though, Assassin’s Creed pushes the envelope and reinvents itself.

Sometimes it’s with a major new game mechanic, like the high seas piracy of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Other times, it’s the inclusion of multiplayer elements, like in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. These tweaks provide the games with some fresh blood and keep players guessing, which is what makes them so exciting compared to the rest of the series. The upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Hexe seemed to be on track to do something similar, introducing seemingly magical elements to the gameplay that could radically change the title. However, recent reports suggest that aspect of the game has been toned down — and that’s a real shame, given how it could have helped reinvent the series for a new generation.

The Next Assassin’s Creed Is Scaling Back The Supernatural Elements

Ubisoft has been an intriguing place recently, with the last year seeing serious upheaval at the company and within many of its biggest franchises. Numerous games have been cancelled, while other long-standing projects received renewed momentum. This includes multiple entries in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, with the franchise still carrying much of the publisher’s spotlight. One of the more exciting games in the works has been Assassin’s Creed: Hexe, which has been reported to be set during the height of the European witch trials in the 16th century. While little concrete information has been released about the game, the subject matter and the promotional material have hinted at a more supernatural angle for the new game and a greater emphasis on horror than in previous iterations of the franchise.

However, recent reports have suggested that the game will be going in a different direction as part of a major internal shift that has seen the director depart the project and dozens of developers removed from the game. This includes actual witchcraft, with mechanics like possessing a cat seemingly removed from the game during development. It’s not clear at the time of writing just how much supernatural material was planned for the game, only to be cut. There could even still be magical aspects to the gameplay or supernatural forces at work in the narrative. However, dropping those elements would help bring the game more in line with the earlier titles and make it more firmly an Assassin’s Creed game as players know it. While this may, in turn, help make sure the game stays more in line with the aesthetic and narrative of the previous games, it’s also a disappointing development, given the potential that it had to upend and reinvent the franchise.

Assassin’s Creed Is Best When It Shakes Things Up

The Assassin’s Creed series has been going strong for over 20 years, with plenty of titles that shift focus and setting. However, those surface-level qualities can be radically changed but leave the underlying gameplay largely the same. This has left many entries in the series ultimately feeling too same-y, with similar approaches to combat and mission progression that can quickly blend together. By contrast, the series has thrived when it’s been willing to lean more heavily into different approaches, whether that be the refined stealth of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows or embracing the pirate’s life with Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.

That’s exactly why Assassin’s Creed: Hexe was such an exciting pivot for the series. Eschewing the typical extraterrestrial explanation for the mysterious elements and replacing it with magic (or at least what appears to be magic to the untrained eye) opened up the world for some new tweaks, including severely changing how players approach their targets. Supernatural abilities could have changed how players interacted with the world or the setting, taking on new challenges with a fresh set of skills. It could have opened up another corner of the world for future games to explore, adding more depth to the larger timeline at a time when the established overarching plotline has long felt tired.

This approach could do a lot to change how players engage with the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Instead, the reports suggest the game will still explore the historical time setting, but likely with a more grounded approach that feels more in line with the rest of the franchise. I was excited to see what a magical Assassin’s Creed even looked like, even just as a revamp of the concept. However, now Assassin’s Creed Hexe is sounding more and more like simply another entry in the series, which feels like a waste of a new natural starting point.