Assassin’s Creed: Best Game Discussion Renewed!

It's almost hard to believe it, but we're on the cusp of the release of an all-new Assassin's Creed, and it's time to revive the age-old talks about what Assassin's Creed's best game is, with all the information we have right now. With almost 20 mainline games in the series, that's no mean feat, but what we've got for you today is a bit different!

Specifically, instead of setting up yet another massive list - as we did a few years back - we'll use an updated form of that very same list to give you the current state of the franchise ahead of Assassin's Creed Mirage! As that game is a bit of a throwback in its own right, there's much to consider before October 12. This article may give you some much-needed context on that front, in fact.

READ MORE: Is Assassin's Creed Valhalla Good Now?

Assassin's Creed: Best Game Discussion Shortened Down!

Here's the thing about Assassin's Creed: over the years, the franchise has become a lot of different things for a lot of different people. Ubisoft has had to reinvent AC several times over by now, and every time, something gets lost while other things end up getting discovered. This is perfectly fine, of course, but since Mirage aims to recapture the attention of those who loved the old Assassin's Creed games, we realized that the only proper way to grade the series was to clarify the categories first!

From where we stand, there are three disparate categories one should analyse Assassin's Creed from: stealth, action-adventure, and RPG. Each of these kinda-sorta corresponds to a given era of the franchise, though there's a fair bit of overlap between them, too.

The Best RPG Assassin's Creed Game

The franchise's latest chapter has leaned quite heavily into its RPG roots. With a hefty dose of itemization and numerous disparate gameplay progression systems coalescing into one massive role-playing experience, Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla all compete for this very same crown. In our opinion, though, Ubisoft's first foray into the niche was also its most successful.

Now, it's immediately worth pointing out the context! All three of these games are, in fact, remarkably similar to one another. It mostly does boil down to personal preference in many respects! What sets Origins apart, though, is its relatively grounded subject matter, an awesome vision of ancient Egypt, and reasonably engaging combat kept players engaged for dozens of hours on end!

Play Assassin's Creed Origins on PC - today!

The Best Action-Adventure Assassin's Creed Game

When it comes to actioning and adventuring, no other AC comes even remotely close to Black Flag, in our honest opinion. What spells adventure better than the image of a classic pirate? In truth, Black Flag sets itself apart from almost all the other games in the series simply by standing on its own two feet. It is a bit of a black sheep, if you will, but it's a phenomenally well-realized experience that revels in its unique vibe.

Ubisoft certainly has tried to replicate Black Flag's magic. To the point where it's trying to create a standalone pirating experience - albeit unsuccessfully. The truth of it, though, is that Assassin's Creed 4 went above and beyond most of its predecessors. In more ways than one, Ubisoft is yet to beat it!

Play Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag on PC - today!

The Best Stealth Assassin's Creed Game

It's a bit sad, to be sure, but one could relatively easily argue that Assassin's Creed Unity is, truly, the only real stealth game in the series. Even its immediate successor, Syndicate, with which Unity shares much of its technical backing, pivoted more heavily towards brutal and bombastic combat, leaving Unity's cover-based stealth behind for something a bit more par-for-the-course.

Though Unity suffered heavily from a shoddy day-one experience, brimming with game-breaking bugs and poor performance, Ubisoft did end up fixing it a while after. The end result was a remarkably competent stealth and parkour experience, where combat took a backseat to a delightful assassination experience.

Play Assassin's Creed Unity on PC - today!

Will Assassin's Creed Tackle Other Gameplay Niches?

With a huge array of action-adventure and RPG Assassin's Creed games already coming out, we believe Ubisoft will try to branch out into other genres too - in due time. Assassin's Creed Infinity, which we discussed earlier this year, shows immense promise in this respect, melding high-performance VR and mobile experiences with mainline Assassin's Creed.

Yet, we do wish for Ubisoft to take a step back and go back to the franchise's roots. Mirage, in particular, looks like precisely that sort of thing! We don't know yet whether the game will pan out, but we've got our hopes. If all goes well, perhaps we'll go back to a more streamlined Assassin's Creed more often. For the time being, though, all we can do is - wait.

Stay Tuned for More AC in the Future!

It's a bit of an understatement to say that Assassin's Creed is a rich and storied franchise. It won't be long now until we're celebrating its twentieth birthday, and who knows what other wacky directions Ubisoft might take it into before everything is said and done!

Now, we hope we added some nuance and a bit of layering to the tired old discussion of Assassin's Creed's finest offerings. With Mirage due to launch in mid-October, we're looking forward to getting what may be an all-new stealth AC title. Even if that doesn't end up being the case, we do know that it won't be an actual RPG, like Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla were, so that should make for a solid change of pace, at least!

CHECK OUT: What is Assassin's Creed Infinity?