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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a course correction, not a reset

Assassin's Creed Mirage isn't a quasi remake of the first game, or even much of a back-to-basics reset for the series. It's very much more Valhalla.

www.vg247.com

Assassin's Creed Mirage feels a clear-sighted return to the series' roots

Assassin's Creed Mirage marks the first time Ubisoft Bordeaux has led development on a full game release. It's a relati…

www.eurogamer.net

Preview: Assassin’s Creed Mirage fulfils the promise of the original | VGC

The latest entry takes the series back to its roots…

www.videogameschronicle.com

 

[ozz ex machina]

Any summaries? This is the first AC I've been remotely interested in for a long time.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Any summaries? This is the first AC I've been remotely interested in for a long time.

From IGN's preview.

To put it bluntly, Assassin’s Creed Mirage seems set to bring the series back to its roots in the best way possible. The story and gameplay feel more like what made AC so popular in the first place, and its new setting and social stealth-heavy gameplay mechanics feel like the series has finally realized what was promised back in 2007. While some may not be too happy with the scaled-back RPG elements, Mirage’s focused setting, intuitive controls and fun stealth gameplay has me excited to dive back into the franchise.

 

[Certinty]

It doesn't look great but purely just because it's gone back to old-school Assassin's Creed, I'll give it a chance. It's been far too long after those RPG ones and especially Valhalla which is one of the worst games ever made.

 

[Gaiff]

Assassin's Creed games were always terrible so why is it a good thing that they're bringing back to its roots? The early games had barebones gameplay, bad stealth, bad combat, and bad missions. Black Flag was the best one but only because of the pirate stuff. The assassin things were still just as awful and the combat had turned into a complete farce, even more so than before. You could win it with the press of a single button.

Turning the series into action games with RPG elements wasn't a bad decision but Ubisoft made them into bloated messes instead of focused and tight experiences.

 

[Games of Today]

Assassin's Creed games were always terrible so why is it a good thing that they're bringing back to its roots? The early games had barebones gameplay, bad stealth, bad combat, and bad missions. Black Flag was the best one but only because of the pirate stuff. The assassin things were still just as awful and the combat had turned into a complete farce, even more so than before. You could win it with the press of a single button.

Turning the series into action games with RPG elements wasn't a bad decision but Ubisoft made them into bloated messes instead of focused and tight experiences.

The RPG games, Origins especially are perfectly fine in their own separate right. Especially how large the maps are and how they feel like a real place.

But saying that a game is on the easier side isn't always a bad thing. I was never playing Assassins Creed to have Elden Ring boss fights. I was playing it because it looked fucking awesome.

The first game is like playing GTA set in Jerusalem. You can fuck with civilians, murder people, piss off guards, climb anything. It was a great time. So I'm all for going back to that. And from the looks of it the combat seems to be an overhauled and improved version of the original game so that you don't just win in one hit any more.

 

[The Cockatrice]

You know what, a more down to earth AC, with a bigger focus on stealth and smaller map, might be a nice change of pace after 500 hours of garbage Valhalla. Wish they picked a fresh protag tho, cuz it kinda defeats the purpose of the story when you know who he is or who/what he becomes.

EDIT: uf the AI looks rough, like really bad, you can tell they just copy pasted from Valhalla but didnt take into account that this is more stealth focused. Guy kept killing them from above and they kept looking around like idiots.

 

[Gaiff]

The RPG games, Origins especially are perfectly fine in their own separate right. Especially how large the maps are and how they feel like a real place.

But saying that a game is on the easier side isn't always a bad thing. I was never playing Assassins Creed to have Elden Ring boss fights. I was playing it because it looked fucking awesome.

There's a gulf between winning with a single button and Elden Ring. The combat should simply be more engaging than press X to win like in Black Flag, especially when it's so prevalent. Nobody's asking for Souls-level difficulty but come on, it's such a huge part of the game and swashbuckling should be fun.

Ubisoft is too scared to turn it into a stealth game which is what it should be but stealth games don't sell so eh.

 

[Games of Today]

There's a gulf between winning with a single button and Elden Ring. The combat should simply be more engaging than press X to win like in Black Flag, especially when it's so prevalent. Nobody's asking for Souls-level difficulty but come on, it's such a huge part of the game and swashbuckling should be fun.

Ubisoft is too scared to turn it into a stealth game which is what it should be but stealth games don't sell so eh.

No, actually look at the gameplay of this new one if you haven't. The sword fights actually look closer to what you're asking. There's a stamina system now for parrying.

 

[Fbh]

So they made a Ps3 game.
I guess people that just wanted more of the same in the old style will be happy, and at least it's launching at a lower price ($50).

 

[SJRB]

Unfortunate about the limited parkour movements, but the rest sounds pretty okay.

Pretty okay-est game of the year incoming.

 

[Shubh_C63]

I will say this again.

Ubisoft's Assassins Creed was so bloated that people are cheering when they cut down on content. ("content")

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

I think it looks good. So is this like a mix of the older games in the newer style?

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

It looks exactly like valhalla, just smaller lol.

 

[R6Rider]

Next month is packed, but I might get this at launch.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

I would like the poison and the turn you mad darts to make a come back.

The fun I had using a turn you mad dart on an enemy and watched from afar while he shot all his mates up was great.

 

[R6Rider]

I would like the poison and the turn you mad darts to make a come back.

The fun I had using a turn you mad dart on an enemy and watched from afar while he shot all his mates up was great.

Those darts (Berserk) are one of my favorite things in the older titles.

Just letting guards fight each other as you watch from the rooftops. Sometimes the AI would bug out and they would jump off roofs to their death.

 

[Flabagast]

Game still relies on an ugly as hell UI

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Those darts (Berserk) are one of my favorite things in the older titles.

Just letting guards fight each other as you watch from the rooftops. Sometimes the AI would bug out and they would jump off roofs to their death.

Berserk - thank you!

 

[Saiyan-Rox]

Man I just can't stand IGN anymore

Even their preview on this made me cringe

 

[Hawkeye2890]

This looks good but I still wish you could go outside of the city and surrounding area. I never liked AC until Origins but even that was too big and the next two were waaaay too big. Would like a open world AC about half the size of Origins.

 

[digdug2]

I just watched JackFrags' gameplay of AC: Mirage and I couldn't help but think that it looks janky. The assassinations have a ton of clipping (not that I am totally averse because every single From game has the worst clothing clipping out there), the gameplay dips into what appears to be sub-30fps in crowded areas, the voice acting is hit or miss, and the AI is just not great.

Multiple times, he would walk past a guard in a restricted area and their awareness meter would barely trigger. Another time, he threw a body from 20 feet above roving guards after throwing multiple explosive containers and they just kind of walked around and said something to the effect of, "What was that? Show yourself!"

This could be a pretty old build and maybe they've already fixed some of this stuff.

 

[Games of Today]

This looks good but I still wish you could go outside of the city and surrounding area. I never liked AC until Origins but even that was too big and the next two were waaaay too big. Would like a open world AC about half the size of Origins.

You can go outside the city in this. Possibly all 360 degrees as it's a round perimeter.

 

[Games of Today]

Game still relies on an ugly as hell UI

Ubisoft is usually pretty good with HUD options. especially in Far Cry. So hopefully this game isn't reliant on a mini map or anything.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Valhalla is definitely a good, bombshell of a game so much is happening but I blame Ubisoft for not trimming fat.

 

[DeepEnigma]

From IGN's preview.

While some may not be too happy with the scaled-back RPG elements

Thank fuck. I'm happy with this.

 

[rubhen925]

Here's some no commentary gameplay is anyone wants to see



I got to play about 2 hours in this event, but was restricted to only showing 20 mins. There were a fair bit of cutscenes which we were not allowed to show.

As mentioned earlier in the thread some of the rpg elements are scaled back and this feels like an og AC game. Of course upgrading character with skills, armor and weapons are there but we are not allowed to show it. The skills are oriented towards combat and stealth, such as chain assassinations, auto looting on kill etc.

There's the investigation mechanic which is kind of new in this AC, where they don't give waypoints. You go into a general location and have to find clues for yourself to progress the story. This i really enjoyed as I was just scanning the environment and trying to eavesdrop on people to find clues. Missions can also branch. For example in this mission you go to an auction. You can either wait till someone buys the item in question and steal it, or purchase it yourself. I was broke so obviously I chose to steal it

I think OG AC fans will enjoy the game. I sure did. The ones with RPG elements started out fun and I got bored of them. But this feels like a tighter game.

Let's see how it goes come launch.

Lastly you can ride camels, and they brought in the auto navigate when on the camels to reach waypoints. Also a new mechanic is the eagle archer, who takes down your bird that you send to scout in the sky. The bird gets scared and won't allow you to scout till you take that one specific enemy down lol. This surprised me the first time I played it. Left the footage in the video.

Cheers

 

[Thief1987]

Turning the series into action games with RPG elements wasn't a bad decision but Ubisoft made them into bloated messes instead of focused and tight experiences.

But people love bloated messes. Last year's goty will confirm it.

 

[DeepEnigma]

But people love bloated messes. Last year's goty will confirm it.

 

[M.W.]

Weird, one preview said it's basically Valhalla 2.0. So, which is it?

 

[iorek21]

I'm seriously starting to believe that Ubi is purposefully holding back parkour so it can get a triumphal and "revolutionary" return for AC Red.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Here's some no commentary gameplay is anyone wants to see



I got to play about 2 hours in this event, but was restricted to only showing 20 mins. There were a fair bit of cutscenes which we were not allowed to show.

As mentioned earlier in the thread some of the rpg elements are scaled back and this feels like an og AC game. Of course upgrading character with skills, armor and weapons are there but we are not allowed to show it. The skills are oriented towards combat and stealth, such as chain assassinations, auto looting on kill etc.

[/QUOTE]

Sounds good - the older games had this in terms of upgrading and whatnot.

There's the investigation mechanic which is kind of new in this AC, where they don't give waypoints. You go into a general location and have to find clues for yourself to progress the story. This i really enjoyed as I was just scanning the environment and trying to eavesdrop on people to find clues. Missions can also branch. For example in this mission you go to an auction. You can either wait till someone buys the item in question and steal it, or purchase it yourself. I was broke so obviously I chose to steal it

This I really like because it sounds like the first AC game where you would have a target, but first need to do some missions within the area that gave you actionable information about the target/where he would be/what he would be doing (layouts, schedule, etc). This is one of the reasons the first game is one of my favorite in the series.

 

[JordiENP]

watch how they praise the game on the previews and then the reviews are like "old tricks can't save this new assassin... 7/10"

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

The map seems to be AC Unity in size which I thought was perfect for that game. Anyway, the total playable area is bigger than that if you count the outskirts of Baghdad.

 

[hussar16]

https://x.com/jobeagle5/status/1703285116112433212?s=20audio sync fix

 

[Barakov]

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a course correction, not a reset

Assassin's Creed Mirage isn't a quasi remake of the first game, or even much of a back-to-basics reset for the series. It's very much more Valhalla.

www.vg247.com

Assassin's Creed Mirage feels a clear-sighted return to the series' roots

Assassin's Creed Mirage marks the first time Ubisoft Bordeaux has led development on a full game release. It's a relati…

www.eurogamer.net

Preview: Assassin’s Creed Mirage fulfils the promise of the original | VGC

The latest entry takes the series back to its roots…

www.videogameschronicle.com

 

[Heisenberg007]

"To put it bluntly, Assassin’s Creed Mirage seems set to bring the series back to its roots in the best way possible. The story and gameplay feel more like what made AC so popular in the first place, and its new setting and social stealth-heavy gameplay mechanics feel like the series has finally realized what was promised back in 2007. While some may not be too happy with the scaled-back RPG elements, Mirage’s focused setting, intuitive controls and fun stealth gameplay has me excited to dive back into the franchise."

The next step for Ubisoft should be to stick with this old-school formula and try to infuse more natural world-building and RPG elements in this type of game, e.g., take cues from Elden Ring in terms of world-building.

They can (and should) keep the bigger open-world RPG games, but maybe as a separate entry/line of games, because there is clearly an audience for that. Having said that, they need to make that better. AC Valhalla is unbearably bloated and repetitive.

 

[Audiophile]

My hope is that going forward that Infinite is some sort of futuristic unified launcher, perhaps a 3D environment like a highly customisable base set in the near future with an animus in it and a bunch of cool stuff to do (so much potential with this), perhaps there could be training areas, rooms full of all the stuff you've collected and so on. Then, within that you can download whatever titles you want at the time and access them in the animus.

Regarding the future mainline games, I hope that their three game types run in parallel development: Classic (Mirage etc.), RPG (Red etc.) & Hex (Whatever that is..) ...with a new game every two years and a six year development cycle for each of them.

Even cooler would be if past games got full remasters so that they can be integrated into the Infinite launcher environment I suggested above.

Then I could replay ACI, ACII, AC Brotherhood & AC Revelations, play the new "Classic" style titles, try out the Hex ones & ignore the RPG ones entirely. ;p

 

[Auto_aim1]

This looks absolutely awful with a setting that triggers nostalgia. Combat and stealth are basic and will become tiresome after a while. This actually feels like a downgrade. Maybe the full game is different, will wait for reviews I guess.

 

[Kurotri]

The next step for Ubisoft should be to stick with this old-school formula and try to infuse more natural world-building and RPG elements in this type of game, e.g., take cues from Elden Ring in terms of world-building.

They can (and should) keep the bigger open-world RPG games, but maybe as a separate entry/line of games, because there is clearly an audience for that. Having said that, they need to make that better. AC Valhalla is unbearably bloated and repetitive.

There was this credible leaker guy on REEEEEEEE that mentioned how Red will be the last RPG entry in the series. My guess is that since Hexe is going to be "something different", they'll follow its formula instead in the foreseeable future.

 

[hussar16]

There was this credible leaker guy on REEEEEEEE that mentioned how Red will be the last RPG entry in the series. My guess is that since Hexe is going to be "something different", they'll follow its formula instead in the foreseeable future.

I guess hex Wil be more action stealth.etc it's working real good for ghost of tsushima

 

[sigmaZ]

Day never for me.

 

[Mr Branding]

This not coming out on Steam is a big L for ubi. Might have considered it since I love Ac 1, 2 and Unity.

 

[Just_one]

i cant wait for this one!!!

Day 1 for me!!

 

[UnNamed]

I don't know how this game could run on IPhone 15. In fact it's the only game they didn't show.

 

[Kurotri]

PC players, here you go:

 

[Neo_Barrad]

PC players, here you go:

so 0 PC Game Features, nice

 

[Eiknarf]

Any summaries? This is the first AC I've been remotely interested in for a long time.

Me too! Why is that? I really have no idea why, after six years, I'm suddenly looking forward to THIS particular Assassin's Creed game.

Is it gonna be smaller in scale than Odyssey and Valhalla? If so, maybe that's why? Perhaps I read that and found myself attracted to that... because I get turned off by the thought of some massive, bloated game. I prefer tight and focused.

With that said, does anyone know how long the Mirage campaign will be?

 

[iorek21]

Me too! Why is that? I really have no idea why, after six years, I'm suddenly looking forward to THIS particular Assassin's Creed game.

Is it gonna be smaller in scale than Odyssey and Valhalla? If so, maybe that's why? Perhaps I read that and found myself attracted to that... because I get turned off by the thought of some massive, bloated game. I prefer tight and focused.

With that said, does anyone know how long the Mirage campaign will be?

Around 20h for the main quest stuff, more with side content.

 

[Kurotri]

Me too! Why is that? I really have no idea why, after six years, I'm suddenly looking forward to THIS particular Assassin's Creed game.

Is it gonna be smaller in scale than Odyssey and Valhalla? If so, maybe that's why? Perhaps I read that and found myself attracted to that... because I get turned off by the thought of some massive, bloated game. I prefer tight and focused.

With that said, does anyone know how long the Mirage campaign will be?

I think it's a combination of the following:

- It's been 3 years since we last had an Assassin's Creed game
- It's been 8 - 9 years since we last had an Assassin's Creed ass Assassin's Creed game, meaning something that is smaller packaged, more linear, and more focused, with particular focus on assassinations (wow!) and stealth
- The setting is beautiful, golden age Baghdad. Urban parkour environment is back, though of course not on the same level as early games because this game is clobbed together using Valhalla assets. Still, the city is the star in the game and not the open ended areas like in the RPG trilogy.
- It's a very serious and intended homage to the original. Together with the obvious middle eastern setting and gameplay focus, they went ham on this. Even the robes and the overall art direction just screams old-school AC.

Personally, I think this will be a very neat love letter for its intended audience: People that miss early AC, especially my AC1 brothers. Also I really like the music.