Assassin's Creed Origins released on October 27, 2017, making this franchise entry five years old. As many may recall, Ubisoft had taken a year break in 2016 before releasing this title, and when it did come out, it was nothing like its predecessors. The classic action-adventure genre was ditched for more open-world, RPG-like gameplay. Assassin's Creed Origins' RPG features weren't as heavy as its successors, Odyssey or Valhalla, but this was the start of everything.
Now, it's worth mentioning that because of Assassin's Creed Origins' changes to the franchise, a huge divide in the community would eventually emerge. But five years on, it seems Ubisoft may have finally found a way forward to heal this divide.
Assassin's Creed Origins: Hidden Ones, RPG Elements, Franchise Fatigue, Oh My!
There are, at least, three major ways Assassin's Creed Origins has shaped the direction of the franchise. The first is harder to see for those with nostalgia goggles, but Ubisoft's action-adventure titles had begun to grow stale. Just as some fans burn out on Call of Duty every year (though Activision is not stopping that), getting a new Assassin's Creed action-adventure title every year resulted in the same. This hit its fever pitch when Assassin's Creed Unity released incredibly buggy and the following Assassin's Creed Syndicate didn't make many waves at the time; both games are perhaps more loved now than they were the year they were released. Ubisoft needed to do something, and taking a year off to put out a more detailed RPG on the franchise was a wise decision for the time. It may have split fans who want the action-adventure titles and those who prefer the RPG approach, but it was very much needed.
The second more obvious feature is the introduction of RPG elements; while later titles would double down on this, Origins was the first with concrete RPG elements, mostly. There was a solid loot system, a grind worth doing, open-world features that brought out the best, and a skill tree. These made the progression in AC Origins feel more earned and more involved than past titles, and tempered correctly, RPG elements are fun and important. One could argue that the games have always had these elements, but AC Origins brought them to the light.
And finally, from a world view, Assassin's Creed Origins introduced the Hidden Ones, predecessors of the Assassins, and the Order of the Ancients, predecessors of the Templars. This visited how the conflict began, even if Assassin's Creed Odyssey would explore the Order of the Ancients' history before Origins, and so on. This changed the franchise's chronological starting point and defined how the franchise would explain this conflict in older cultures. Indeed, with Odyssey, Valhalla, and the upcoming Mirage taking place before AC1, Origins set the tone for 1000+ years of games by revisiting the franchise's origins.
Assassin's Creed: From Origins to Mirage to Red and Beyond
Of all the things AC Origins did, the divide between the community was one after-effect of the move to open-world RPG. It may not be Origins' fault directly, but that's where it began. Many fans want classic action-adventure titles, while others still want open-world RPGs. It's been clear Ubisoft was never going to go back to the yearly action-adventure releases, as fans have been waiting for a new game since Valhalla launched in late 2020. But Ubisoft has a plan that heals this divide - why not do it all?
No one game will appeal to everyone, but the beauty of Assassin's Creed is how it could fit into any mold. Ubisoft has announced a lot of projects that are bound to appeal to fans who want to play them all, one kind of AC game, or another. Next year's AC Mirage is the first action-adventure title since Syndicate, Assassin's Creed Red is an open-world RPG set in Japan that is in development, and AC Hexe is described as a different experience altogether. Assassin's Creed Hexe seems to be set in the Witch Hunts of Germany, though very little is officially known. On top of that are a couple of mobile games, a potential VR release, and likely other ideas still kept in the shadows.
The cure to Assassin's Creed's franchise fatigue is variety, and the way forward seems obvious and hopeful. Assassin's Creed Origins has defined five years of game releases and thousands of years of lore, and its impact will no doubt still be felt in every game to release from hereon.
Assassin's Creed Mirage releases in 2023 for Luna, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.