What we want to see from Assassins Creed Mirage

Here are the key things that members of TOWCB Team are hoping to see in Assassin's Creed Mirage.

Aaron Young (TOWCB Writing Team)

Improved Parkour, Stealth and Photo Mode

''I would love to see Mirage replicate the Unity formula with its atmospheric City and excellent parkour. I would quite like the memory sequences to return so that we are able to replay moments without having to restart the game. 

If possible I would also adore the reintroduction of customisation that Unity did so well and Jedi Survivor has just replicated. I can’t wait to be a real Assassin again patrolling the rooftops. 

As an archer I really hope Ubisoft has reconsidered the use of bows. I understand that they can be a little over powering in a stealth focused game, however AC III pulled it off. It’s bizarre to think Basim would not use one. To balance the gameplay why not make arrows sparse like the last of us. An Assassin with limited tools is surely the best. 

Finally and most importantly for me would be the inclusion of Valhalla’s photo-mode. The love that is out here for Assassin’s Creed Virtual Photography is phenomenal with many tags still trending long after the games have gone. It is clear that Virtual Photography sells games and keeps a title in people’s minds. 

There is a respect for the Assassin’s Creed photo-mode despite how basic it is compared to say Horizon. I am most at home with the Valhalla Photo-mode but would love to see: 

-More distance 

-Expressions

-Poses

-Outfit Changes

-Day and night options

-Custom Lighting 

-Save Camera Positions 

-Photo-Mode in cut scenes 

-Hide Characters 

-Close up shots

Even just a few of these things would go a long way to pushing the Assassin’s Creed photo-more tools on.''

A mock-up of how Assassin's Creed Mirage could look by FrameHoldPhotography

ActualSpider-Man (TOWCB Writing Team)

Narrative Pay-offs, Isu Puzzles and Links to Valhalla

''The setups of Valhalla’s multiple cliffhangers deserve their payoffs. By that I mean we need to see William Miles and crew synchronize Basim’s DNA into memories for William to experience. We need to see the impact of a Reborn Isu teaming up with Assassins. We need to see the Modern Day fallout of Layla’s sacrifice. We need to learn whether Loki had forged that last recording Layla sent to “not come find her”, or if that was truly Layla’s final wish. And regardless of that wish, we need to see Loki chastise William for leaving his son to die, and explain to him that Desmond is alive in another plane of existence as The Reader. It worries me how de-emphasized the Modern Day has been in the advertising for upcoming titles, reminding me of the same happening to the parkour in the past, and I hold out hope for at least SOME Modern Day answers in Mirage.

It also being centered around our new Isu ally, I crave more meaningfully intricate Isu Language puzzles, and not just using Isu transliterations to spell English words, but broadening the language with needed AC-centric words we don’t already have, like colors (red, blue, yellow, white), relationships (beyond “Mother/Father”, we need brother, sister, partner, enemy, ally), time (more than “day”), etc., that would bring a huge smile to my face!

Of course, surrounding the historical portions, I’m wanting this “return to form” to be a balance of Brotherhood’s scope, Unity’s parkour system, and a mix of the RPG combats. Personally I found the thousand things to do on the newer trio’s maps to feel like meaningless busywork when they weren’t somehow connected to the overall narrative, where Brotherhood excelled. Unity should be the benchmark of AC fluid motion mechanics, and I’ve sorely missed depth to the traversal, so I’d like to see its return. And I did have fun engaging in different styles of combat with different weapon and armor loadouts in the recent games, so I would like to see that consistency stick around, but with preferably much less damage sponging. It is a power fantasy, after all!

All in all, I just want to see how Ubisoft decides to run with having full-on Reborn Isu DNA being in Assassin possession, something the Templars have been attempting to do since Black Flag. Are we gonna see the internal struggle of the mind between Basim & Loki firsthand? Is Basim going to have his own regressive memories from the Isu Era to flesh out more of Loki’s backstory? Are they going to link Basim & Roshan’s history up to Valhalla in meaningful ways? Fingers crossed, I sure do hope so.''

Colum Blackett (TOWCB Admin)

Improved Parkour, Alamut Castle and Smoke Bomb Crafting

Pieced together using quotes from our new podcast, Rally the Creed #1.

''I think Assassin's Creed Mirage is sort of meant to be like a stepping stone. It's like a smaller bite-sized chunk of a game and then a bigger game is to follow. Fans are waiting for a game that really is ticking all the boxes in terms of the pillars of the franchise. If you look at real parkour. They have to reinvent that whole pillar if you ask me. People who are free running. they do this for a living, they're performing moves never seen in an assassin’s creed game, and time after time it's sluggish in-game. They need to really look at the parkour in Valhalla, really. It's sort of set the framework for parkour opportunity. The opportunity to do parkour is excellent, but parkour itself isn't. You want to really move and feel like an eagle above the crowd.''

''There's a lot of things that they could do that, even though it's meant to be a smaller game. They could really add some scope to it. I mean for example it's set in a region that we've not really seen before. It looks like it's going to bring in Alamut which is the original Assassin castle. So where you had Masyaf in Assassin's Creed I, this is like a precursor to that. So like a base for the Assassins, so is literally the birth of the Assassin Brotherhood after the Hidden Ones go into hiding. ''

''And the cool thing with that trailer is that when Basim uses the red smoke bomb, that's almost like a call-back to Revelations, where you could craft your own smoke bombs. And that's a mechanic they could bring into this game. You can put blood in it, you put gold in it. You could have people running in the street. You know, the the beggars will run after you. It's a distraction and that's great for an Assassin. If you hiding in plain sight, I mean, you literally have got something in your pocket that can bring the whole street to the other side and you can just sneak in.''

''If you're playing like an Assassin, why not unlock Assassin robes and you'll know you're getting rewarded by the Brotherhood, and with this game Mirage, it looks like you start as a Novice. I mean in the trailer he's literally a street thief who comes from nothing who works his way up through the ranks, and every time he does a mission he could gain a different piece of equipment, or by doing more training''

Listen to the full episode below to hear our full discussion on Assassin's Creed Mirage.

FrameHoldPhotography (TOWCB Admin)

Fluid Parkour, Replayability and Chain Kills

''I would love to see Mirage mix my favorite elements of the classic AC formula with subtle flairs of what we saw in the new RPG trilogy. A return to fluid parkour in tightly packed cities like we saw in Unity and Syndicate would be amazing, along with black box missions for key targets. The ability to replay missions and memories is also something I would really like to see come back in Mirage. There are so many key moments in Odyssey and Valhalla that I would love to replay, but I don’t feel like starting another game just to reach that one moment.

I prefer the combat system and skill trees that were present in Origins, Odyssey, and especially Valhalla, and I would like Mirage to incorporate vastly different playstyles and builds for Basim. While I would like there to be more of a focus on stealth in Mirage, having the ability to spec out different builds for poison, traps, and range could be really fun. I would love to see Mirage bring back multi-kills as well—chaining kills in the older AC games was too much fun. Lastly, I want Mirage to include a more robust Photomode. Having the ability to change time of day, lighting, poses, and outfits would be amazing for virtual photography!' 

A mock-up of how Assassin's Creed Mirage could look by FrameHoldPhotography

Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon) (TOWCB Video Content Creation Team)

Varied Gameplay, Levelling Up & Optional Objectives

''Really I’d just love to see a return to the old, pre-Origins formula gameplay and structure wise. This mainly means the return of memory sequences over quests, and more varied gameplay overall; everything from main story missions with optional objectives, side missions, collectibles, 100% total completion etc. Origins did everything too loosely, there was no real difference between main and side quests, everything felt quite repetitive, and more or less being forced to play side quests in between main ones to necessarily level up was quite a drag, and made me quite uninvested in the story.

Speaking of leveling up, I honestly have nothing against that; earning XP and skill points, and buying skills to upgrade your character. It works really well in both Unity and Syndicate, and in other Ubisoft titles like Far Cry, but there it works much better as you level up and acquire more skills as you naturally progress through the story.''

Screenshot by Col_96 from Assassin's Creed Unity

Joe (UbiCypher) (TOWCB Social Media Content Team)

Return of William Miles, Hassan-i Sabbah cameo & a Notoriety System

''I'd like to see if William appears as the user of the Animus reliving Basim's memories, and an interaction between him and Basim out of the Animus, Mentor to Mentor discussing the future of the Brotherhood now that Basim is the first ever recorded human being from the past to actually have revived (except Juno) and the consequences over the rest of the cells scattered around the globe it could cause to learn about such information.

Also, William learning of Desmond's consciousness being within the super computer and undertaking a mission to try and bring him back somehow would be beautiful.

Of course, the birth of the Assassins as we know them to finally wrap up the whole Hidden Ones ordeal and perhaps a cameo in the very end or post credits of Hassan-i Sabbah (perfect occasion to make his physical appearance) in the first mandates of the Creed. 

I'm intrigued about the parkour since lately there have been statements about the whole Unity inspiration thing being dropped for a more similar movement set tweaked from Valhalla.

Weaponry, gadgets, locations, architecture and sandbox traversal also appeals to me as I always loved to go to the objectives on the roofs feeling like a real Assassin rather than walking which we have had a lot of in the last three iterations.

I hope the dye mechanic is also back as well as a notoriety system, along with an economy one too similar to the Auditore through renovations.''

Promo image for Assassin's Creed II

Michael Doyle (TOWCB Admin)

Impact upon the World, Economy options and Building a Spy network

Pieced together using quotes from our new podcast, Rally the Creed #1

''But I think yeah that that does touch on something as well which is what we don't see too much of in Assassin's Creed is how the missions are linear, so obviously traditionally you kind of stuck to a path whereas now you can kind of roam around and you can kind of leave the area to to reapproach from different vantage points. But we don't really see too much of missions, where your actions impact story. So, you know, if you go to spare someone's life versus if you don't. If you decide to assassinate someone, from behind, or if you try and take them from afar, we don't really see how that impacts the story. And I think that'd be quite an interesting one to see in the newer game. But perhaps you then hear the guards later on talking about the events: Did you hear, he was killed without even being seen? He was behind a painting, that would be cool because then it brings you into the world almost as if you're having this impact on the the NPCs around you. Be quite an interesting one to look at.''

''That's why I loved Assassin's Creed II. Just the ability to build out this thing and then it makes you money that you can then use, and then reinvest it. I think you could, especially if we're looking back at you know, Mirage and the idea that perhaps, he's on the streets and he hasn't got a lot of to begin with, watching that transition as you play the character into actually owning things or being able to invest in things. Maybe you can buy your own market stores that make you money and then they could be lookouts. So then you can get letters saying, Oh, they've seen guards here or they've heard this and you know, building more of a massive experience in the city. I think that would be quite an interesting one as well. And I think, especially in a game like Assassin's creed, that's what they would have. They would have eyes on the ground. They would kind of have this network. They don't join the Brotherhood, butthey're out there sort of being the eyes and ears.''

''That'd be a great throwback. If you kind of see, you know, that's coming in from each of these people. Not teaching them, perhaps, but, maybe giving them wisdom, giving them insight, the odd skill that you can teach. Then you build this whole experience as a player of the game, you feel like you're not just playing as one character. You're almost playing as a community. You're playing as if you're part of a movement. Against the enemy, not just you as a lone wolf, which some games do feel like, even though you do have people around you, it is just very much you versus everyone else. Be quite nice to have that sense of camaraderie.''

Listen to the full episode below to hear our full discussion on Assassin's Creed Mirage.

Mike Smith (TOWCB Admin Team)

Discovery Tour at Launch & Basim's ageing

''I would like to see a more in depth Codex for the history of the characters and locations. With the listing of a new Discovery Book Wonders of the Orient I am hoping that a new Discovery Tour will be available at launch, or released as a DLC. I would also like to see Basim age over the course of the story to see how he becomes the Basim we know at the beginning of Valhalla.''

Peter Strat (TOWCB Video Content Creation Team)

Stealth Tools, Intricate Level Design & Improved Parkour.

''For me I'd love to see a renewed focus for the two of the three main pillars on the series when it comes to gameplay. Combat has received a number of changes over the years but the other two pillars, parkour and stealth, have for the most part, regressed in terms of depth and player expression. 

Parkour had many layers, allowed for player expression and gave you more control in the early games in the series. However in recent titles, this has slowly been stripped away. A lack of control, options and overall fluidity as you move through parkour sections in recent titles has really made me miss the prior games.

Stealth is a strange one but the tools you had access too in titles like Unity and the readability and consistency of a game like Origins slowly fell away.

Another aspect I'd love to see return is a renewed focus on locations and further more, more intricate level design. The first couple of games felt grounded in their cities and they felt like a "main character". Cities had depth and a level of connectivity that made running around the rooftops such a blast. Sadly that's been missing, especially in the RPG trilogy. 

From a story point of view, I'd love to see a return of target focused plot lines and sequences. Something about learning all about a target, how to deal with them potentially and getting to know all about their character has felt sorely missed in the last few games.''

Yasmin Page (TOWCB Art Team)

Historical Events, Animus Database Entries & The World Feeling Alive

''What I’m looking forward to most in Mirage is seeing how they develop the world and tie Basim’s story in with the historical events of the 860s. That was something I really liked with Assassin’s Creed 2 (for example) — that Ezio’s story really felt really grounded within the Italian Renaissance and his actions impacted real people. It really builds into the idea that the Assassins and Templars have always been there in the background, pulling the strings and shaping the world as we know it. 

Following on from this idea, I would also like to see a return of the Animus database, providing information on the historical events, places and characters that Basim will encounter in game. It’s a small detail, but as I first got into the series through my love for history, it really enriched my playing experience. If not a database, then another Discovery Tour would also be wonderful. 

Also, like many others in the team have said, I would love to see a return to Unity style parkour and the stealth of the earlier games in the series. It provided a different kind of challenge to missions other than just combat (although that is fun in itself). Stealth and parkour are such intrinsic things to the Assassin’s Creed series, and while I have loved the more recent titles it was a shame to see them lose importance. 

Ultimately though, I am excited to explore the world they build. The environments of Assassin’s Creed have always been full of life and detail, from the NPCs to the buildings and the music, and I’m sure that Mirage will not disappoint. '

We would like to say a huge thank you to all TOWCB team members who contributed towards the creation of this article!