Imagine waking up one day and discovering your favorite cereal has been discontinued. You head to the local grocery store, only to be told it was taken off the shelves months ago. That would be pretty disappointing. That’s precisely what happened to Ubisoft’s beloved Assassin’s Creed series when they got rid of Desmond Miles. Sure, he wasn’t a breakfast staple, but he was the heart of the franchise.
I remember playing the first Assassin’s Creed game a few months after its release. There was a certain intrigue to Desmond’s story—why was I being thrown into 12th-century Syria? What are these symbols on the walls? I played it on my now-defunct Lenovo laptop, which could barely run the game. Despite the technical struggles, I tweaked the graphics and performance settings so that I could understand what kind of game I was dealing with.
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+ 4Then I realized the rabbit hole went even deeper. As Assassin’s Creed unfolded, characters like Lucy and Shaun broke Desmond out of Abstergo’s grasp, delivering a full-on plot exposition. That’s when I knew this was just the beginning of a franchise destined to become one of Ubisoft’s strongest—impressive, considering this company is known for its fair share of blunders.
The Templars vs. Assassins
The biggest hook of the old Assassin’s Creed games was their insane, fictional modern-day setup. The game revolved around a constant battle between the Templars and the Assassins, like a twisted version of the Illuminati and the Freemasons.
Abstergo, where Desmond was imprisoned, was a megacorporation controlled by the Templars. Meanwhile, the Assassins—Lucy and Shaun among them—were a clandestine organization dedicated to protecting the peace by finding Pieces of Eden. Both factions were locked in an eternal struggle over which ideology was best for the world.
click to enlarge + 4It was a conspiracy-driven franchise that didn’t hold back on twisting actual historical events with fictional mumbo-jumbo.
I remember finishing Assassin’s Creed 2 and immediately Googling every historical event tied to the Pieces of Eden. That’s when things really went off the rails—I realized the game suggested that the Templars were instrumental in starting World War II, handing Pieces of Eden to Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill to fuel some proxy war. It was both hilarious and genuinely fascinating at the same time.
The Pieces of Eden Were Enough
I miss when Assassin’s Creed was primarily about the Pieces of Eden rather than delving deep into the lives of an ancient civilization. It was better when they remained mysterious—after all, that civilization was long gone.
Their legacy was what mattered, embodied in the Pieces of Eden—powerful artifacts capable of controlling the masses. That was the Templars’ ultimate goal, and the Assassins fought to prevent that from happening.
click to enlarge + 4There was even an epic (yet hilarious) moment in Assassin’s Creed 2 where the literal Pope wielded a Staff of Eden, forcing Ezio to fistfight him inside the Sistine Chapel.
Then They Killed Desmond
The Templars vs. Assassins storyline lost its magic the moment Ubisoft killed off Desmond Miles, the character who connected the Animus to the modern world. It was easily one of Ubisoft’s worst narrative decisions, and they’ve even admitted it was a mistake. Why kill off the protagonist, the backbone of the overarching plot?
Starting with Assassin’s Creed Origins, the franchise has abandoned the Templar-Assassin conspiracy almost entirely. Instead, it’s all about the Isu and ancient civilizations. Ubisoft wants to expand on the mysterious precursor race, but their story doesn’t have the same impact. They’re a collection of generic characters who fell victim to their hubris. I didn’t care about Juno or the others, and even if I did, their motivations were never as compelling as the grounded struggle between the Assassins and Templars.
click to enlarge + 4Ubisoft tried to reignite that flame with Layla Hassan, but even she couldn’t salvage the plot. By that point, Ubisoft had scattered so many narrative threads that there was no cohesive story left. At least in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, they really tried their best with that ‘Sage’ plotline, but it never bore fruit in later games.
It’s baffling that Ubisoft completely axed the modern-day plotline in favor of a bunch of Animus characters I couldn’t care less about.
There’s no defining Assassin’s Creed storyline anymore. It’s all just Ubisoft’s fanfiction, with each new game being an excuse to build an open world in a different historical setting. It’s no longer about the story—it’s about how big and visually impressive their worlds can be. And while Ubisoft excels at crafting open-world games, it’s hard not to miss the narrative foundation that once defined the franchise.
Here’s hoping Assassin’s Creed: Shadows brings back some of those interesting plot threads—but honestly, I’m not holding my breath.
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