"Assassin's Creed 2 and 3: The Series' Best Writing Revealed"

One of the most unforgettable moments in the entire Assassin’s Creed series occurs early in Assassin’s Creed 3, when Haytham Kenway completes his mission to assemble a group of assassins in the New World. Or so the player is led to believe. Haytham, equipped with a hidden blade and possessing the charisma of previous protagonist Ezio Auditore, has up to this point played the role of a hero, freeing Native Americans from prison and confronting British redcoats. It's only when he utters the iconic phrase, "May the Father of Understanding guide us," that the shocking truth is revealed: we've been following the Templars, the sworn enemies of the Assassins.

This twist exemplifies the true potential of the Assassin’s Creed series. The original game introduced a fascinating concept—hunt, understand, and eliminate your targets—but it lacked depth in its storytelling, with both protagonist Altaïr and his targets lacking personality. Assassin’s Creed 2 improved upon this by introducing the more iconic Ezio, yet it still fell short in developing its antagonists, as seen with the underdeveloped Cesare Borgia in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. It was not until Assassin’s Creed 3, set during the American Revolution, that Ubisoft fully committed to developing both the hunter and the hunted. This approach created a seamless narrative flow from setup to payoff, striking a delicate balance between gameplay and story that has yet to be replicated in subsequent titles.

While the current RPG-focused era of the series has been generally well-received, there's a consensus among players and critics that Assassin’s Creed is experiencing a decline. The reasons for this are debated, with some pointing to the increasingly fantastical elements, such as battles against mythological figures like Anubis and Fenrir. Others criticize the introduction of diverse romance options or the use of real historical figures like Yasuke, the African samurai, in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. However, I believe the true cause of this decline is the series' shift away from character-driven storytelling, which has become overshadowed by its expansive sandbox environments.

Over time, Assassin’s Creed has expanded its original action-adventure formula to include RPG and live service elements, such as dialogue trees, XP-based leveling systems, loot boxes, microtransactions, and gear customization. Yet, as the games have grown larger, they've begun to feel more hollow, not only in terms of repetitive side missions but also in their storytelling. While a game like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey offers more content than Assassin’s Creed 2, much of it feels less polished and immersive. The introduction of player choice through dialogue and actions, while theoretically enhancing immersion, often results in scripts that feel stretched thin, lacking the focused, screenplay-like quality of the earlier action-adventure titles.

This shift has led to a sense of interacting with generic, computer-generated characters rather than the complex historical figures of the Xbox 360/PS3 era. That era produced some of the finest writing in gaming, from Ezio’s passionate "Do not follow me, or anyone else!" speech after defeating Savonarola, to Haytham's tragicomic soliloquy upon being killed by his son, Connor:

*"Don't think I have any intention of caressing your cheek and saying I was wrong. I will not weep and wonder what might have been. I'm sure you understand. Still, I'm proud of you in a way. You have shown great conviction. Strength. Courage. All noble qualities. I should have killed you long ago."*

The writing in the series has also suffered in other ways. While modern games often simplify the narrative to a clear-cut dichotomy of Assassins = good and Templars = bad, earlier games explored the blurred lines between the two factions. In Assassin’s Creed 3, each defeated Templar challenges Connor's—and the player's—beliefs. William Johnson suggests the Templars could have prevented the Native American genocide. Thomas Hickey dismisses the Assassins' mission as unrealistic, while Benjamin Church argues that perspective shapes reality, with the British viewing themselves as victims. Haytham attempts to undermine Connor's faith in George Washington, asserting that the new nation will be just as despotic as the monarchy it seeks to overthrow—a claim validated when it's revealed that Washington, not Charles Lee, ordered the burning of Connor's village. By the game's end, the player is left with more questions than answers, making the story more compelling.

Reflecting on the franchise's history, it's clear why the track "Ezio’s Family" from the Assassin’s Creed 2 soundtrack, composed by Jesper Kyd, resonated so deeply with players, becoming the series' official theme. The PS3-era games, especially Assassin’s Creed 2 and Assassin’s Creed 3, were fundamentally character-driven experiences. The melancholic guitar strings of "Ezio’s Family" were meant to evoke Ezio's personal trauma of losing his family, rather than merely the game's Renaissance setting. While I appreciate the expansive worldbuilding and graphical advancements of the current Assassin’s Creed games, I hope the franchise will one day return to its roots, delivering the focused, character-driven stories that originally captivated me. However, in today's market, dominated by sprawling sandboxes and live service-style ambitions, such a return might not align with "good business" practices.