I wrote this a few days ago. Some pre-Resynced rambling :)
So it’s been a little over a year. There’s currently a heatwave, I am waaaay too hot and not turning on the PC/console/TV etc. unless I have to because my PC especially functions like an oven. I tanked my Nintendo Switch battery this morning so now I’m rambling on the iPad (hey I have to keep myself occupied somehow). Anyway! Last time I mostly rambled about Shadows and I was a bit over-complimentary if I’m honest.
You see, I think I’m often not honest because I don’t like to admit how much I suck at games sometimes. I said that Shadows had “so much depth to the combat system” and… maybe? That’s certainly what the videos on YouTube say, but for me? Nope. It’s too much for me to engage with, and likely as a consequence I find the combat to be very ‘button-mashy’ and quite boring – at least on Yasuke.
Recently I picked Shadows back up to finish it off, as I need to make space on my PS5. They have made quite a few updates as well, so it’s possible I need to credit an update with it feeling better than I remembered on Naoe. Like the chain assassination thing – that’s fun! I also tried mixing up strategies a bit, like attempting to use smoke bombs, or luring guards near explosives and then using a throwing star to detonate them. However, Yasuke is still not good to play. I still just wind up spamming the abilities, flailing until the adrenaline fills, and then spamming the abilities again, until everything is dead. Nothing else seems to work.
So how do I rank the games now? And have I played anything else?
Freedom Cry
Technically this is a Black Flag DLC, but you can own/install it separately which is what I did. I 100% this in about 10 hours I think? It was good. I don’t remember much more than that to be honest, as it’s been about a year since I played it.
AC II
About this time last year I had to move out of my house for about a month, while the upstairs floors got ripped up for central heating to be installed (which given how flipping hot it is now seems insane, should have had them install air conditioning instead). Anyway! I was without my PS5 and there’s only so much Crash Bandicoot I can take before wanting to throw things, so I picked up the “Ezio Collection” on Nintendo Switch. I played it a bit last year, and then last couple of days (heatwave keeping the PC/console/TV switched off) I have picked it up again.
It’s certainly much better than I remember it being when I tried initially booting it on Steam years ago. I wonder if being on the small handheld screen of the Switch helps? However, the controls are absolutely aggravating. It’s funny I watched a deep-dive analysis on parkour on YouTube the other day, and this guy waxed lyrical about AC2 and the superior control scheme and I now think he must be functionally insane. I have never had a worse time simply trying to run around. Combat is equally as annoying BUT that being said, there is something oddly charming/addictive about the game. I find that with most Assassin’s Creed games to be honest. I like cleaning up the map and collecting all the things.
Unity
Haven’t played it yet but I now /cough own it on PS5.
Mirage
Worth mentioning as a free DLC has dropped, along with big updates to parkour etc. I reinstalled it on my PS5 but haven’t managed to boot the game and check it out yet. However, I remember I very much liked Mirage when I played it, I just wished it had been longer – and it seems that I have now got that wish. In addition to the DLC campaign, they also added replayable missions with optional objectives (which feels like a throwback to the older games, and getting 100% sync). I really do want to dig into this, but I don’t know when I will find the time.
Let me ramble for a moment
I’ve come a long way from the person who had never played an action-adventure type video game. I had played Warcraft for years, obviously, but I didn’t think of myself as a ‘gamer’, I was just a WoW player. I think Jedi Fallen Order might have been my first? Pretty sure I picked up AC: Origins after that, and then I continued on Steam for a bit. First I got the SteamLink/controller. The link part never really worked, and the controller… I didn’t realise how bad it was until I got my PS5 and hooked up my PS5 controller to the PC.
After Origins bricked itself (yup really), I basically quit Steam/PC gaming because it wasn’t worth the aggravation. I think all the different drivers and specs, it’s no wonder things go wrong, either with the game or how controllers function. Anyway, I started off with just a couple of PS5 games and then just like with Steam, the backlog expanded (now stands close to 30) and I really do consider myself a gamer now.
So what does this ramble have to do with Assassin’s Creed?
Well, mostly it’s context because there was the change from PC to PS5, and it also explains why that change was made. I didn’t intentionally buy games on Steam, to struggle with them, not play them, and then buy the same game on PS5, but functionally that’s what has happened. I also thought it was worth noting because I now own every single Assassin’s Creed game, and most of them more than once /facepalm. At least most of them were on 75%+ sale!
AC 1 – PC (doesn’t run properly)
AC 2 – PC (some controller issues I think) / Nintendo Switch
Brotherhood – PC / Nintendo Switch
Revelations – PC (wouldn’t run at all) / Nintendo Switch
AC 3 (Remastered) – PC / PS5 (came free bundled with Odyssey both times)
Origins – PC (bricked itself after 60 hours!) / PS5
Valhalla – PC (partially, missing 3 DLC) / PS5
Not a main-line game but also Liberation (PC / PS5, as part of the AC 3 bundle), and Freedom Cry (PS5).
Worth noting is that a remake of Black Flag (the Resynced mentioned in the title of this post) will be releasing July 9th. I haven’t pre-ordered it yet, but odds are high. I’ll obviously get that for PS5.
So now I have explained the tangled way I came to have this collection, how about that rating?
Rating the games in May 2026
The last rating I gave a year ago went:
Which didn’t feel especially right at the time, and really doesn’t feel right now. Except, the issue of immediacy. When it’s been a while since I have touched something, how can I be sure that my memory is accurate? Am I making it better in my mind, or worse?
1. Syndicate
– still has to be #1. It’s the setting, the vibes, I’m even nostalgic for it.
2. Mirage
– it never felt right how this slid down the list when it’s only fault really was being short. Although I maybe shouldn’t re-rank it until I have played it again.
3. Rogue
– just edges out Black Flag due to being less frustrating
4. Black Flag
– all around good fun and I’m sure Resynced will place higher!
5. Origins
– this has moved like a yo-yo but with Shadows example of spongy healthbars I’m just not sure anymore re: the combat. The setting is superb, so I’ll need to see how it feels when I start a new playthrough on the PS5 (I’ll find the time some day)
6. Shadows
– this feels like a more honest placement of it because while it is the new and ‘shiny’, and while there is a lot to recommend, it doesn’t quite have the vibes. Naoe is so wooden a lot of the time in the cutscenes, I have lost track of the plot, I miss the slight connection to the modern day/overarching storyline. It’s beautiful, and the hideout customisation system is cool, but the whole perks system is just too much. The levels and everything getting cranked up to 100 and needing New Game+, it feels exhausting.
7. AC 2
– complete opposite to Shadows in that I feel the cutscenes/story are the real strength and it’s the gameplay that lets it down. If this ever does get the Resynced treatment, then it’ll likely be an absolute masterpiece. But as it stands, it is more frustrating than fun a lot of the time.
That leaves:
– Brotherhood
– Revelations
(although honestly, I currently feel like the “Ezio Collection” should really be ranked as one game. We’ll see how I feel when I have actually made it through AC2, and I’m into other installments)
– Unity
– Origins (again, as I didn’t finish it, even though I got a long way in back in the day on Steam)
– Odyssey
– Valhalla
– Mirage (DLC update)
+ the soon to be released Black Flag Resynced!
Currently permanently benching AC 3/Liberation as they were free and, as I said in the earlier updates, I really don’t vibe. If I ever feel like playing I will, but for now it’s a nope, and obviously the original AC 1 is only on PC and doesn’t play properly. I’ll likely only ever play that if it gets the rumoured Resync treatment.
At the moment I’m struggling to find PS5 time. Warcraft has been dominating my playtime as blizz have super ramped up their release schedule. I really wish they’d let it breathe but I think they don’t want anyone playing any other games. Somewhat unfortunate for my nearly 30 game strong backlist (which is obviously not just Assassin Creed). 007 First Light releases this week, I also picked up Crimson Desert (another massive game) and haven’t had time to really dig into it. So I don’t know when I’ll get to my backlogged AC games.
I suspect that the Mirage DLC might be the next one I play (if I manage to find time before Black Flag Resynced). After that I’m dithering because I hate choosing (impossible desire to play everything all at once haha) so I don’t know Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla. Not sure. Hopefully it won’t take me years but it likely will (it certainly has for my still incomplete quest to watch all of Star Trek, where does the time go??).
Until next time!
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