The Assassin’s Creed saga finally seems ready to rediscover their narrative roots after years of creative digressions that led the players from pirates’ guilds in the Caribbean to the epic adventures in ancient Egypt.
During a recent he loves on Reddit, the level designer Luc Plante has revealed a return to the origins of the series, suggesting that the historical conflict between Assassins and Templar will return to be the narrative fulcrum of the next chapters. His words rekindled the hopes of millions of fans who had long awaited a return to original mythology that had made the franchise famous.
In the first iterations of the series, Ubisoft had built a complex narrative around the millennial rivalry between two opposite factions, creating a bridge between past and present that seemed destined to culminate in an episode set entirely in the modern world.
In the following years, however, the French house preferred to explore different eras, often relegating the central conflict that had defined the identity of the series in the background.
Plante explained that with Assassin’s Creed Shadows (here our review) the initial goal was to adequately contextualize the protagonist in the Japanese setting, and then return to explore the war between the two factions.
“The conflict between Assassins and Templars has always been a fundamental pillar of Assassin’s Creed”
The developer declared, adding that, after having laid the foundations in the main game, the team started dealing with the theme through a collaboration with Critical Role.
The most delicate question concerns the possible return of the narrative elements set in the present. For years, fans have hypothesized a chapter entirely dedicated to the contemporary world, where the ancestral conflict could finally reach its peak.
Plante’s statements are deliberately evasive on this point, limiting themselves to confirming that:
“The modern component will be expanded at some time, and somehow”.
Despite the caution, these statements are the most concrete sign of the last years of a possible return to narrative origins.
The mention of the collaboration with Critical Role, then rendered Canonica by Ubisoft, demonstrates how the French house is gradually reconstructing the narrative universe that had characterized the first chapters.
The character of Desmond Miles, protagonist of the modern narrative frame in the first games, had represented the common thread that united the historical eras of the series.
His exit from the scene had left many unresolved and private issues the saga of a unifying element considered essential by most of the community. The idea of being able to finally explore a contemporary urban environment with the typical mechanics of the series continues to fascinate fans.
The words of Plante, although prudent, indicate that Ubisoft is aware of the expectations of his fans and is seriously evaluating a return to these issues.
It remains to be understood if and when these intentions become reality, but for the first time after years the supporters of the series have reason to hope for a real return to the origins of one of the most influential sagas of the modern videogame panorama.
