I will preface this by saying I am totally, completely, 100% biased while I write this. Assassin's Creed is perhaps the singular game franchise, or franchise in general, that I love without question above all others. I know the lore inside and out, I love every single one of the games, (even the ones others thumb their noses at) and nothing has ever been cooler to me or shaped my growth like this series.
Now, normally, I would limit myself to the game I played in class, "Origins", but considering my extensive knowledge and love for all other games before and since as well, I hope you'll forgive me for discussing the franchise as a whole. That being said, this franchise is everything to me. It's everything you could ever want in historical fiction; it knows its own lore, and it never breaks it, it has just the slightest bit of sci-fi to keep itself fresh and interesting while still keeping itself grounded in fact, and the gameplay, while aged in some places now, was revolutionary for its time and still remains one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I've ever had, second only to the nigh-untouchable Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
From the moment I first picked these games up, (due to delays in shipping, I actually started with AC3, funnily enough) I was in love. I was admittedly rather lost in the story, but that was my own fault, and if there's anything this series excels in, it's its story. All of its protagonists, from the stoic Altair, to the suave Ezio, to the hapless Desmond, feel real, grounded, and relatable. You can tell that even though they are larger than life in some places, such as Conner rather conspicuously being in ALL the major events of the American Revolution, or Bayek just happening to find his way into Cleopatra's employ, you can still tell they are living, breathing, three-dimensional characters that could, theoretically have existed and done the things that you watched them do. Bayek's struggle to avenge his son feels visceral and raw, real and powerful, and when it eventually ends in dissatisfaction, you feel that anger and disappointment along with him; Ezio's long journey from petty revenge to seek a higher calling, travelling across Italy and the world to seek his purpose, is a great comfort to those who feel lost or aimless in their own lives; Edward's story of transformation from drunken wretch to flawed but nonetheless admirable hero is a beautiful one, and proves to viewers that change is possible. And throughout all of these fantastic, grounded, beautiful stories about the many, many different facets of life and conflict, Ubisoft, for all its faults, does a fantastic job bringing history to life.
I'll often find myself just staring in wonder at the landscape of ancient Alexandria from atop the Great Lighthouse, or jump up and down and get my friends' attention to show them some random historical tidbit that I thought was amazing but no one else did. Just the very fact that I can walk amongst the ruins of Roman London, or run along the rooftops of Renaissance Venice, or find myself lost in Revolutionary Boston is beautiful and fantastic and I can't get enough of it. Facing off against the legendary janissaries in "Revelations" is one of my favorite parts of that game, just as the Lisbon Sequence in "Rogue" is grandiose and heart-pounding, and even though the game had its faults, getting to zipline across Industrial London in "Syndicate" like the goddamn Batman was really, really fun.One feeling that will always, always stick with me as a Jew was actually a moment from the first game, when Altair finally crests the hill and sees Jerusalem for the first time; the score, the camera, the feeling of grandeur and reverence just struck perfectly for me. That one scene of Jerusalem is one of the reasons I still go back and play AC1.
Now that I'm done gushing, the educational applications of this series are admittedly lacking. "Origins", "Odyssey", and "Valhalla" made a good step in the right direction when they included the Historical Exploration Mode, but it's still an Assassin's Creed game; there's sex, there's strong language, there's violence. It's definitely not to be shown in a classroom. However, it can still be used to help individually motivated study-- hell, it's half the reason I want to be a history teacher-- and its attention to detail in its environments is nothing to scoff at. I'm sure you heard me say in class, after the tragedy of Notre Dame burning down in 2019, the French government reached out to Ubisoft to procure their model of the building used in "Unity" to rebuild it. This kind of love and care can be found in all their games; I once heard a tale that a student on a field trip to Italy was able to navigate Florence because he'd memorized the map from Assassin's Creed II. It's astounding, and to simulate the sensation of walking amongst these storied halls is an experience that deserves to be in a classroom, or at the very least one's own educational journey.
In the end, I really have nothing more to say except wild praise for this franchise and its story. Even the sci-fi bits that I've lovingly dubbed "Isu Bullshit" makes sense to me, because the writers have taken such care of their stories. I love this series, I love these games, and my conclusion is this: they're good games, play them.
P.S. I apologize for the lateness of this one, but I had been awake for a full 36 hours by the time I had gotten home on Friday, and yesterday I was recuperating and spending time with my family.
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