Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.

The Assassin's Creed franchise is made up by many games that transport players to different time periods to explore and assassinate from the third-person perspective of a main protagonist.

(My) History of Assassin's Creed

Fifteen years ago when I was just 11-years-old, I asked my dad to buy me the first Assassin's Creed game and I still remember that moment like it was yesterday. I was in Best Buy with him and I had seen the theatrical trailer for the game and I told him how excited I was for it. And while a lot of my friends were already playing M-rated games, my parents were skeptical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjQ6ZtyXoA0

But that day I was able to convince my dad, and as the 15-year-anniversary of Assassin's Creed rolls around, it remains one of my favorite video game franchises of all time. But more than that, I've been reflecting on all the joy the games have brought me, the different times of my life I associate with each game, and, oddly enough, the devotion my parents have shown me through supporting my love for the series.

2007 was one of the best years of gaming. Ever. Gears of War 3, Halo 3, and Assassin's Creed II all hit the shelves that year, and I was on IGN everyday after school on the family desktop, following all the news for these games, especially ACII. I experienced so much hype, which lead to my dad preordering the special edition for me, and even taking me to the midnight release for the game when he had work early the next day.

When I finally dove into ACII's Italian Renaissance as Ezio Auditore, I was immersed fully in the time period and culture. Ezio works with Leonardo Da Vinci, has romantic entanglements, and scales buildings to assassinate unsuspecting targets -- truly a great time.

The next game that really stood out to me was the third one in the Ezio trilogy, AC: Revelations. This one sees a much older Ezio on his goal to finish his conquest, which takes him to the crossroads of the world, Constantinople, or Istanbul.

Revelations introduced me to so much Arabic culture and I have always appreciated that, maybe even more as I've aged, and even today the game still holds up. This is the one I have been really revisiting lately, and the sound design and visuals still provide an extremely fun and immersive experience. Plus, the Hook Blade was kind of peak Assassin's Creed idk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMsbMK9Odoc

I also have an extremely memorable experience getting this game. My mom had a broken femur at the time and I was still not old enough to get the game myself, so at midnight my mom went in her wheelchair to take me to get that game.

As a kid, you can't help but be ego-centric, but looking back, it really warms my heart the lengths my parents were willing to go for me to have such a great childhood and I appreciate the vessel that Assassin's Creed has been for these memories.

When Assassin's Creed III came out, I was excited to be a Native American during the American Revolution, and while this game catches a lot of hate, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I remember leaving a Halloween Party early that year because the game came out that night and I wanted to go home and play.

When ACIV: Black Flag came out, this was the first AC game that I was old enough to go by myself to the midnight release, so it being a pirate game, me and my friend dressed up as pirates and went to the release at Gamestop. This one might hold the record for the AC I've played the most. The world is huge, exploring the tropics by pirate ship or parkour is so fun, and it's really a beautiful game.

The last few RPG-style Assassin's Creed games haven't exactly been my favorites in the series, but they still do a good job of taking the player to the time period they're exploring. Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome are beautiful places to explore, in Origins and Odyssey, respectively, but Valhalla is probably one of my least favorite in the series because there aren't any sprawling cities.

The Future of Assassin's Creed

Ubisoft recently held a press event to celebrate the anniversary of the franchise, as well as announce the most Assassin's Creed titles they've ever announced at once.

I'm going to go in order of least exciting to most exciting, but perhaps what is most exciting about 3 of the 4 announcements is that they clearly do not take place in the western world.

Codename Hexe

Next-to-nothing is known about this title. The logo makes me think it could have something to do with witchcraft, but there's no telling when it will arrive, or if it will even be a fully-fledged AC title.

Codename Red

Again, very little was revealed about this title, but Ubisoft did make it clear that you will be playing in ancient Japan, which is something fans have been asking for for a long time. The devs also made it clear that this game will be RPG-style, similar to the last 3 titles. I'm pretty excited about this but its at least coming out in 2024 if not later, so I'm not trying to get too excited just yet.

Codename Jade

This one is going to be a fully fledged Assassin's Creed game set in Ancient China, however as of now it will only be coming to mobile platforms. Again no release date given, but they showed some in-engine footage so I'm assuming we'll get it in the next year.

Assassin's Creed Mirage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x55lAlFtXmw

Mirage is by far the most exciting announcement Ubisoft has made in years! Being touted as a "spiritual successor" to the original games, Mirage will be less RPG and more narrative driven; and it's also taking place in 9th century Baghdad which is an extremely exciting location. The cinematic trailer hyped me up so much for this game, just like the old days, so naturally I had to go ahead and preorder the special edition!