Assassin’s Creed is a gaming franchise like Halo and Call of Duty, with so many versions and avid players with strong opinions on which ones to skip. But what do you do when you’ve never played and don’t want to play all of the editions? Which one seems the most playable for those just finding the game?
The Assassin’s Creed gaming series as of now has 13 different versions. Most of the installments still have a dedicated fan-base. The original game was released in 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This would be a great start for more dedicated gamers, but there’s more meat to be found in other editions.
The franchise has explored so many versions of the game in different countries and time periods, all based around being an assassin in a brotherhood of others on the same path. The original games have you play as Desmond Miles, but the franchise expands into other characters with more interesting backgrounds.
A personal favorite and an overall well-loved edition is Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. If you’ve never played the originals, this is a great place to start. Not only is the storyline and gameplay interesting, the graphics are much improved. You are playing as Edward Kenway so need to revisit the other games as Desmond.
Black Flag involves a ton of overlapping storylines, with Edward encountering an assassin who wants to sell his secrets of the rival brotherhood. There’s even a frame story of modern assassin’s trying to uncover what happened during the age of piracy.
The storylines are complex, but gameplay is unique compared to other games in the series. It’s an open-world map allowing for a less structured progression or annoying wall-blocks when players get stuck on a task.
This is also the first time the game focused on ships and seas, adding new excitement even for those who’ve played other Assassin’s Creed installments. There’s even navigation gameplay where you must control the ship to find others to raid.
The game takes around 20 hours of play to finish the main storyline, but can typically offer another 60 hours of gameplay with other side stories and exploration capabilities.
Now if you’ve visited the world of Assassin’s Creed before, I still think this is an unskippable game in the franchise. Its unique use of pirates and new game functions brings excitement to such an already diverse series.
If you’ve never played before, I’d recommend starting here. It’s fun and keeps you engaged while still offering long term gameplay. And if you end up loving it, you have 12 other installments to try out!
