Assassin’s Creed: after 13 years, 12 games and a ton of sales, what’s the secret to the franchise’s success? – The Conversation AU
Posted: December 21, 2020 at 2:56 am
Ubisofts Assassins Creed series is one of the worlds best-selling video game series. Featuring settings ranging from Ancient Greece to the French revolution, Assassins Creed: Valhalla, released last month, takes the player into the mind of Evior, a viking raider who invades England.
Little about Assassins Creed is unique or new: many games feature historical settings, with or without time travel; there are countless third-person action and action role playing games and the entire video game industry is preoccupied with making each game look and sound better than the last.
Even Assassins Creeds signature stealth action gameplay, which allows the player to sneak past foes, set ambushes, and avoid notice or eschew subtlety and rush in with a battle-cry, was first deployed by Eidos Thief: The Dark Project, in 1998.
First appearing in 2007, the franchise has spanned a dozen big budget PC and console games and inspired mobile tie-ins, comics, novels, board games, a film and a forthcoming Netflix live action series. So whats its secret?
Part of it is the varied settings, stretching from Ancient Egypt to Renaissance Italy to the near future. But the real secret sauce, Id argue, is in the motto of the in-game Assassins: nothing is true, everything is permitted.
Assassins Creed plays fast and loose with history, simultaneously putting huge amounts of effort into the reproduction of historical architecture and styles while also staging an endless war between the Assassins, who fight for the freedom of all humanity, and the Templars, who believe peace can only be achieved when everyone is under their thumb.
The game enables the protagonist to put on an in-game headset known as an Animus device an interactive history simulation. Rather than a time machine, the Animus uses the plot device of genetic memory. Protagonists can access their ancestors memories through their DNA to justify diversions not only from history but also possibility.
Like the play within the play in Hamlet, no-one really dies in an Animus simulation. This is an accepted fact of the plot. The goal isnt to fix the past, but to learn from it, and apply that understanding within the world of the game. This gives players consistency in terms of the series world and overarching plot, while also allowing each game to explore a different historical setting.
Small twists on familiar game-play paired with diverse settings have kept fans hooked as the games moved from 15th century Venice to 18th century Boston, to 5th century BC Athens, and beyond. Theres a different chapter of the eternal war between the Assassins and the Templars to relive in each game, a new Animus simulation.
In an era where games, from indie hit Undertale to military shooter Spec Ops: The Line, ask players to consider the consequences of their actions, the Assassins Creed games ask the player to identify with groups often seen as the bad guys. Assassins, pirates, and invaders are the heroes here.
The player can engage in assassination, piracy and colonisation without hesitation because its only an Animus simulation.
The actual historical Knights Templar are hard to get a grip on. Prominent in the 12th and 13th centuries, they fought brutally in, and profited greatly from, the Crusades. The order was later disbanded on false charges of heresy, with some burnt at the stake for confessions extracted under torture. More recently, they have grown popular with conspiracy theorists and white supremacists.
Read more: Knights Templar: still loved by conspiracy theorists 900 years on
On the other hand, the Hashashins, the historical Assassins that inspired Assassins Creed, are infamous. This Ismaili sect was active at the same time as the Templars, but in Persia (modern-day Iran) and Syria, far from the Crusades. Often incorrectly described as a cult of pot-smoking killers without fear or remorse, the motto nothing is true, everything is permitted has been attributed to their founder, Hassan-i Sabbh.
Slovakian-Italian author Vladimir Bartol collected rumours and created salacious details about the Hashashins in his 1938 novel Alamut. In it, stoned Assassins were carried to a hidden garden full of beautiful women and told they were seeing a vision of paradise.
Assassins Creed took its motto from Bartols novel, but Bartol was actually quoting Friedrich Nietzsche. The first recorded instance of the the maxim nothing is true, everything is permitted is in Nietzsches Thus Spoke Zarathrusta(1883).
In this philosophical novel, Nietzsche develops his concept of the endless return, of living the same life over and over. Thats exactly what players do in the Assassins Creed games.
Read more: Explainer: Nietzsche, nihilism and reasons to be cheerful
In Assassins Creed: Valhalla, the life you are living over is that of Evior. The player controls Layla Hassan, a modern-day Assassin, as she inhabits Evior, and he or she (the game lets you choose or periodically swap genders based on those genetic memories) re-stages the Norse invasion of the British Isles.
Eviors back-story and motivations are textbook: s/hes the orphan who needs to prove their worth, beat a nemesis and save their community. Its a rubber stamp that leaves the player free to go i viking, raiding coastal settlements and camps, butchering any opposition, pillaging valuable goods, and using them to establish and fortify a Norse settlement in England.
Read more: What does the word 'Viking' really mean?
Being an Assassins Creed game, the player also has the opportunity to infiltrate English cities, assassinating foes and rivals before quietly slipping away or cutting a gory swath to freedom.
Fandom is all about wanting new experiences that make you feel the same way you did when you first became a fan. Its a challenge for creators to provide something fresh and interesting but faithful to what fans already know and love.
Assassins Creed has worked this out: each version of the game is absolutely familiar, but makes that familiarity feel new.
See original here:
Assassin's Creed: after 13 years, 12 games and a ton of sales, what's the secret to the franchise's success? - The Conversation AU
- Nietzsche and COVID-19: We're all struggling in our own way - Johns Hopkins News-Letter - February 17th, 2021
- Devendra Banharts First Solo Exhibition in Los Angeles Opens - GalleristNY - February 17th, 2021
- How spending time in the mountains is good for the body and mind - Monaco Tribune - February 17th, 2021
- Brandel Chamblee Q&A: Commish for the day, does he really believe everything he says & Cancel Culture - usatoday.com - February 17th, 2021
- Trending News: Covid-19 impact on Cold Chain Tracking and Monitoring Market Segmented By Application and Analysis till 2027 |Sensitech, Inc., ORBCOMM,... - February 17th, 2021
- Arknights Lore: The Birth of Tragedy and Requiem - GamePress - January 9th, 2021
- Want to improve focus and productivity? Do one thing at a time - The Guardian - January 9th, 2021
- Theatre of the absurd - Economic Times - January 9th, 2021
- Darwinism as the Root Problem of Modernity - Discovery Institute - January 9th, 2021
- Past in Perspective - The Nation - January 9th, 2021
- Shaw, Scientism, and Darwinism - Discovery Institute - January 9th, 2021
- Asking Ourselves What is truth in a Post-COVID World? - The Nanjinger - December 21st, 2020
- In defence of egoism - TheArticle - December 21st, 2020
- The Telos Press Podcast: Robert Miner on the Division of Work and Play in Adorno's Minima Moralia - Telos Press - December 21st, 2020
- Covid and the Winter of Our Discontent - AlleyWatch - December 21st, 2020
- The songs of David Bowie album Hunky Dory ranked in order of greatness - Far Out Magazine - December 21st, 2020
- Totally Not Fake News: The Latest Texans Fan - Battle Red Blog - December 3rd, 2020
- The Prom review is Ryan Murphy's musical the first film of the Biden era? - The Guardian - December 3rd, 2020
- Friedrich Nietzsche Birth Anniversary: Top 10 relatable love quotes by the philosopher - Newsd.in - October 16th, 2020
- Gazing into the abyss | Opinion | dchieftain.com - El Defensor Chieftain - October 16th, 2020
- Schadenfreude over Trumps COVID-19 diagnosis was more about cosmic justice than joy in anothers pain - Jacksonville Journal-Courier - October 16th, 2020
- 5-at-10 on fall break, Day 4: Fab 4 picks, Never picking against Saban, Braves are fine - Chattanooga Times Free Press - October 16th, 2020
- On Face Masks, God, Baseball, Kidneys and Cancer InsideSources - InsideSources - October 16th, 2020
- Artica makes its 'Eternal Return' October 10 and 11: 'Annual celebration of creativity, innovation, and exploration' on North Riverfront - St. Louis... - October 16th, 2020
- Behavioral Psychology and its Practical Implications - The Great Courses Daily News - October 16th, 2020
- Liberalism will remain vulnerable unless it can speak to our need for emotional storytelling - New Statesman - October 16th, 2020
- Lockdown read: The Unbearable Lightness of Being - The Mancunion - October 16th, 2020
- The Wild and the Disaffected: A Conversation with Reinaldo Iturriza (Part I) - Venezuelanalysis.com - October 16th, 2020
- Say yes to the world: On Nietzsche and affirmation - Big Think - September 12th, 2020
- Nietzsche and his wizards - The Rocky Mountain Goat - September 12th, 2020
- An augmented reality art exhibition will debut on the University of Chicago campus - Time Out Chicago - September 12th, 2020
- Ressentiment: He Hates, Therefore He Is | Chronicles - A Magazine of American Culture - September 12th, 2020
- Dangerous Intimacies: Racism, Risk, and Recovery - Psychotherapy.net - September 12th, 2020
- In Gratitude for the Executive Order on Critical Race Theory - Merion West - September 12th, 2020
- Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music by Alex Ross review - The Guardian - September 12th, 2020
- Is 'cultural Marxism' really taking over universities? I crunched some numbers to find out - The Conversation AU - September 12th, 2020
- Lol nothing matters. Or does it? - The Week - September 12th, 2020
- Nietzsche's superman, Islam, and Covid-19 ( Part III) - Daily Times - August 22nd, 2020
- Nietzsche's superman, Islam, and Covid-19 ( Part I) - Daily Times - August 22nd, 2020
- Nietzsche's superman, Islam, and Covid-19 ( Part II) - Daily Times - August 22nd, 2020
- Leprosy of the soul? A brief history of boredom - The Conversation UK - August 22nd, 2020
- Free Will Astrology: August 19, 2020 - River Cities Reader - August 22nd, 2020
- Free Will AstrologyWeek of August 20 | Advice & Fun | Bend - The Source Weekly - August 22nd, 2020
- Don't misrepresent Atheism - The Shillong Times - August 22nd, 2020
- National Couple's Day 2020: Quotes About Love To Share With Your Partner - International Business Times - August 22nd, 2020
- Cold Chain Tracking And Monitoring Market 2020 | Coronavirus Impact Analysis | Trends, Innovation, Growth Opportunities, Demand, Application, Top... - August 22nd, 2020
- David Gilbert on John Hughes and Being Seventeen - The New Yorker - August 22nd, 2020
- On Faith: Individualism is America's religion | Perspective - Rutland Herald - August 22nd, 2020
- We are back in the culture wars, reversed - Las Cruces Sun-News - August 16th, 2020
- The Base: Exporting Accelerationist Terror - Southern Poverty Law Center - August 16th, 2020
- The Spiritual Work of a Worldly Life - Tricycle - August 16th, 2020
- Cold Chain Monitoring Market Research Report 2020 Covering Industry Size, Key Players Profiles, Trends and Forecast 2026 | Sensitech, Inc., NXP... - August 16th, 2020
- DODD COLUMN: Bubble gum came with laughs | Opinion - Evening News and Tribune - June 21st, 2020
- The Triumph of the Social Scientific Method | Carl R. Trueman - First Things - June 21st, 2020
- World Sauntering Day 2020: These 10 Quotes Will Remind You to Slow Down And Enjoy Life - India.com - June 21st, 2020
- Listen to them & understand them' - Ahmedabad Mirror - June 21st, 2020
- The new normal in education - The Jakarta Post - Jakarta Post - June 21st, 2020
- Telling the truth in a post-truth world - The Brussels Times - June 21st, 2020
- When Tribal Journalists Try to 'Cancel' Ayn Rand (Part 2) - New Ideal - June 21st, 2020
- Nihilism - Wikipedia - May 22nd, 2020
- Nietzsches Eternal Return | The New Yorker - May 22nd, 2020
- Best Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes | List of Famous Friedrich ... - May 22nd, 2020
- Graduation in the Times of COVID-19 | Schools Paid - Fallon County Extra - May 22nd, 2020
- Cold Chain Tracking and Monitoring Market Top Manufacturers, Consumption, Sales, Revenue & Trend For Next 5 Years - Cole of Duty - May 22nd, 2020
- These commencement speakers have wise words for these times - erienewsnow.com - May 22nd, 2020
- Gaze in Wonder at This Porsche 917/30 Flat-12 Fresh out of Canepas Shop - Autoweek - May 22nd, 2020
- Coronavirus: The Collapse of Higher Education -Or its Revolution? - Modern Diplomacy - May 22nd, 2020
- 'Outer Banks' co-creators talk Netflix, the UNC-Duke rivalry and the ferry to Chapel Hill - The Daily Tar Heel - May 22nd, 2020
- COVID-19 is a cruel reminder of the human condition - MinnPost - May 13th, 2020
- Your firm and the pandemic: Better after broken - Accounting Today - May 13th, 2020
- The Streets Ponders a Universal Question With New COVID-19 Track - Rolling Stone - May 10th, 2020
- Colby Cosh: Doing 'Houelle' in isolation France's sage transmits to the world - National Post - May 10th, 2020
- The one who integrates is lost - Daily Times - May 10th, 2020
- Global Temperature Data Logger Market Key Players, Application and Business Analysis over Distributed Regions Global Forecast to 2025. - Cole of Duty - May 10th, 2020
- Matters of laugh and death: Imagining 'The Good Place' [column] - LancasterOnline - May 4th, 2020
- Why Indians Need To Be More Rational Than Emotional When It Comes To Politics - Youth Ki Awaaz - May 4th, 2020
- Impact of Covid-19 on Cold Chain Tracking and Monitoring Systems Market Research Report 2020, Thrives the Global Industry Growth at Impressive CAGR... - May 4th, 2020
- Inside the Core this Week - Seton Hall University News & Events - April 30th, 2020
- The Mother Lode: Coronavirus carries unknowns, so does its recovery - CT Insider - April 30th, 2020
- The art of walking | Opinion - Murray Ledger and Times - April 3rd, 2020