Assassin’s Creed Originswas a massively ambitious release from Ubisoft, heralding some sweeping core changes to the franchise’s expected formula. With a clear focus on open-world RPG elements, the title represented a huge gamble which would ultimately carry forward within the IP’s next few installments.
Taking the franchise to Egypt,Assassin’s Creed Originsportrayed the earliest iteration of the Assassin Brotherhood in great detail, showcasing how its precursor group of the Hidden Ones came to be. Although this controversial change of core gameplay has mixed reviews from fans, the legacy ofOriginsin the development ofAC OdysseyandValhallais massively important.
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The RPG Formula of Assassin’s Creed Origins
Assassin’s Creed Originsreleased in 2017, exhibiting massive gameplay differences toAC Syndicatewhich came just two years before. By sacrificing a lot of the close-knit stealth sequences that theACfranchise was built on,Originsinstead opted for a sprawling open-worldin its detailed portrayal of Egypt towards the end of the Ptolemaic era.
The size ofOrigins' map is a staggering 21 times larger thanSyndicate’s, with this unprecedented increase in scale having a huge impact on the title’s gameplay. With the player having a huge variety of locations to explore, the title smartly adopted many staple RPG features to fill its expanded gameplay. For example,Originswas the firstACtitle to possess a skill treeas well as a dedicated leveling system, allowing the player to tailor their playstyle to a variety of approaches.
To complement this, the game was also the first to introduce crafting and gear that scales to combat level, doing wonders for the progression of the title. While these new mechanics were quite polarizing, they simply laid the foundations of a much more complex RPG system that would dominate bothAssassin’s Creed Odysseyand the laterValhalla.
Origins' RPG Influence on AC Odyssey and Valhalla
2018’sAssassin’s Creed Odysseycarried forward the new RPG identityof the franchise, taking the IP to Ancient Greece. Boasting a map similar in size toOrigins,Odysseydoubled down on its predecessor’s RPG elements to create a much more complex experience.
Off the bat,Odysseyallows the player to choose between two distinct protagonists, eitherplaying as Alexios or Kassandra. This choice speaks volumes to the level of narrative control thatOdysseygives the player, with relationships between characters and core story arcs being directly influenced by the player.Odysseyboasts a range of romance options, for example, with other situations potentially being handled through deceit or direct optional combat.Assassin’s Creed Odysseywas also the first franchise title to boast multiple endings, with its RPG improvements overOriginslying mainly in its narrative freedom.
Assassin’s Creed Valhallacame in 2020, maintaining the protagonist choice ofOdysseyduring the time of Vikings.Valhallaalso carried forward the narrative choice ofOdyssey, while now allowing the player to level up certain speech characteristics to unlock different dialogue approaches. The release maintained all the RPG elements ofOrigins, while also taking inspiration from its mythologically-inspired battles in its take of Anglo-Saxon England.
Many ofValhalla’s core story elements and DLC see the player embody Odin, telling the sequences of Ragnarok and smartly tying them to the widerAssassin’s Creedlore. This pushedAC’s RPG elements to their essential limit, with the upcomingAC Redreportedly being the last RPG title for the IP. While bothOdysseyandValhallabuilt upon them significantly, the RPG elements ofOriginshad an astounding residual impact on the two titles.
Assassin’s Creed: Originsis available now for Amazon Luna, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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