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The plot is set in a fictional history of real-world events, taking place primarily during the Third Crusade in the Holy Land in 1191. The player character is a modern-day man named Desmond Miles who, through a machine called the Animus, relives the genetic memories of his ancestor, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. Through this plot device, details emerge about a millennia-old struggle between two factions: the Assassin Brotherhood (inspired by the real-life Order of Assassins), who fight to preserve peace and free will, and the Templar Order (inspired by the Knights Templar military order), who seek to establish peace through order and control. Both factions fight over powerful artifacts of mysterious origins known as Pieces of Eden to gain an advantage over each other. The 12th-century portion of the story follows Altaïr, an Assassin, who embarks on a quest to regain his honour after botching a mission to recover one such artifact from the Templars; he does so by finding and assassinating nine targets across the Holy Land.
Microbadges:
- rich historical settings and atmosphere
- thoughtful integration of religious themes into gameplay
- strong world-building and lore
- potential controversy over religious depictions
- historical liberties may frustrate scholars
- religion, power, conflict between Templars and Assassins; sacred artifacts reinterpreted through sci-fi elements
- Jerusalem and diverse historical locales across the Crusades era; integration of religious history and artifacts
- historical fiction with sci-fi/mythic overlay
- God of War
- The Legend of Zelda
- World of Warcraft
- BioShock Infinite
- Final Fantasy
- Horizon Zero Dawn
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Environmental storytelling — Narrative conveyed through quests, locations and artifacts
- Open-world exploration — Large historically inspired environments to explore and traverse
- parkour traversal — Fluid movement across rooftops and structures
- stealth-action hybrid — Blends stealth takedowns with active combat
- Storytelling — Narrative conveyed through quests, locations and artifacts
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's fundamentally about religion
- the reason religion is in there... very often people explain it as like a form of atmosphere or magic
- Ideology is made not by thoughts and figuring things out. Ideology is made by actions and money
- Money talks
- Players from different cultural and religious backgrounds would read games differently