026
OPINION
Nicole Hall
Devs need to master the art of balancing the old and new
ASSASSIN’S CREED SHOWS
HOW AN ESTABLISHED SERIES
CAN WELCOME NEWCOMERS
WHILE STILL PLEASING
LONG-TERM FANS.
D
evil May Cry was a game
I’d always turned my nose
up at. Although the lure
of its horror hack ’n’ slash
vibe and extensive
catalogue of demonic
creatures had grown fierce, I simply
wasn’t willing to set aside hours of
my time playing catch-up across a
daunting four ‘core’ instalments.
Now DMC5 is one of my most
anticipated games of this year, and I
have the DmC (2013) reboot to
thank for that.
DmC modernised the series’
trademark gameplay and rebranded its
protagonist, Dante, in a completely
new story that required no prior
knowledge of the series. Following
this, DMC5 is now arguably less
overwhelming. It’s clearly reconciled
and balanced the nuances born of the
reboot with the deep-rooted lore and
well-loved characters that have kept
the series buoyant since DMC1 to
stand clear of the daunting
shadow cast by the number
in its title.
This highlights the
meticulous balancing act
developers face when
working with a long-
running series. How do
you concoct a warm
starting point for keen
new players while
expanding the lore
and maintaining the
interest of
long-term fans?
Enter Assassin’s
Creed Odyssey.
It’s no secret that the widely
loved series ditched its priorstealthy, action-adventure approach
along with numeric titles long ago,
instead opting for all out open-
world RPG carnage as showcased
in Odyssey.
This has piqued the interest of
a mass of new players, urging
them to test the vast, vibrant
waters of its latest masterpiece.
I get asked frequently if you
can come into the series at
Origins or Odyssey and
truth is, yes, you can.
Don’t get me wrong,
I completely
understand the
hesitation. The
core AC
instalments
now amount to an intimidating
ten-plus titles spanning generations
of hardware. Any sucker for a good
narrative will seek the reassurancethat they aren’t jeopardising any plot
coherence by not trudging through
every predecessor beforehand.A NEW BEGINNING
Assassin’s Creed games have
reached the point where each can
be considered an entirely discrete
experience from the last. This has
proved key for invoking an appeal to
new audiences with little, if any, AC
experience. Odyssey sets a new bar
for freshness in the series, flaunting
two brand-spanking-new leads as a
standout feature to tempt all manner
of audiences. Lore is stripped back
to basics and retold, negating any
dependence on prior AC knowledge
and reaffirming the curiosity of players
without any (it’s set hundreds of
years before any of the other games).
That said, there’s still oodles to stay
the shaky hands of Assassin’s Creed
aficionados too. Ubisoft has ensured
a flurry of new characters, quests and
collectables are scattered throughout
Odyssey to fluff out the lore even
further alongside countless nostalgic
nods to past games.
Rolling out additional releases for a
long-running series, each teeming
with fresh content that both embraces
newcomers and maintains the smiles
on the faces of committed fans, is no
easy task. It’s not as simple as keeping
a fire alive by carelessly casting on
more kindling. It requires patience and
planning not to tarnish a perfectly
good series. As the medium gets older,
long-standing series will need to find
this equilibrium to survive – to grow
with the tastes and expectations of
players while remaining true to their
roots and fanbases in turn.WRITER BIO
Nicole Hall is a huge Assassins Creed fan, her
shelves brimming with AC merchandise. She’s
thrilled at how recent instalments have
encouraged newcomers to try the series,
while the games remain true to the roots that
kick-started her love for the franchise.