The past fewer Assassin’s Creed titles person been gigantic games that tin easy instrumentality implicit a 100 hours to afloat complete, with immense maps crowded with POIs and tons of broadside quests to distract you from the main story. According to Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the upcoming spin-off, is smaller and much “intimate” due to the fact that fans grew bushed of these elephantine RPGs. And the devs were much than blessed to spell successful this absorption with the latest crippled successful the franchise.

While I’ll beryllium the archetypal to accidental that modern Assassin’s Creed games person been a batch of fun, I’ll besides admit that caller entries successful the bid similar Odyssey and Valhalla person go far excessively large and bloated. More caller Assassin’s Creed games, starting with Origins, person evolved the franchise from a bid of smaller, stealth games acceptable successful ample cities into a postulation of monolithic open-world RPGs often filled with hundreds of quests, broadside quests, collectibles, and places to explore. And if you, similar me, agelong for a smaller, much focused Assassin’s Creed, well, we aren’t alone.

In an interrogation with GamesRadar, Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s originative manager Stéphane Boudon explained that portion Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla were each “great games” that fto players “live an epic journey” it was wide that those players were longing for thing antithetic and smaller.

“Amongst our fans, we started proceeding the tendency for a character-driven story, focused connected the halfway pillars of the archetypal ACs successful a much intimate scale,” explained Boudon. “It resonates with america arsenic well, arsenic developers, and this was the starting constituent of the project.”

Read More: How Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Creators Snuck In Connections To Older Games

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Boudon besides said that portion Mirage came astir from a “convergence of respective inputs” the biggest operator down the upcoming spin-off’s smaller standard and absorption connected communicative came from what the assemblage was asking for aft years of immense RPGs.

Further, Mirage pays homage to the OG Assassin’s Creed crippled starring Altair. Mirage is acceptable successful a akin portion of the world—the Middle East during the 13th century—and features existent assassins and not proto-assassins arsenic seen successful caller games.

I deliberation each of this is simply a large absorption to instrumentality the franchise. I privation to support playing these games, but aft Valhalla, I’m not definite I request yet different 200-hour epic RPG. This could truly assistance premix things up and support the franchise feeling caller and fun. I anticipation this is the commencement of a caller inclination wherever we spot a premix of bigger, open-world entries (Valhalla, Origins) and smaller games focused connected stealth. The franchise tin enactment this mix and it would assistance debar burning retired fans who play each caller crippled AKA me.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is acceptable to merchandise sometime this twelvemonth for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.