Historical realism has always been a double edged sword for Assassin’s Creed.

On the one hand, it gives the series a unique selling point and allows players to explore events and periods they once studied or are passionate about. Nothing can compare to the sensation of climbing a place you’ve actually visited in person. Yet for the developers it places plenty of restrictions, with narrative and gameplay options having to be cut in exchange for accuracy. 

As the years have gone on, it seems that the second point has become the predominant factor in deciding Ubisoft’s approach. The first game saw crossbows removed after they found out they hadn’t been invented until after the game took place, yet now players can ride unicorns into battles against magical beasts while wielding flaming swords. 

I’m sure there’s a belief that these flashier points help sell the games and there’s undoubtedly a fanbase for this new style. 

But we now have Kingdom Come Deliverance II (KCD2), Warhorse Studios’ latest epic that puts realism first and foremost and has managed to top charts. 

The game is unforgiving, putting you into appropriately heavy armour with unwieldy weapons and no magical instant healing potions. That charm is what makes it such a masterpiece, as within the first hour you’ll find yourself immersed within this recreation of medieval Bohemia and excited to see a trough of water so you can give Henry a quick wash. 

I truly believe Assassin’s Creed could learn a lot from this approach, and while I don’t wish to see all these complex systems ported across to the series, there are plenty that would fit right in. 

Combat

The first Kingdom Come - which while well received was far from perfect - had janky combat that the sequel thankfully streamlines into a much more enjoyable experience. In fact, I’d go as far as saying it’s one of my favourite takes on sword and shield gameplay. 

It’s a thrilling challenge, where you and the AI are forced to play by the same rules. You both have low health, with three or four good hits resulting in death, and enemies can block your attacks just as easily as you can block theirs. Every encounter becomes a strategy game, as you search for weaknesses in the opponents defence, perfectly time strikes, and end up in tense back and forth parries where one wrong move could be your demise.

Part of the Assassin fantasy has always been the notion of being a glass cannon, who can deal highly damaging precision strikes while always teetering on the cusp of death. The idea is of course that stealth is the best option. Yet the gameplay has never really played into that, with most protagonists able to destroy armies with ease. Up until Unity, an easy to pull-off counter was an instant win, and saw Ezio slice through plated armour like it was made of butter. Subsequent games have attempted to up the challenge by turning enemies into damage sponges, though that’s only served to make combat feel tedious.

While KCD2’s system would not perfectly fit into AC, after all, stylish animations and finishers  are part of the series’ charm, a similarly strategic approach would be perfect. Enemies should go down in a handful of good hits, with focus placed not on spamming attacks but timing and planning the perfect opportunities. Assassins similarly shouldn’t feel like tanks, with dodging, movement and position taking priority in combat just as much as it does in stealth. 

Resources

When you’re let loose in the open world of KCD2 you have barely a penny to your name, no weapons and a handful of rags. There’s no cinematic suit up or narrative aid, you’re left to figure out how to survive on your own. 

Personally, I spoke to locals, and after finding out bandits had been burying their victims in a nearby farmer’s field, scraped up enough to buy a shovel and went digging. I came back with some basic armour, a dull axe, and some supplies I could sell to a local merchant. After a few lucky goes at a game of dice, I managed to lose the money I’d earned through reckless gambling, without any fail safes or easy fixes. 

It was great, an experience that felt truly unique to me and challenged me to think about the world as more than just a cardboard cut-out of history. 

Since Assassin’s Creed began adding RPG systems, with an endless stream of loot and gear, the actual act of acquiring new armour and weapons has always felt too easy. An hour into Odyssey and you’ll have more swords than you know what to do with, and quest rewards often feel worthless since you’ll find something of a higher level within moments. Valhalla and Mirage attempted to fix this, though faced their own issues with their approach. 

Resources need to become more scarce - you shouldn’t be walking around with more gold than the emperor and an entire nation’s arsenal strapped to your back. The idea of being an impoverished Assassin, who fits in within the starving crowds and can’t risk carrying huge weapons in case it exposes them feels like a set-up truly unique to the series and requires limitations to work. 

Routines

The AI in KCD2 is obscenely intricate. NPCs return home twice a day to enjoy a meal with their family, where they discuss events in the world that if you listen to may point you in the direction of loot or quests. Guards have different shift patterns that will affect stealth, and dogs will sniff out any potential thieves.

Origins proudly produced a similar system, with guards going to sleep at night and Phylakes patrolling the world in real-time. I think these features make a real difference in a game’s execution. To immerse yourself in a targets’ life, using common sense to figure out the perfect plan of attack - like targeting them when they go for a meal - would add an extra dimension to the gameplay, and reality of the world.

At the end of the day, I’m a classic AC fan. I don’t want to see the series descend further with RPG features, but looking at these types of games can prove valuable. 

New developers are pushing the medium further and further, and acknowledging the innovation or successes of other games can only help AC reach its full potential.