If the ongoing coronavirus pandemic hasn’t caused every game coming out later this year to be delayed, then Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok will mark the return of the franchise after it skipped 2019. It’ll also follow the enormous success of AC Odyssey, which was critically and commercially acclaimed when it came out in 2018. Although AC Odyssey was the culmination of everything good about the Assassin’s Creed series, it also drew heavy inspiration from The Witcher 3, which came out more than three years before it. Here are a couple more things that Ubisoft can learn from The Witcher 3 for its upcoming AC Ragnarok.
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The Witcher 3 is one of the biggest RPGs of all time and features several enormous open-world sections for the player to explore. However, one of the biggest aspects of the game comes from the in-game card game known as Gwent, which is a one-on-one card game that simulates battles through character cards assigned with set power points. The character cards are based on actual characters in the game which creates an in-game metagame that even confuses Geralt, the game’s protagonist. The card game resonated with so many fans that developer CD Projekt Red made a standalone digital game and even some real-world card packs.
If Ubisoft is going to continue gradually turning AC games into RPGs, then mini-games are definitely the way to go, and as it stands, there aren’t any in AC Odyssey. AC Ragnarok doesn’t necessarily have to have some kind of card game in the same vein as Gwent in The Witcher 3, but it could add something to do besides the main quests. Speaking of which, Ubisoft could also take some cues from The Witcher 3 regarding story pacing.
Story Structure in AC Odyssey and The Witcher 3
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey does indeed take a lot of inspiration from The Witcher 3. One only needs to look at the dialogue system to see how similar the two games are. Although both games have a lot in common, AC Odyssey tended to have a pacing problem with the story, or at least some of the major quests were spread out a little awkwardly. For example, the Cultists’ storyline is one of the most important ones, and both Alexios and Kassandra are central figures in the events that shape the organization. However, the Cultists’ storyline is also somewhat optional.
The player can complete the game without fully resolving some parts of the plot that were originally thought to be essential to the storyline. The Witcher 3 has many plotlines that are significant to the story, but the game does a good job at setting up where each major plot point fits in the overall narrative. When a player beats The Witcher 3, they get to see what becomes of Geralt and all the major factions of the game. The same isn’t true for AC Odyssey and Ubisoft should address that for AC Ragnarok.
Jora’s Endings Should Be Like Geralt’s Endings
Speaking of endings, both Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and The Witcher 3 have multiple endings, with player choices affecting each outcome. The main problem is that while The Witcher 3 does a great job at closing the story of the game, AC Odyssey falters at its ending because the outcomes that the player can affect are limited to Alexios’ and Kassandra’s family, and not much else. This sort of connects to the previous point that AC Odyssey should’ve done a better job at pacing its most important quests.
The endings of The Witcher 3 are all different from each other, with certain factions winning over the other, and certain characters either living prosperously or dying miserably. It all depends on choices the player makes (like siding with factions, aiding in assassinations, etc.). In AC Odyssey, the player is really only affecting which of the five family members of the main character appear in the ending, if any. Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok would do right to adopt the same style of endings as The Witcher 3, with the player, as main character Jora, affecting the entire world of the game by the time it’s completed.
Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok is rumored to be in development.
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