Assassin’s Creed the most beautiful settings: the ranking from worst to best
In anticipation of the release of Shadows, which will finally take us to feudal Japan, let’s find out which have been the best Assassin’s Creed settings so far.
What are the most beautiful settings in Assassin’s Creed? Ever since the Ubisoft series took its first steps, it was clear that the scenarios that each chapter allowed us to visit, reproduced to the best of the possibilities offered by the latest technologies, were protagonists of those adventures as much as the characters we found ourselves playing.
The concept of genetic memory and the Animus device that allows you to (literally!) relive it were absolutely brilliant narrative devices, which the saga was able to exploit to the fullest to make us travel virtually within the most magnificent locations that human history can remember.
Precisely for this reason, drawing up a ranking of this kind cannot ignore individual sensibilities: what you see below is our personal top 10, but we are also interested in reading what yours are: write them in the comments to the article.
Assassin’s Creed the most beautiful settings: the ranking from worst to best
10 – Victorian London (Assassin’s Creed Syndicate)
For one reason or another, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate ‘s Victorian London is one of the settings in the Ubisoft series that has impressed us the least . Let’s be clear: we have nothing against the English capital or the historical period in which the story of the twins Jacob and Evie Frye takes place, which is indeed very interesting and offers multiple possibilities on a narrative level.
The problem probably lies in the fact that this map arrived after the extraordinary Paris of Unity, placing rather aggressive constraints on parkour (an element that had strongly characterized the series up until then) due to the excessively large spaces between the streets and the buildings: an approach that ends up diminishing the city’s otherwise very valid architecture.
9 – Caribbean (Assassin’s Creed Black Flag)
A choice that will surely be discussed, judging by the amount of people who still consider Black Flag one of the best chapters of Assassin’s Creed , or even the best overall. However, if your favorite episode is the one that distances itself the most from the saga, from its traditional mechanics and from its approach to the representation of the scenarios, then maybe you should ask yourself a few questions.
There is no doubt that the Caribbean has been reproduced in Edward Kenway’s adventure in a wonderful way, and in fact in terms of colors and the beauty of some views Black Flag still dictates the law today . However, the cities present within this open world are small and do not leave a mark, and the area to explore extends almost exclusively on the water to support the gameplay focus on navigation and battles in the open sea.
8 – Constantinople (Assassin’s Creed Revelations)
While it is true that the trailer for Assassin’s Creed Revelations is probably the most beautiful and engaging that the Ubisoft series can remember , so full of meaning for fans of Ezio Auditore’s saga, in the same way the impact with the setting of Constantinople has somewhat disappointed the enormous expectations of users after the magnificence of the Italian Renaissance.
Although it has a unique profile and some rather suggestive architecture, the capital of the Ottoman Empire cannot count on the atmospheres seen previously and is therefore less fascinating , even if it introduces some interesting movement mechanics such as those linked to the use of the Hook Blade.
7 – England (Assassin’s Creed Valhalla)
The last part of the so-called “Ancient Trilogy” of Assassin’s Creed, Valhalla is probably the episode that has moved furthest from the original concept of the series: the protagonist is not part of the Brotherhood, but has a different nature and moves within a setting, that of 9th century England, which focuses on the landscapes rather than the architecture .
Let’s be clear: the open world we visited in command of Eivor has some of the most suggestive views ever seen in a video game , truly capable of capturing the attention and reaffirming that sense of adventure and discovery that the saga had just recovered, but the cities present in the enormous map are truly modest.
6 – Baghdad (Assassin’s Creed Mirage)
We were torn about where exactly to place the beautiful Baghdad from the golden age of Assassin’s Creed Mirage in this ranking, but in the end we opted for sixth place, on the edge of the top 5. The setting of the chapter starring Basim pays the price for its limited size , which was nevertheless part of Ubisoft’s plans from the beginning.
The idea behind the adventure was in fact to pay homage to the classic episodes , the first one in particular, eliminating any reference to the RPG elements of the most recent trilogy and reintroducing simple solutions with the aim of winking at nostalgics: from parkour to stealth, from posters to the presence of more dangerous enemies.
5 – Ancient Egypt (Assassin’s Creed Origins)
It is certainly an extraordinary mix, the one we find in Assassin’s Creed Origins : the chapter that narrates the birth of the Hidden Ones in opposition to the Order of the Ancients, within a story of revenge, love and sacrifice that takes place within a fascinating setting such as that of ancient Egypt. So close and yet so far from the central elements of the saga.
The open world that you can explore in command of Bayek includes vast sandy expanses, but also the extraordinary spectacle of the pyramids and two cities that the developers have recreated on the basis of documents and expert advice , managing to bring to the screen the wonderful temples of Memphis and even the legendary Lighthouse of Alexandria.
4 – Ancient Greece (Assassin’s Creed Odyssey)
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s Ancient Greece essentially combines the evocative panoramas of Valhalla and the architecture of Origins to give us an extraordinary setting, gigantic yet surprisingly rich in points of interest, often the fruit of the developers’ imagination but also of in-depth research aimed at understanding what those lands looked like at the time of the Peloponnesian War.
Playing as Kassandra or Alexios, the game lets you visit the largest map ever created for the series , which however is not limited to wide open spaces and water, but includes several cities with splendid architecture, large temples and gigantic statues adorning them, with Sparta and Athens undoubtedly being the most representative places of this open world.
3- Acre, Damascus and Jerusalem (Assassin’s Creed)
A third place that is definitely the product of nostalgia and feelings, the one we assigned to the original Assassin’s Creed and its setting, which includes the cities of Acre, Damascus and Jerusalem, as well as obviously the Masyaf that served as a base for the Brotherhood of Assassins. These are settings that, when revisited today, highlight all their limitations, but in 2007 the situation was very different .
The atmosphere of those places, the mysterious charm of the lairs, the races on the rooftops, the vertical development of the stages and the climbing mechanics, much slower and more reasoned than those that came later, are all elements that have laid the very solid foundations on which the Assassin’s Creed series still rests today , and which it has exploited to be able to build something even more ambitious and significant over the years.
2 – Revolutionary Paris (Assassin’s Creed Unity)
Ubisoft intended Assassin’s Creed Unity to be the definitive chapter in the series, with a setting that was extremely significant for the French company and a technical and artistic achievement that, in some respects, remains unmatched to this day. The ultimate expression of Assassin’s Creed, with its merits and its defects .
Exploring the Paris of 1789 is still a pleasure: magnificent in terms of architecture, designed to enhance Arno’s parkour and allow him to move quickly from one neighborhood to another while enjoying the view, perhaps near the Notre Dame cathedral, the city is full of life in the streets and has a quantity of passers-by that has not been seen again in the subsequent chapters.
1- Renaissance Italy (Assassin’s Creed 2, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood)
Did anyone have any doubts? The Renaissance Italy of Assassin’s Creed 2 , and to a lesser extent of Brotherhood , was the setting that truly consecrated the series, thanks above all to the incredible charm of Florence and Venice : magical places, which in that context and with that music still resonate today in the minds and hearts of millions of fans.
Assassin’s Creed 2 – E3 2009 Gameplay
The epic of Ezio Auditore, his dramatic baptism of fire, the narrative interweaving between historical and fictional realities of such an evocative and interesting period have established a very solid emotional foundation for a franchise that over time has not been able to recreate the same alchemy, while keeping those places and characters firmly in mind as a point of reference.
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