What's up, everyone? Today I want to share some more shots from my time with Assassin's Creed Mirage. This time, I focused on capturing moments of what we could call the "routine" actions in the game things that really highlight how well made it is and the incredible attention to detail the developers put into it.
Hands down, exploration is the most common thing you do in a video game. It’s what takes up most of your time unlocking new areas, visiting breathtaking spots, and just wandering the streets to discover a city. I love the Assassin's Creed saga because it actually teaches you history; they have a "Codex" section where you can learn about the real world foundations of the city you're playing in.
It’s been great walking through the streets of Baghdad and seeing how alive they feel. The sheer amount of NPCs going about their business is some of the best I’ve seen. Even though interaction is almost zero, the citizens really only react when you rob them or kill a soldier it’s nothing like RDR2, but it’s good enough to make the world feel immersive and exciting. Whether I was navigating the canals or passing through the markets to see how trade worked back then, it’s all very well executed.
The wildlife and the wilderness aren't bad at all, either. When you head out of the city into the desert, oases, farmland, and mountains, nature takes over. There’s a good variety of animals birds, goats, camels, snakes, and jaguars, which are really the only ones that pose a threat. You can kill any of them, but it doesn't really benefit the character (like getting food or pelts), so that aspect of the game isn't really exploited.
The way the time of day changes and the lighting shifts until nightfall is pretty impressive. While in my opinion it doesn't quite compare to what you see in Ghost of Yotei, Assassin's Creed Mirage has very solid lighting design, and it creates some beautiful colors in the environments where you play.
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to Ubisoft. Even though you can tell they put more effort into this one taking more time for the release and stepping away from that crazy "one game per year" schedule the bugs are still there. Honestly, they aren't as bad as before; I probably only ran into about four bugs in the whole game. Still, it’s almost like they leave them in on purpose as part of their identity, knowing the community will always call them "Bugisoft."
Images taken by ©danielcarrerag with the PS5 capture option, copyright reserved. These images may not be reproduced, distributed or used without the express permission of the author.