Comparisons betweenAssassin’s CreedandThe Legend of Zeldaseries are rare for good reason. One is a historical fiction franchise with sci-fi elements and bloody combat, while the other is an action-adventure series set in a fantasy world. However, there is reason to put the two series side by side.
There is a unique common thread that runs between bothAssassin’s CreedandThe Legend of Zeldaas franchises that distinguishes them from most other game series. The different ways the games have handled this similarity, and the differing receptions they have received, have the potential to help both franchises learn from each other when forging paths forward.
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The Assassin’s Creed Structure
Almost allZeldaandAssassin’s Creedgames share the same basic premise with the other games in their franchise. This will not surprise most fans - it makes sense for games in the same series to share common themes and characters. These two franchises, however, take the repetition of their basic structures to the extreme.
In almosteveryAssassin’s Creedgame, there are a few things fans can take as a given. The main conflict in the game will be between the Assassins and the Templars. The player is usually dropped into the role of an Assassin in a new time period, but the balance of power is almost always tipped in favor of the Templars, with the Assassins as the underdogs for the sake of a compelling story.
This leads to gaps in theAssassin’s Creedtimeline, such as the fact thatAssassin’s Creed 3ends in the almost total destruction of the North American Templars, while the order not only returns but is clearly dominant on the continent a few decades later. No matter how the story ends, eachAssassin’s Creedgame almost constitutes a soft reboot with a new setting, and while characters likeEzio Auditorestand out, the plots usually are primarily focused on a never-changing, never-ending conflict behind the scenes of history.
ThoughAssassin’s Creed Valhallaabandons the traditional Templars and Assassins, the new game simply replaces with them with two precursor organizations. The only real difference is the change in names, which is a necessary change for most of the stories which take place before the Third Crusade, the setting of the firstAssassin’s Creedand the historical basis for the actual Nizari Assassins and the Knights Templar.
Any mythological aspect ofAssassin’s Creed’s universe can be traced to theFirst Civilization, the Isu. This leads to similar points in many of theAssassin’s Creedgames where the Assassin protagonist discovers a message left by the Isu. Ezio received messages from the Isu Minerva, Connor inAssassin’s Creed 3speaks to Juno, and so on. Fans can expect that the new game’s Valhalla will be related to the Isu in some way.
TheAssassin’s Creedgames are almost always bookended by segments in the present day, with modern people experiencing their ancestors’ memories throughthe Animus. Originally it was Desmond Miles experiencing his ancestor’s memories through his DNA, but the trend has continued despite these plotlines usually being broadly irrelevant to the main story of the game.
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The Legend of Zelda Structure
The Legend of Zeldagames also almost always constitute something of a soft reboot with the same basic structure. The player is Link, they have to stop Ganon on behalf ofPrincess Zelda, and in doing so they come into contact with a few key returning artifacts and even characters despite the difference in time between the games.
Link almost always completes trials which allow him to come into possession of the Master Sword, for example. The different parts of the Triforce – the Triforce of Wisdom, the Triforce of Power, and the Triforce of Courage – usually feature in a similar role toPieces of Eden inAssassin’s Creedas artifacts of relatively arbitrary but immense power.
There are a few exceptions, such asMajora’s Mask, and it’s worth noting that some Links are supposed to be the same, such as the Link inMajora’s MaskandOcarina of Time.ThoughMajora’s Maskdoes go down a different route in that that Link had already face down Ganondorf inOcarina of Time.
So the question is, how then do these two franchises avoid feeling overly repetitive? And how can they learn from one another’s solutions to this challenge?
Staying Fresh
WithAssassin’s Creedthe answer usually lies in the place and time shift introducing new cities, new historical figures, and new aesthetics.Zeldagames, on the other hand are almost always set in the Kingdom of Hyrule. One big problem facingBreath of the Wild 2is how it will make theHyrule mapof the last game feel original, with some fans hoping that the game would take players to a new location until the use of the original map was confirmed by Nintendo.
Zeldagames generally stay fresh by introducing new unique mechanics and tweaking the genre slightly, such asBreath of the Wild’s immense open world,Majora’s Mask’s looping day, or the Ocarina of Time itself.Assassin’s Creedhas begun to make a genre shift as well, withAssassin’s Creed Odysseyeven doing away with the series’ iconic hidden blades and introducing far stronger RPG elements to the mix with different dialog choices.
Of both series,Assassin’s Creed’s almost yearly output since the first release in 2007 perhaps makes it the more likely franchise to burn out, though for now both franchises are going strong. The developers at bothUbisoftand Nintendo should look to how the other franchise keeps itself fresh despite repeating the same basic structure if they are going to continue to tell similar stories in the future.
Assassin’s Creed Valhallalaunches on November 10th for PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It will release for PlayStation 5 on November 12th.
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