One of the complaints about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is how huge the game is, with multiple DLCs and extensive maps that could take some players more than 200 hours to thoroughly explore and complete. This will not be the case with Assassin’s Creed Mirage, according to creative director Stéphane Boudon, who spoke to GamesRadar+ in a new interview and confirmed that the latest installment in the franchise would feature a “more intimate scale.” The implication is that Mirage will be smaller in size and feel more similar to older Assassin’s Creed games, including the 2007 title that started it all.
From a GamesRadar+ report:
[…] creative director Stéphane Boudon said that while “a convergence of several inputs” helped shape the creation of Mirage, the first in their mind is the voice of the community. “Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla. They are all great games with the promise to live an epic journey in a strong fantasy,” he says.
2017’s Origins marked a notable departure from the original Assassin’s Creed formula, adjusting the series closer to a traditional RPG and moving on from many of the ideas that had been present in the games from their inception all the way up to Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. But after Odyssey’s world eclipsed Origins’ and Valhalla grew larger still, fans wanted another change of tack:
“Amongst our fans, we started hearing the desire for a character-driven story, focused on the core pillars of the first ACs in a more intimate scale. It resonates with us as well, as developers, and this was the starting point of the project.“
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is scheduled for release on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Epic, PC, and Amazon Luna in 2023. The game stars Basim, an Assassin who was initially introduced in 2020’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. It is meant to be a tribute to the original Assassin’s Creed game.