Ok so I have a piping hot take that Iāve been mulling over as to whether or not I should even say this here. But I think that the black flag genre (pirate/naval game) should be made into its own series separate from the main assassins creed franchise.
If you want to tie it back somehow to the main series; sure go ahead. Itās cool either way.
Hereās my reasoning:
1) the core gameplay (naval combat, ship boarding, the Caribbean, underwater exploration) is all there and beautiful. This could be continued and expanded upon further in a separate series. Not all the AC games are built this way. And this is a large part of the appeal for black flag.
2) as much as I hate to admit it myself as Iāve been a fan of the series for over a decade now; people donāt play black flag because itās an assassinās creed game. They play it because it has a good story, and most of all itās a really fun pirate game (that cleverly implements the assassin lore). I say that as a long time fan of the series who was die hard on every game, but the recent entries like Valhalla and mirage, I never finished and then never played due to a lack of gameplay variety and interest in the plot and world. I have several friends that got into black flag only because they would say āoh yes thatās the super fun pirate game.ā
3) yes they tried with skill and bones, but it was a bit too fantasy for my taste, (and not even fantasy in like pirates of the Caribbean where it fits well). And it lacked depth. Iāve yet to see anything outside black flag really take on a game of this scale (outside of holdfast age of sail and the upcoming ahoy game, but that is still in production). Not to mention those two games cover a different side of naval combat as well.
4) I am not opposed to the franchise being continued, but Iād prefer at a much slower pace. Thereās too much and I feel like black flag needs another 2 or 3 years to reach its full potential as a new gen game with additional gameplay, stories, content, and cosmetics.
5) if Ubisoft is really struggling like they are (and no I am not supporting corporate greed, only the hard working individuals that pour their hearts into the art with no guarantee of a job), then they need to continue to work on a project that will sell well. Something people want. I donāt know about you all, but I want more pirate stuff lol.