Assassin's Creed Mirage's Smallest Litter Was Swayed By Weary Fans

Assassin's Creed Mirage is a smaller Assassin's Creed game with a budget price of $49.99. This decision was apparently at least partially influenced by fans who were fed up with the series' swelling scope.

According to GamesRadar, creative director Stéphane Boudon said the move was a "convergence of multiple entries", but the community was first on their minds.

"Among our fans, we began to hear the desire for a character-driven story, centered around the core pillars of the first [Assassin's Creed titles] on a more intimate scale," he said. declared. "That also resonates with us, as developers, and that was the starting point for the project."

2017's Assassin's Creed Origins was the first entry to push further into traditional RPG territory and takes around 30 hours to beat and 84 hours to complete, according to HowLongToBeat. The 2018 Odyssey built on that and takes around 45 hours to beat and 144 hours to complete. 2020's Valhalla is the longest in the franchise, as it takes around 60 hours to scroll through the credits and around 140 hours to complete. While that completion time is a bit less than Odyssey, Valhalla has a lot more free and paid DLC, meaning that number is closer to 200 hours. (Editor's note: It took me 197 hours to get all the trophies in Valhalla. - Michael Leri)

Even though recent entries have done well critically (they sit at 85, 84, and 83 respectively) and commercially (Origins and Odyssey have sold over 10 million units and Valhalla has generated over $1 billion), many fans and critics have expressed their displeasure with the show's growing bloat. Some see it as a move away from the roots of the franchise, while others simply want a more focused game with less repetitive content.

Ubisoft originally said that Valhalla was going to be smaller than Odyssey, as Malek Teffaha, Ubisoft's Middle East Communications Manager, said in a now-deleted tweet, stating that the team " responded to criticism on this one" regarding its length. This was quickly pushed back as Ubisoft said the map was "probably a bit larger" than Odyssey's.

The truth is a bit more difficult to calculate exactly. As seen in the DG VFX comparison video below, it looks like Odyssey and Black Flag are the biggest entries. However, these installments have a lot more water in them, and Valhalla has several landmasses in the base game and its DLC that aren't factored in, meaning Valhalla likely still beat those games. Either way, it looks like Mirage won't be vying for that top spot.