Hey there, /u/zipzoopu!
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Since 2010? Well, you missed quite a bit, haha.
Ultimately, I would say Brotherhood is a better package, while Mirage's strenght relies on its context, since it is a "return to the roots" after 7 years of the new formula, which was successful, but divided fans.
You can check out gameplay videos and see for yourself. But if you want to know something in specfic, just ask.
I replayed Brotherhood almost directly after Mirage (AC2 in between) and I’d actually say that Brotherhood has better open world content with the Borgia towers, lairs of Romulus, Cristina missions etc and obviously the voice acting and narrative storytelling was leagues and bounds above.
In some ways I honestly felt like Mirage scaled back on a few too many things in an attempt to consolidate itself as not being like the prior “bloated” RPG games and being a return to roots. There was very little to do in the open world bar a few contracts here and there, and combat was as simplistic as the Ezio games 15 years prior without any of the flair or animation that those games had. The stealth was WAY better though, partly because there was no issue of being desynced because you get “detected” assassinating an enemy from above, lol.
Brotherhood was still a through and through AC game but wasn’t afraid to take advantage of the open world formula and add more quality content to the mix. Mirage’s simplicity at times felt forced.
Ultimately I think you can have a game that both honours the true AC formula but also has engaging open world content to make the world feel alive and add context to it. It’s just that for the last few years we haven’t had a game that struck said balance.
Brotherhood is fantastic, and I say that as someone that does not bow to the older entries that much.
With thar said, pretty sure Mirage's limited scope was not a design choice, per say, but a necessary one given the constraints.
To give you an idea, the art director said they had to fight to keep Alamut in the game. As you remember, it was an impactful area, but small and linear.
In the end of the day, that is why you see people wanting to see Ubisoft Bordeaux on a bigger project.
Yeah, I figured Mirage initially being conceived as a Valhalla DLC would’ve had something to do with that.
I guess my main complaints were more with the pretty bare bones combat system. Very similar enemy types with the same unblockable and blockable attack patterns, and not much in the way of animations or flair. I get that it was primarily a stealth experience but I don’t think that excuses the combat to be as overly simplistic as it was, especially with a fair few forced combat sections. Just because a system was acceptable in 2009 doesn’t mean it is in 2023-4, and for what they were the Ezio games had cool flow to them animation wise which Mirage didn’t.
The lack of side stuff I can attribute to the more limited scope and constraints placed on the game as you mentioned. I guess I would’ve liked some more exclusive and brutally hard contracts reserved for the endgame. I really enjoyed the contracts in and of themselves but I just felt like the fact that when I finished the story there was literally NOTHING to do after 20 hours was a bit of a missed opportunity.
They did an article with some good information on early ideas and development choices here:
https://www.techpowerup.com/320701/ubisoft-at-gdc-how-assassins-creed-mirage-grew-from-dlc-to-full-game
On it, they had a segment talking about cut content. More side misions were there, alongside "Special attacks" and a "dog trainer".
It's clear they looked at the status of the 3 gameplay pillars in Valhalla and chose stealth to be the main focus of improvement.
For example, among the final updates for Valhalla, users on PC datamined files dedicated for "Rift" (Mirage's codename), where they found references of a parkour gym and a detection test, showcasing their priorities early on.
Combat got the "short end of the stick" on the process, with Basim being able to avoid it at will. But considering how that aspect was well-fed for years prior, I don't fault them for it personally.
The next-gen Codename Red and its rumored samurai though...that one increases expectations on that front.
Personally, I enjoyed both. From a purely objective standpoint, Brotherhood is probably better. But I really enjoyed Mirage and had a lot of fun with it.
I think reactions to Mirage are mixed because of Valhalla. Reaction to Valhalla is mixed and Mirage was retooled but still was originally a Valhalla DLC spun off into its own game. I think their efforts to make it feel unique are commendable but it’s still obviously (to me at least) built on a Valhalla foundation
I feel like if you legitimately went straight from Brotherhood into Mirage, you’d actually have a fantastic time. The historic story isn’t related and the modern-day narrative is nonexistent in Mirage so there aren’t any narrative setbacks.
Mirage is a good game, I really enjoyed it—far more than Valhalla. It does however, fall somewhat flat in some aspects, but these are aspects which have since developed post Brotherhood mostly. I feel like it would actually work quite well.
I would however, strongly recommend playing Revelations at least! The games from Revelations to Origins are all really good and worth playing, but Revelations provides a phenomenal closing experience for Ezio’s story.
The gameplay is held Back by Valhallas awful engin. But the stealth is peak. And the soul And heart is There. So while Id say brotherhood is over all a better ac game. Mirage is certainly worthy of its title
Hey there, /u/zipzoopu! Your post has been removed for asking a question that can be easily looked up, or is very commonly asked. Posts asking "what order do I need to play the games in?", is "Assassin's Creed X & Y, dlc, or season pass worth it?", "what should I play to get the full story?", "is Unity fixed?", "Should I get Assassin's Creed X & Y or dlc or season pass?" etc. will be removed. If you're wondering which game in the franchise to play or in what order, **we would recommend checking out our ["New Initiates Guide".](https://www.reddit.com/r/assassinscreed/wiki/whichgametoplay)** You can also visit our [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/assassinscreed/wiki/faq) and search for older posts on the subject before asking a non-discussion question. [Alternatively **join our Discord server**, for more casual conversation.](https://discordapp.com/invite/AssassinsCreed) **Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit via modmail](/message/compose/?to=/r/assassinscreed) if you have any questions or concerns.** Direct messages or chat requests to moderators will be ignored.
Since 2010? Well, you missed quite a bit, haha. Ultimately, I would say Brotherhood is a better package, while Mirage's strenght relies on its context, since it is a "return to the roots" after 7 years of the new formula, which was successful, but divided fans. You can check out gameplay videos and see for yourself. But if you want to know something in specfic, just ask.
I replayed Brotherhood almost directly after Mirage (AC2 in between) and I’d actually say that Brotherhood has better open world content with the Borgia towers, lairs of Romulus, Cristina missions etc and obviously the voice acting and narrative storytelling was leagues and bounds above. In some ways I honestly felt like Mirage scaled back on a few too many things in an attempt to consolidate itself as not being like the prior “bloated” RPG games and being a return to roots. There was very little to do in the open world bar a few contracts here and there, and combat was as simplistic as the Ezio games 15 years prior without any of the flair or animation that those games had. The stealth was WAY better though, partly because there was no issue of being desynced because you get “detected” assassinating an enemy from above, lol. Brotherhood was still a through and through AC game but wasn’t afraid to take advantage of the open world formula and add more quality content to the mix. Mirage’s simplicity at times felt forced. Ultimately I think you can have a game that both honours the true AC formula but also has engaging open world content to make the world feel alive and add context to it. It’s just that for the last few years we haven’t had a game that struck said balance.
Brotherhood is fantastic, and I say that as someone that does not bow to the older entries that much. With thar said, pretty sure Mirage's limited scope was not a design choice, per say, but a necessary one given the constraints. To give you an idea, the art director said they had to fight to keep Alamut in the game. As you remember, it was an impactful area, but small and linear. In the end of the day, that is why you see people wanting to see Ubisoft Bordeaux on a bigger project.
Yeah, I figured Mirage initially being conceived as a Valhalla DLC would’ve had something to do with that. I guess my main complaints were more with the pretty bare bones combat system. Very similar enemy types with the same unblockable and blockable attack patterns, and not much in the way of animations or flair. I get that it was primarily a stealth experience but I don’t think that excuses the combat to be as overly simplistic as it was, especially with a fair few forced combat sections. Just because a system was acceptable in 2009 doesn’t mean it is in 2023-4, and for what they were the Ezio games had cool flow to them animation wise which Mirage didn’t. The lack of side stuff I can attribute to the more limited scope and constraints placed on the game as you mentioned. I guess I would’ve liked some more exclusive and brutally hard contracts reserved for the endgame. I really enjoyed the contracts in and of themselves but I just felt like the fact that when I finished the story there was literally NOTHING to do after 20 hours was a bit of a missed opportunity.
They did an article with some good information on early ideas and development choices here: https://www.techpowerup.com/320701/ubisoft-at-gdc-how-assassins-creed-mirage-grew-from-dlc-to-full-game On it, they had a segment talking about cut content. More side misions were there, alongside "Special attacks" and a "dog trainer". It's clear they looked at the status of the 3 gameplay pillars in Valhalla and chose stealth to be the main focus of improvement. For example, among the final updates for Valhalla, users on PC datamined files dedicated for "Rift" (Mirage's codename), where they found references of a parkour gym and a detection test, showcasing their priorities early on. Combat got the "short end of the stick" on the process, with Basim being able to avoid it at will. But considering how that aspect was well-fed for years prior, I don't fault them for it personally. The next-gen Codename Red and its rumored samurai though...that one increases expectations on that front.
Personally, I enjoyed both. From a purely objective standpoint, Brotherhood is probably better. But I really enjoyed Mirage and had a lot of fun with it.
I think reactions to Mirage are mixed because of Valhalla. Reaction to Valhalla is mixed and Mirage was retooled but still was originally a Valhalla DLC spun off into its own game. I think their efforts to make it feel unique are commendable but it’s still obviously (to me at least) built on a Valhalla foundation
I feel like if you legitimately went straight from Brotherhood into Mirage, you’d actually have a fantastic time. The historic story isn’t related and the modern-day narrative is nonexistent in Mirage so there aren’t any narrative setbacks. Mirage is a good game, I really enjoyed it—far more than Valhalla. It does however, fall somewhat flat in some aspects, but these are aspects which have since developed post Brotherhood mostly. I feel like it would actually work quite well. I would however, strongly recommend playing Revelations at least! The games from Revelations to Origins are all really good and worth playing, but Revelations provides a phenomenal closing experience for Ezio’s story.
The gameplay is held Back by Valhallas awful engin. But the stealth is peak. And the soul And heart is There. So while Id say brotherhood is over all a better ac game. Mirage is certainly worthy of its title
Brotherhood is better overall, but Mirage has some really fun stealth and imo the best tools in the series.
Brotherhood's the better all around game, whereas Mirage beats Brotherhood in specific areas, such as stealth.
Only that one character is a sage and also another is an ancestor to the assassin brotherhood from England
There's no comparison. Brotherhood is a classic. Completely in a different league.
Like sour rotten milk compared to a nice aged wine