Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced Might Be Adding As Many Problems As It’s Fixing

There are always the usual questions when a remake for an already-beloved game gets announced. What about it is actually new beyond the visual upgrade? Why is this specific title getting the remake treatment and not another game in the same series? And, most importantly, why remake this older game in a different engine, with new recorded voice lines, different gameplay, and reimagined characters and storylines, when all of the time and resources to do all of that could be used on a brand-new game?  That last one in particular kept ringing in my head during a preview event for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, where I played about three hours of the upcoming pirate adventure. Pessimistically, I think the answer is that Ubisoft needs an easy win, and theoretically, there shouldn't be an easier slam dunk for the developer-publisher than Black Flag. It may not be the number-one Assassin's Creed game on every player's list, but it's near-universally beloved by the community in a way that no other game in the series is. If I had to remake an Assassin's Creed game, Black Flag would definitely be the one that I'd pick. It's the one game in the series that you'd need to change the least to get a ton of fans on board.  "Fixing" an already-fantastic story And yet, so far, I'm mixed on Resynced, especially with what's changed with the story. While 2013's Black Flag makes a few odd narrative choices, the story is definitely not the issue when it comes to that game.  Resynced's story is (supposedly) faithful to the original Black Flag, detailing privateer-turned-pirate Edward Kenway's adventures to find a mythical location known as The Observatory during The Golden Age of Piracy: a search that puts him right in the middle of the centuries-long conflict between the freedom-protecting Assassin Brotherhood and control-seeking Templar Order.  In the original, that tale is framed as a simulation being experienced by a nameless employee of Abstergo (the modern-day Templars) who, likewise, finds themself suddenly pulled into the Assassin-Templar conflict as both sides seek The Observatory in the present day. But with Ubisoft already confirming that the modern-day storyline is being evolved to work as it did in Assassin's Creed Shadows, it's possible that framing is being heavily reduced or completely removed.  I hope not. While not everyone's preference (and admittedly a bit irksome on repeat playthroughs), Black Flag's modern-day framing is one of my favorites of all of Assassin's Creed's present-day storylines. Getting rid of it wouldn't ruin Resynced, but cutting too much of it would worsen the overall story and severely mess with the game's narrative stakes. I still don't know how Resynced is handling that, because I saw none of the modern-day stuff during the preview, and Ubisoft didn't talk about it. Instead, I played through three parts of Edward's story in the past: the first hour, about an hour of the open world (during what I presume to be the mid-game), and then two story missions from about halfway into Edward's story, one of which was brand-new. The other one existed in the original game, but it now includes a brand-new section (more on that later).  I really liked what Resynced has done to Black Flag's first hour, especially the first 30 or so minutes. In the original Black Flag, Edward's encounter with Duncan Walpole is treated as more of a stepping stone to get the plot going, as well as a brief tutorial of the freerunning and combat mechanics. It's treated as not very important in the original game, despite being hugely crucial to Edward stumbling into the Assassin-Templar conflict.  In Resynced, the section includes a few new scenes and more lines of dialogue between Edward and Duncan, and this reimagined opening does a better job of establishing the scene's importance, showcasing how young and immature Edward is (he's only 22 at the start of the game), and making sure it's way more believable that Edward is capable of holding his own against the Master Assassin.  Especially on the heels of Shadows, the Assassins have been recognized as almost mythical forces of violence even when they're badly injured, so it's always been a bit odd to me that Edward easily accomplished what crowds of enemies struggle to. Resynced addresses this inconsistency and reframes the fight between Edward and Duncan to put them on more even footing. I hope more parts of the game get fleshed out like this, especially when it comes to Edward's learning and growing acceptance of the Assassin Brotherhood's Creed, and his shift in allegiance near the end of the game (which is sped through in the original Black Flag). As awesome as these early new scenes look, however, they highlight a big drawback in the new scenes added to the rest of the game. Cutscenes that existed in the original game seem to be unchanged, but the brand-new ones (save for the opening bout between Edward and Duncan) see Edward and whoever he's talking to

There are always the usual questions when a remake for an already-beloved game gets announced. What about it is actually new beyond the visual upgrade? Why is this specific title getting the remake treatment and not another game in the same series? And, most importantly, why remake this older game in a different engine, with…

There are always the usual questions when a remake for an already-beloved game gets announced. What about it is actually new beyond the visual upgrade? Why is this specific title getting the remake treatment and not another game in the same series? And, most importantly, why remake this older game in a different engine, with new recorded voice lines, different gameplay, and reimagined characters and storylines, when all of the time and resources to do all of that could be used on a brand-new game? …