10 Awesome Gaming Franchises It Became Cool To Hate

5. Assassin's Creed

Here we have a video game franchise that has been receiving hate ever since Ubisoft started turning it into an annual affair and reached a peak with Assassin's Creed III, which didn't quite live up to the standards of the adventures with Ezio. Gamers invested in the story found the ending lacklustre in its brevity and, well, not really being an ending. It was clear that what once started out as a three-act story had now ballooned into a universe to be milked with as many instalments as possible. This, understandably, really angered some people to the point where interest started to wane. All the Assassin's Creed games are really good games in every right. Some may have more problems than others, but all of them are well made on nearly every level. So is any of the hate justified? Well, a case can be made for the way Ubisoft publishes a new entry in the franchise every year. Clearly any semblance of a story is no longer important. The goal appears to be more about focusing on experience within a specific historical time period, and this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The Animus sections were always the most compelling part of the franchise, and while it still stings to see the importance of the story thrown to the wayside, the games still remain fun. The focus on a specific historical time period for each game is also quite unique to this series; there aren't very many mass consumed history based video games unfortunately. Other than some disappointments with the direction, or lack there of, of the story, the series is still strong and one of the best ongoing franchises of this generation. There are issues, for sure, but the ideas and innovation present throughout are just too cool to be swept away by hate.