10. An Engaging Present Day Side
Given how Assassins Creed III ended its unlikely well be taking control of Desmond Miles again. Instead the present day protagonist of Black Flag will be an Abstergo analyst using either Desmond or his fathers stored memories (that throwaway line about Abstergo downloading your pasts has ended up being quite important). While its really just a plot device to make up for killing the hero, it gives the opportunity to do something no other game in the series has done successfully; have an interesting modern set story. The first few outings merely used the animus as a way to deliver key plot moments through cinematics and even when things got more adventurous, they were still an afterthought; I liked the brief first person levels in Revelations, but IIIs real world missions felt a little too scripted. Even when it was at its best, Desmond was a bland character which made extended time with him a chore. Giving us a proper taste of Assassins (or Templars) in the present would be a real ace in Black Flags hand. Ubisoft made the decision to not just have this be a historical tale, so why not relish in that a little?