Assassin's Creed: The Wasted Open-World

Main Quest? Who Needs It?

When it comes to titles that defined what it meant to be open-world, Skyrim is certainly the first name that comes to mind. Almost a decade after its release, it continues to draw fans back for the umpteenth playthrough.

From the classic stealthy archer to the lumbering, heavily armoured orc, from the goodly law-abider to the villainous thief and rogue, there are countless approaches to a Skyrim run. Couple this with the great glut of quests available (several hefty updates later, the game is one heck of a package), and there’s always something that even the most avid fans haven’t seen or done before.

Importantly, though, simply throwing in a lot of content doesn’t make for a great open-world experience. Tying it in with the main story, making it feel important, interesting and worthwhile, that’s the key.

This is the factor that a lot of open-world experiences sometimes fall short on, especially in comparison with everything that Skyrim achieved.

One particular franchise that has begun to struggle with maintaining that balance is Assassin’s Creed, which has been growing at an alarming rate in terms of sidequests and dizzying map size.