1. Make Traversal Fun And Death-Defying
Remember back when the first Assassin's Creed was shown - the notion of 'see that building? You can climb it!' was revolutionary, and as it boggled gamers' minds trying to figure out the programming prowess behind letting a character mantle onto any outcrop of in-world geometry, it immediately gave the series one hell of an appealing prospect; just simply seeing what it would look and feel like to clamber up and around everything. Naturally in service of making sure everyone could get involved, the actual mechanics for this were reduced down from a multi-button 'X is left arm, B is right, A is your feet' structure, to simply holding a couple of buttons and letting Altair (or whoever) do the rest. It's actually pretty remarkable considering how much cash the franchise has made that they've not put more behind the climbing mechanics themselves. When a new AC is announced and you breathe in the gorgeously-realised vistas and landmarks of any given place, it should prompt the question of
how you're going to climb and conquer it, rather than just knowing from past experience. Unity took a step in the right direction with a dedicated decline button, but there needs to be far more weight to interactions between you and the world itself. Tying back into the idea of progression and honing your abilities over the course of the game, eventually getting to the top of the highest point in the world should be a genuine achievement every time.
What core things would you change up to save the series, or are you done altogether at this point? Let us know in the comments, and sign up to our Gaming page on Facebook for more great content!