I am an extremely picky eater. Growing up this was well known amongst my family and friends. So much so, that some of my friend’s moms would make me a separate plate of food just to accommodate me. My grandparents were no exception. I’d show up to their house for dinner to find they were serving chili, aka BARF. No stress though, because I could always rely on my grandma to have a batch of Tyson Honey Battered Chicken Tenders ready to go for me. They have always been a comfort food for me and a go to meal when I need something easily prepared.
Ubisoft games are my “comfort food” so to speak. Ubisoft has received a lot of flack as of late over the fact that their games don’t evolve much. Their checklist style structure has gotten old and tedious. Journalists and critics alike praise games like Elden Ring, Dragons Dogma 2, Baldurs Gate 3, and really just any game that allows you to find your own path.
The complaint that we don’t need to be spoon fed the answers to puzzles or a big yellow arrow pointing us in the direction of where we need to go for our objective, is a completely valid feeling to have about most games. However, I am here to say that doesn’t make a game lesser than.
I go to Helldivers to play with friends, I play Fallout 4 because I’m in the Fallout spirit from watching the show. But I am currently going through some struggles in my life; I am undergoing big life changes. All I want to do right now is play a game from one of my favorite series, Assassins Creed, aka my comfort food.
Farcry, Assassins Creed, The Division, and Ghost Recon have all followed a similar structure. Uncover the map by unlocking towers, defeat factions by overtaking bases which causes your map to turn blue instead of red, grab the blue gun because its better than green, loot the houses to get crafting material, rinse repeat…
There is a reason this structure was successful in the first place. It’s perfect for most people who just got off work and are exhausted. They don’t want to sit down and get yelled at by sweaty try hards on Call of Duty, nor do they want to mindlessly wander around looking for what might be the objective in Baldurs Gate 3, only to have wasted the only 2 hours of game time they had by following a rabbit hole that led to nowhere.
It’s far more likely that someone who has very little time to play a game will be able to easily manage picking up a game such as Farcry, where you clear out a few outposts, climb a few lookout towers, then call it a day. You are well rewarded for your time and feel accomplished. To top off the experience, no controllers or TVs were harmed in the process!
The Ubisoft game structure is for the casual gamer and that is a good thing. We all like Tyson Dinosaur Nuggies and a chill walk around the post apocalyptic New York, shooting the bad guys and getting the endorphin boost of watching exotic guns drop when you defeat them.
I listen to Kinda Funny Games a lot and this is a recurring subject that comes up often. They mention how Ubisoft has lost its identity and is struggling to find it. Ubisoft needs to find a new structure that works for them. Something to reinvigorate their franchises. I’m inclined to agree with them. Until I had this thought…
What if they already fixed this problem by giving us a break from their franchises and by using this structure on other IP? Its been 4 years since a mainline Assassins Creed, excluding Assassins Creed Mirage. 5 years since Ghost Recon Breakpoint and The Division, and 3 years since Farcry 6. My point is, as a fan of all of these franchises, I am beyond ready for these titles to have sequels.
As far as the answer to the question “what can they do to reinvigorate their games?,” you take that same structure that works, put a new coat of paint on it (Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora) and release that while we wait on the next mainline Farcry game. To find new ways to improve upon that structure they are adding and subtracting features to test what will and wont work for their mainline games. For example, the new Star Wars Outlaw game will not have any towers to unlock map access. If this is well received by the community, I imagine we start seeing that same change in future Ubisoft titles.
If you disagree with me, that this tactic isn’t going to work, that is perfectly fine. I would argue, however, that maybe their games weren’t your style to begin with. Which therein lies a different conversation around growth and discussing ways for Ubisoft to reach a new audience. That is a different article for a different day. Also, what if that answer is found in Star Wars Outlaws?
Arrowhead Games Studios (publisher of Helldivers 2)has gotten a lot of praise lately for standing their ground when it comes to sticking to Co-op and not branching out into PvP, because PvE is what they do best. So why not let Ubisoft do the same and stick to what they do best?
For now, I am going to go throw in some honey battered chicken tenders and play some Assassins Creed while I await your responses and opinions in the comment section. Thanks for reading!
