This game was marketed as a "return to the roots," and indeed it is, except the 18-year-old OG Assassin's Creed formula doesn't work that well nowadays.

Parkour felt slow and hesitant, though I liked crossing larger gaps using a pole on the rare occasions when I'd actually find one. Combat is absolute ass, with stuttery moves and pauses. It didn't feel like one continuous motion, with Basim having to stop for a second and only then kill a dude. Also, the choice of controls configuration is questionable, with light and heavy attacks combined into one button. The story is fairly short and felt more like a Valhalla DLC with Basim as a protagonist.

Unfortunately, the game is filled with game-breaking bugs. For instance, several times during my playthrough, allies refused to move, forcing me to reload checkpoints. It's also possible to soft-lock yourself by moving shelves in one of the puzzles, with no other choice but to reload the save.

Getting 100% completion is an okay experience, though, with the exception of having to unlock all Animus Sequence rewards, basically replaying the game under certain conditions.

4/10

finally a great assassin's creed game again
great story
great gameplay
just like the old days

Amazing world design only to be let down by the story writing.

Typical Ubisoft, worth it on deep discounts.