“This Is Why I Loved Mirage”: Why Assassin’s Creed Fans Are Yearning for the Return of Compact, Bustling Cities

Introduction

Since its inception in 2007, the Assassin’s Creed franchise has been a hallmark of immersive historical adventures, blending stealth, parkour, and rich narratives. The 2023 release of Assassin’s Creed Mirage marked a pivotal moment for the series, with Ubisoft Bordeaux returning to the franchise’s stealth-focused roots after the sprawling RPG epics of Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. Fans have showered Mirage with praise, with sentiments like “This is why I loved Mirage” echoing across platforms like Reddit and Steam. Yet, amidst the celebration, a recurring plea emerges: the desire for the compact, bustling cities of older games like Assassin’s Creed II and Unity. These dense urban playgrounds, filled with vibrant crowds and verticality, are seen as a missing ingredient in Mirage and recent titles. Why are fans so nostalgic for this feature, and what does it reveal about the franchise’s evolution? This article explores the allure of Mirage, the significance of compact cities, and the broader debate over Assassin’s Creed’s direction.

Mirage: A Return to Roots

Assassin’s Creed Mirage, set in 9th-century Baghdad, follows Basim Ibn Ishaq’s transformation from street thief to Master Assassin. Unlike its predecessors, which embraced vast open worlds and RPG mechanics, Mirage prioritizes stealth, parkour, and assassinations—core pillars of the original games. Its smaller scope, roughly 15-20 hours for the main campaign, contrasts with Valhalla’s 120-hour sprawl, offering a tighter, more focused experience. Critics and fans alike have lauded this shift. IGN praised Mirage for “restoring hope that there’s still room for a version of Assassin’s Creed that we haven’t seen in almost a decade,” while Steam user Bwoah called it “a real treat for everyone who enjoys AC” for its focus on stealth and traditional tools.

The game’s Baghdad, a vibrant city with bustling markets and intricate rooftops, evokes the urban settings of earlier titles. Players navigate dense districts, using social stealth and parkour to evade guards and execute black-box assassinations. Reddit user u/Rare_Peak_7133 noted, “The stealth is incredible… you planning how to execute the mission properly with less to zero alarming the enemies”. This return to form resonated with fans of classics like Assassin’s Creed 1 and the Ezio trilogy, who felt the RPG trilogy diluted the series’ identity. However, despite Mirage’s strengths, fans argue it falls short of recapturing one critical element: the compact, living cities that defined the franchise’s golden era.

The Magic of Compact, Bustling Cities

Older Assassin’s Creed games, such as Assassin’s Creed II (Florence, Venice), Brotherhood (Rome), and Unity (Paris), featured densely packed cities teeming with life. These urban environments were not just backdrops but integral to gameplay, offering verticality for parkour, crowds for social stealth, and a sense of immersion. TheGamer highlighted this nostalgia: “Fans crave compact, bustling cities in Assassin’s Creed games like Paris, Rome, and London. Some players prefer smaller, more focused worlds over huge RPG maps for a refreshing gaming experience”. These cities, often limited to a few square kilometers, felt alive with NPCs engaging in dynamic behaviors—merchants haggling, guards patrolling, and citizens reacting to the player’s actions.

For example, Unity’s Paris, with its chaotic throngs and Notre-Dame towering over the skyline, set a benchmark for urban density. The game’s parkour system, praised by production director Fabian Salomon as a goal for Mirage, allowed seamless navigation across rooftops and through crowds. Similarly, Assassin’s Creed II’s Venice offered canals and tightly packed buildings, creating a playground for stealth and exploration. These environments encouraged creative approaches to missions, as players could blend into crowds, leap across rooftops, or hide in plain sight—mechanics that defined the series’ early appeal.

Assassin’s Creed Fans Are Yearning For The Return Of Cities

In contrast, Mirage’s Baghdad, while visually stunning, feels “lifeless” to some critics. TheGamer noted, “Baghdad feels empty and lifeless… a step back from the chaotic throngs of Paris in Unity”. Though the city is dense with markets and mosques, its NPC interactions and crowd dynamics lack the vibrancy of earlier titles. X user @PranavNairReal praised Mirage’s “short story and clean gameplay” but criticized Shadows for not advancing core mechanics like parkour, suggesting a broader fan desire for refined urban experiences. This gap has fueled calls for Ubisoft to revive the compact city formula, blending Mirage’s stealth focus with the immersive urban design of classics.

Why Compact Cities Matter

Compact cities are more than nostalgic set pieces; they enhance Assassin’s Creed’s core gameplay loops. First, they amplify stealth mechanics. Dense crowds provide cover for social stealth, allowing players to blend in or pickpocket without detection. Mirage reintroduced a notoriety system, where public actions like killing guards increase visibility, but its crowds are less interactive than those in Unity, reducing strategic depth. Second, verticality supports parkour, a hallmark of the series. Rooftops in Brotherhood or Revelations offered multiple traversal paths, making navigation a puzzle. Mirage’s parkour, while improved, suffers from “clunky” auto-pathing, as noted by Reddit user u/AliceBell, who lamented occasional leaps into enemy sightlines.

Third, compact cities create a sense of place. Assassin’s Creed has always woven historical accuracy into its worlds, and smaller cities allow for meticulous detail. Mirage’s Baghdad shines with its Islamic Golden Age aesthetic, but its districts feel repetitive compared to Revelations’ Constantinople, where poor and rich areas were visually distinct. Fans on Reddit, like u/UCHIA, want “a bit larger, dense, beautiful and stealthy AC game next time too, with memorable protagonist and story,” suggesting compact cities could elevate both gameplay and narrative.

The RPG Era and Its Trade-Offs

The shift to RPG mechanics in Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla expanded the series’ scope, introducing vast regions like ancient Egypt and Viking England. These games offered unprecedented freedom, with dialogue choices, loot systems, and side quests galore. However, this scale came at a cost. Valhalla’s sprawling maps felt “bloated” to critics like The Verge’s Ash Parrish, who appreciated Mirage’s refusal to chase the “go anywhere, do anything” mandate. The focus on exploration and combat overshadowed stealth, with Eivor’s Viking brawls feeling disconnected from the Assassin fantasy.

Mirage addressed these critiques by scaling back, but some fans argue it didn’t go far enough in reviving urban density. The game’s smaller scope was intentional—originally a Valhalla DLC, it became a standalone title to appease fans craving classic Assassin’s Creed. Yet, its city lacks the “chaotic throngs” of Unity or the narrative weight of Assassin’s Creed II, with critics like TheGamer calling its story “flat” and characters “forgettable”. This has led to a broader debate: can Assassin’s Creed balance its RPG ambitions with the focused, city-driven gameplay of its origins?

Fan Reactions and Ubisoft’s Challenge

Fan reactions to Mirage are polarized but revealing. On Reddit, u/acfan123 called it “a fantastic return to form,” praising its stealth and city setting, while u/stealthy_assassin admitted it fell short of “AC1 or 2’s perfection” but was a “welcome change”. Steam discussions reflect similar enthusiasm, with users like bgray9054 noting it’s “the first one in about 10 years that actually feels like an Assassin’s Creed game”. However, critics argue Mirage plays too heavily on nostalgia without innovating. GamesRadar’s opinion piece stated, “Mirage is a clean and clear demonstration that Ubisoft certainly has it in itself to create more games like Assassin’s Creed 1 or 2; it’s just kind of passed that point”.

Ubisoft faces a delicate task: satisfying both RPG fans and traditionalists. Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2025), set in feudal Japan, promises a hybrid approach, blending Mirage’s stealth with RPG elements and a customizable sandbox base. Fans hope it will feature a dense city like Kyoto, combining Mirage’s focus with the vibrancy of older titles. TheGamer suggested integrating “early Assassin’s Creed-style cities into larger open-world formats” to bridge the divide, a sentiment echoed by fans craving “London or Paris”.

Conclusion

Assassin’s Creed Mirage has reignited passion for the franchise’s roots, earning praise for its stealth-driven gameplay and compact scope. Yet, the absence of truly bustling, compact cities—a hallmark of classics like Assassin’s Creed II and Unity—leaves fans yearning for more. These urban environments, with their dense crowds, vertical playgrounds, and immersive details, are not just nostalgic relics but the backbone of the series’ identity. As Ubisoft navigates the franchise’s future, the challenge is clear: blend the innovation of the RPG era with the focused, city-centric magic of its origins. With Shadows on the horizon and fans chanting “Take me back to London or Paris,” the stage is set for Ubisoft to deliver a world that feels both expansive and alive. For now, Mirage stands as a love letter to the past, but its missing piece reminds us why the streets of Rome and Paris still haunt the fandom’s dreams.