Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Might Be Adding As Many Problems As It's Fixing

There are always the usual questions when a remake for an already-beloved game gets announced. What about it is actually new beyond the visual upgrade? Why is this specific title getting the remake treatment and not another game in the same series? And, most importantly, why remake this older game in a different engine, with new recorded voice lines, different gameplay, and reimagined characters and storylines, when all of the time and resources to do all of that could be used on a brand-new game?

That last one in particular kept ringing in my head during a preview event for Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, where I played about three hours of the upcoming pirate adventure.

Pessimistically, I think the answer is that Ubisoft needs an easy win, and theoretically, there shouldn’t be an easier slam dunk for the developer-publisher than Black Flag. It may not be the number-one Assassin’s Creed game on every player’s list, but it’s near-universally beloved by the community in a way that no other game in the series is. If I had to remake an Assassin’s Creed game, Black Flag would definitely be the one that I’d pick. It’s the one game in the series that you’d need to change the least to get a ton of fans on board.

“Fixing” an already-fantastic story

And yet, so far, I’m mixed on Resynced, especially with what’s changed with the story. While 2013’s Black Flag makes a few odd narrative choices, the story is definitely not the issue when it comes to that game.

Resynced’s story is (supposedly) faithful to the original Black Flag, detailing privateer-turned-pirate Edward Kenway’s adventures to find a mythical location known as The Observatory during The Golden Age of Piracy: a search that puts him right in the middle of the centuries-long conflict between the freedom-protecting Assassin Brotherhood and control-seeking Templar Order.

In the original, that tale is framed as a simulation being experienced by a nameless employee of Abstergo (the modern-day Templars) who, likewise, finds themself suddenly pulled into the Assassin-Templar conflict as both sides seek The Observatory in the present day. But with Ubisoft already confirming that the modern-day storyline is being evolved to work as it did in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, it’s possible that framing is being heavily reduced or completely removed.

I hope not. While not everyone’s preference (and admittedly a bit irksome on repeat playthroughs), Black Flag’s modern-day framing is one of my favorites of all of Assassin’s Creed’s present-day storylines. Getting rid of it wouldn’t ruin Resynced, but cutting too much of it would worsen the overall story and severely mess with the game’s narrative stakes.

I still don’t know how Resynced is handling that, because I saw none of the modern-day stuff during the preview, and Ubisoft didn’t talk about it. Instead, I played through three parts of Edward’s story in the past: the first hour, about an hour of the open world (during what I presume to be the mid-game), and then two story missions from about halfway into Edward’s story, one of which was brand-new. The other one existed in the original game, but it now includes a brand-new section (more on that later).

I really liked what Resynced has done to Black Flag’s first hour, especially the first 30 or so minutes. In the original Black Flag, Edward’s encounter with Duncan Walpole is treated as more of a stepping stone to get the plot going, as well as a brief tutorial of the freerunning and combat mechanics. It’s treated as not very important in the original game, despite being hugely crucial to Edward stumbling into the Assassin-Templar conflict.

In Resynced, the section includes a few new scenes and more lines of dialogue between Edward and Duncan, and this reimagined opening does a better job of establishing the scene’s importance, showcasing how young and immature Edward is (he’s only 22 at the start of the game), and making sure it’s way more believable that Edward is capable of holding his own against the Master Assassin.

Especially on the heels of Shadows, the Assassins have been recognized as almost mythical forces of violence even when they’re badly injured, so it’s always been a bit odd to me that Edward easily accomplished what crowds of enemies struggle to. Resynced addresses this inconsistency and reframes the fight between Edward and Duncan to put them on more even footing. I hope more parts of the game get fleshed out like this, especially when it comes to Edward’s learning and growing acceptance of the Assassin Brotherhood’s Creed, and his shift in allegiance near the end of the game (which is sped through in the original Black Flag).

As awesome as these early new scenes look, however, they highlight a big drawback in the new scenes added to the rest of the game. Cutscenes that existed in the original game seem to be unchanged, but the brand-new ones (save for the opening bout between Edward and Duncan) see Edward and whoever he’s talking to take on a stoic appearance that should be familiar to anyone who’s played an Assassin’s Creed game made in the Ubisoft Anvil engine. It’s the same rigid, statue-like mannerisms and movements devoid of emotion that permeate the more recent RPG-focused Assassin’s Creed games, namely Valhalla and Shadows. It has never looked good, but it’s way more noticeable in Resynced, where you can see how different the two types of cutscenes are.

The contrast ruined a bit of my excitement for the new characters and their stories. I got to play through the recruitment mission for one of these characters, Lucy Baldwin, and it felt oddly stilted in comparison to the rest of the preview. Getting six to seven new hours of story is great, but I’d much rather those resources had been devoted to remaking the five hours of the Freedom Cry DLC and one hour of Aveline DLC if this is what the new stuff is going to look like.

I’m also not sure if I even like what the new stories seem to be adding. Edward spends a lot of time talking up the community he’s made for himself and his crew to bring Lucy to his side, promoting how free everyone is. Lucy even comments on how he’s really overselling the concept, and I agree–it feels disingenuous. And while that may be the point, it still goes too far.

Knowing how Black Flag’s story ends, I wonder if this new story content is meant to make more plain a big aspect of why people like Black Flag and the “Kenway Saga” (Assassin’s Creed III, Liberation, Black Flag, Freedom Cry, and Rogue). These games, more than any other Assassin’s Creed games, really dig into the rival philosophies of the Assassins and Templars, and Black Flag notably has one of the best depictions–the Golden Age of Piracy ends with both the pirate’s republic failing and the first few cracks forming in the British, Spanish, and French empires, showcasing how both the ideals of absolute freedom and pure order are fundamentally flawed, which would mean both the Assassins and Templars are flawed too. Whether the intent of these new missions or not, calling attention to that connection and literally spelling it out for you so that you can’t possibly miss it, instead of just trusting you to see a greater meaning, really makes it feel like Resynced thinks you’re an idiot. The inclusion of that new mission actively worsened my experience with Resynced, so I’m quite worried about how the others play out.

A strange adjustment for Edward

Some of the other new story content made the game worse too. Thankfully, the additions were never big; they were always just small snippets of dialogue here or there. Edward acting extremely pro-Assassin and wanting to hunt Templars for the good of others whenever he accepted an Assassin Contract was the most bewildering example, though, and I refuse to let that go.

Being a helpful and chill good guy? That’s not who Edward is. Maybe–and I so desperately hope this is the case or I will be so mad about this come Resynced’s launch–this dialogue is meant to only be spoken by Edward after the events of the entire story, when he actually joins the Assassins and adopts their worldview on Templars. I hope that’s the case. Black Flag’s story is so good because Edward, while possessing a charismatic suave, starts out as a selfish, arrogant, stubborn prick whose toxic obsession with wealth drives him to insane extremes that force all his loved ones to leave his side. His climb back to redemption is incredible, but you need that low point to pull off that story.

In the original Black Flag, Edward has to be bribed with money and cool armor to help the Assassins. So to see him in Resynced helping the Assassins out because it’s the right thing to do is so wrong–that is not Edward’s modus operandi. And remaking Edward’s characterization in the early game to make him more sympathetic makes it harder to relate to how some of his allies are so frustrated with him.

The one new story addition I liked outside the new intro was a change to an existing mission in which Edward needs to secure a diving bell for his ship to go salvaging for medicines. In the original Black Flag, you need to buy a diving bell, which means hopefully having that money on you when that story mission rolls around. If you don’t, you have to go out and earn some coin.

That remains the same in Resynced, but there’s been an addition to that mission–Edward can now consult his quartermaster, Adéwalé, on where a diving bell can be found and stolen. Following that thread sees Edward infiltrate another pirate crew’s camp and steal their diving bell, either by brazenly killing them all or sneaking through their ranks. This is an awesome change. It smooths out what was otherwise an odd speedbump in Black Flag’s story. You can still just buy the bell, but if you don’t have the money and don’t feel like sailing out and hoping to stumble upon a few treasure-filled fleets, you can go do a quick sidequest. Off the top of my head, I can’t immediately think of any other examples in Black Flag where a change like this would be as necessary as it is in the mission I played, but just adding more alternative means to complete a single mission could be a welcome adjustment.

A warning of what we might be in store for

I’ve previewed several Assassin’s Creed games. Before Resynced, I attended previews for Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla, Mirage, and Shadows. For me, Resynced’s preview build has been the most buggy mess of that specific lot, by an extremely large margin too.

Embargo restrictions keep me from going into detail about any bugs or glitches, but they were enough of a hindrance that I’m still not sure if Resynced’s combat is any good. The idea of it is interesting. The addition of a forward kick and sweeping kick suggests you’ll be strategically rotating between the two, as well as parries, dodges, armor-shattering gun shots, and enemy-yanking rope-dart pulls, depending on the enemy type Edward is facing. Conceptually, it feels like you’re supposed to move through the battlefield with quick precision, dancing between foes and using the right tool at the right time to achieve a rhythmic flow.

That flow never happened for me, but I can’t tell if that’s because of issues with the game build or skill issues on my part. Was my dodge timing off, or was I having a problem with the lock-on? Did I not know how to use the kick or leg sweep, or was the game just not registering those inputs correctly? Was I mismanaging Edward’s positioning, or was the prompt to initiate a takedown incorrectly popping up way too late?

I don’t know the answers to these questions, and I likely won’t until the full game comes out. And now I really don’t know how to feel about that release date being as close as it is. Black Flag is easily one of my favorite Assassin’s Creed games–if pressed, I think I’d only put Syndicate and Odyssey higher. Resynced should be one of my most anticipated titles of the year, but some of the new story stuff has given me pause, aspects of the gameplay still feel buggy or half-baked, and I’m not convinced that combat has actually been improved–in fact, unless the combat was being affected by bugs, it might now be worse.

Being able to raise and lower your hood at any time is cool, and the removal of those god-awful tailing missions with the immediate fail states is a blessing. But unless I’m missing something, Resynced might be adding as many problems to Black Flag as it’s addressing.

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