If you were to ask many people to pick the best game in the Assassin's Creed series, most would undoubtedly choose Black Flag. Who wouldn't want to be a romantic pirate in the Caribbean, adventuring freely? Thanks to this captivating setting, Black Flag was able to gain mainstream popularity beyond existing series fans. Many gamers enthusiastically enjoyed the game as a perfect pirate simulator, largely overlooking the serious and complex story between the Templars and the Assassins.
To be honest, I am an avid fan of the Assassin's Creed series. I've even loved the entries that received poor reviews. Therefore, while I'm excited about the news that one of the greatest games of all time is returning with a fresh coat of paint, I'm also apprehensive. Remaking a masterpiece beloved by so many is never an easy task. Ubisoft has also admitted to making significant changes to large parts of the original game in the process of modernizing it for its 2026 release. Based on a recent showcase, a Q&A on Reddit, and IGN's early play experience, we've compiled the elements we're looking forward to and the points of serious concern in this remake.
Pros: Addition of New Quests
The more great content, the better. The biggest draw of this remake is the numerous new quests that naturally blend into the original story's flow. This isn't just a forced addition to increase the game's length. To properly implement these new scenes, the original voice actor and motion capture actor for the protagonist 'Edward Kenway,' Matt Ryan, has rejoined the project. The opportunity to spend even a little more time with this charming Welsh rogue is a great blessing for fans.
Among the new quests, the most eye-catching ones are intertwined with the new companion characters introduced in 'Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Remastered'. New characters such as 'Lucy Baldwin', 'Padre', and 'Deadman Smith' have been added, and they provide special buffs and bonus effects in naval combat. Speaking of companions, let's naturally transition to the next topic.
Pros: A Richer Jackdaw Upgrade
It's no exaggeration to say that Edward Kenway's flagship, the 'Jackdaw', is the most important element in Black Flag, as it's where players spend the most time throughout the game.
Cons: An Incomplete Package
While the news of increased characters and a richer main story in the remaster is welcome, the exclusion of the original's core DLC, 'Freedom Cry', leaves a significant void. Freedom Cry is a substantial expansion pack, approximately 6 hours long, that follows Adéwalé, Kenway's quartermaster, as he becomes a full-fledged pirate captain and struggles to end the slave trade around Haiti. It allowed players to explore the new city of 'Port-au-Prince'. Although its reception at the time of release was mixed, it was crucial for understanding the history of the colonial Assassins and served as a key piece of content to wrap up the aftermath of Black Flag's events.
Ubisoft explained that they excluded the DLC to focus solely on Edward Kenway's story. However, from a gamer's perspective, it's difficult to dismiss the reasonable suspicion that 'Freedom Cry Resynced' will be released separately as a paid DLC in the future. If it's not re-released, players will have to either acquire the old original game and DLC separately or purchase the standalone Freedom Cry to fully enjoy Black Flag's complete story. This ultimately results in a double expenditure.
Personally, I find this sales strategy very disappointing. It has long been a common practice in the gaming industry for re-releases like remasters, remakes, and Game of the Year (GOTY) editions to include all existing single-player DLC and expansions in a single package. Regardless of the reason, deviating from such a natural expectation will inevitably invite criticism.
Pros: The Caribbean Sea, Seamlessly Connected
No one enjoys loading screens that interrupt the flow of a game. Therefore, the news that Resynced has been developed with the complete elimination of loading screens is most welcome. Players can now navigate the vast open-world seas and seamlessly enter meticulously rendered cities and settlements without any loading. Once inside a city, players can immediately enjoy the series' core gameplay of parkour across rooftops and stealthy infiltration without interruption.
This also means that all landmasses in the Caribbean can be explored freely. It's akin to how most areas in the vast Aegean Sea map of 'Assassin's Creed: Odyssey' were accessible. This is a significant improvement compared to the original game, where many areas were visible but inaccessible due to invisible walls.
Pros: Art Direction That Superbly Inherits the Original's Soul
Even from the videos released so far, the newly rendered Caribbean landscapes are overwhelmingly beautiful. While retaining the unique atmosphere and sentiment of the original, they have been reborn with much sharper and more vibrant graphics. This is a crucial aspect of a remake. Often, remakes or remasters make the mistake of applying modern lighting and textures superficially, severely damaging the original's artistic intent. In the worst cases, they can even end up looking less appealing than the original. In fact, Ubisoft itself has made such mistakes multiple times in the past.
The key to a successful classic game remake is singular: perfectly recreating the "rose-tinted memories in the player's mind" visually. No matter how great Black Flag was back then, playing it again now will inevitably make the graphics feel much rougher and more unpolished than we remember. This is because human memory tends to embellish rather than store things as they are. In that regard, this Rethinked version is an exemplary case that has wonderfully brought idealized gamer memories to life. I am confident it will set a new standard for future game remakes.
Cons: A Narrative Reduced to Half
Of course, we are all well aware of how bored many gamers are with the "modern-day segments" of the Assassin's Creed series. In particular, the 'Abstergo' sections of Black Flag are often cited as the worst ever. This is because they abruptly pull players away from the exciting adventures of Edward Kenway and thrust them into a first-person perspective in the real world. Players had to wander around offices as low-level employees in a company that seemed to be a satirical depiction of Ubisoft Montreal Studio.
However, true fans of the series cannot overlook the significance of these Abstergo segments. Firstly, their proportion of the overall game is extremely small. And more importantly, they play a crucial role in the overarching narrative. The core of the Assassin's Creed universe is the endless ideological war between the Templars and the Assassins, spanning all of human history. The modern-day segments serve as a vital connection point, unifying this grand lore with other installments in the series.
While I cannot spoil specific details, I am deeply concerned about how the development team intends to fill the massive narrative void created by the complete removal of the modern-day segments. So far, the team's vague explanations have only amplified confusion rather than alleviating fans' curiosity.
Let's not misunderstand. Of course, it might be possible to weave the story through alternative narrative methods or short cutscenes. Currently, the prevailing speculation among fans is that a meta-narrative structure, akin to 'Final Fantasy VII Remake' which goes beyond simple repetition to essentially become a sequel, will be implemented. For example, accessing the 'Animus' as another observer in a future far beyond our current understanding.
There may be many ways to smoothly refine the story without deleting the modern-day segments, some of which might be quite ingenious. However, that would not be the 'Black Flag' we know. Such a fundamental change would diminish the significant role Assassin's Creed 4 plays in the series' overall timeline. This was the first game to explore the consequences of Desmond's sacrifice after his saga concluded, expanding the lore beyond his perspective.
Of course, they have no plans to remove the original game from stores, so the story of the modern-day segments is not entirely disappearing into history. Nevertheless, it is truly regrettable that these core elements have been excised from the remake. Frankly, this decision appears to be an excessive appeasement to the voices of some casual players who are not particularly interested in the deep lore of the universe in the first place.
Pros: The Return of the Kenway's Fleet System
When I first heard about the development of Resynced, the first question that came to my mind was whether the 'Kenway's Fleet' mini-game would be retained. This auto-battler content, which is hard to put down once you start, was originally linked to a smartphone app, allowing players to enjoy it anytime, anywhere. At the time of the original game's release, mobile integration systems were a huge trend in the gaming industry, so much so that the South Park creators openly mocked this trend at the E3 Game Show.
Kenway's Fleet is considered one of the positive examples of mobile integration. It went beyond simply checking the game externally; it didn't feel forced or hastily put together due to executive demands. This content, an evolution of the Assassin recruitment system from the 'Ezio Trilogy,' allowed players to send ships captured in the open world on missions to distant locations outside the Caribbean, such as Europe or Africa. Through this, players could obtain in-game resources, upgrade blueprints, and a substantial amount of money. The system was very clean and provided a sense of immersion that a larger world existed beyond the Caribbean. I am very relieved to hear that this excellent system will be included in this remake.
Pros: Modernized Gameplay
Past Assassin's Creed titles were often criticized for their overly simplistic combat. While the games outwardly promoted stealthy assassinations, in reality, it was much easier to charge into enemy territory and go on a rampage. The parry timing for enemy attacks was too generous, and most combat encounters could be easily overcome by simply mashing buttons. In an era where the public generally prefers the precise and thrilling difficulty of FromSoftware-style games, the original Black Flag's simple combat system inevitably felt dated and tedious.
Fortunately, Resynced has abandoned the old system and adopted the combat mechanics from the recently revealed 'Assassin's Creed Shadows.' The moves are much more varied, allowing players to tailor their combat style to their preferences. While the difficulty itself may not be excessively high due to the nature of the Assassin's Creed series, Kenway's actions are smoother and more spectacular than ever before. Since ground combat in the original game never received high praise, completely overhauling this aspect is a highly satisfying decision.
The stealth system has also undergone a similar overhaul. The awkward and unintuitive auto-hide feature that baffled many players in the original has finally been removed. Now, just like in recent installments, players can manually crouch by pressing a button. This allows for more tactical options, as you can move stealthily anywhere without needing to hide in dense foliage, enabling you to take down unsuspecting enemies.
Another area where Resynced gives players complete control is HUD customization. You can now easily toggle various interface elements on and off without needing to enter the pause menu. Being able to remove the cumbersome quest objective markers and fully appreciate the beautiful scenery of the sun-drenched Caribbean will greatly enhance the visual satisfaction.
Cons: The Challenge Has Vanished
While it may have been a choice to cater to a wider audience, it has become virtually impossible to fail the notorious tailing and eavesdropping missions from the original game in Resynced. Even if only a few people agree with me, I'm willing to take the heat for this. This is a clear and unnecessary reduction in difficulty.
Of course, it's true that the eavesdropping missions of the past were tedious and frustrating. But that was part of the challenge the game offered! The tense atmosphere of maintaining a certain distance without being noticed by the target and using the environment to overhear conversations was the core fun of those missions.
It's a shame that even these few elements that stimulated the player's reflexes and intellect have been so passively nerfed, especially in a game that doesn't demand a high level of precise control in many areas. It would have been sufficient to slightly ease the detection parameters to prevent unfair mission failures due to Edward getting stuck on the terrain. However, completely removing the tension of the process and allowing the quest to proceed without any penalty even if you're detected and just kill all nearby enemies is a clear overcorrection.
Pros: Still Exciting Potential
No matter how much we may criticize the artistic intent or gameplay direction, the fact remains that 'Black Flag Resynced' is an incredible project that will excite both long-time fans and new gamers. The original game was an excellent entry point for those unfamiliar with the series. This remake has smoothed out the barriers to entry and inconveniences that modern gamers might experience. This endeavor will not only provide players with a better experience but also serve as a positive foundation for the continued vitality of the massive Assassin's Creed franchise.
As a fan who deeply loves the original, it's true that I have mixed feelings about the changes. However, if a remake isn't made to modernize the systems in line with the times and to engage with today's audience and gaming culture, there's no reason to make a remake in the first place.
Most importantly, what excites me the most right now is seeing how the developers will manage to incorporate the immortal 'Kassandra' into the story.
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