Assassin’s Creed Mirage will see the franchise returning to the Middle East with a smaller, more stealth-focused title set in 9th-century Baghdad. Its story follows a 17-year-old Basim Ibn Ishaq long before he appeared as a fully-fledged Master Assassin in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. In Mirage, Basim works alongside his mentor Roshan to take down members of The Order of the Ancients, rising up from being a street thief to a member of The Ancient Ones in the process.
The Assassin’s Creed series is known for its vast open-world maps, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage is no exception. The studio has worked with historians to recreate an incredibly detailed and faithful version of 9th-century Baghdad from the little information surrounding the location at that time following its destruction at the hands of the Mongols in the 13th Century. Therefore, despite Mirage‘s smaller scale when compared to the likes of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey or Valhalla, players should have plenty to see and do within the game outside its main campaign.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage Lets You Keep Playing After The Credits
Fortunately for those keen to explore Ubisoft’s recreation of 9th-century Baghdad after completing Basim’s origin story, Assassin’s Creed Mirage will return players to the game’s open world once the credits have finished rolling. This is in keeping with every mainline Assassin’s Creed title to date. In fact, most of Ubisoft’s recent open-world games will let players return to further explore the game’s world after completing the campaign, with the notable exception of Far Cry 5, which didn’t have a post-story free-roam mode due to that game’s shocking ending.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage Doesn’t Have New Game Plus
Despite it becoming a fairly common feature in narrative-driven games to ensure players can revisit the story with all the equipment and skills acquired on their first playthrough, Assassin’s Creed Mirage will not have New Game Plus. This aligns with the majority of the franchise as only two mainline Assassin’s Creed games – Origins and Odyssey – have included New Game Plus, albeit via post-launch updates.
Unfortunately, Odyssey‘s predecessor Assassin’s Creed Valhalla did not include such a feature, despite many hoping it would be added in at a later date. When Valhalla‘s final update was announced, it was confirmed that New Game Plus wouldn’t be added as the game’s development team felt “the depth of [AC Valhalla] gave limited options to make replayability unique and rewarding.”
Assassin’s Creed Mirage purposefully stepped away from the formula of the large ARPG-type Assassin’s Creed games and returned to the smaller, stealth-heavy roots of the series. Basim’s coming-of-age story can be completed in a fraction of the time it takes to complete the last three titles, making it more primed for additional playthroughs. Therefore, the excuse given for the lack of New Game Plus in Valhalla shouldn’t apply to Mirage due to its smaller scale. While a free-roam option is good for those looking to explore its recreation of 9th-century Baghdad further, it would certainly make sense for Ubisoft to add New Game Plus to Assassin’s Creed Mirage in a future update.
