The heavily rumored Assassin's Creed Rift is one of many leaked titles that is set to make up the next generation of games for the iconic franchise. Being of a much smaller scale than what fans have come to expect from more recent franchise installments, Rift absolutely has to get the basics right.
One of the most important elements of any Assassin's Creed title is obviously the parkour system that the game possesses. With Rift moving away from the more expansive gameplay of recent AC titles, the parkour in particular needs to be engaging and more refined.
How Assassin's Creed Rift Differs From Other Titles
Assassin's Creed Rift is the rumored working title for a standalone game that was originally set to be DLC for the recent Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Its origins as a DLC expansion indicate the intended scale of the game, which is likely to be much smaller and linear than more recent additions to the franchise.
It can be said that the Assassin's Creed franchise has undergone an identity shift in recent years, with 2017's Assassin's Creed Origins marking the start of more expansive open world RPG elements within the franchise. With how controversial this drastic shift in identity has been among the franchise's fan base, many will likely be happy to learn that the rumored Rift is set to provide a return to the more classic elements of the series.
Supposedly starring Valhalla's Basim Ibn Ishaq as a high ranking member of the Hidden Ones in Iraq, Rift is set to be close to the original Assassin's Creed in its geographical and temporal setting. Reportedly dropping RPG elements and being of a much more intimate scale, Rift has to revive the beloved older elements of the franchise while logically building upon them, and parkour is perhaps the most important of these elements.
Why Assassin's Creed Rift's Parkour Is So Important
With the increased focus on combat variety and expansive open worlds, it is a commonly held opinion among the Assassin's Creed fanbase that parkour has taken a backseat as a game mechanic in recent titles. The game worlds of newer titles are much more expansive and spread out, meaning that significantly detailed and built-up areas are much less common, despite being a previous mainstay of the Assassin's Creed franchise.
As a result of the supposed smaller scale of Rift, more layered and rich urban areas with a multitude of parkour possibilities can once again be a core selling point, with the game's parkour mechanics being imperative in how the game will be received by fans. With the reported Baghdad setting lending itself to the same high-rise architecture that was displayed in the original Assassin's Creed, the unique and varied paths for parkour could be limitless.
The reportedly smaller size of Assassin's Creed Rift's map will also likely negate the growing franchise norm of mounted travel, meaning that map traversal by foot, and resultantly parkour, will once again be of huge importance. With players reportedly taking control of a high-ranking Hidden Ones member, the level of parkour ability of the protagonist will be inexorably high, and should be reflected in the gameplay.
Parkour in Rift should be a seamless return to form for the franchise, with varied lines of parkour allowing the player to dynamically interact with the map to traverse a layered environment with style and ease. Anything less than this will be a huge blow to the reception of the game, which is building hype due to the rumors of it providing a more grounded and classic Assassin's Creed experience.
Assassin’s Creed Rift is reportedly in development.