For a kid whose favorite subject was history, the Assassin’s Creed series was what I had hoped to see in a video game. However, this franchise spans almost two decades of video games, and over time, my opinions and favorability of each game drastically changed. Moreover, with the release of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows lurking on the horizon, I felt like revisiting the mainline entries of the franchise and seeing which ones hold up and which didn’t stand the test of time. So, here are all 13 Assassin’s Creed games ranked from worst to best.

13 Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

Buckle up because this is not the list you prepared for

I like mythology and Ancient Greece. However, I don't like Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. This isn't to say that I can't find fun in it, but 'fun' is an inconsistent and purely subjective metric. Ancient Greece is a curious choice for an Assassin's Creed game, but it is interesting. My main problem with Odyssey is that it bolsters every distant element from the 'Assassin' aspect.

The story is set before Bayek lays the foundation of the brotherhood in Origins. It delves into the lore of the ISU — a technologically advanced ancient civilization predating humanity in the franchise's lore — but again, that makes it more of a spin-off. Gameplay-wise, the parkour is hardly that. It lacks style and fun by letting you wall crawl and scale without looking for handholds. Parkour also ceases to be a challenge once you unlock an ability to remove fall damage.

Odyssey also replaces the hidden blade, an instrument synonymous with the franchise, with a generic spearhead. The world is immense in scale, and it doesn't always work in the game's favor, with water covering a good portion of the map and sailing not being one of the highlights. This placement either makes sense to you, or it doesn't, which is quite a testament to how polarizing this franchise is.

12 Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

Fun. Bloated, but fun

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla realigns lost direction from Odyssey, doing more to belong to the franchise but still being among the weakest entries. While Assassin's Creed took a more RPG-oriented direction, beginning with Origins, this focus that supposedly distinguishes it from the old formula is the weakest link.

The skill trees, the combat, and the massive open world — these are all underdeveloped elements that were expected to come together and produce something bigger than the sum of its parts. The gameplay hooks you until you set foot in England and settle down for a while, then midway through a side quest, you realize you've been doing exactly that for hours upon hours.

Valhalla ranks higher than Odyssey because it attempts to be an Assassin's Creed game, reintroducing social stealth and the hidden blade. It is a clunkier and heavier Assassin’s Creed, and although somewhat justified, it's still not fun to parkour around with Eivor.

11 Assassin's Creed

Impressive, amazingly nostalgic, yet incredibly dated

The big brother. The OG. Originally pitched as a Prince of Persia spin-off, the first Assassin's Creed is a game I initially planned to rank way higher. In earnest, however, I couldn't be unfair to other entries. Despite its placement, I have so much love for this game, but I have to recognize it plays like a 2007 game.

The gameplay is mostly dated in that it’s repetitive, but that doesn't mean there isn't any fun to be had. Although a staple of the series in hindsight, going through late 12th-century Jerusalem, Acre, Masyaf, and Damascus was mind-boggling for my kid brain. And because my favorite subject was history, Assassin's Creed immediately connected with me on a level beyond how fun it was.

The game's core loop is that you go to a city and gather information, then return to the bureau and get tasked with assassinating your target — repeat it nine times. I can excuse its repetitive nature for its ambition in 2007, knowing it laid the heart and soul of the franchise. Moreover, the parkour was particularly impressive, even by today's standards.

10 Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

For the Assassins with a low attention span

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate is the only game on that list that I genuinely didn't remember the names of its protagonists. The Frey twins? Frye? Frye yes. Blimey, I remembered Eivor, Alexios, and Cassandra, but not them. It’s the first game on this list to feature switching between two protagonists at any given time, which was its whole gimmick.

Syndicate doesn't stand out in any element. The parkour is an oversimplified version of Unity’s parkour. The combat lacked the weight and flow it deserved. This flow is okay for a couple of enemies but is inseparable from slapstick films when fighting more than four enemies. Moreover, the story received the Marvel-ish treatment. Even with its flaws and my dislikes, it’s still a much more fun experience overall.

9 Assassin's Creed: Rogue

The Black Flag DLC I never knew I needed

What I love about Assassin's Creed: Rogue is that, despite playing as a Templar for most of the game, it is still very much an Assassin's Creed game. What I hate about Rogue is that it reveals the franchise's biggest dread: painting its protagonist as a bad guy. The core of the franchise's conflict between Assassins and Templars is an unending fight between anarchism and authoritarianism.

Assassins, radical anarchists, are hypocritically obsessed with nudging the world in the name of defending freedom, while Templars seek to eliminate free will in exchange for what they deem as world peace. More entries tried to give a sophisticated take on these themes. Either way, Rogue's story, all in all, is okay. I like Shay Cormac, but he had more potential as a villainous character than just another 'Good Templar.'

On the gameplay side, it runs on the Black Flag engine, which often makes it feel like a dumbed-down version of that game. If I had to pick between both games, like many, I would go with the more thematically coherent and fun pirate game.

8 Assassin's Creed: Unity

The Icarus of Assassin's Creed games

I hadn't played Assassin’s Creed: Unity when it came out, so that delivered me from the frustration with most of its bugs. I can say that Unity is the most ambitious Assassin's Creed game when it comes to gameplay, especially social stealth and parkour — this ambition is also its worst sickness. The parkour looks stylish and smooth, and I'm drawing a line between how it looks and plays here. It's not bad, but it's the broadest departure from the old 'manual' style.

The stealth is ambitious with its utilization of large crowds yet is deprived of some basic features like whistling or lures in general. I like the weight of combat, but it was punishing with no explanation as to why. Regardless, I found it immensely thrilling to plan around assassinations and go about them my way. How Rogue connects with Unity was an impressive feat. It's surely one that I had hoped would amount to anything satisfying because although Rogue's story is fine, Unity's story is far from its most emphatic element.

7 Assassin's Creed: Revelations

The last jigsaw piece of a big puzzle, and it's beautiful

Enter Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the community's sweetheart and the name that will annoy you to hell. Assassin's Creed: Revelations continues the storyline connecting Altair and Ezio and the latter's search for meaning in the Creed's tenets. It is individually the weakest of the Ezio trilogy.

The game carries much from its predecessors and seldom provides something more captivating gameplay-wise. The parkour doesn't develop much beyond Brotherhood, yet I felt it regressed somehow. The story also loses much of its viscerality without the context of the past games. Yet, Revelations still provides a good standalone story. It all boils down to pure preference, and if I had to choose between Brotherhood and Revelations, I would always pick Brotherhood.

6 Assassin's Creed 3

Great story, combat, and experience all held back by technical issues

True story: this was once my favorite Assassin's Creed in the series. Assassin's Creed 3 takes place in the American War of Independence. The setting isn't the strongest element of this game for once; it's the narrative. The story is interesting on two fronts: the tale of Connor Kenway and the conclusion to the story of Desmond Miles, the backbone of the franchise, connecting Altair, Ezio, and Connor in a coherent overarching story.

I loved playing as Haytham, Connor’s father, who's later revealed to be a Templar. Haytham is a standout because he's genuinely one of the best villains in this franchise. Connor, as well, is not out of the question from being the best protagonist in the franchise. Although this game's parkour feels heavier than its predecessors, it flows relatively better.

The combat may not impress everyone, but it is a personal favorite of mine, along with the Ezio trilogy. Overall gameplay, however, feels less focused and dated compared to the past two games. Technical issues, likely a product of the then-new engine, also detract from its ranking. Be mindful that it is hard to access the original game, and the remaster is really buggy, so you might consider emulating it.

5 Assassin's Creed: Origins

So that's where the feather comes from

With Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Ubisoft tried to prove they could teach an old dog new tricks. How did it turn out? Let's put it this way: they crossbred the dog with a wolf and made a husky. I remember buying Origins the second year it came out on PlayStation 4. Although I wasn't a fan of the combat or the downgrade in the cinematic direction, I really loved the game.

Upon revisiting it, I see how it laid the perfect ground for some of the more vapid mechanics in the following games. Despite not even coming close to The Witcher 3 and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim when it came to RPGs, I still enjoyed my time with the set of features provided for me. I spent most of my time just going about and collecting material to upgrade my gear and level up my hidden blade. When provided with the stealth option, I always chose it, and I didn’t regret it once.

Change was needed, and Origins delivered an arguably good deal of change without compromising too much of the whole Assassin aesthetic. Also, a big shout out to the snake boss fight; hands down, one of the coolest in any Assassin's Creed game.

4 Assassin's Creed: Mirage

Short but sweet

Instead of pushing boundaries, Assassin's Creed: Mirage revisits an old recipe, attempts to polish it, and adds some spice. And this was all I needed. Upon replaying the first Assassin's Creed, I thought how cool it would be to have a remake of just exactly this, but with better stealth mechanics, and this is what Mirage is. The parkour, although fine, still needed more technical polishing and cleaning. You’ll come to notice that my gripes with Mirage are on the technical side, but Ubisoft Bordeaux’s post-release support was commendable either way.

Unlike Unity, I love how punishing combat can be, especially because the game attempts to explain it. You’re told outright that Basim is not much of a fighter. Yes, in earlier Assassin's Creed games, melee combat was a viable and entertaining option. I remember getting into conflict in the first Assassin's Creed and starting fights with mass hordes of soldiers, and although it was fun, I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

However, although it’s a present problem in the series from Origins, the lack of proper reaction from enemies was more pronounced in Mirage. I thought the story could've been more engaging than it was, but it's fine where it stands. Apart from that, I liked Basim as a protagonist. Finally, the choice to make this a smaller game was a wise one, one that I believe should be considered in upcoming releases.