"If there was no gold, we would have been heroes long ago!"

2013 is a very important year for the gaming industry. In this year, with the advent of Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox One, the console officially entered the new eighth generation, and the games released at this time also entered the next generation sequence. As a manufacturer that pursues cutting-edge technology, Ubisoft is naturally not at a disadvantage. The latest work in the Assassin's Creed series, "Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag" has also become one of the first games to support brand new consoles.

In contrast, "Black Flag" is a rare work in the series after the "Egio Trilogy", with a relatively unified praise. "Black Flag" inherits and carries forward all aspects of the advantages of the previous series, and also plays a brand new trick for the naval battle system. The stories it contains and the ideas conveyed therein have also pushed the series to another peak.

Out-law madman without assassin's legacy

In Assassin's Creed 3, Ubisoft opens a new North American trilogy and a plot in the history of the Kenway family. Judging from the time in the plot, "Assassin's Creed 3" is the final chapter of the entire North American trilogy, and "Black Flag" is the beginning of everything.

Edward James Kenway, the protagonist of "Black Flag", was a pirate active in the 18th century. Compared to any of the previous protagonists, Edward is not an assassin at all, and there is no concept of an assassin or a Templar in his mind. It can be said that Edward Kenway is one of the most unconventional characters in the series.

(There is a very interesting place where "Edward" and "James" appear in the name of an extrajudicial madman at the same time.

In the era when Edward lived, it was the period when pirates were most rampant. The empires competed for hegemony at sea, while the pirates were on the brink of law and morality. In that era, the sea had infinite charm to everyone, and countless people rushed to this blue wave for endless wealth.

Edward Kenway is one of them. He was originally a farmer who maintained his daily life by working in the fields. He has a beautiful wife, Caroline, and has his own family. If Edward was a man who was a man of good conduct, his life would have been spent in a dull manner. However, like every man living in that era, he was unwilling to have such an ordinary life. He has a fearless heart that yearns for adventure, hoping to gain huge wealth and power to enjoy his life. So Edward Kenway walked onto the deck and became a privateer, writing his own legend in the Caribbean Sea.

(Edward imagines the future, but the future is pitch black)

Edward is not a pirate without principles. Although he, like the other crew members, bathed in the salty and wet sea breeze, drank mellow rum, dancing in the tip of the knife and blood, never rejecting money and women. But he always remembers his purpose of going to sea. His desire for money is not out of squandering, but out of responsibility to his family. He did not discriminate against anyone, and even in that era when the black slave trade was developed, he allowed a black man to serve as his military officer. He treats every crew member like his family, and the Jackdaw is their home and their country.

After all, Edward is still a member of the Kenway family, and his stubbornness is deeply engraved in his blood. The tragic story of the Kenway family happened quietly in this vast sea.

Indulgent freedom and the bondage of order

The author believes that Ubisoft chose the story background of "Black Flag" as the golden age of pirates, not only to take care of the newly launched naval combat system in the previous work, but also to show the interpretation of "freedom" through the perspective of pirates.

In Edward's story, Assassin and Templars are not the protagonists, so naturally, the main line of "Black Flag" does not spend a lot of money to describe the conflict and cooperation between Assassin and Templars like in "Assassin's Creed 3". Instead, let the player directly bring the character "pirate" and experience the unrestrained wind of freedom for himself. At the same time, during this period, the UK has also introduced pardon orders to be used as plot material, which can not only lead to the classic "freedom and order" discussions in the series, but also add conflict and highlights to the game plot.

This choice not only cleverly avoids the situation of being a terrible person in Assassin's Creed 3, but also allows players to examine the previously praised "freedom" concept from a new perspective. Even after artistic rendering, pirates are incarnations of "evil" in any case. Players are no longer the incarnation of justice, but are synonymous with chaos.

Think about it carefully, aren’t the pirates free? Isn’t this what the Assassin’s Creed series has been pursuing? Before Assassin's Creed 3, that's what it was. But Assassin's Creed 3 denied this statement and opened up new directions for the series. "Black Flag" fundamentally subverts the argument about freedom and throws this issue to players.

So in the early and middle stages of the game, Edward was not an assassin at all. He intervened in the dispute between the Assassin and the Templar for money, but he knew nothing about the beliefs of the two organizations and even looked down on them. The assassin even sneered at the pirate who sold the organization's intelligence for money. It can be said that in the game, Edward and the Templar have a much greater connection than those of the Assassin.

Ambition, confusion and redemption

Compared with the previous work "Assassin's Creed 3", "Black Flag" is more relaxed and relaxed in the story, and spent about 20 hours of game time to tell the most brilliant life of Edward Kenway. If you want to summarize the story of "Black Flag", just like the title of this section, it can be roughly divided into three parts.

The main story of "Black Flag" is about 1/2 of the time, telling various adventures that Edward, as a pirate, pursues a secret treasure called "Observatory" and experience during the period. The "Observatory" is a ruin from the First Civilization. Combined with blood bottles and crystal skulls, it can monitor the activities of all humans in the world. It can be said to be the largest sacred artifact of Eden that has appeared in the series. Coupled with observation is the newly introduced concept of "saint". The Saint is a new clue to the post-Desmond era "Assassin's Creed" and runs through ancient and modern stories.

At this stage, Edward's huge ambitions were fully revealed, but the player would not be too disgusted with such a character. One of the reasons is the identity of "pirate". After a long period of artistic rendering, "pirates" have become a symbol of handsomeness and romance, and the story of pirates is one of the most popular subjects in popular literature. Another reason is that Edward's nature is still "good". The starting point of all his actions is from his kindness and for his little dream. He wanted to have endless wealth just for the small home that sheltered from the wind and rain.

(Edward is a small person in the city, just like every player)

But as the story progresses, players can also feel Edward's stubborn thoughts. Edward is an idealist. Although he has strong strength, he still dreams of unrealistic beauty. He has strong action and will do whatever he wants to achieve his goals. But it is also true that he ignores the consequences of what he does, and in the middle and late stages of the story he is already a self-centered bastard.

So after describing Edward's ambitions, players will witness Edward's depravity. He blindly pursued the behavior of the observatory and unconsciously planted the seeds of tragedy. Sometimes, Edward led his Jackdaw to do things that sailors were not happy to do, and even risked their lives. You know, when Edward lost the trust of his crew, he was really homeless.

At the same time, because of the British King's pardon order, Nassau, which was regarded as paradise by the pirates, was also occupied by the British. His former partners went their separate ways, either died under the fire of artillery, turned against each other, or fell into madness. Edward witnessed their deaths in battles again and again, and even killed his former friends with his own hands.

These experiences have exacerbated Edward's attitude towardsObservatory obsession. He didn't want to see his friend's death again, and wanted to get observations as soon as possible, so he exchanged for huge wealth. Under such a stubborn idea, he became a prop for Saint Barsolomew Roberts, smoothing the obstacles for him, and finally abandoned.

Edward is like his favorite jackdaw, who is self-righteous and overestimated by seeing an eagle. After being removed from his final disguise, he is still stubborn and pretentious. Edward is not an eagle or a lone wolf. He is just a jackdaw wandering in the storm.

Edward was completely confused. What did he sail on the sea for so many years, and what did he get in the end? He had nothing, he was still a farmer from the countryside. He lost money and reputation, lost those he loved and those he loved. His heart fell into emptiness and began to fall into depravity.

(Mary's death completely defeated Edward)

Fortunately, his former quartermaster Advale did not give up on him. Ade returned the Jackdaw to Edward, and at the same time guided him to understand the assassin's way.

When working with Roberts, Edward talked to him about the Creed. Compared to Roberts, Edward has no faith of his own, everything moves from the heart. Such a person will not succeed because he does not have a solid belief in supporting his actions, which is also the root of those tragedies.

And after so many things, Edward found the assassin again. He began to understand the creed that he had once been ridiculed and began to know the true meaning of it. Ubisoft also took this opportunity to convey to players a completely different creed concept from the previous work.

The so-called "nothing is true, and everything is OK" is not an excuse to let oneself do whatever one wants, but to guide believers to think about the world. Different people have different understandings of the creed. As long as they meet the values given by the creed, their actions can be regarded as the actions of the assassin. Just like the "nothing is true" in the creed, the creed itself is a kind of nothingness. If you take action with your own understanding, this is "all things can be done."

It is also through "Black Flag" that the author is more sure that for the IP of "Assassin's Creed", the most important thing is not the identity of the "assin", but the self-understanding of the "creed". Assassins may disappear into history over time, but the creed will be passed on forever.

Edward also understood this and began to fight for the assassin and atone for his own faults. Perhaps this cannot save those lost lives, but it can also bring some comfort to his empty heart.

(Edward's eyes have never been so weak and confused)

Edward completed the task assigned to him by the assassin and completed self-salvation. In AnneIn Ponnie's song "The Parting Glass", he saw those friends who used to laugh and drink happily. He was relieved, he gave up his past, and he gained a new life. The once mighty pirate Edward has disappeared, and the rest is an assassin named Edward Kenway, a good husband and a good father.

(This is probably the most memorable ending in the entire series)

Modern plot with increasingly thin presence

Compared with the magnificent stories of the ancient lines, the modern story of "Black Flag" is not that outstanding.

Because of Desmon's death, the modern part is in urgent need of a brand new protagonist. Ubisoft lets players take on this role by themselves, which just satisfies Ubisoft's goal of breaking the fourth wall.

In modern stories, players play as themselves as a new employee who has just joined Abstergo Entertainment. Like Edward, he unknowingly intervened in the struggle between the assassin and the Templar.

The new modern part reinforces fragmented narrative, and players need to obtain information through simple decryption. This information is both a perfection and complement to the "Assassin's Creed Universe" and also a review of the history of the entire series from the perspective of the Templar.

This fragmented narrative method of media rich can indeed bring rich information, but it also raises the threshold for accepting story content. Not all players are willing to stop and view such a huge amount of text content.

In addition, Ubisoft's increased efforts in the products surrounding Assassin's Creed has caused disconnection between the modern part and the player experience, and also made the presence of modern stories less and less.

Of course, the modern story of "Black Flag" still conveys several key plots. One is Desmon's friends Sean and Rebecca, who have transformed from technicians to operational personnel and have obtained a lot of information that is beneficial to the assassin's operations from Abstergo. The other is to continue the inheritance of the saint, allowing the villain Juno to infiltrate the Internet, becoming the biggest threat in modern stories.

But in my opinion, starting with "Black Flag", modern stories have fallen into a very embarrassing dilemma. If the modern part is missing, Assassin's Creed will not be a complete Assassin's Creed. However, the changes in the narrative style of modern stories have seriously stripped away the players' experience. In the subsequent works of Assassin's Creed, it can even be ignored.

Even so, Ubisoft has not given up on his narrative of modern stories. However, they are not sticking to games, but express themselves in novels, comics, films and TV. The modern story of the Assassin's Creed series is no longerIt is an accessory for gaming services, but an important part of becoming an independent existence.

(There are also promotions of official novels in the game)

End

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is a milestone work in the series. It is a new peak that the series has reached and has an indelible position. The greatest contribution of "Black Flag" is to hand over the content directly narrated by the game to players for thinking. Since "Black Flag", the "Assassin's Creed" series has entered a larger narrative structure, and has also helped Ubisoft to establish a good player reputation worldwide.

Putting aside these commercial considerations and focusing on the game itself, "Black Flag" is also a thought-provoking work. It satisfies players' fantasy about the era of pirates and also guides players' perceptions of life.

Let us hang the black flag and raise the sails, accompany the fragrance of rum and the hoarse singing, wander in the ocean of life, looking for our treasures.