Assassin's Creed secret Isu language is finally deciphered by fans

Assassin's Creed Valhalla — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

The ancient Isu language used by the first civilization in the Assassin's Creed series has finally been deciphered.

In a YouTube video from Access the Animus (via Kotaku), you can see a detailed breakdown of just how they were able to crack the secret Isu language used by the god-like figures known as the Ancient Ones throughout the Assassin's Creed series.

From verbs to adjectives and numbers, Access the Animus comprehensively explains how to translate the Isu language, which has its own "complex grammar, alphabet, and a set of rules of its own". They were even able to work out verb tenses, conjugated words, grammar cases, and sentence structures.

The secret language first appeared in Assassin's Creed 2, but it's thanks to the latest adventure, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, that the fans were able to finally work out how to decipher the Isu words. If you've been leaping into Viking adventure with Eivor, you may have encountered the language outside of the Animus while looking through files on your computer as Layla in the present-day. In these files, you can read translations of the Isu language written down, which Access the Animus used to work out how to decipher the text.

It's really quite impressive to see just how they managed to dig into the translations featured in Valhalla to crack the language, and it also demonstrates how well thought out this aspect of the Assassin's Creed lore is.

If you want a refresher on the history of Assassin's Creed, be sure to check out our Assassin's Creed timeline, or watch the video below.

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Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.