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. 

Heather Wald
Senior staff writer

I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at GamesRadar+. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I'm not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good.