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Somewhere among the waves of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is a remote island, upon which stands a church. In the original game, that church wasn't there. But its existence in the remake is part of an effort to revitalize the Caribbean, bringing Black Flag up to scratch with modern-era counterparts like Assassin's Creed Shadows and Mirage without sacrificing the classic feel of the original.
With the series having changed almost beyond recognition over the 13 years between original and remake, keeping the core experience recognizable while pulling a PS3-era title in-line with modern Assassin's Creed is no mean feat. But while that church might be just one tiny detail in the context of a full-scale remake, this one isolated, innocuous building helps explain how Resynced is breathing new life into Black Flag's Caribbean.
"In the original Black Flag, the world was expansive - there were a lot of secrets, a lot of activities to do, but there weren't necessarily a lot of stories for the player to discover," says creative director Paul Fu. For him, the church is an example of that kind of story. While he doesn't give away anything else about it, he does reveal that "players might be surprised that when they stumble upon a secret in the open world, Edward has something to say about that that didn't exist in the original game."
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That's part of an overhaul that'll be felt across the Caribbean. While major settlements like Nassau and Havana have been revitalized, the sea itself has had its own substantial improvement. "We really wanted to revisit the playa," says lead level designer Julian Koch. In the original Black Flag, those small islands that dotted the open ocean "were often templated, with just one chest, one animus fragment." Now, each playa is entirely hand-crafted, and Koch says "every time you have an island that looks a bit different, expect some reward, expect some story, some secrets. Edward comments on every location."
That narrative depth was something Fu wanted to push throughout the game. He points to the original game's Templar Hunts, side quests which sent you all over the map in pursuit of a particular assassination target; "I really liked how they brought you to other cities, so I wanted to have more of that type of activity." That focus on additional missions helps drive players to corners of the map they might never have seen, whether they were present in the original game or are new to the remake. "There's a little bit more of an open-world spirit of freedom" in Resynced as a result, Fu explains - not enough to turn Black Flag into a sprawling, RPG-era Assassin's Creed game, but enough to encourage the spirit of adventure that's key to Edward's journey.
That spirit is something that Koch is also looking to uncover. "Black Flag is a bit codified - each location has its own identity," he explains. But the remake "allowed us to create more diversity." He points to a section of my Black Flag Resynced hands-on session, in which Edward infiltrates a plantation. In the original game, that setting might have felt the same no matter where in the Caribbean you uncovered it. In the remake, "a plantation is still mostly a plantation - when you see one, you know it's a stealth challenge. But now we can make them a bit different, not by changing the layout, but by adding more detail."
That might be via a questline about the warden's pet crocodile, but it could also be in the set-dressing. Now that Ubisoft isn't limited by the memory constraints of two generations ago, it can make sure the same type of location feels completely different depending on where in the Caribbean you find it. Havana and Nassau look and feel completely different, and despite the fact that tech from Assassin's Creed Shadows has helped make Resynced, "you notice how much more chaotic Havana is in comparison to the tidy Japanese cities."
"And that's just stories," Koch continues. New design assets aren't only there to make the Caribbean look good, but to help contextualize Resynced's new gameplay. "What can we do now that Edward can crouch?" he asks. "It sounds very basic, but it actually completely changes your relationship to the Caribbean." A barrel is still a barrel, he says, but they had to be rebuilt so that Edward could hide behind it. "We wanted to approach this as a way to give you more opportunities, being a bit less binary than 'you can either climb up or you stalk in a bush.'
None of these changes are large enough to make Resynced feel like a totally new experience in isolation. In fact, much of it could be missed entirely - optional side content, set-dressing designed to fade into the background, or "mastery moves" that Koch says most players will probably never make full use of. But when you see it as part of a whole, a series of small changes layered seamlessly on top of each other, they make the Caribbean a far richer and more vibrant open world than it was 13 years ago. These changes, small as they might originally seem, "just help you," Fu explains. "They give you another reason to explore and find secrets within a world that you already love."
Set sail for our Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Big Preview for more on the big remake. Or, take a look at our best Assassin's Creed games ranking for what to play next.
