When Assassin's Creed Origins launched in 2017, it surprised fans with its reinvention of the franchise. Not only did it turn the series into an RPG, but it also introduced a plethora of new mechanics that reshaped what it meant to be an AC game. One such mechanic came in the form of the new target screen which showed players everyone they needed to take out. And after the next two games changed the mechanic further, Assassin's Creed Mirage seems to have replaced it entirely.

Assassin's Creed Mirage may be a blast from the past, but it also brings along a few familiar mechanics from the RPG games. The new investigation system is one of these mechanics, and although it works differently from the target trees of the past, it also feels awfully familiar. Still, it changes it up just enough so that fans may enjoy this iteration a lot more.

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The Investigation System Feels Like a Worthy Replacement to Cultists

Assassin's Creed Origins presented players with a nice family tree of sorts that showed them all the targets they had to kill. This screen showed them who their targets were in a pyramid formation and gave players important information about each of them. It felt like a fun new addition to the franchise, especially because it helped make players feel like they were actual assassins tracking their prey.

Odyssey and Valhalla expanded the feature by making the screen a lot more convoluted. Odyssey replaced it with a cultist screen that looked like a web and also introduced a new mercenaries screen alongside it. Players had to find clues before finding their foes, which also helped make them feel like assassins. However, it also felt like way too many characters. Plus, this iteration was when players started getting burnt out by the amount of content these games had.

Valhalla's worked terribly similar to Odyssey's, but it replaced the Cult of the Kosmos with the Order of the Ancients. It was presented in an axe-like shape that fit with the Viking setting. However, just like with Odyssey, it was also just too much. While it continued to make players feel like assassins, the amount of content Valhalla had was the final nail in the coffin for many. While players who do not find themselves getting bored of Assassin's Creed games could see all the content offered by the Tree as a pro, many will likely view it as a con.

Instead of replicating these target trees, AC Mirage has replaced it with the new investigation screen. This screen starts empty, and it is up to the player to discover the cases to further the story. Each case has multiple steps that must be completed filled with clues that need to be discovered. The final step often results in the killing of some member of the Order of the Ancients, but not all of them get the classic, fancy confession cutscene that fans have come to expect from Assassin's Creed.

Mirage's investigation system is a nice new addition to the formula that will hopefully be expanded upon further. Instead of letting players see the number of targets they will be hunting, this forces them to channel their inner detective. While some of these cases include quests that are a bit bland, the majority of them are enjoyable. Even though some fans may prefer the cultists screens from the past games, the investigation system feels like the natural progression of that. It will be interesting to see if Ubisoft continues down this path with AC Red, or if it introduces an entirely new mechanic instead. Fans will have a little while to wait before then, so in the meantime they will just have to keep purging the Order of the Ancients from Baghdad.

Assassin's Creed Mirage is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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