As the gaming world eagerly awaits for the launch of Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, we have a new report from Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson. But before we jump into this report, I would like to discuss what we already know about Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe so far.
Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe is expected to have horror elements, with witchcraft and occult theme as indicated by the game’s codename “Hexe” which translates into “Witch.” The game will be set in 16th-century Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, during the infamous witch trials. Vice President and Executive Producer Marc-Alexis Côté have stated that this instalment will not follow the formula of previous games, and will promise a fresh experience for the players. For the first time, the game will be ditching the regular formula laid out by Assassin’s Creed Origins and will offer a more linear experience with limited open-world exploration. For the first time in the series, a mainline game will feature a solo female protagonist currently named Elsa.
Per Insider Gaming’s report, Elsa will have supernatural abilities, the game is set to lean more toward the supernatural than all the previous games have. In the footage that was provided to Insider Gaming, Elsa is shown sneaking around a group of soldiers that are said to look like Landsknecht or German mercenaries. Elsa casts a spell that allows her to possess a nearby cat, which the players can use to create a distraction and send soldiers in the opposite direction.
But that’s not all. The game will also apparently incorporate a mechanic similar to the “fear” system that was featured in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’s Jack the Ripper DLC. This system allows the players to scare the enemies by using specialised tools, causing them to run in when fear is used. It would be interesting to see how this new mechanic that supposedly is similar to the “fear” system would be like in Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe. Maybe Elsa can use specialised tools to scare her enemies, I don’t know.
Now I don’t know how to react to these reports because personally, I don’t like supernatural abilities in an Assassin’s Creed game. Now Assassin’s Creed series always had some sort of supernatural abilities like The Staff of Hermes, which allowed Kassandra to live for 2400 years. The Shroud of Eden, which contains regeneration and healing abilities, and the iconic Apple of Eden, which can project images, conjure realistic illusions, and even turn thought into reality, and that’s not all of its abilities. The Sword of Eden has a myriad of advanced abilities. One of the advanced abilities is to empower their wielders with incredible charisma, making all those around them extremely loyal and obedient. They also render their wielders immune to the illusion-casting effects of other pieces of Eden, like the Apple of Eden, and the Staves of Eden. But it always maintained certain boundaries that the series never crossed and personally, I like Assassin’s Creed when it’s historically accurate, more grounded and realistic to a certain extent. I don’t know how to feel about this and I know they did blur the lines with supernatural abilities that are present in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and the Assassin’s Focus in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, but this sounds like full-blown magic. Now I am sure it will be explained by Isu technology. I just hope they tread this rope very carefully. I am very skeptical and I already know there’s going to be mixed feelings about this. Not everyone is happy with the game being more linear and not having the open world to explore as traditional and RPG games always had.
Some of the early Assassin’s Creed games used to have a mechanic similar to the fear system where you kill guards in front of their comrades. They would drop their weapons and either surrender or run away from you. I don’t know why they removed it, but I am glad a similar mechanic is making a return and I hope they don’t remove it and implement it in future games as well. I don’t doubt the brilliant people working at Ubisoft at all; I am sure they can. They will come up with a logical explanation, but I just hope they don’t go all-in and maintain the boundaries of the series and don’t cross it too much because it’ll upset the diehard Assassin’s Creed fans.
While everyone is focusing on Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, I can understand why, but Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe is the game I am most interested in because of its setting, the theme, and the tone they’re going with. This game’s development started right after Valhalla was finished so this game has been in development for 6 years if it launches in 2026. I hope we get a trailer or something at Ubisoft Forward on June 10, 2024.