Hey MyIGNers! Considering the many blogs I'm thinking of writing, I have decided to write something about one of my favourite series seeing that I haven't written many blogs about the Assassin's Creed series for almost a few months aside from my AC4 one. To many of you, that probably sounds like blasphemy but hopefully this will be a change so be prepared to see a whole bunch of AC blogs on the way filling your newsfeed. 
However with this blog I have decided to take a different turn. Even though my community blogs don't really go very far, I have decided to write this particular blog considering that many people are still wondering about what setting they would like Ubisoft to take the series now.
I see many if not all settings having potential for their own game in some format which is why sometimes it makes it difficult to think about which setting out of many should take the throne of the next game. no one's really sure if there will be a full console game next year, aside from the countless tablet and handheld games of course. It hasn't actually been officially announced that it will be becoming annualized but why not write out our top settings for a community blog?
So basically I'll write a few things about the settings where I would like the series to take place and then I'll tag people to make their own list. 
There is a catch. You can only list up to 3 of your top choices for settings and can only tag 3 people just to make it fair. Well you don't have to write as much as me and i believe my blog will probably a few thousand words too long. In the event you become tagged or just want to write your own list anyway, you don't have to write in so much detail if you don't want to. Just a few sentences about why you think this certain setting would be awesome would be totally fine but if we you would like to write more like me, be my guest! I hope no one feels left out if I don't tag them and you shouldn't be because it's only to see if my community blogs will go very far. You can all express your settings in the comment section or your own blog if you wish.
So I guess I'll start of this blog with a favourite setting I've wanted for many millenia. By the way, I'm not really sure how long this blog will be. I'm not really intending the blog to be huge but most likely, my fingertips will be flying ahead so feel free to get get some snacks while you're reading. Enjoy!
Viking
From their vast mythology enough to compete with the Greek and Roman mythologies (which are both pretty much the same thing) their pointy hats, no one was more terrifying in the Medieval Scandinavian period than the Vikings! A Northern Germanic people who did not hesitate to conquer new lands in brutal battles and slaughter the original inhabitants. Although before I get carried away with all their victories, I'll need to explain why this would be a great setting for the Assassin's Creed series and apply it to the franchise of how the setting would work.
The Vikings were foremost a high power controlling group in an area that hasn't exactly been utilized within the AC series. In fact this would be a main reason why to use the setting because not only could it work well with a story but implement some neat gameplay mechanics at the same time. I'm not saying that we should get Hidden Axes (although that would be fun) but with a more snow themed game, we would see more gameplay relating to this. For example, this time, why not have more interactions with wolves and canines? I mean there weren't many horses around this area and so wolves were used in particular to pull sleighs in no time! Why not use our very own personal skiing set?
I mean in AC3, we saw the Anvil Next engine allowing us to defeat enemies on the run, so why assassinate targets whilst performing some high speed sports too or knock over enemies in the way. Let's put this to the test...
Then again, do we really know much about the Vikings in particular? Not as much but then again we didn't know much about the Assassins and the Templars and already we've got a full series. So how did we get a great set of events? Well many were obviously made up in the first game to suit the story but a majority makes it feel like the world has come to life and in some ways, much of what was told was true about what actually happened like the battles. It was only the purpose of such fights that was altered. So how do we apply this to the Viking setting? Show the impacts on villages and other cities. That way, we could bring monarchs and higher authority figures in to the action while maintaining certain fictional twists to the story.
Plus there isn't anything to stop us from having a game with a lot of made up leaders since we've already got famous figures and monuments in previous iterations so it would make the game feel more unique. Then again, I think most of the fiction should just be the characters presence because there are many events which take places, especially leading up to the ultimate 1066 era where the Normans took over England, transforming the language forever where we no longer talk in "Ye olde" language anymore.
Excluding the game to only places like Norway and England though would be like something from a horror movie because it has a whole wide range of potential. Let me just show you how far the Vikings expanded.
So as you can see, a game taking place during the Viking era would not only feature snow capped fjords but also as far as Western Russia and possibly a scorched landscape of volcanic Iceland.
To incorporate these in to the game, we could have something similar to the assassin recruit missions where we could send them off to certain victory while Ezio would cash on the finance gained or become a one way trip of doom. This time, why not have the main character or a playable assassin recruit actually experience these takeovers and plundering.
It's not just the voyages through all kinds of severe weather (trust me, I've been on the North Sea ferry lines) but the values of their mythologies of never ending battles with their own personal weapons to treasure and the fact that they seem to disappear off the face of the Earth in 1066 after the Battle of Hastings, could introduce something we haven't seen since the very beginning of the Assassin's Creed franchise. A new order! I mean, they're kind of the equivalent of what we've seen in the Assassins and Templars heritage. Why not have some modern Vikings to fight. Maybe they go searching for Piece of Edens all throughout Europe... and a little bit of Asia. This would mean they are more than just savages.
I'm suffering Viking's Need here!
Although many of you may think it could be something similar to the latest release so far which is AC4: Blackbeard's Nag since an assassin becomes a part of another society but that's where many may be wrong. There's so much potential already with different variations for the characters like personalities, attributes and so forth. Maybe the character is fighting for both fronts equally. Maybe they have a secret motive to eliminate the other or becomes indoctrinated in to their orders.
Then again like with Connor, stereotypes must be eliminated to a partial extent. Just because the Vikings were like the medieval pirates with possibly their own Blackbeard, doesn't mean that they were always brutal and participated in who could grow the longest beard competition. Far from it! Many remained in villages fishing and they were more civilized than many would interpret. In fact they were even the cleanest people at the time... more than Altair probably! Just imagine a game where they were fighting for a god like Odin or rather than have a character based on animal attributes, we have a character based on a god like Thor with a quick hammer at the ready. 
There's also the fact that I'm part Norwegian myself so it would be interesting to see what my ancestors would have been like. Especially if they feature Leif Ericsson since he pretty much has my surname. Well it's pronounced the same way at least. Unlike Columbus, he reached the actual North America. Not the Caribbean.
So now that I've just written almost an entire blog's worth of detail, it's time to for my next most wanted Assassin's Creed setting which is everyone's favourite...
Tudors
The history topic taught in about every single school in the United Kingdom and much of the primary school lifestyle. Much of what we were told about the popular celebrity Henry VIII and his six knives... I mean wives, is only the basis of what made this single piece of monarchy, the most widely known in UK history. In fact, in a way, I was hoping that maybe the next Ezio game which would seem to become Revelations would take place within this era but then I thought against this due to the fact that I didn't believe it could be something that could be told in a small game and even the setting it got, Constantinople could have got it's own assassin rather than just a small storyline for Ezio's journey but more on that another time.
So lets see where this setting stands so far in the franchise... It has already been mentioned in the Assassins recruit missions where Henry VII is still in power. Almost overthrown by the Templars, the Assassins were sent in to stop this. You know nothing huge but where events begin to pick up is with his son, Henry VIII who is in many ways slightly different. Being that he has an extra I, gets a little bigger and beheads anyone who couldn't do a proper jiggle. You know. No biggie. What is very important though is the changes he established to ensure he got what he wanted. In particular, the Break with Rome which distanced England further away from the Catholic faith in some partial extent and a major step in the long term.
What I believe is key for a a Henry VIII game would be to possibly introduce a more personal rivalry. I mean it would be fun to fight a younger Henry through sword fights, competitions of archey and finally jousting in which Henry suffered a bit of an injury.
So in this instance of having a majority of the game based on mostly one monarch, it would probably be best to leave out Eddie, Mary and Izzie for a future game or episodic material at least since the family has a whole bunch of key figures... unless you want Call of Duty or something.
Lets start with Henry VII. We never really knew much about the War of the Roses in school and it's not as well known as the entire Tudor family itself so why not begin the premise of the story at this moment in time, where we see the origins of the future monarchy yet it all changes when Henry VIII comes to power. Maybe the assassins would lose their support within the monarchy and would be forced to target members of his family for information about a Piece of Eden possibly? Maybe he becomes manipulated by Cromwell and his advisers who could in fact be Templars. You know. Just for this game. In that case, it could easily orchestrate a whole range of dialogue options for the characters to broaden the assassins alternative view of reaching certain areas or targets. However it would also mean that the character could create a new unique perspective to the series by being able to visit Henry and utilize his resources while at the same time being a secret sworn enemy.
Well don't threat! It's smaller than the Borgia family.
On the other hand, if the Tudor family was much smaller, I don't think there would be a significant problem in introducing Henry VIII all the way to the Spanish Armada but for an Assassin's Creed game in this instance, it would be horribly rushed and would most definitely miss out on many key events including the Pilgrimage of Grace and so forth. Then when it would arrive towards Edward's, Mary's or Elizabeth's reign, they could just as easily introduce a sequel involving the family's impacts on other areas or maybe even team up with Francis Drake and go on the search for El Dorado.
There is just one problem with this setting. It may be pretty close to the Assassin's Creed 2 Renaissance era already and we have a whole variety of eras where the game could take place anyway with the vastness of the timeline difference from AC1 with 1191 to AC3 of 1783 or even an era before or after this space of time. Despite there being many distinct differences (especially the food) it would somewhat be very similar in terms of possible gameplay material which is why the game will need a change up to suit the new Tudor style. This would no doubt include a skilled archer, more ways to eliminate enemies will maybe an assassin order that you could call in to follow the main character and ambush the guards and new ways of gaining support for the order, particularly via using certain dialogue options. Of course, we could have some of our favourite medieval weapons.
Including the Death Star...
^ No! Not that one.
^ Yeap, that's the one.
Considering it would feature much of his family including Margaret and Arthur before his death, maybe we could play as a real life figure as one of the many protagonists. I've always wondered what it would be like to play as a real life character as a main character (including myself) but it would probably be more difficult and require a figure who doesn't just sit on the side lines... which is kinda hard to find but if many characters and roles were introduced with some significant moments, then I believe it could work perfectly and create a chance of forming a well made interconnecting story. Then we could see how their storylines passed on to the next game.
Now's time for the final setting of my list which might actually be confusing to many and you may start scratching your heads wondering why but hopefully with another bunch of intensive detail, you'll understand why. So the last but not least of my list of most wanted Assassin's Creed settings is...
Sumerian
One of the oldest recorded civilizations if not the oldest, dating back at least 5000 BC in the region in what if now around the Syrian and Iraq borderline. We have already had a very close setting in this series already. In particular, at the very start of the franchise itself but have we ever got so much as a setting dating in the BC eras. Well aside from all the puzzles and short cutscenes, we haven't got so much of a great deal to call a playable setting. Especially at the fact that I would love to play a game set in a totally ancient timeline although ancient civilizations were in fact on Ubisoft's wishlist for the setting for as early as... AC2!
Whether it was the Mayan or Aztec setting, it would truly be a marvel of how the series would have played out especially since it would have been a setting right before Altair's timeline but on the other hand at the time, it wouldn't have been able to introduce a sufficient economic or notoriety system too well and even if it did, there wouldn't have been many famous figures or landmarks we could call the Leonardo across the pond or perform our leap of faiths which was what was required at the time although the highlight of Assassin Tombs, puzzles and some wacky, fun mythology would most likely be the emphasis of the game which would be pretty neat. It probably wouldn't have been able to reveal much about the past history. Maybe with some cool scenes of mythology in motion but maybe it could show events in the future like the Tudors for example.
Things have changed however. We've got plenty of famous people to talk to and landmarks to climb but now it seems like it's very possible we could see something like this in a future installment. Although with the Mayan setting, I've had a bit of a re-think. It seems like Ubisoft have been trying to set off a bit of a tease with the Mayan: Lost Ruins DLC for AC3, the numerous temple sites in AC4 and even the story itself was based on the Mayan calender which I was actually a little disappointed with AC3's setting though since it couldn't really relate much to an apocalyptic doom situation. Introducing the Mayan setting in a future game now, I think would be a bit out of place now since we've already gone past the year 2012 unless they made a prequel focusing on a modern day prequel of course.
So why did I pick the Sumerians? Well like I said, they are a sign of how Human civilization started, yet the lines are blurry and we don't really have a handful of information to tell us what it was like in great detail which is the same for pretty much every ancient society. What I think is very interesting though is how it could apply to an AC game and I believe that the answer is very possible. The further we look back in time, the more mysterious it becomes and what is noticeable is that the beliefs are highly dedicated with shrines acting as the basis of god-like figures. Maybe with an AC game, much of the First Civilization survived until around this era and was still able to indoctrinate the population via a last option to control the Human race.
What is easy to find however is the bunch of ancient alien theorists proposing their ideas throughout the internet on this topic so the developers would have to be careful in gathering data which could in fact just be a simple theory.
One of which on the other hand, we believe might be real in some form which is a shadowy group known as the Brotherhood of the Snake who supposedly were exposed to the secrets of Humanity's origins and that could work well with a member of the First Civilization who just feels bad for the Human race but what is also interesting is what would happen to this organization. Would it live on some how or would it simply die off but live on in a legacy. That legacy being the catalyst for the very start of Assassin-Templar war.
Okay, so I believe that's my time to end the blog there but I would like to give a special mention of the World War 2 setting or at least a setting close to the Modern Day since if that could be set out in an Assassin's Creed unique way, then any setting would be possible.
Now my time to tag someone to write their own list. (Thinks carefully)
Time to tag!
StarSeeker94
Assassinita
LeeDoc93
I hope you've enjoyed reading this blog as a starter to the upcoming Assassin's Creed blogs on the way so prepare to watch out for your newsfeed.
So what do you think about my choices for Assassin's Creed settings? Do you think they have potential and where would you like the series to go?
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.