Amateur Recommendation Hour: Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag

Today’s recommendation is the only Assassin’s Creed game I objectively believe to be an excellent work worth revisiting. Possibly the only one that I can critically say is one of the better games of the 7th generation of gaming (Xbox 360, Playstation 3 era).

Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag is without a doubt in my mind Ubisoft’s magnum opus. A dizzying amount of exploration and an ACTUALLY GREAT (if poorly communicated a little too often) NARRATIVE, it’s the best of the “classic style” Assassin’s Creed games.

The story follows homesick pirate Edward Kenway and his desires to create a a wealthy "pirate friendly state" free of the intrusion and bureaucracy that comes with politics and government. Featuring many larger than life pirates from history it does a very effective job of humanizing these almost mythical names from history with an attention to detail that I wish modern Ubisoft would employ with it's writing and direction. Sailing the open seas, sea shanties, pillaging and plundering unassuming ships, if you ever wanted a power fantasy involving pirates, look no further.

My interpretations of this work has been consistent ever since I finished it many years ago back when it first released in 2013. Appreciate the one place you can truly call home while you are there. What it looks like or what others think of it is irrelevant. One day you will miss how it feels to be there and the unique kind of freedom it gives you. 

It also serves as a criticism of psychological egoism. Sometimes it is more important to believe in something larger than your own personal gains, you might even find it benefitting those gains as a byproduct in the process, keeping important aspects of your life intact as opposed to losing them because of material greed.

I believe this to be a unique game in the Assassin's Creed continuity in that you need not be familiar with the events up to that point to enjoy it. It can be effective as a standalone piece or in conjunction with the rest of the Assassin's Creed lore that was starting to jump the shark a bit too much.