Assassin’s Creed Mirage's parkour faced a reality check from two professional parkour athletes. Discover their insights into the game's realism and how Ubisoft brought the world of feudal Japan to life.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage: A Parkour Deep Dive
A Parkour Perspective on Assassin’s Creed Mirage
In a recent PC Gamer Reality Check video (March 15th), Toby Segar and Benj Cave of STORROR, a UK-based parkour team, offered their expert opinions on Assassin’s Creed Mirage's parkour, comparing it to previous installments. Both are Assassin’s Creed fans and are developing their own parkour-focused video game, STORROR Parkour Pro.
Segar highlighted a scene where protagonist Yasuke performs a move deemed a "hate crime against parkour"—an "alpine knee"—where the knee absorbs the full body weight during a climb. This, according to the athletes, is a risky and impractical maneuver in real-life parkour, potentially leading to injury.
Cave pointed out other discrepancies, such as climbing impossible structures and maintaining perfect balance on precarious ledges. He emphasized the game's biggest fictional element: unlimited stamina. Real-life parkour, he explained, involves careful planning, observation, and strategic pauses, not the continuous, unbroken flow depicted in the game.
While acknowledging the game's fictional nature, Ubisoft clearly strived for realism. An interview with IGN (January) revealed that the game's delayed release was partially attributed to refining the parkour mechanics.
Recreating Feudal Japan
Beyond the gameplay, Ubisoft is immersing players in history through the in-game "Cultural Discovery" feature (Ubisoft website, March 18th). As explained by Ubisoft Editorial Comms Manager Chastity Vicencio, this Codex section provides detailed historical, artistic, and cultural insights into the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japan. Created in collaboration with historians and featuring museum artifacts, it surpasses the "History of Baghdad" feature in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, boasting over 125 entries at launch, with more to come.
However, bringing Feudal Japan to life presented significant challenges (The Guardian, March 17th). In an interview, developers discussed the extensive research and effort involved. Executive Producer Marc-Alexis Coté explained the long-standing desire to set an Assassin’s Creed game in Japan, finally realized in Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Creative Director Johnathan Dumont highlighted the team's dedication, including collaborations with historians and research trips to Kyoto and Osaka. Even seemingly minor details, like the unique way light falls on Japan's mountainous terrain, required meticulous attention. Coté summarized the development as "a challenge" with high expectations.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage launches March 20, 2025, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Stay tuned for more updates!
