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Ubisoft Should Bring Back Shaun Hasting’s Narration For All Historical Facts In The Assassin’s Creed Series

Assassins Creed

In the early Assassin’s Creed games, Shaun Hastings used to narrate all of the historical facts in the game. Sometimes, he’d go even further, narrating things about the Animus to help players understand how the game works a little better. However, that all stopped around the time that Assassin’s Creed 3 came out. The historical facts were still there, but Shaun’s voice was gone. Part of me thinks that not enough people were talking about this feature, so Ubisoft removed it as it was an unnecessary part of the game. The other part of me thinks that the voice acting fees must have crept up higher and higher, and Ubisoft simply wasn’t prepared to pay them. After playing through Discovery Tour: Viking Age though, I’ve gotten used to hearing Shaun tell me all about historical facts and stuff like that again, so I want this feature to come back to the franchise moving forward.

There are two legitimate reasons that this feature should return. The first is accessibility. I’m dyslexic, and I sometimes really struggle to read the text on-screen. I get through it because I’ve got my own coping mechanisms, but those without them, or those who have it worse than me, could do with a narration feature to help them out. The second reason that Shaun voicing all the historical stuff should return is because it adds a new layer to the game. I really enjoyed pausing the game when I hit a historical point of interest to just sit and learn about it for a while. To me, this was a core part of the series, and I still stop and read when I come to these places in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

Ultimately, I’m an old man and want my old familiar version of Assassin’s Creed to come back. I do think that the reasons I’ve put forth are legitimate though, and I know that there are other fans out there who feel the same way. There’s so much demand for something like this, and I’m sure there are people with screen readers who wish it was there as well. Come on Ubisoft, let’s have it.

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