Best Assassin’s Creed Games Ranked: My Honest List

I’ve played almost every mainline Assassin’s Creed game. From Altaïr’s first leap of faith all the way to Eivor raiding England. That’s a lot of hours in the Animus, honestly more than I’d like to admit.

Ranking Assassin’s Creed games is harder than it sounds, though. So when someone asks what is the best Assassin’s Creed game, I don’t have to guess. I have opinions. Strong ones, actually.

This list ranks every mainline game I’ve played, from my favorite down. I’ll also cover the newer releases I haven’t gotten to yet, the right order to play them in, and a few games like Assassin’s Creed if you’ve run out of hoods to wear.

One quick note before we start. Most Assassin’s Creed game rankings online just follow review scores. This is a personal ranking, not a Metacritic chart. I’ll mention review scores where they help, but the order is mine.

All Assassin’s Creed Games Ranked at a Glance

Here’s the full ranking in one place, with the critic score next to each game for context:

The top-rated Assassin’s Creed by critics is AC2, at 90. Notice that my ranking and the critics don’t fully agree on much else, though. Odyssey sits at number two for me despite a lower score. AC3 drops a few spots. That’s the fun of an Assassin’s Creed ranking, I guess. Everyone has their own.

The Top Tier: My Best Assassin’s Creed Games

So what’s the best Assassin’s Creed game to start with? Any of these four. They’re the ones I’d recommend to anyone, no hesitation. If you only play a handful, play these.

1. Assassin’s Creed 2

The best Assassin’s Creed game, for me, is still the one from 2009. Nothing has topped it. Not yet anyway.

Assassin’s Creed 2 took everything the first game tried and actually made it fun. Renaissance Italy, Florence and Venice, Leonardo da Vinci building your gadgets. And Ezio. Mostly Ezio.

You watch him grow from a cocky young nobleman into a real Assassin after his family is murdered. It’s a revenge story, sure. But it’s also a coming-of-age story, and it hits way harder than it has any right to.

Critics agreed too. It holds a 90 on Metacritic, the highest of any mainline entry.

If you’re wondering how many sequences are in Assassin’s Creed 2, there are 14. Sequences 12 and 13 were cut and sold as DLC at launch, which annoyed everyone at the time. The complete editions include them now, so don’t skip them. The Battle of Forlì especially.

2. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

I know. Putting Odyssey this high will annoy some longtime fans. I don’t care, honestly.

Odyssey is one of my favorite games ever, full stop. The huge Greek map, the graphics, the mythical creatures like Medusa and the Minotaur, and a family story that kept me hooked through the whole thing. I played as Alexios and finished both DLCs too.

Is it a “real” Assassin’s Creed game? Debatable. It’s more an open-world RPG wearing the hood. But as a game, it’s brilliant. I wrote a full Assassin’s Creed Odyssey guide if you want the deep dive.

3. Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

Brotherhood is basically AC2 refined. Same Ezio, now a master Assassin, rebuilding the Brotherhood in Rome.

The big new thing was recruiting your own Assassins. Call them in mid-fight and watch them drop from rooftops. It never got old. Combat felt faster too, with kill streaks that made you feel like a proper legend.

Some people put Brotherhood at number one. AC2 or Brotherhood, which Assassin’s Creed is better? I get the debate. It’s tighter than AC2 and plays better. But AC2 had the emotional punch, and that’s what sticks with me.

4. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Black Flag is the pirate game. Is Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag the best pirate game ever made? I’d say yes, and I don’t think it’s close.

You play Edward Kenway, a pirate who couldn’t care less about the Creed at first. You sail the Caribbean, board ships, hunt whales (yes, really), and sing sea shanties with your crew. The naval combat is still the best in the series.

Here’s the thing: if you haven’t played it, there’s now a remake. And it sits right below, at number five.

The Middle: Good Games With Some Baggage

Every game here is worth playing. They just each have something that keeps them out of the top four for me.

5. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced

I’ll be upfront: I haven’t played the remake yet. But it’s a rebuild of my number four, so it was always going to sit high.

Resynced and landed on July 9, 2026, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Same Edward Kenway story, rebuilt from the ground up with new parry-based combat, better stealth, deeper naval combat and some new story content. Critics loved it. It scored 84 on Metacritic, the highest-rated game in the series since the original Black Flag.

If you’ve never played Black Flag, this is honestly the version to start with now. I’d only rank it below the original because nostalgia counts for something. Maybe that changes once I play it.

6. Assassin’s Creed Origins

Origins rebooted the series as an RPG, and it did it well. Ancient Egypt is gorgeous, and Bayek might be the most likeable protagonist the series has had, outside of Ezio anyway.

His story is grief-driven and quietly sad. I loved it. The only reason it sits below Odyssey for me is that Odyssey took everything Origins started and went bigger.

7. Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Another one I haven’t played yet, so take this placement as a reputation pick.

Shadows came out in March 2025, set in feudal Japan with two leads: the shinobi Naoe and the samurai Yasuke. You switch between stealth and brute force depending on who you play. Japan has been the setting fans begged for since forever, and reviewers mostly liked what Ubisoft did with it. It scored an 81 on Metacritic, and Ubisoft says it has passed 5 million players.

From what I’ve seen, it looks like Origins and Odyssey’s RPG style with more stealth mixed back in. Which, honestly, sounds right up my street. It’s next on my list.

8. Assassin’s Creed Revelations

The final chapter of Ezio’s story. An older, tired Ezio in Constantinople, looking for answers about Altaïr.

The tower defense mode was a mistake, honestly. Nobody liked it. But the ending wraps up both Ezio’s and Altaïr’s stories so well that I’d still call it essential. That last scene with Ezio stays with you.

9. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Valhalla is a solid game. I liked it. Raiding monasteries with your Viking crew is fun, and 9th-century England looks beautiful.

Eivor’s story has some great moments too. It just never grabbed me the way Odyssey did. I’d call it a good middle-of-the-pack entry, and that’s not an insult.

10. Assassin’s Creed 3

AC3 has one of the best twists in the series early on. I won’t spoil it. The American frontier setting was fresh, and climbing trees was a nice touch.

But Connor is a hard protagonist to love. He’s serious, almost always. After three games of Ezio’s charm, that was a tough switch.

The Lower Tier: Not Bad, Just Weaker

11. Assassin’s Creed Unity

Unity launched in a terrible state. Bugs everywhere, faces missing, the works. It holds a 72 on Metacritic, tied for the lowest mainline score.

But here’s the twist. Patched up today, Unity is actually great. Revolutionary Paris is stunning, and the parkour is the best the series ever had. If you skipped it at launch, give it a go now. It’s still demanding on PC, though, so if you’re planning an upgrade, my guide to buying a gaming PC covers what actually matters.

12. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

Victorian London, twin Assassins Jacob and Evie, and a grappling hook. Fun? Yes. Memorable? Not really. Evie is great, though. I’d have happily played the whole game as her.

13. Assassin’s Creed Rogue

You play as a Templar for once, which is a cool idea. Shay’s story has potential. But it reuses so much of Black Flag that it feels more like an expansion than a full game.

14. Assassin’s Creed Mirage

I skipped Mirage, so this one’s based on what I saw of it and how it was received.

It was pitched as a return to the series’ roots. Smaller map, Baghdad, stealth first. On paper, great. But it actually started life as a Valhalla expansion before growing into its own release, and to me it still looks like one. A smaller side story rather than a proper new entry.

Critics were lukewarm too. It landed a 76 on Metacritic, one of the lower scores in the series. If you’ve played everything else, sure, try it on sale. Otherwise, I wouldn’t rush.

15. Assassin’s Creed

The one that started it all. Altaïr, the Holy Land, the Crusades. It was revolutionary in 2007.

Today though? It’s repetitive and dated. Eavesdrop, pickpocket, assassinate, repeat. I respect it more than I enjoy it now. Play it for the history of the series, not for fun.

Who Is the Best Assassin’s Creed Assassin?

Ezio. Easily.

He’s the only Assassin’s Creed main character who gets three full games, and you see his entire life: the reckless teenager, the master Assassin, and the tired old mentor. No one else gets that kind of arc.

Bayek comes close for me. Edward Kenway is the most fun, but he’s barely an Assassin for half of his game. Kassandra and Alexios? Brilliant, but they’re more Spartan mercenaries than Assassins.

Assassin’s Creed in Chronological Order

The games jump all over history. Here’s Assassin’s Creed in chronological order, by when each story is set:

1. Odyssey (431 BCE, Ancient Greece)
2. Origins (49 BCE, Ptolemaic Egypt)
3. Mirage (861 CE, Baghdad)
4. Valhalla (872 CE, England and Norway)
5. Assassin’s Creed (1191, the Holy Land)
6. Assassin’s Creed 2 (1476, Italy)
7. Brotherhood (1499, Rome)
8. Revelations (1511, Constantinople)
9. Shadows (1579, Japan)
10. Black Flag (1715, the Caribbean)
11. Rogue (1752, North America)
12. Assassin’s Creed 3 (1754, colonial America)
13. Unity (1789, Paris)
14. Syndicate (1868, London)

That said, I wouldn’t play them in historical order. The modern-day story runs in release order, so jumping around will confuse things.

Which Assassin’s Creed Should I Play First?

My honest suggestion for the Assassin’s Creed order to play:

• Want the classic experience? Start with Assassin’s Creed 2. Skip the first game or play it later out of curiosity.
• Want a modern RPG? Start with Origins, then Odyssey, then Valhalla.
• Want pure fun? Black Flag Resynced. No series knowledge needed.

Games Like Assassin’s Creed

Played them all and want more? A few games scratch the same itch:

• Ghost of Tsushima. Samurai, stealth, a gorgeous open world. Probably the closest thing to a perfect Assassin’s Creed game that isn’t one.
• The Witcher 3. If you loved Odyssey’s RPG side, this is the gold standard.
• Shadow of Mordor. Stealth, parkour and a nemesis system that still feels fresh.
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. The series’ spiritual ancestor, in 2D form.

You’ll find more picks in my list of the best RPG games, especially the open-world action section.

Final Thoughts

So which Assassin’s Creed is the best? For me, it’s still AC2, with Odyssey right behind it. Different eras of the series, but both made me forget I was holding a controller.

Where the series goes next is interesting. Black Flag Resynced proved Ubisoft can still nail a classic, and the darker Codename Hexe is next on the main roadmap. If Ubisoft remakes AC2 the same way someday? I’ll be first in line. Probably at midnight.