Assassin's Creed and other great history lesson games

Many games tell stories that are pure fantasy, but these historically educational games prove authenticity and fun can go hand in hand.

A surprising number of games like Assassin's Creed draw on real life and real history, from World War II all the way back to ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt. Games can be fantastic teachers of history, whether in the form of running, fighting, and parkour in colorful, historically-accurate environments, or told through dialogue and authentic sources from the period.

While the selection of historical games is plentiful, choosing those that offer uniquely powerful learning opportunities can be difficult. The best historical games provide learning resources or offer narrative elements that accurately convey place and time period. Games like Assassin's Creed have secured huge budgets through years of popularity, bringing historical settings to life, while others make smart use of more limited resources. Regardless of their differences in approach, players can walk away from great historical games while enjoying the experience while gaining more knowledge.

Assassin's Creed Is A Flagship Historical Experience

Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series has historically been known for its adventures. The first game in the series brought the Holy Land to life during the time of the Third Crusade, and subsequent games have explored everything from the ancient world, to revolutionary France, to caribbean. While these games took significant artistic license thematically, shoehorning fictional protagonists into major events and interspersing the story of a race of Assassin's Creed predecessors living in the past, they also sacrificed for accuracy in other ways. hard work. For example, important historical events and assassinations tend to follow the records and dates they are believed to have happened, requiring only that the player accept the covert involvement of the robed killer.

However, the greatest potential of an Assassin's Creed game as a history lesson is in the Discovery Tour game mode. First introduced with Assassin's Creed: Origins, the Discovery Tour uses detailed recreations of historical settings as a learning environment while setting aside the game's overarching narrative. The journey of discovery is now a staple of the series, with both Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Assassin's Creed Valhalla having their own versions. The feature is available both as an add-on mode for fans who want to learn on the side, and as a standalone Assassin's Creed Discovery Tour purchased by educators or gamers not interested in the traditional franchise experience.

Open The Historical Manuscript Of Pentiment

From Neverwinter Nights 2 to Fallout: New Vegas, fantasy and sci-fi games form the core The Gaming Legacy of Obsidian Entertainment. In Pentiment, the studio breaks with convention and plunges headlong into the past. A monastery and a country town in 16th century Bavaria are disrupted by murder allegations, thrusting players into a web of intrigue. Pentiment brings Renaissance Europe to life in a style reminiscent of the period's painted manuscripts, matching its narrative to its aesthetic in a memorable way. Even the game's text offers a complex reflection of context, with stylistic shifts to represent the characters' different backgrounds.

Obsidian's focus on complex choices and interactions proves well suited to the historical context. Players can learn and explore through big decisions and background choices in Pentiment, exercising a level of freedom that makes the act of seeking information feel incredibly rewarding. The backdrop of cultural shifts of the era proved to be much more than a backdrop, with the core narrative intertwined with tensions and developments unique to the era. The story is 25 years old and much can be gleaned from its unfolding. Even though the mystery at the heart of Pentiment is fiction, many of the elements that weave into it were once very, very real.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance Is A History Buff's Dream RPG

many Modern games focus on delivering fun as efficiently as possible, simplifying and enhancing narrative and gameplay so players feel powerful and continuously engaged. Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a game for those who want to know the truth, focusing on a medieval world that was poorer and had fewer dragons. The best perks in Kingdom Come: Deliverance are earned through repetition and practice, and the main character, the blacksmith's son, finds his way through narrative more through determination than fate. For gamers interested in a real-world historical perspective, Kingdom Come: Deliverance's approach elevates its authenticity to a level above similar games.

However, as in Assassin's Creed, the real history lessons in Kingdom Come: Deliverance come not from the primary gameplay, but from secondary features. The game features a codex for the player, a source of information that lists various aspects of the environment the player may encounter and provides an explanation for each. For example, the Codex's location category allows players to access profiles of various places in medieval Bavaria that appear in the game. Shining entries are those about various roles, tasks, items, and actions, educating readers from how to Medieval blacksmiths crafted an exciting world of municipal finances with the Blacksmith.

Oregon Trail Rolls Down A Path Of History

When people think of historic races, the Oregon Trail is probably the first thing that comes to mind. The game has been around in various forms for decades and is timeless for its educational value and entertainment factor. The game has been praised for its new revitalized version of the game on PC and Switch, which combines pixel art with polygonal backgrounds. The interactive journal feature documents historically real people and places, and losing a dysentery party in the remastered Oregon Trail HD still ensures players never forget the threat of a 19th-century disease.

Whether it's Call of the Oregon Trail or Call of Medieval Bavaria, a variety of games that delve into history ensures that gamers seeking knowledge will never be left unsatisfied. Games like Assassin's Creed and Pentiment mentioned here are far from great resources, just the best options in the industry. When it comes to learning more about the past that shaped us, none of these titles will disappoint.

More: Assassin's Creed Discovery Tour Tour: What it is and which games have it