I Just Platinumed The Most Overlooked Assassin’s Creed, And I Think It’s a Must-Play Ahead of The Black Flag Remake

There’s still no official word from Ubisoft on the long-rumored project, but it’s quickly turning into the gaming industry’s worst-kept secret. If an Assassin’s Creed Black Flag remake is indeed in development, and if it’s announced soon, I’m sure many long-time Assassin’s Creed fans will want to replay the original ahead of its release to get a refresher on how it felt to play. But rather than return to Black Flag, I’d urge those fans to try out the most overlooked Assassin’s Creed instead.

My Assassin’s Creed Platinum Journey So Far

Getting The Platinum for The Ezio Trilogy

My quest to 100% every Assassin’s Creed game has already been a rather long one. While I’ve loved the franchise since I was about 11 years old and played almost every entry the year it first released, I had rarely seen everything each Assassin’s Creed had to offer, and I could barely remember the convoluted ins and outs of all the Assassin-Templar-Isu-Order-of-Ancients lore developed over the last two decades.

In October 2023, I officially began my Assassin’s Creed Platinum Trophy journey. Unfortunately, the first Assassin’s Creed launched before PlayStation Trophies were a thing, so I made the executive decision to just start with the entry that kicked off my love of the franchise in the first place, Assassin’s Creed 2. Played via the less-than-perfect Ezio Collection, Assassin’s Creed 2 and Brotherhood were just as incredible as I remembered them. The parkour, the animation-based combat, the simple but engaging narratives, the lovable characters, all of it managed to live up to the rose-tinted memories I had. And while the grind of collecting Petruccio’s Feathers is certainly a tad tedious, it’s simple with a guide, and far from the most egregious trophy in the franchise.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Assassin’s Creed Revelations, and unfortunately my replay back in 2023 didn’t change my opinion. I like seeing an older Ezio and I love that it essentially acts as an Altair sequel, but AC Revelations has always felt a bit cold and drab to me, its story has never gripped me, and its gameplay feels a bit too same-y, especially when playing the Ezio trilogy back-to-back. Assassin’s Creed Revelations‘ Platinum journey also has a few buggy trophies that were a chore to get, and its first-person DLC is really rough to play.

Getting The Platinum for Assassin’s Creed 3

After playing all three Ezio games in the span of just two months, I was well and truly burned out on Assassin’s Creed. I took a little break, played some Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and returned to my Platinum journey in April 2024 with Assassin’s Creed 3. AC3 has never been one of my favorite entries either, but replaying it gave me a newfound appreciation for the game’s Assassin-Templar-focused plot, Connor’s personal journey, and the game’s ability to weave historical events and figures around these two elements to reinforce their depth and dramatic weight.

But while I was pleasantly surprised with Assassin’s Creed 3‘s campaign, its Platinum journey will go down as one of my least favorite of all time. Along with a lengthy story mode with some irritating optional objectives, Assassin’s Creed 3 is home to some bizarrely difficult minigames that had me and my wife playing Nine Men’s Morris on the laptop and using the expert difficulty AI to inform my moves in AC3.

Assassin’s Creed 3‘s Platinum journey took much longer and was much more of a chore than I was expecting, but I was still determined to move straight onto Assassin’s Creed Black Flag, undoubtedly one of the best games in the franchise. But a few hours into Black Flag, I realized that it had multiplayer trophies. While these can still technically be obtained, they require full lobbies of real-world players, which I never managed to find.

Though the lack of a Black Flag Platinum hit my motivation hard, I decided to pick my Assassin’s Creed quest back up a few months ago, after another lengthy hiatus. That decision is one of the best I’ve made in recent months, as it’s cemented Assassin’s Creed Rogue as one my new favorite AC entries.

Why You Should Replay Assassin’s Creed Rogue in 2025/2026

A Fresh Perspective and A Ton of Fan-Service

Like so many Assassin’s Creed fans with shiny new Xbox Ones and PlayStation 4s back in 2014, I chose to pick up Assassin’s Creed Unity over Assassin’s Creed Rogue when they both launched on the same day. Unfortunately, this game didn’t received a proper port for next-gen consoles until its 2018 remaster, and by then, the series had started its successful shift to more RPG-like gameplay, leading many to continue sleeping on Rogue. It’s taken me over a decade to give the overshadowed entry a go, but I’m now convinced it’s a must-play entry, especially ahead of the rumored Assassin’s Creed Black Flag remake.

For those unaware, Assassin’s Creed Rogue sees players take control of Shay Patrick Cormac, a member of the Colonial Assassins who ends up becoming one of the Templar Order’s highest-ranking acolytes. Without spoiling too much, this dramatic shift in perspective feels like a breath of fresh air, delivering subversive story beats and giving Shay Cormac a level of complexity that even some of Assassin’s Creed‘s most beloved protagonists don’t have, all while feeling surprisingly well-earned.

Assassin’s Creed Rogue is also packed with Avengers-level fan-service. Again, without wanting to spoil too much because I implore you to play it for yourself, Assassin’s Creed Rogue is set between Assassin’s Creed Black Flag and AC3 in the timeline, and it includes a wealth of cameos and narrative connections that will have any long-time fan of the franchise grinning like a fool.

What Assassin’s Creed Rogue Does Better Than Assassin’s Creed Black Flag

I also believe, rather controversially I’m sure, that there are a few things Assassin’s Creed Rogue does even better than Black Flag. Though Rogue adopts the core combat, parkour, and naval mechanics of Black Flag, it trims the fat in some notable areas. One of the biggest improvements AC Rogue makes is that there are no tailing missions during its campaign, which is still one of the most common criticisms of Black Flag. Assassin’s Creed Rogue also gets players into the action straight away, giving them a semi-kitted-out ship just an hour or so in.

Assassin’s Creed Rogue’s Platinum Trophy Hunt Is a Fun One

Another huge boon of Assassin’s Creed Rogue is that its Platinum journey is a fairly fun one. According to PSNProfiles, getting the Assassin’s Creed Rogue Platinum should take around 35 hours and has just a 3/10 difficulty rating. Though it took me around 45 hours to get the Platinum, that difficulty rating seems spot on.

Assassin’s Creed Rogue‘s Platinum journey remains an absolute joy for about 80% of its runtime. Completing the campaign is thoroughly enjoyable, capturing every fort is satisfying, and exploring every location isn’t nearly as much of a grind as some might expect, with fast travel points being spread generously throughout the three overworld maps and collectibles like chests, shanties, and cave paintings not being necessary for the Platinum.

Unfortunately, that last 20% can bring that delightful journey to a screeching halt. “What’s Yours Is Mine” is a trophy that requires you to loot 20 ship convoys. While the act itself is simple, especially with a fully-upgraded Morrigan, these ship convoys don’t spawn at a regular rate. Though there are some spots where ship convoys are likely to spawn (I had the most luck just South of Port Menier in the North Atlantic), it can still take literal hours for the 20 needed for the trophy to appear.

I hit another snag after earning that trophy. Unlike many Assassin’s Creed games, you don’t need 100% Synchronization to get the Platinum, but you do still need to complete the vast majority of the Abstergo Challenges so that you can unlock the cheats required for the last set of trophies, which can take some significant time as well.

But even after those unexpected grinds, my lasting impression of Assassin’s Creed Rogue will be an incredibly positive one. For anyone looking to replay an Assassin’s Creed game, I highly recommend giving Assassin’s Creed Rogue a go. It’s essentially Assassin’s Creed Black Flag but shorter, more refined, and arguably just as narratively rewarding.