It kind of surprises me that the original Assassin's Creed is critiqued and rated so low on this site. In hindsight, the game surely doesn't have the level of polish that future games in the series would have. But still, for me, this game was absolutely breathtaking on release, and I could not believe the level of freedom that the game offered in terms of how you could acrobatically traverse the game world. Furthermore, the combat and assassinations felt novel and gratifying. While I'm certain that other games in the series have transcended the original, the first game is what laid down the framework, and it was absolutely satisfying to play. Not to mention that the visuals, which still hold up really well for an almost 2-decade old game.

I suppose I can understand how the game may seem mediocre to anyone who only experienced the original after having played other games in the series, or even other contemporary games in the 3rd person action genre. But having played this on release, it was really something special, and there wasn't anything else quite like it at the time; at least not that I had experienced. At the very least, I feel like it should be more appreciated for being the revolutionary game that it was, even if its style has been done to death at this stage.