Our own Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced review was quite positive, commending Ubisoft's remake of the 2013 game as a polished and faithful revival. Black Flag Resynced doesn’t reinvent the game or go the modern RPG route, we felt that it genuinely improved on the original in the right ways with atmospheric art design and welcome upgrades.
Sales are doing well too. With already 2 million copies, it seems likely that we'll now get remakes of older games in the franchise. Alas, it's almost inevitable that a remake on this scale comes in for criticism. Some people lament changes made to certain elements of the original game, while others are appalled by intrusive microtransactions or the technical limitation of 30 fps for cutscenes. But would Ubisoft ever have been able to please everyone?
I think most people can agree that Black Flag Resynced is visually impressive, particularly the water physics. You could spend a lot of time just enjoying diving under water.
But some players complain that combat feels stiff compared to the original or that they don't get the parkour mechanics. Chase missions have been watered down, and cutscenes are locked at a 30 FPS cap, which some view as unacceptable for a modern remake that's all abou visual flair.
Some purists have also criticised the removal of the modern-day Abstergo office sequences that situated the game in a satirical present-day sci-fi storyline. The story of Black Flag Resynced focuses solely on Edward Kenway's pirate tale amid an 18th century conspiracy in the Caribbean. Originally, this was presented as artifice, dreamed up by execs at Abstergo, which, for some, helped excused some of the game's clichés. Now it's just the cliche.
But the most controversial complaint involves the microtransactions, which is what provoked a string of negative reviews on Steam. Players complain that they face over $80 worth of microtransactions and DLC pop-ups immediately upon opening menus in both the standard and deluxe versions of the game. Menus also feature prominent ads pushing players to buy Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Certain paid add-ons offer gameplay advantages, sparking accusations of pay-to-win mechanics.
"Releasing a €70 euro game and on the DAY of the release you slap us with €85 worth of DLC packs that are just not cosmetic but give you a gameplay advantage: this is why piracy exist and I will be refunding!" one player complains. "What's the point of getting the deluxe version when, immediately in game, there's $84.91 worth 'DLC' that you don't own," laments another fan.
"It shouldn’t cost money to toggle some minimap icons that’ll save the player a few hours of aimless wandering… in a single player game,” another person writes on Steam.
Ubisoft insists that "the standard edition is the full, complete experience", and I think it's right: the DLC is optional. But the release coincides with a general frustration among gamers over monetisation strategies, studio layoffs and the news that PlayStation is ending physical discs.
This is HORRIBLE! The flag doesn't blow in the wind in the Black Flag Remake until you get closer to it. We're in 2026 and they STILL can't get it right. YIKES! pic.twitter.com/vXHNyuATwtJuly 10, 2026
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is a GHOST town with far LESS NPCs than the original. The world feels stiff and hollow. $60 remake btw...YIKES! pic.twitter.com/drRZ7m17VsJuly 10, 2026
This is such a terrible idea 👎Ubisoft should change this.. It’s a basic UI feature players have been asking for since Ubisoft’s previous games. Even in Black Flag Resynced, pressing the menu button again to go back takes you straight to the microtransactions page instead. pic.twitter.com/cYocOaVSwWJuly 13, 2026
One of the reasons game remakes can elicit such opprobrium is also a big part of their appeal: nostagia.
Nostalgia is a tricky thing. It sells but rarely delivers because nobody can recreate exactly how a game made people feel in the past, or how people remember it making them feel. Like the controversy around the 35mm film version of Toy Story, there's sometimes a romanticism around past media.
People complain about the culling of the Black Flag's Abstergo office sequences, but they were heavily criticised at the time for slowing the game down and killing the immersion. Self-aware meta theme scan be great intellectual exercises but aren't always enjoyable to play.
Game remakes make more sense than movie remakes. The technology advances faster, and there's more of a practical barrier to revisiting the originals. That means there is more of case for ultra faithful remakes than what there would be in other media, but I'd argue that there's little point in recreating parts of a game that were tedious and unpopular.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake will be one of the tests. Fans of the original are already complaining about the trailer, which really shows us nothing. What will they be saying if Nintendo fixes the clunky camera controls and target-locking, the tedious waiting for the in-game clock to tick over or the confusing layout and constant menu hand-dumping in the Water Temple?
