So I was checking Game of the year list on Wikipedia and noticed that Assassin’s Creed was never Game of the Year.
Not on any list around the world did it reach the top. The first one felt very fresh, but it just did not feel complete. But the 2nd one was just an amazing game and that one got beaten on some lists by Uncharted 2 which is understandable, but also by Batman: Arkham Asylum which is basically inspired by AC.
Maybe they should just ditch the whole Animus plot. I wished that Valhalla and Black Flag were just about being a Viking and a Pirate
Maybe if you look at the games in isolation, maybe then? The problem for many (especially for testers) was the fatigue of massive Assassins Creed games with so many meaningless stuff added around an actual good game. And later things like microtransactions ruined the fun for lot of people too. And the later games even didn’t do anything particularly original or was very perfected games to stick out.
So therefore many testers didn’t “champion” the Assassins Creed games anymore. It had its fans, especially longtime players in the series. But those are not who decide if a game gets an award or what rating it has. So even if players like the games, that is disconnected from the testers of various outlets.
I would submit that AC Brotherhood would be a contender, as it was kinda the peak of the original formula before it all started to blend together and degrade, and the multiplayer mode was truly original, fun, and hasn’t been replicated since. Maybe even Black Flag as it was a unique game that many developers have failed to replicate.