Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China was the first of the three Chronicles games, released in 2015. It follows Shao Jun in 1526, after her connection with Ezio in Assassin’s Creed…

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China was the first of the three Chronicles games, released in 2015. It follows Shao Jun in 1526, after her connection with Ezio in Assassin’s Creed Embers. She returns to China to take revenge and rebuild what’s left of her Brotherhood. That connection to Ezio gives this smaller game a place in the wider story, even though the setting and the way you play are very different. The game uses a side-on view, with paths and hiding places extending into different layers of the environment. It’s about watching the guards, choosing a route, and deciding when to move rather than treating every situation like a fight you can force your way through. Shao Jun’s shoe blade and rope dart also give her a distinct set of tools. The painting-inspired look helps the game stand apart from the main releases. The link to Embers matters because Shao Jun isn’t just a new name dropped into a completely separate game. There’s a connection to the end of Ezio’s life, followed by a story that belongs to her. It takes the series somewhere else geographically without cutting it off from what came before. The level-based approach also makes replaying a section a different kind of challenge. You’re learning where you can move and how to get past a particular arrangement of guards. That’s a much narrower experience than the main games, but it gives each section something to work out. Like I said about Chronicles overall, this wasn’t the same kind of Assassin’s Creed experience I preferred. But I did play it all the way through, and I had fun with it for what it was.