Mirage came out at the end of last year and I got the vibe that it was fine. I finished it over the weekend and it is indeed fine. Perfectly fine.
Given the playable character and at least one other main character, there wasn’t a huge amount possible with the story. It feels like a lot of Horus Heresy books where it’s just filling background lore for some characters who can’t die because we’ve already seen them in the future. There’s no modern day playable character with minimal the Isu stuff. It’s fine.
Gameplay wise it’s very stripped back. You can completely ignore the gear system. The skill point system is also very bare. You’re still cutting about a city “gathering clues” (press interact on things) to identify a target who you then take down. The targets technically form a web like in previous titles but it’s a paper thin illusion over a linear progression. Combat is a weirdly pure dodge/parry affair which feels as stripped back as the rest of the game. Despite this I do still really enjoy the core loop of sneaking around and grabbing guards from bushes etc. It’s fine.
The visuals continue to be stunning. You can really see developers are experts with their tools. The environments are dense and intricate with suburbs having distinct vibes. However the city is so dense that it’s hard to keep a mental map of where you are when cutting about and in some ways I miss the simplicity of maps in say AC2. It’s fine.
Mirage is a title for the real AC Heads. It’s eminently skippable but for my sins I’m invested in the series and it’s a nice diversion for a few hours.