Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced sticks the landing and is joining my fleet of games I love playing on my PS5. Combat feels smoother than Shadows, naval combat is the best it’s ever been in this series, the engine upgrade makes familiar sequences hit like new, and the modern-day restructuring is exactly the design decision this franchise needed. The Anvil engine treatment gives Black Flag the visual and technical presentation it deserved a decade ago, and Ubisoft’s accessibility work continues to lead the industry.

But if we're judging the game based on the parameters of a remake, it must also be said Ubisoft has done a fantastic job, serving up a tight and technically sound product with glossy and striking visuals, a wonderful attention to detail, and with the same beloved story and narrative at its core. Resynced is a top-of-the-line remake but quite an archaic action-adventure game at the same time. Make of that what you will.

Resynced is decent, but it takes away more than it adds, as if Ubisoft wasn't confident in the hit game it made 13 years ago. It's a conflicted remake that's worth a look, but is ultimately inessential.

All said, I regard Resynced with the exact same sentiments as Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Resynced goes beyond the scope of a traditional remaster and adjusts the content of Black Flag to make improvements to the experience (what you’d expect for a remake). But the downside to these fixes is that it highlights problems that weren’t fixed or, even worse, new problems that didn’t even exist in the original game. Resynced is a half-step toward something truly fantastic.

The original Black Flag arrived at a time when Assassin’s Creed felt like Ubisoft was a juggernaut, and the remake lands when the publisher needs a big win. In my eyes, Black Flag Resynced has managed to bring back the proper action-adventure flavor that has been missing from the series for some time.

Granted, I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about Assassin’s Creed IV back in 2013, but fast forward to 2026, and Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is simply a much better game. As far as remakes go, it’s certainly one of the better examples I’ve played in a good while, and I hope it opens the way for further Assassin’s Creed remake projects. Goodness knows the 2007 original could use one.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is a triumph. Whilst I was nervous about such significant changes, they are mostly for the better. Combat in particular is a bit more challenging now, whilst also still allowing quick assassinations, naval warfare now has more options and is still the best ship-to-ship combat in gaming, and the removal of the modern day sequences makes space for more historical story and missions. It can get a little muddled and has the classic Ubisoft quirks and issues, but i 's hard not to enjoy this remake.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced isn't smooth sailing. Strong pirate adventure foundations and roguish charm keep this remake afloat, but it splashes between wanting to be faithful, and wanting to make adjustments, not quite able to find an elegant middleground between the two. Combined with bugs and other annoyances, this isn't the bold, confident swing its predecessor was, but still a fun outing.