An fan has noticed that Mirage's big plot twist that happens at the end of the game is something that blatantly teased months before the game's launch.
Although most of Assassin's Creed Mirage's narrative is a fairly standard plot about Basim learning to become a master assassin and hunt down The Order of Ancients, there is an ongoing mystery regarding his nightmares and visions of the jinni, something that his lifelong friend Nehal has been trying to help him with. This culminates in a pretty surprising moment, that now explains something that many fans assumed was a mistake on Ubisoft's part.
Assassin's Creed Mirage Review – One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, And A Leap Of Faith In The Wrong Direction Entirely
Assassin's Creed Mirage fails𒈔 to stick the landing from a tall building.
This should probably go without saying, but don't read on if you don't want to be spoiled on one of Assassin's Creed Mirage's biggest twists. In the final hours of the game, it's revealed that Nehal never really existed and, alongside the jinni, was a representation of his memories of being Loki in a past life, something that anyone who has played Valhalla will likely have clued in on.
What this really means is that Nehal is just another part of Basim, albeit one that he had been repressing for all of his life. Mirage closes with Basim merging with Nehal and getting all of his memories back, setting the stage for him to become the more deceitful character most fans will know him꧒ as.
It's an interesting twist that reshapes most of the game's narrative, but it gets even more interesting when you realise that Ubisoft wasn't hiding it in the first place. , Ubisoft actually point-blank spelt this twist out all the way back in June with a seemingly innocuous tweet that most assumed was a grammatical mistake.
The tweet, , reads, "Nehal, as Basim, is a child from the streets. She is a loner, stubborn and determined. As she cares꧒ for Basim, she always reminds him that he should never trust anyone but himself".
Originally, the use of "as Basim" was seen as a weird grammatical quirk and mistake, but looking back with the ending in mind, it's clear that Ubisoft was cheekily saying that Basim and Nehal are one and the same. This is further cemented by the last part of the tweet noting that he should "never trust anyone but himself", a clear nod to the twist.
Considering that tweet was shared all the way back in June, it's a clever move from Ubisoft to have had one of the game's biggest moments right out in the open, but only for those who have finished the game. Bravo, we do love a good bit of foreshadowing.