It had been long since I played computer games and after my sister gave me her playstation® I chose this game to play. I am fan of Assassins Creed games (specially after playing the first one) not just because of the gameplay and graphics (which I believe has room for improvement) but because of the story it has. Specially when it brings some characters from history and the developer add those historical figures to some historical places and landmarks.

Also to mention that the origin of Assassins which is in Alamut Mountain is a historical place near the city of Ghazvin in Persia where a friend of mine, lives. This place which is also mentioned in this game Mirage has much to offer historically.

After not playing many previous AC games, this one was a nice, added different features and abilities and many options one could go around. This game, Mirage was actually a prequel to its previous game sequel Valhala, telling the story of Basim which in Valhala is being introduced. I have to admit this was a smart move to bring a game around a character which actually changes the course of the entire game.

The middle eastern culture in an Islamic city Baghdad, where traders of the time from different parts of the world would come to trade was a very nice touch specially connecting the Persians, Indians and even Chinese characters in the story. Fascinated by the Persian and Middle Eastern civilization I enjoyed the game and how it tried to incorporate all these in the story. The game had few glitches to and in one place I was trapped within walls and a space at the back of a military base where I couldn’t get out but to reset the device. Presence of such glitches were reported is some games by experiencing it first hand was something new.

Personally, I was not able to record the quotes mentioned during the game as I don’t know how to record the games yet, but the feeling that the game gave me was the importance of self-discovery.

The ending reminded me of teachings of Dr. Carl Jung who talked about feminine and masculine sides within each one of us and how embracing them makes us as a whole. Also, how one’s shadow can hunt a person unless he or she tries to face it and accepts and understand it as part of self.

It reminded me of how those people close to us may hinder us from finding our true self because they think the best is to avoid the truth or create a truth for us by controlling us; out of love! However ones journey begins by freeing self and discovering self though this journey may be filled with lots of ups and downs, pain and pleasure, failures and victories.

In the ending Basim’s Master, Roshan, the mother figure whose name means Clarity, reflect this beautifully:

Roshan: You don’t have to look to the past, to know who you are. Who you can be. You can choose, Basim! Put your faith in me.

Basim: I tried. And in the end, you thought it’s best to control me. No different that our enemies.   

Personally, I believe one should go through his/her life journey and not to be controlled by any forces, even those who claim to be it out of love. One should be taught the power of choice and instead of controlling the person, he/she should learn to accept the consequences of choosing and the sense of responsibility upon each choice they make in life. Something Basim didn’t learn much and therefore chose the different path. While there was a moment, he could choose what type of human he could be. A person of mercy or vengeance.

After freeing himself from his master’s intention for him he faces his darkness and shadow who was hunting him all these years.

Basim: I know you. I see you for what you are.

And then by facing it, reaching out to it, and accepting it, he frees himself from the fear and hindering power of that shadow. Something that he was running away from, for years.

Then after freeing himself from inner forces of the shadow part of his own, it was time to face his other side. Which was portrayed as a female named Nehal (a Persian word for sapling, or a young tree). Jungian psychologist refers to feminine side of a person’s unconscious as Anima, and the male counterpart is called Animus. Also interesting to note and think about that in Assassins Creed Games, Animus is a virtual reality machine that allows users (male character Miles) to communicate and interact with ancestral memories via their genetic code.   

Here Basim faces his own unconscious female part (his anima), Nehal;

Basim: All my life I wrestled with who I was, who I was meant to be. And there you were. All this time. The side of me I resisted. A reflection of who we …. once were.

Nehal: of who we shall be once more. There is so much that awaits us.  

Both these psychological concepts were present in the ending of the game and reminded me how we deny or reject or even fight with the inner and outer forces, and at last it is by embracing them that lets us free and becoming whole.

“The Self…embraces ego-consciousness, shadow, anima, and collective unconscious in indeterminable extension. As a totality, the self is a coincidentia oppositorum; it is therefore bright and dark and yet neither.” – Dr. Carl Gustav Jung