Assassin's Creed Shadows Reveals Ubisofts Hidden Formula

Assassin's Creed Shadows is months out from release and is already being negatively compared to many other games in the open-world, action-adventure, and role-playing genres, as well as those set in Feudal Japan, such as Ghost of Tsushima. Interestingly, while Assassin's Creed is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, with over 200 million units sold, it is often met with critical reviews. How can a franchise that sells so well, and is clearly beloved by a large fanbase, be so overlooked when analyzing the industries it's influenced with 13 mainline games over the last 17 years?