Back in August, we covered the news that Assassin's Creed Mirage was set for a free expansion on Xbox Game Pass this year - and now that time has come! AC Mirage: Valley of Memory is now live, and brings with it a massive patch for the base game as well.

We're looking at roughly a 32GB update on Xbox Series X|S here, with the aforementioned DLC delivering "over six hours of additional content" to Mirage players. Here's the setup for Valley of Memory (Ubisoft does warn that this introduction may include spoilers for the main game):

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"Set before the finale of Mirage's main narrative, Valley of Memory is a free story expansion for Assassin's Creed Mirage that begins with a mysterious lead: Basim hears rumors that his long-lost father may still be alive. After speaking with his old friend, Dervis, Basim sets out for AlUla - a land of secrets, ancient ruins, and vibrant oases.

To begin the Valley of Memory questline, players will need to have started the "Head of the Snake" mission in the base game. Players can also choose to skip ahead in the story directly from the main menu when starting a new game. Speak with Dervis to begin your journey to the Valley of Memory."

The DLC's AlUla location also brings a new region to the game with its own map to explore, side content to uncover and activties to complete. One such activity is a collection of Oud Melodies; songs to discover that Ubisoft compares to "the sea shanties in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag". That's pretty cool!

Assassin's Creed Mirage Gets Massive Xbox Game Pass Update, Including Free Single-Pl1

Alongside this expansion-based content, today's hefty patch also brings numerous changes and additions to the base game - including new parkour mechanics such as the ability to free jump, a new mission replay feature, two new difficulty levels and more. You can check out the changes in more detail via the Ubisoft blog post, and we'll throw the update's accompanying patch notes down below as well.

ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS & ADDITIONS

GAMEPLAY

  • Added a new skill to the skill tree: Engineer 2 which allows players to equip all tool lvl1 upgrades.
  • Added an option to cancel the chain kill once started.
  • Added new objects that can only be looted by pickpocketing in AlUla.
  • Rebalanced the notoriety system to coincide with new difficulty settings.
  • Tool aim assist will now correctly snap to the target's weak points while behind an enemy. Now you have no excuses...

COMBAT

  • Added an opportunity to dodge a Shakiriyya attack after being parried.
  • Modified the Light Attack slash VFX to make the attacks feel more impactful.
  • Improved the flinch animation on the NPCs during light attacks.
  • Increased the window of opportunity to perform a kick.
  • Disabled blend on parry success animation so it feels more responsive.
  • Increased the size of the parry VFX.

PARKOUR

  • Improved the trigger condition of the ejects.
  • Modified the camera and added a VFX to improve the feeling of speed while sprinting.

UI

  • Added a button on the world map to fast travel between Baghdad and AlUla once the AlUla questline starts.
  • Updated the objective icons design and descriptions within the quest log to reinforce the differences between the types of objectives.
  • Removed the skill point notification remaining on screen when there are available skill points to rely on the "new" notification from skill tab.
  • Added an "upgradable tool" icon when a tool can be upgraded. Displayed next to the Bureau icons, on the map & compass for Banu Musa and the Workbench.
  • Reduced the size of the Ubisoft Connect notifications.
  • Added a new tutorial panel and Codex entry explaining Defense tactics in combat.
  • Made various adjustments to improve the Horse mount camera.

LIST OF BUG FIXES

GAMEPLAY

  • All claimed rewards are now linked to the player account save. For instance: any reward claimed in Permadeath will now be accessible to all the saves on the player's account.
  • Modified how to access permadeath: it can now only be initiated when starting a New Game+, rather than at any time.
  • Prevented players from falling on a specific ledge in Baghdad.

UI

  • Resolved an issue where the Options menu would be offset after talking with a merchant with text size set to Large.
  • Fixed an issue where the “Assassin’s Creed Franchise” button would lead to a page stating that there is no content available.
  • Numbers in some item descriptions are no longer split when the text is displayed as Large in Japanese language.
  • Fixed the localization of "Basim Valhalla Costume" in Traditional Chinese.

VISUALS & GRAPHICS

  • Addressed an issue where the world would look dimmer with almost no highlights after turning on HDR.
  • Fixed an issue where the Desync screen on PS5 Pro would display broken visuals.
  • The draped golden fabric of the Dhahabi Master Assassin Costume now moves freely like other costumes.

STABILITY

  • Fixed rare issues that could create crashes.

Will you be diving into this massive Mirage update? Talk to us about the new changes and additions down in the comments.

[source ubisoft.com]