Edward Kenway, a Welsh privateer turned pirate, is drawn into the war between Assassins and Templars over a device called the Observatory. His arc runs from reckless treasure-hunter to a man who finally understands what the Creed is for.
A pirate is born
- Shipwrecked, Edward takes an Assassin's robes and stumbles into the hunt for the Sage.
- Claim the Jackdaw and learn naval combat, then reach the pirate haven of Nassau.
- Team up with real pirates — Edward Thatch (Blackbeard), Charles Vane and Mary Read.
The fall of Nassau
- The pirate republic crumbles as disease and the Templars close in.
- Chase the Sage, Bartholomew Roberts, whose blood is the key to the Observatory.
- Balance greed against loyalty as Edward's crew and friends pay the price.
The Observatory
- Track the Observatory — an ancient device that can spy on anyone through their blood.
- Confront the Templars and decide what kind of man Edward will become.
- The finale ties Edward's story to the wider Assassin's Creed saga and the Kenway line.
Rifts & Animus Projects
- Resynced removes the 2013 original's present-day Abstergo Entertainment office segments entirely — there's no modern-day employee to play between memories.
- In their place, 'What if?' Rifts — short narrative activities that explore Edward's choices — unlock from Sequence 4 (This Old Cove), similar to the rifts in Assassin's Creed Shadows.
- From that point you also earn Data Fragments for Animus Projects, which unlock cosmetics and gear — that's the optional side content for completionists now, not Abstergo terminals.
Sequence structure
The story runs across a dozen memory sequences, each mixing naval missions, on-foot stealth and set-pieces. Full-sync each memory on its first attempt (there's usually one optional objective) to avoid replaying it later for 100%. The Rifts are short, optional narrative activities, and Data Fragments feed the Animus Projects' cosmetics and gear.
By the numbers
- The main story runs 43 core memories across 12 sequences, plus an 8-mission endgame chapter, 'A World Without Gold', for 51 story missions before any side content.
- 'A World Without Gold' unlocks at Great Inagua after Sequence 11 — speak to Anne Bonny at the tavern to start it.
- Edward's circle mixes in real Golden-Age-of-Piracy figures fictionalised for the story — Blackbeard (Edward Thatch), Charles Vane, Mary Read and Bartholomew Roberts among them — and the game closes with Edward losing most of them before he finally commits to the Creed.
- By the ending, Edward hands Great Inagua over to the Brotherhood and sails home to England with his daughter — the quiet coda to a story that opens with him faking his way into a stranger's robes.
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 5 September 2026 and updated on 23 September 2026 against the guides of Game8, Gamer Guides, Sportskeeda and PC Gamer, and Wikipedia (citing Game Informer). The 43-core-memory count was not corroborated separately. Not from a playthrough: nobody here has played it, and what the sources do not describe is not on this page.