AC really died with Desmond

Ouch, right in the nostalgia.

I've stared from Black flag up until Odyssey, then I went back the Ezio Trilogy.

At firt the Ezio games seemed janky and unpolished, but boy was I wrong. The percieved "jankiness" was due to the fact that you have actual control over the character, which can be difficult at first but extremely rewarding later in the game(s), with tombs and catacombs that feel like actual puzzles to traverse, nothing like the "parkour on rails" of ACIV. Unity's parkour really felt like a step in the right direction, but players complained about it being a broken and rushed game and somehow Ubi understood that they needed to turn AC into The Witcher.

As for the present time story arc I think they really nailed it with Desmond. I love games that take real world history as a base and add a fictional twists to it, and the sense of uncovering an actual, worldwide conspiracy and the origins of humankind itself was there.

I understand they've acknowledged the fact that people don't play AC for the present time story arc, but there was no reason to let it die in irrelevance from ACIII onwards. Layla's arc might be a slight step towards the right direction, but we're still far, far away.

This is all to say that yes, I agree with you. This series had (and still has) so much potential, but it was unfortunately hijacked by corporate greed time and time again, straying further from the original concept as time goes on.

I'm currently playing valhalla and plan on tackling ACIII next, and then Mirage.