The new modern-day story in AC Black Flag Resynced rewards you with extremely powerful swords, but it’s also worth playing for the stories themselves

The original modern-day story from Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag was removed from Resynced. However, there are still four missions related to the modern era that offer generous rewards.

The modern-day story in Assassin’s Creed has had a rough time. After Ubisoft changed the main character several times and left storylines unfinished, many players eventually got fed up with it. In the newer games, the modern-day portion has therefore been significantly scaled back, and there are no longer any full parallel sequences set in the modern era.

InBlack Flag Resyncedas well, the old modern-day story was removed and replaced with four new, hiddenAnimus Rifts. These, however, reward you with powerful weapons and a new story.

How to Find the Animus Rifts

To play these rifts, you must progress through the main story to a certain point for each one. The last one is only unlocked after the epilogue, so the reward is also only available after completing the story. Additionally, the rifts are not directly displayed on the map or marked with a quest marker; you must find them yourself:

• The first rift is unlocked after the quest A Lone Madman. It’s located directly south of Great Inagua, at coordinates 825,429.

• The second crack becomes available after the questDon’t Go in Peace. It is located north of Nassau at coordinates 604,784.
• The third rift appears after the questAnything Goes. It is located in the northwest of Isla de Sacrificios at coordinates 14,559.
• The final Rift can only be played after the epilogue. It is located near Mysteriosa Island at coordinates 363,176.

As a reward for completing all four Rifts, you’ll receive a special pair of pistol swords: Not only do they deal massive damage, but they also have two practical special abilities:

• Every time you kill an enemy, nearby enemies also take damage.
• As the name suggests, the swords can also fire two pistol shots without consuming ammunition.

But even if the swords don’t appeal to you, The Rifts are also worth checking out for story fans: The first three parts of this new story explore alternate scenarios for the lives of Edward and his allies, but—without giving too much away—part four ties into the present and even offers a hint about the next Assassin’s Creed; you can read more about that in the box above.

Although there are no longer any true present-day sequences in the Rifts where you walk around and explore an Abstergo office like in the original Black Flag, the Rifts still tell a complete and exciting story. So it’s best to tackle them all at once right after finishing the main story.