Baghdad is sick as hell, and it rocks to spend time in a Big Game world filled with middle eastern and Islamic imagery and languages that isn't milsim-adjacent. It's more of a shame, then, that the rich stories of conflicts and intrigue in 9th century Baghdad feel like they're flattened and pushed aside for the sake of Basim's journey, a tale that favors unearned reveals over meaningfully exploring the growth Basim goes through to become such a driven, prominent force in Valhalla.
The setting of a singular big city with fortresses within is great, there's a lot of open wilderness and busywork in the form of contracts, but it's easy to ignore for the benefit of a tighter game. Conflict is clunky and de-emphasized, which I welcome, and being outnumbered can even approach being a concern, but every tool in your kit feels hilariously overcapable that I avoided using them. It's enjoyable, though its obligations as an AC game threaten to deaden its pleasure at every turn.