Assassin's Creed Shadows
Ubisoft
Experience an epic action-adventure story set in feudal Japan and become a lethal shinobi assassin and powerful legendary samurai as you explore a beautiful open world in a time of chaos. As Naoe, use stealth to avoid detection and agility to confound your enemies. As Yasuke, strike your foes with lethal precision and power!
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the latest addition to one of the most iconic video game franchises and perhaps, one of the best games in the series for a long time. It hits that classic Assassin’s Creed sweet spot, is mechanically great and finally gives us that feudal Japan setting we’ve all been craving. When I first saw the announcement trailer I jumped in joy!
Shadows follows the same open-world role-playing formula introduced with Assassin’s Creed Origins in 2017 yet, there’s still enough to keep you interested. The story and world have a lot to offer, and the gameplay loop is actually a lot of fun. It introduces two main characters to play with, one as a powerhouse and one as a traditionally stealthy character; similar to Assassin’s Creed Syndicate though it’s a little different here.
Shadows is set in feudal Japan and at a time of intense civil war at the final stage of the Sengoku period. It takes place across central Japan including historically-accurate castles, strongholds and landmarks. The influence of Portuguese traders and the Jesuit missionaries are highlighted in the story. The cherry trees are incredibly visual and super rewarding on high-graphics.
The game starts with Yasuke, originally a bodyguard for a delegation of Jesuit priests who becomes a samurai for Oda Nobunaga at the very start of the game. He ends up on a path that sends him on a journey down the Assassin’s rabbit hole where the Templars are causing trouble. The game focuses on him for quite some time before introducing the second playable character: Naoe, a shinobi Assassin.
Despite having two main playable characters on slightly different paths, the game doesn’t feel disjointed. If anything, having the two characters improves it. Yasuke is feared and revered, random villagers will want to interact with him, they bow to him or call out to him. Naoe is ignored and no one minds as she recruits companions or gathers information on her target. It highlights how different their status in society is and adds a new element to the world which has been missing in previous games.
Pros
Beautiful world full of history
2 unique playable characters
Fun combat and stealth
Satisfying Exploration
Organic progression
Rewarding and fun hideout
Cons
No risks taken
Minor bugs
Must play online
Poorly told story
Yukky microtransactions
Found a child with adult face and hands…
Shadows feels like classic Assassin’s Creed. Its definitely been reworked after the backlash to be a very safe additional to the series. The combat is simple which can make it feel a little repetitive at times but no more so than past games. Yasuke and Naoe play differently which is nice however, the classic stealth gameplay is only unlocked around 10 hours into the story.
Shadows has a huge world to explore and there’s a lot to do. There’s a large range of side quests to complete and the new objective board is great, it matches the theme while also making it easier to organise outstanding tasks. However, the downside of the world is that there are sparse point-of-interest icons which means you need to physically go to the area to see the finer details. This is both a great feature and an annoying one when you’re in a rush. The game encourages you to ride through the landscape on your horse to explore the world. Of course, there is fast travel too.
There’s also a fully customizable hideout where you can house and train your growing shinobi league recruits. It’s a mini base-building game where you can choose the building layout, decorations and accessories. Collecting resources out in the world will allow you to build additional facilities that can help you through the game. I even built a Japanese garden to relax in!
I’m almost 30 hours in and I can honestly say this game is a technical beautiful marvel. Ubisoft’s engine manages to bring feudal Japan to life with breath-taking detail, riding through the landscapes is a visual feast however this a very safe additional to the series. AC Shadows will definitely have a mixed impact on you when it comes to the story and character development but fundamentally its heavily flaw. For me Assassin’s Creed Shadows is my favourite cinematic visual but Odyssey is still my favourite game in the franchise.
Overall Rating
