It is no surprise that immediately upon release, people were comparing Ubisoft’s newest release, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, to 2020’s AC-lite third-person samurai simulator, Ghost of Tsushima. Of course, the latter did Assassin’s Creed in Japan long before Ubisoft took a crack at it, and it did it well. Ghost of Tsushima offered a robust, narrative-driven, open-world experience with some of the best third-person melee combat we’ve seen in quite some time, and a smattering of stealth mechanics to drive home the comparisons between it and its obvious Assassin’s Creed influences.

Ghost beat Assassin’s Creed to its own game in a lot of respects, managing to deliver a genuinely jaw-dropping adventure that sustained player interest across its roughly 25-hour story. However, now that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is on the scene, it is easy to see where Ghost of Tsushima failed, and where Ubisoft still reigns supreme within this particular open-world sandbox model. There is one specific feature that Shadows does far better than Ghost ever did, and it’s perhaps one that fans weren’t expecting considering the entire point of Ghost of Tsushima’s storyline.

How AC Shadows Does Stealth Better

It Is More Versatile

Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ stealth mechanics are far superior to Ghost of Tsushima’s by quite a large margin. That’s not to say that Ghost of Tsushima’s stealth was bad. In fact, Ghost’s stealth beat Valhalla’s in much the same way that Shadows’ now surpasses it. However, as compelling as Ghost’s stealth could be, Shadows has revealed its key weaknesses, crucially that, despite its narrative centering around Jin’s rejection of the samurai ways and embracing of shinobi tactics, it never put an important enough emphasis on stealth, at least in a meaningful way that elevated it beyond the standard fare.

Conversely, Assassin’s Creed Shadows puts far more emphasis on its stealth, devoting an entire character to it and thus giving it far more importance. Ghost of Tsushima tried desperately to cater to both audiences, those who wanted Jin to be a Mongol-killing machine with his katana in hand, and those who would rather stick to the shadows and kill from afar. However, in trying to appeal to both stealth fans and those who prefer action, Ghost fumbled its execution of its stealth. Ghost of Tsushima’s middling stealth mechanics were enough to complement the action gameplay, but never surpass it.

The most obvious way in which Shadows’ stealth beats Ghost’s is in its phenomenal implementation of parkour, which sees Naoe vault across rooftops in search of targets.

The inverse is true of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which has compelling yet passable combat but excellent stealth. The most obvious way in which Shadows’ stealth beats Ghost’s is in its phenomenal implementation of parkour, which sees Naoe vault across rooftops in search of targets. The fluid movement and added flair make trapesing around castles and bandit camps not just a genuine joy, but also a tool in and of itself. Naoe can utilize a greater amount of space than Jin ever could, which, in turn, gives the player more agency in how they wish to tackle a challenging stealth encounter.

It also helps that Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ varied open world helps to make stealth a more compelling option. Ghost of Tsushima’s roaming Mongol hordes were often met in open fields or dense forests where Jin didn’t have much room to stealthily take them out. Similarly, Mongol camps often featured small buildings or none at all, forcing Jin to stick to the tall grass. Conversely, Shadows features dense towns with multi-level buildings, towering castles and temples, and destructible environments which both Naoe and her enemies can take advantage of. It’s a more diverse and interesting stealth sandbox as a result.

Naoe Is A More Interesting Stealth Character Than Jin

She Has More Options

In many ways, Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Naoe is a far more versatile stealth character than Jin. For example, both games feature a grappling hook, yet Naoe has more uses for it than Jin. Where Jin can use it to swing across gaps or get up to a zipline, Naoe can use it to climb up any wall without the need for designated grapple points. It’s a small addition, but one that completely changes how players approach exploration and creeping through each environment. This isn’t the only way she bests Jin as a stealth-focused character, as Naoe’s stealth build is multifaceted.

Naoe has more skill trees dedicated to stealth and therefore a greater number of ways to enhance it. She can go prone, which offers more ways to avoid detection, and, as aforementioned, her parkour abilities far surpass Jin’s comparatively clumsy movement. Naoe can extinguish lights to make it harder to spot her and use her kunai and shuriken to affect the environment around her, including snuffing out lanterns. Simply put, Naoe has more to offer in a stealth sandbox than Jin ever did.

The main reason why Naoe is a much better stealth character than Jin is that Ubisoft has purposefully designed her to be entirely focused on stealth. In a fight, Naoe can just about hold her own on easier difficulties, but she’s more or less useless against armored enemies on any difficulty. She has been designed to be weak in a fight, so that players are forced to use her full stealth toolbox or rely on her melee-centric counterpart, Yasuke. Shadows’ dual protagonists’ differing playstyles enabled Ubisoft to create a more focused stealth sandbox. Sucker Punch Productions didn’t have that luxury.

Ghost Still Beats Assassin’s Creed Shadows At Combat

Jin Is The Ultimate Samurai

Of course, while Assassin’s Creed Shadows undeniably has better stealth than Ghost of Tsushima, it is severely lacking when it comes to combat. While it has absolutely done its best to replicate Ghost’s brand of katana-clashing combat without completely duplicating it, Assassin’s Creed Shadows simply hasn’t nailed its fluidity of battle. Yasuke is as powerful as a bull, but, as a result, lacks Jin’s almost balletic grace when fighting. Similarly, Naoe is much faster, but doesn’t have the same level of proficiency as Jin, and feels clunkier as a result.

There is also an opportunity for the upcoming Ghost of Yotei to improve upon Tsushima’s weaknesses, namely its stealth. Sucker Punch Productions and game design in general have come a long way since it started developing Ghost of Tsushima in 2014. Players are putting far more importance on stealth and a variety of stealth-based mechanics in their third-person open-world adventure games. So, there’s a very good chance that Shadows could be outmatched by Yotei in just a few months.

However, Shadows’ stealth sandbox is genuinely phenomenal and richly varied, giving players plenty to play with without feeling overwhelmed. It will hopefully stand the test of time and influence future Assassin’s Creed games alongside Shadows’ slew of other improvements. While it is fun to compare Ghost of Tsushima with Assassin’s Creed Shadows, both are ultimately fundamentally different games striving for different outcomes and should be celebrated for their individual achievements.