Assassin’s Creed Shadows has felt like a long time coming for Ubisoft. There’s been plenty of buzz surrounding the game over the past few months – some good, some not so good, and some regarding Ubisoft itself. Simply put, players get the sense that there’s a lot riding on this game, and when the AC series has already felt like it’s been stagnating for a number of years, the franchise feels like it could really use a win right now.

The good news is AC Shadows is truly an Assassin’s Creed game, for better and for worse. It gives players the stealth-oriented experience they’ve come to expect, but does offer just enough novelty that franchise fans will likely want to give this one a shot, too. Feudal Japan has also been a notoriously highly-requested setting for the series to visit, and while much of the game simply meets expectations when it comes to gameplay, its vibrant, colorful world shines through.

Assassin’s Creed Games Haven’t Been Known For Their Stories For a While

Nothing Bad, But Nothing Excellent Either

Avoiding any spoilers, the game’s narrative is just fine here – it’s exactly what players have come to expect from a Ubisoft game. There are a few standout moments in the story, but overall, there’s really nothing too surprising or necessarily ground breaking. Ubisoft’s titles maintain an equilibrium when it comes to the overall experience that players are in for – safe, predictable fun if it’s your kind of thing – and Shadows is no exception, in its narrative or as a whole.

Broad themes like vengeance, honor, and loyalty are touched upon throughout, but seldom have anything to say about them that players haven’t heard before. Cutscenes can go on for quite a while without having much to say that players won’t be able to pick up from the context clues of their next objective marker. Any meaningful moments of significant character development outside of these characters’ inciting incidents are few and far between.

The characters shine most in small moments – little quips during side quests or the occasional jab during a cutscene. The most charming parts of Yasuke and Naoe’s personalities feel locked away behind the archetypal expectations that such a grand story has to adhere to, but those moments that will really make players love them can’t be discounted. Those moments keep the player invested in a narrative that can otherwise blur together over a long playthrough.

Yasuke’s story is by far the more interesting of the game’s two protagonists, especially considering he who was a former slave who became a samurai in Japan, but aside from the context of his presence in the game, he doesn’t develop much as a character throughout the course its runtime.

The controversy surrounding his character’s inclusion feels irrelevant considering he was a real historical figure in feudal Japan, and while this storyline doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it feels like it does his presence justice here. If nothing else, it’s a risk that Ubisoft knew they needed to take, and at least from a story standpoint, it’s fair to say that it paid off.

It’s worth noting that while fans have criticized that other games in the series have felt fairly empty, even in cities and population hubs, AC Shadows feels absolutely chalked full of NPCs. Simply put, it feels really alive. However, the overall story of the game feels like it works a lot better from a bit of a distance, where players feel it in the set dressing more so than in a more involved character study type narrative framework.

It’s hard to dock a title like this for not having revolutionary storytelling, however, because it’s simply not what players have come expect. It’s enjoyable enough for what it is, and fans of revenge plots will have the best time of anyone.

AC Shadows’ World is Undeniably Gorgeous

Photo Mode Fans Are Going to Have a Blast

One of Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ greatest strengths is that the world is simply gorgeous. A setting in Japan already has a bit of an advantage with cherry blossoms, stunning architecture, and naturally beautiful topography, but even so, players will be bowled over by beautiful vistas at every turn.

Admittedly, the different areas of the map don’t look all that different from each other in the way they do in games like Elden Ring or the Wild Era Zelda games; the upside is the sense of realism that this title evokes, but the downside is that after about 10 hours, it all kind of bleeds together. Regardless, it’s still impossible to deny how often players will be struck by how magnificent the landscapes in this title look. The photo mode enthusiasts are going to have a field day with this one.

This is also partially due to the fact that the game has dynamic weather and season systems. Players can watch a storm roll in with a gray haze, or watch as the setting sun tints everything pink. The transitions from spring to summer to fall to winter paint the landscape with a variety of colors, although viewing the trees turning orange, yellow, and red in autumn from one of the game’s many vantage points is a particular visual highlight.

Shadows‘ armor and weapon designs also look fantastic and will go a long way in giving players that ultimate samurai or shinobi fantasy that they’ll be looking for from this title. That really is this game’s biggest strength – the fantasy of immersing yourself in a fascinating era in Japan’s history.

It’s clear that a lot of love went into researching the designs, and the end result is a great blend of historical accuracy and the almighty “cool factor”. The only downside is that players can’t divorce a weapon or armor set’s stats from its look, so they might not end up getting to always wear the outfit they want looks-wise and get the best stats available simultaneously. Players can, however, upgrade their armor pieces at the armory they’ll have available to them at their base.

Despite being a full open world, the game does actively discourage players from scaling rocky mountainsides, or really going much of anywhere that deviates from the main roads and pre-placed areas of interest on the map. Players know to anticipate these predetermined areas of exploration from Ubisoft’s open-world games at this point, but in a post-Breath of the Wild world, it’s a bit disheartening for players to have to turn on the pathfinding tool to figure out exactly how the game wants them to get somewhere instead of carving their own path through the woods.

Side Activities Fill Out the Shadows Experience

Small Mechanics All Feed Back Into the Main Gameplay Loop

Image via Ubisoft

In what is no doubt a response to the fact that Assassin’s Creed games have been, in the past, dubbed too “hand-holdy”, most quests won’t tell the player exactly where to go. Instead, players will uncover a series of clues as they go along, and are ultimately left with an Investigation Zone where they will search for their objective point.

If players need to gain more information about where a target or ally might be in a certain area, they can deploy scouts to gather more intel for them, which basically just narrows down the player’s search or even pinpoints the objective. These scouts can also help players gather a greater number of resources from stockpiles of supplies that the player will find while looting

There’s only a limited number of scouts per season, but players can easily replenish them through short side quests or simply by paying a small fee of in-game currency. The intel-gathering mechanic is a small addition to the formula here, but a welcome one. When players have to actively search around for the objective rather than walking straight to it, they’re simply more engaged with the world, rather than defaulting to autopilot.

For example, a series of stalls with colorful umbrellas might fade into the background as players go about their tasks. But when the objective specifically states that the NPC they’re looking for is standing by a stall selling colorful umbrellas, players are more inclined to actually notice and engage with the environment, rather than letting it blend into a monotonous blur of background noise. If players just aren’t feeling this mechanic and want something more straightforward, however, they have the option to turn the traditional objective marker back on, which is a nice touch for those who might want it.

Base-building mechanics also make a return in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Players have a hideout that acts as their base of operations, where they can upgrade various buildings that have gameplay perks like allies who give players additional abilities in combat and armor smithing to upgrade gear.

There’s also a clear aesthetic element here, where players can build out, arrange, and decorate their bases to their exact specifications. They will also acquire different decorations throughout the game via various vendors, random loot drops, and other side activities. Those who enjoyed decking out their Animal Crossing islands will have a great time with this one; there’s a robust base-building sim here with a ton of customization on top of the mechanical perks that feed back into the main gameplay loop.

The base doesn’t have a huge bearing on the overall game if players don’t want it to, though, so they won’t be too married to spending time on it if they prefer to move on to other things. The hideout is another layer of gameplay complexity players can choose to engage with, but it’s also nice that it’s somewhat optional.

The Game’s Dual Protagonists Make For Shadows’ Best and Worst Features

Different Playstyles are Both a Blessing and a Curse

The crux of this title is its dual protagonists in Naoe and Yasuke, a series first. Naoe takes on the traditional assassin role that fans of the series will know and love. Her kit comes complete with a grappling hook to scale buildings and trees, shurikens and kunai for damage at a distance, and a bell to create distractions. She’s quick and agile, naturally making her the character that fits the series’ titular archetype. Naoe is the one sneaking in to stealthily take down targets, or climb around the back way to get a better vantage point, or gracefully execute the signature Leap of Faith.

Yasuke, on the other hand, takes a more straightforward approach. He is larger and stronger than Naoe, which means that his build is much more about fighting enemies head-on and barreling through them with a Bull Rush, for example. The game’s melee combat feels very reminiscent of the Soulslike-style gameplay that has become increasingly prevalent over the past few years, with a heavy emphasis on dodges, blocks, and parries. Naturally, players will be engaging much more in this gameplay style with Yasuke, as stealth is near impossible with him.

This melee combat is undoubtedly fun for players who already enjoy this style, and there are plenty of opportunities to engage with it throughout the course of the game, in story missions or otherwise. The timed, skill-based parries are a fun challenge without making things too complicated, and they keep combat from devolving into mindless button-mashing.

gameplay a nice alternative, and this is bolstered by the fact that players can switch between the two protagonists any time they choose, except for some gameplay conditions like being in the middle of combat, or in linear story missions that pertain to each of the characters respectively.

Both characters have three weapons to choose from and have six skill trees that correspond to each of their weapons and other aspects of their builds. With dozens of upgrades and a slew of abilities to choose from for each of them, players have so much customization for each character that they will be able to play exactly how they like, between the dozens (or more likely hundreds) of skill, weapon, and armor combos. Of course, this means that min-maxers will be able to fine-tune every detail of their build, and this game is perfectly suited for that style of play.

Having two protagonists is a real treat at times, as players can look forward to taking on any given gameplay challenge however they choose. However, this all comes with one giant caveat: Yasuke’s lack of mobility is incredibly limiting in an open-world game. The samurai is the absolute best in the story missions where players can deal with enemies head-on in scripted sequences, but other than those few instances, there are seldom opportunities in the open sandbox sections of the game where players will be reaching for Yasuke over his shinobi counterpart.

Because Yasuke can’t climb, if players are out and about in the world, and want to unlock one of the game’s many fast-travel points, for example, they’re going to have to switch almost every time, because it requires a lot of climbing. There are some key buildings that Yasuke can’t even climb at all because he doesn’t have access to Naoe’s grappling hook. On top of this, Naoe moves faster than he does, and can re-enter stealth while also still engaging directly with enemies if she chooses.

Swapping between the two characters during story moments is easy, but doing so out in the open world can be tedious given that players have to sit through a loading screen. This isn’t worthwhile when trying to do one short task while out and about so, by default, it’s just much easier to stick with Naoe for most of the exploration.

This has another downside as well because while both characters level up simultaneously, their gear does not. Players will almost always only ever get new gear while looting out and about, and players automatically receive gear for whichever protagonist they have equipped. So, if the player is usually playing as Naoe while exploring, Yasuke will slowly grow less powerful, at least when it comes to armor and weapons, as they go on.