I have lots of issues with Assassin’s Creed as a franchise, and I was definitely feeling pretty burnt out on the sprawling, yearly releases when Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla came out. But that was back in 2020, and Mirage was a very different kind of game.
Now, Assassin’s Creed Shadows returns to the larger, RPG-style game, and it’s the first game in the series set in feudal Japan. That’s certainly exciting.
The game features two protagonists: a female Shinobi named Naoe and the famous, historical black Samurai, Yasuke. With Shogun a huge hit this year, Shadows couldn’t be better-timed. It looks pretty great. Here’s the trailer:
According to the game’s developers, Shadows will be a little smaller in scale and map-size than the previous couple of games. On a scale level, maybe we can compare it a little bit more to the size of Assassin’s Creed Origins,” creative director Jonathan Dumont told IGN.
The game begins in 1579, just before the events of Shogun. A number of new stealth elements have been added, including dynamic shadows and light sources that help conceal or illuminate your character as you sneak about. You’re able to crawl in a prone position to increase your stealthiness, and new pacifist options like knocking out enemies instead of killing them will give players more choices in how to approach missions.
There are also new Servant NPCs that won’t fight you, but can alert guards and other enemies. Naoe has a grappling hook that she can attach to any roof edge and a number of other grapple points, and Eagle Vision is making a return, though the overhead bird itself will not make a comeback.
Naoe is the stealthier of the two new protagonists, while the heavily armored Yasuke is the fighter, though both can fight and use stealth options. Each character has their own skill tree, as do all weapons. You can even craft your own katanas and use them to cut through just about any prop, including fruit (like a Fruit Ninja!)
On top of all of this, there are dynamic seasons that change over time, with plants blooming in spring, leaves changing in fall and snow settling over all in winter. These seasons affect enemy behavior as well, with enemies hunting you for longer durations in the summer, and huddling close to fires in winter. Dynamic weather systems also add random storms, fog and other elements to the game.
It all sounds surprisingly great and I’m genuinely excited for a new Assassin’s Creed for the first time in a long time. It looks like Ubisoft is finally trying to compete with Sucker Punch’s excellent Ghost Of Tsushima which, by the way, releases on PC this Thursday.
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