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Assassin’s Creed Shadows It’s the game fans have been wanting for a long time. It just makes sense. Stick an assassin in feudal Japan, and you already have gold. But, of course, it’s never that easy. Shadows tries to do a lot, including bridging mechanics from the old stealth-focused games to the new ones while still offering satisfying combat. Based on a four-hour demo of the game, I can say that they have done a lot to help return to the fold Assassins.
I love history, and I love stealth games. The Assassin’s Creed games have to be my favorite franchise right? Well, I’ve loved most of the 13 mainline titles in the series (excluding the many spinoffs, mobile titles, a VR game, and game-sized DLC). I didn’t enjoy it when the series changed to its modern RPG-lite identity. Slowly, games began shedding their stealth mechanics in favor of ship-based roaming and empty open worlds filled with dull content.
Ubisoft invited me for a closed door session where the game was streamed from a separate PC. By the way, the one thing you don’t want Assassin’s Creed: Shadows to hear is your mother telling you, “We The Ghost of Tsushima at home.” After all, Sucker Punch’s feudal Japan stealth action epic was one of my favorite titles of the PlayStation 4 generation. I’m shocked at how much I liked it, considering the whole open-world structure left me the last three Assassin’s Creed titles. I didn’t want to search for 50 separate fox dens or climb another shrine mountain, but I kept playing because of the excellent stealth mechanics and Jin Sakai’s truly personal story.
Assassin’s Creed made its promise on “social stealth,” or the idea that you can use the crowd of a city to blend into your environment rather than keeping to the shadows. The last game in the franchise to have an actually effective social stealth mechanic was the underrated one Assassin’s Creed Unity. That hasn’t changed with Shadows. Instead, it’s half a stealth game. When I say that, I mean it literally. There are two protagonists in Shadows, and one of them feels like it really belongs in a stealth game.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Includes full Japanese dialogue with lip sync for those who really loved the FX Shogun
The setting is half the appeal of any Assassin’s Creed Game, and I can say with certainty that Ubisoft Quebec made late 16th century Japan look beautiful. The world is colorful and vibrant, much more so than the gloomy Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The weather effects and the wind blowing the dust on the dusty dirt roads were particularly breathtaking.
My demo started with an intro section of the game where we were introduced to our two main protagonists. Naoe, a shinobi and member of the deceased Iga Ikki clan, and Yasuke. It is the first time that you play as a historical figure in the history of the series, in this case, a former slave who became the first Black samurai of Japan. You saw how Yasuke fell out with the Daimyo Oda Nobunaga after impressing the warlord during a visit from the Portuguese missionaries.
I was already intrigued by the setup. Like other recent Assassin’s Creed games, you can choose a few lines of dialogue during some conversations, although each choice may not immediately impact the story. You can keep Yasuke quiet when Nobunaga asks him a direct question or make him talk, showing that he has an independent mind. Of course, I chose the latter. Later, during Nobunaga’s historic assault on Iga province in 1581, Yasuke worries about the effect of war on a population before cutting to our other protagonist. Naoe is young and wants to show her skills to her father. To avoid spoilers, all I can say is that she’s tasked with finding a MacGuffin before events go south, and we cut right before she’s bleeding out on the ground, surrounded by her enemies.
The Shadow was worked on long before FX’s first Shogun series. However, if you enjoy the adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 novel, you will see similar political themes running through it. Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Ubisoft told me that players can play with full Japanese and Portuguese voice casts and subtitles, including accurate lip syncing. I only got a small taste of the prologue, but I know it would be my favorite way to experience the game.
The rest of my Assassin’s Creed Shadows demo centered around Himeji, with the famous Himeji Castle as a constant backdrop. The task was to assassinate “the nobles”, which requires players to face numerous challenges before they can finally assault the main objective. There are lies, politics and (obviously) backstabbing involved, but as usual, for this series, there are a lot of names to learn in a short amount of time. The setup intrigued me enough to see what the other quests have in store. I just know that I would play one character a lot more than the other.
I much prefer my stealth games with real sneaking
The last game in the series to feature dual protagonists was Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. This was when the game faced a blow for Senseless decision by Ubisoft management to cancel female characters in Unity’s co-op mode. Both Odyssey and Valhalla let you choose between a female or male main character, but here, you can switch between Yasuke or Naoe at any time while out on a mission. In the game’s “black box” missions, you’ll have multiple opportunities to switch between each protagonist.
Switching between characters in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is not as diegetic as switching characters in a game like Grand Theft Auto V, although at least I have the choice when starting most of the story-based missions as I want to face it. Walk through the gate of a stronghold with a massive kanabō – AKA the famous studded two-handed club used in feudal Japan – or hide among the rooftops like an assassin?
I wanted to love Yasuke’s game, but I had a more challenging time tackling missions that involved infiltrating a palace with Yasuke’s large frame. The game is built so that the two protagonists play very differently. Yasuke can climb, but is much slower than Naoe when he climbs on a wall to the chest. He can walk along tree branches with his arms outstretched for balance, but he does so with as much trepidation and grace as any massive man walking a tightrope.
Instead, Yasuke can slam doors. Watching this big man sprint around the road, shoulder-checking the random vessels who dared to stand in his wake, is fun. The minute-to-minute fights in Shadows can be enjoyable. However, when faced with swarms of dagger-throwing enemies along with armored samurai, he resorted to running away and repeatedly shooting himself in the head with a musket. I could spend time perfecting parry timings and learning to understand the benefits of each weapon, but I don’t know if it would be as satisfying as playing Naoe.
Naoe can use a grappling hook to scale walls. She can climb effortlessly and sprint across any precarious ledge. He can throw smoke bombs to escape enemies and quietly take out enemies. Yasuke’s murder is that he literally crosses a man and lifts him off his feet. Cool? Absolutely. Good to be silent? Obviously, no. Yasuke can pick up and move bodies easier than the small and agile Naoe, but why would he need to if he’s going to break down the door to the next room anyway?
It wouldn’t be an Assassin’s Creed game without Spots of Jank
The best new addition to the Assassin’s Creed games is the ability to go prone. Naoe and Yasuke can do it, but the shinobi draws much more, and uses it to stay in tall grass or sneak under pigs to get behind enemies. I wish there were more haystacks and benches that barely winked at the series’ past promise.
I enjoyed what I played a lot more than I originally expected, especially considering how much I disliked the last two titles in the franchise. However, the climbing and parkour still can’t compare to what it was in Assassin’s Creed II 16 years ago. I still found myself jumping at objects I didn’t mean to or being stuck crawling while enemies checked for knives at my back. The climbing animations lack weight, even while the kills and combat look as good as ever.
Coming out of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I also appreciated the simple strong and heavy attack system. You can immediately combo off attacks by holding down the right bumper or trigger, and there is the addition of different abilities and weapons that add variety. It’s not perfect, of course. The fights became too claustrophobic during the final assault on Himeji Castle. The camera was pressed and cut enemies constantly surrounding me.
But he knows that I will continue to play despite all my scruples. I must be in the mood for another sneaking game. So while I wait for the next game of Sucker Punch, The ghost of YōteiI’ll be looking forward to seeing what Ubisoft’s latest semi-stealth game has in store.
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows launches on March 20 of this year on PC, PS5, Xbox Series S / X and macOS.
