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Assassin’s Creed Shadows A game fans have wanted for a long, long time. It just makes sense. Trap an assassin in feudal Japan, and you already have gold. But, of course, it’s never easy. Shadows is trying to do a lot, including bridging mechanics from older stealth-focused games and still offering satisfying combat. Based on the game’s four-hour demo, I can say that they did a lot to help me get back into the fold of Assassins.
I love history, and I love stealth games. The Assassin’s Creed games should be my favorite franchise, right? Well, I’ve enjoyed most of the 13 main-line titles in the series (aside from numerous spinoffs, mobile titles, a VR game, and game-sized DLC). I didn’t enjoy it when the series switched to its modern RPG-lite identity. Gradually, games began ditching their stealth mechanics in favor of empty open worlds full of ship-based roaming and dull content.
Ubisoft invited me to a closed-door session where the game was streamed from a separate PC. Going in, the one thing I didn’t want in Assassin’s Creed: Shadows is like your mom telling you, “We’ve got Ghost of Tsushima at home.” All in all, Soccer Punch’s feudal Japan stealth action epic is one of my favorite titles of the PlayStation 4 generation. I’m shocked at how much I enjoyed it, the whole open-world structure put me off the last three Assassin’s Creed titles. I didn’t want to find 50 different fox dens or climb another temple mountain, but I kept playing because of the great stealth mechanics and Jin Sakai’s truly personal story.
Assassin’s Creed touts its promise of “social stealth,” or the idea that you can use the crowds of a city to blend in with your surroundings instead of just staying in the shadows. The last game in the franchise was underrated for actually having effective social stealth mechanics Assassin’s Creed Unity. That hasn’t changed with Shadow. Instead, it’s half a stealth game. When I say that, I mean it literally. Shadow has two protagonists and one of them looks like they actually belong in a stealth game.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Includes fully lip-synced Japanese dialogue for those who really like FX the shogun
The setting is half the appeal of any Assassin’s Creed game, and I can say with certainty that Ubisoft Quebec has made Japan beautiful in the late 16th century. The world is colorful and vibrant, much more so than the terrifying Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The effects of the weather and the dust in the air were especially suffocating on the dusty dirt roads.
My demo started with a segment of the game’s intro where we were introduced to our two main protagonists. Nao, a shinobi and member of the deceased Iga Ikki clan, and Yasuke. For the first time in the history of the series, you play as a historical figure, in this case, a former slave who became Japan’s first black samurai. You see how Yasuke became involved with Daimio Oda Nobunaga after impressing the warlord during a visit by Portuguese missionaries.
I was already intrigued by the setup. As with other recent Assassin’s Creed games, you can choose a few lines of dialogue during certain conversations, though not every choice may immediately affect the story. You can silence Yasu when Nobunaga questions him directly or ask him to speak, showing that he has an independent mind. Of course, I chose the latter. Later, during Nobunaga’s historic invasion of Iga Province in 1581, Yasuke worries about the effects of war on the people before cutting to our other protagonist. Naoe is young and wants to show her power to her father. To avoid spoilers, all I can say is that he’s tasked with finding a MacGuffin before things go south, and we cut to just before he bleeds out on the ground surrounded by his enemies.
Shadows was in the works long before FX’s Shogun series premiered. Still, if you enjoy James Clavell’s 1975 adaptation of the novel, you’ll see similar political themes unfold. Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Ubisoft told me that players can play with full Japanese and Portuguese voice casts and subtitles with proper lip-syncing. I only got a small taste of it in the prologue, but I know it will be my preferred 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 kill “Mouzan” which demanded players to overcome numerous challenges before finally being able to attack the main objective. There are lies, politics and (obviously) backstabbing involved, but as usual, for this series, there’s a lot of name learning in a short amount of time. The setup intrigued me enough to see what the other missions had in store. I just know I’ll play one character more than the other.
I much prefer my stealth games with actual sneaking
The last game in the series to feature dual heroes was Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. This was when the game faced blowback Ubisoft exec’s volatile decision To nix 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 missions. In the game’s pitched “black box” missions, you’ll have multiple chances to switch off between each hero.
Switching between characters in Assassin’s Creed Shadows isn’t nearly as unpleasant as switching characters in a game like Grand Theft Auto V, though at least I have a choice in how I want to deal with it when starting most story-based missions. Am I walking through a castle gate with a giant kanabo—aka the famous two-handed club used in feudal Japan—or hiding in the attic as an assassin?
I wanted to like Yasuke’s gameplay, but with Yasuke’s stocky frame I had a more challenging time tackling missions that involved infiltrating a palace. The game is designed in such a way that the two heroes play very differently. Yasuke can climb but is much slower than Nao when getting over chest-high walls. He can walk along tree limbs with his arms outstretched for balance, but he does so with as much awe and grace as any giant walking a tightrope.
Instead, Yasuke can close the door. Watching this large man roam the streets, casually shoulder-checking random vessels that dare stand in his wake, is amusing. Minute-to-minute combat in Shadows can be enjoyable. However, when faced with swarms of enemies rushing with daggers, including armored samurai, I would run away and shoot them repeatedly in the head. I could spend time perfecting parry timings and learning to understand the advantages of each weapon, but I don’t know if it would be as satisfying as Naoe’s gameplay.
Naoe can use a grappling hook to scale walls. He can easily climb and cross any precarious edge. He can throw smoke bombs to escape from enemies and calmly knock out enemies. Yasuke’s killing spree is that he literally runs a man over and sweeps them off their feet. Cool? absolutely Better to keep quiet? Obviously, no. Yasuke can pick up and move corpses easier than the small and nimble Nao, but why is he going to break down the door next door?
It wouldn’t be an Assassin’s Creed game without a spot of junk
The ability to prone is the best new addition to the Assassin’s Creed games. Naoe and Yasuke can do it, but the shinobi gets a lot more out of it, and he uses it to drop into tall grass or hide under balconies to get behind enemies. I wish there had been more than haystacks and benches that rarely winked at the series’ past promise.
I was enjoying what I played a lot more than I initially expected, especially considering how much I didn’t enjoy the last two titles in the franchise. However, climbing and parkour still don’t match what Assassin’s Creed II had 16 years ago. I still find myself jumping into objects I didn’t mean or getting stuck while enemies are knife-checking behind me. Climbing animations lack weight, and even assassinations and combat look as good as ever.
In Dragon Age: The Vigilguard, I also appreciated the simple powerful and heavy attack system. You can immediately stop an attack by holding down the right bumper or trigger, and there are different abilities and weapon additions that add variety. It’s not perfect, of course. The fights become very claustrophobic during the final assault on Himeji Castle. The camera clicks and constantly cuts off the enemies surrounding me.
But I know I will keep playing despite all my obstacles. I must be in the mood for another game of hide and seek. So while I wait for the next game of Soccer Punch, Ghost of YōteiI want to see what else Ubisoft has in store for its latest semi-stealth game.
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows Launching on March 20 this year on PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X, and macOS
