Assassin’s Creed: Shadows Preview
In the world of video games, there are only a few certainties. One of them is that the newest Assassin’s Creed game — whether announced, delayed, or in the hands of gamers — will court controversy. Fans will salivate, haters will hate and everyone will at least be curious. After spending several hands-on hours with Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, I came away mostly very impressed and very excited to play the full game.Â
Everyone has their favorite AC games, and I’m no different. However, my recent go-to AC games are Odyssey and Valhalla, which make me a semi-outlier. My all-time favorite is Syndicate, because I really love the 19th century setting and the snarky twin protagonists. Dual player-characters return in Shadows in the form of Yasuke and Naoe. While the narrative and gameplay use the idea much differently than in Syndicate, it’s still an engaging mechanic with lots of promise.
Reset in Japan
But I’m getting way ahead of myself. As almost everyone knows, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows is set in Japan, in the 16th-century Sengoku period. Shadows fills fans’ long-stated wish to see the series move to an Asian setting. The Sengoku period was one of incredible political and cultural upheaval and complexity, with factions inside and outside Japan vying for power. It’s no surprise that the setting was also used in the Nioh games. It’s inherently dramatic and full of historical conflict.
In a lengthy tutorial prologue, players are introduced to Yasuke, an enslaved African brought to Japan by European missionaries. Yasuke gets the attention of the powerful Oda Nobunaga. Under Nobunaga’s tutelage, Yasuke Is given a new name and eventually becomes a skilled samurai. There has been a bit of controversy and backlash over the developers focusing on a non-Asian leading male character. However, Yasuke is doubly a stranger in a strange land, an outsider mysterious to everyone. It’s an inherently interesting premise.
Assassin’s Creed games are known for weaving historical events and figures into the narrative. Yasuke and his mentor Oda Nobunaga are based on history. Naoe is more a typical Assassin’s Creed character, a stealthy ninja who is initially motivated to revenge her father’s death. Although Naoe’s story is a bit more melodramatic and less compelling, both characters are extremely well-acted. The game’s prologue takes a long time to introduce and contextualize its heroes. I’m anxious to see how their storylines are brought together. In the slice of mid-game I played, they were already allies.
Shaking It Up
While I played the game remotely and therefore at lower graphics settings, Shadows’ world-building, performance capture, and visuals are still impressive. This is no surprise. The franchise is known for meticulous research and detail-oriented environments, art, and cultural representations. In Shadows, conflict is not just resolved by combat. A subtext-heavy poetry contest can be equally dangerous. I loved the way the game alternated between the ritual-heavy and stylized feel of 16th-century Japanese life and the brutal nature of combat.
Combat is the draw for many fans of the series. Having twin protagonists, each with very different styles gives players a wide range of options. Yasuke is a samurai, and his character is focused on a variety of bladed, blunt, and ranged weapons. Yasuke is less agile but makes up for it in strength, breaking down doors instead of stealthing around them. He can block, dodge, and parry in moves similar to those in other action RPGs. He has weapon-arts-like special attacks on cool-down timers. In some ways, it feels a little odd to be playing this kind of character in an Assassin’s Creed game. But I was drawn to him and felt right at home with his moves and approach to combat.
Naoe’s style is more in line with typical AC heroes, relying on acrobatic parkour, stealth, and the iconic wrist blade. For Shadows, the move set has been expanded to include cool backflip takedowns, new grappling hook options, prone movement, and undetectable hiding in foliage. She’s adept with swords, too, and has a very effective dodge mechanic. Naoe’s combat feels like an enhanced and unexpected version of what we already know and enjoy in AC.
Bigger Picture
Ubisoft open worlds are known for the sometimes paralyzing number of map icons, collectibles, and side quests. In response, the developers have moved in a new direction. There are no fewer things to do and find, but there’s far less signposting and much more freedom. The map is less cluttered and the game really encourages exploration and discovery over regimented movement through the main quest. On the other hand, there were moments in my time with the game when I felt lost and spent more time than I wanted moving to the next objective.
While there were no glaring red flags, a few things stood out as still in need of attention. The script was well acted but Naoe’s dialogue and opening story were cliche-adjacent. The whole thing felt in need of an occasional humorous touch, but of course, I only played for a few hours. Finally, combat encounters pitting either Yasuke or Naoe against groups felt unbalanced. Neither character had an effective crowd-control strategy.
However, I definitely finished my short play session excited and curious. I clicked with the dual protagonists and the setting. The relatively undirected gameplay was appealing, though hard to appreciate under the gun of limited time. The expanded repertoire of Naoe’s parkour moves and Yasuke’s melee weapons had a fun, best-of-all-RPG worlds feel. Overall, Yasuke and Naoe made me doubly anxious for the game’s release on March 20, 2025.
Thank you for keeping it locked on COGconnected.
