Not since Assassin’s Creed 2 and the charismatic Ezio Auditore has a Ubisoft game gripped me quite as much as Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The Kassandra-led Assassin’s Creed Odyssey comes close in my mind, but Shadows executes its ideas (and enemies) more consistently.
Perhaps I’m heavily biased, having recently returned from a trip to Japan. Long considered one of the most-requested settings by Assassin’s Creed fans, 16th-century Japan is a joy to explore. Its constantly changing environments serve as more than pretty set dressing for a (justified) murder spree.
This is a gracious blessing considering the repetitious structure of the series’ modern RPG structure remains largely intact. It’s a big game but mercifully not as bloated as the Nordic-inspired Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
Two compelling protagonists, a dramatic tale of revenge, and a beautiful world more than sustain the sizable runtime of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
Since the early days of the series, Assassin’s Creed has been known for blending historically detailed settings with fantastical stories involving assassins, templars, and everyone who gets caught in the middle. Shadows continues this approach, introducing historically significant figures like Oda Nobunaga and Hattori Hanzo (the warrior, not the sword from Kill Bill) in a constantly unfurling plot filled with political intrigue and complex power struggles.
At the centre of this particular story is Naoe, a light-footed shinobi seeking revenge for the decimation of her people, and Yasuke, a foreign samurai handpicked by Nobunaga to spearhead his plans to unify Japan. Fuelled by at times conflicting interests, the interplay between Naoe and Yasuke is fascinating from both a gameplay and a narrative perspective, making them among the series’ best characters.
Even though it’s not the first time an Assassin’s Creed game has starred multiple protagonists, this is by far the most fully realised attempt. Be warned: Shadows does take its time before letting you swap freely between protagonists. After a series of separate sections that introduce you to Naoe and Yasuke, the story is exclusively Naoe’s for the opening dozen hours or so. Eventually, you can swap between them via the game’s menu, barring some character-specific quests.
As their respective appearances might suggest, Naoe and Yasuke are tangibly different to play as. Naoe specialises in stealth, operating from the eponymous shadows to pick off foes one by one. She uses a combination of weapons like kunai, tanto, and kusarigama to quickly chip away at enemies’ health bars. Meanwhile, the imposing Yasuke slices through crowds with a combination of brute force and large weaponry ranging from naginata to kanabo.
Both Naoe and Yasuke are equally as enjoyable to inhabit – just not necessarily all the time. Their respective skill sets naturally predispose them to specific playstyles. Yasuke excels at crowd control, while Naoe’s nimbleness is better at traversing Japan’s mountainous environments. However, it’s occasionally frustrating when Naoe dies in just a few hits or when Yaskue can’t scale a relatively small building.
These differences are mainly a good thing. This friction between how each character interacts with the world cleverly encourages you to frequently change who you play as. It’s not just a case of choosing between playing as Boy Character and Girl Character – the complementary designs of Naoe and Yasuke are one of Shadows‘ greatest strengths.
It also works well to liven up the game’s many similarly structured missions. Alternating between sneaking behind enemy lines and brazenly smashing through the front door ensures neither grows too stale over time.
To RPG, or not RPG, that is the question
As mentioned in my earlier preview, the scope of Shadows sits somewhere in between the tightly focused Mirage and the seemingly never-ending Valhalla. The sleuthing gameplay structure returns, tasking you with uncovering mysterious leagues of nefarious individuals before assassinating them.
Nearly every main mission follows the same procedure; find a person, gather clues, find another person, and then assassinate a target. There’s a bit more to it than that – often with some form of violence involved – but you get the idea.
Although the option to tackle tasks in any order is technically available, it’s not realistically possible without adjusting the game’s settings. And that’s because Assassin’s Creed Shadows pushes ahead with modern RPG elements.
There’s a focus on accumulating higher levelled gear to keep up with tougher enemies, while levelling up each character unlocks more powerful abilities. While the abilities are cool to use, accompanied by brutally detailed animations, the constant gear upkeep amounts to busywork. It’s a tired and arbitrary method of gating progress that I tolerated in Odyssey and haven’t grown any fonder of here.
The good news is that it doesn’t occupy too much time away from Shadows‘ more enjoyable pursuits. A base-building component is a bit thin but ultimately a nice distraction from the main happenings. If anything, it’s a pleasant way to spend time with characters you’ve met while patting the many cats, dogs, and tanuki you’ve recruited along the way.
One of the better wrinkles to the RPG system is the accumulation of Knowledge Points, gained by engaging with historical and cultural sites, like temples and shrines. This system encourages you to look deeper into the world in return for strengthening your characters.
Touring 16th-century Japan
Visiting one of the many beautifully rendered real-life locations usually adds an entry to an in-game codex. Here, you can read all sorts of interesting facts about Japanese life and culture – see, games are good for you! None of this dedication to historical education should come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the Assassin’s Creed Discovery Tour modes.
If you want another layer of authenticity, I strongly encourage you to play with Immersive Mode enabled. This switches all the voice acting to the native tongues of each character, which is predominantly Japanese. The terrific vocal performances add further gravitas and weight to the emotionally charged story, overcoming any RPG structure annoyances.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows may lean heavily on a familiar formula, but Naoe and Yasuke earn their places alongside Ezio Auditore as among the series’ best characters. Their star turn as complementary protagonists, combined with a tension-filled story and a gorgeous Japanese setting, means Shadows is another high point for the franchise.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows was reviewed on an Xbox Series X using a code provided by the publisher.
The post Assassin’s Creed Shadows review: Shipshape shinobi appeared first on GadgetGuy.
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