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Looking to get hot and heavy in feudal Japan? Play your cards right and you can score some alone time with five characters, which are tied to the main story, side, and ally quests. It’s a nice change of pace to the brutal slicing and dicing that will colour most of your time traipsing across Japan.
Romance options are extremely well indicated as you play, so don’t worry about missing them. The only real challenge, and even then it’s hard to go wrong, comes down to making the right dialogue choices at the right time to woo potential suitors and completing their respective quest lines.
Look out for the love heart next to dialogue options and you know you’re on the right path. A love heart with an arrow piercing next to a dialogue option denotes that you can seal the deal, triggering a very tame scene consummating these flirty connections.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through all romance options in Assassin’s Creed Shadows and how to romance them. Your four romance options are:
- Gennojo – Naoe
- Lady Oichi – Yasuke
- Katsuhime – Naoe
- Ibuki – Yasuke
- Mayu – Naoe
Gennojo is the first character you can romance as Naoe. Captured by VideoGamer
Dialogue choice 1. Captured by VideoGamer
Dialogue choice 2. Captured by VideoGamer
Dialogue choice 3. Captured by VideoGamer
Dialogue choice 4. Captured by VideoGamer
Dialogue choice 5. Captured by VideoGamer
Dialogue choice 6. Captured by VideoGamer
Gennojo
Gennojo is the first romance option you’ll come across while following the main story. You’ll have the option to romance him while playing as Naoe. He’s best described as a mouthy and show-off-ish thief with a penchant for theatrics and guzzling sake. But, Naoe seems drawn to his roguish charm. Here’s how to romance Gennojo:
- You’ll meet Gennojo for the first time during the Missing Missive main story quest. Naoe and Gennjojo will have a bit of a scrap.
- Take on the Lost Honor quest and kill the Onryo member Ise Sadaoki. Gennojo will show up. Choose ‘You might be right’ when prompted.
- Take on the Sake and Swords ally quest and meet Gennojo in Ogura Pond in Yamashiro. Select ‘Depends what you’re offering’. Fight off the villagers then choose ‘Show me, thief.’
- Meet Gennojo in Kyoto and steal the scroll as part of the Honor Among Thieves quest. Return to Gennojo and pick the ‘I’m keeping it, then’ response.
- Meet Gennojo in the Hills of Meeting and choose the ‘I’m here for you’ answer then ‘I’d like to embrace you’.
Lady Oichi is Yasuke’s only romance option. Captured by VideoGamer
Dialogue option 1. Captured by VideoGamer
Dialogue option 2. Captured by VideoGamer
Make sure to spare The Mourner Shinbakufu. Captured by VideoGamer
Choose ‘I miss your smile’. Captured by VideoGamer
Next, pick ‘I am drawn to you’. Captured by VideoGamer
Then select ‘You may have it’. Captured by VideoGamer
And finally ‘Let’s enjoy the moment’. Captured by VideoGamer
Lady Oichi
Lady Oichi is the second character you can romance in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Unlike Gennojo, she can only be romanced by Yasuke. She’s Oda Nobunaga’s laconic sister, a noble that took a keen interest in Yasuke during his samurai training arc. Here’s how to romance Lady Oichi:
- Pursue the main story until you reach Omi and start the An Education quest, a series of flashbacks to Yasuke’s testing early days as a budding samurai. Select ‘Some company might be nice’ when prompted.
- At the end of Yasuke and Lady Oichi’s visit to Shirahige Shrine during the A Prayer for Omi quest, choose the ‘I would spend my last night with you’ response.
- Continue The Mourner quest line until you take on The Wheel Unmasked quest, then choose to spare the Shinbakufu.
- Head back to the Hideout to pick up a letter after the Showdown in Sakamoto main story quest that starts the The Wheel Turns quest. Choose ‘I miss your smile’ then make your way over to Okishima the cat island and pick ‘I am drawn to you’. After failing to find a suitable pet for the children, select ‘You may have him. Finally, go for ‘Let’s enjoy the moment’ and watch the sparks fly.
Naoe can also romance Katsuhime. Captured by VideoGamer
Choose ‘I like your teppo.’ Captured by VideoGamer
Pick ‘It offers time with me’. Captured by VideoGamer
Then ‘I do enjoy your company’. Captured by VideoGamer
Select ‘Let’s find out’. Captured by VideoGamer
Finally, pick ‘Yes. Forever’. Captured by VideoGamer
Katsuhime
The second character you can romance as Noe is Katsuhime. She’s the daughter of Shotei, former daimyo of Omi, and fierce teppo-toting shinobi that’s not too dissimilar to Naoe in disposition – proud and assertive with a good heart. Here’s how to romance Katsuhime:
- Take on the Showdown in Sakamoto quest as part of The Naginata Shinbakufu quest line. Choose the ‘I like your teppo’ response when talking to Katsuhime before infiltrating Sakamoto Castle and blowing up the gunpowder.
- Kill The Naginata then during the Letter from Katsuhime ally quest in the Shimmering Fields select ‘It offers time with me’ when Naoe tries to convince her to join the League.
- Pursue The Tale of Genin quest in Wakasa and opt for the ‘I do enjoy your company’ dialogue option after saving the villagers from the pirates.
- Track down Katsuhime in the Jogu Shrine in Wakasa for the The Jounin Pillow Book quest. Choose ‘Let’s find out’ then ‘Yes. Forever.’
Yasuke can also romance Ibuki. Captured by VideoGamer
You can start Ibuki’s ally and romance quest line in Iga province. Captured by VideoGamer
Select ‘I have changed’. Captured by VideoGamer
Go for ‘I would forgive him’. Captured by VideoGamer
Pick ‘I am here to help’. Captured by VideoGamer
After storming the castle, choose ‘Fight with us, Kyobei’. Captured by VideoGamer
Select ‘Your mind works in beautiful ways’. Captured by VideoGamer
Then ‘You don’t have to be alone’ to get Ibuki to join you as an ally. Captured by VideoGamer
Choose ‘You have lovely eyes’. Captured by VideoGamer
And finally ‘I want more than friendship’. Captured by VideoGamer
Ibuki
The fourth romance option is Ibuki, who you can only woo as Yasuke. A ronin with a penchant for the arts, Ibuki is an Igan like Naoe. He isn’t too pleased to see Yasuke back in Iga given his involvement in the assault led by Oda Nobunaga. But he’s willing to give Yasuke a chance if he helps get rid of the local Daimyo. Here’s how to romance Ibuki:
- Start the Ambush Interrupted ally quest in Kashiwara Village in the Hijiyama sub-region of the Iga province. Choose ‘I have changed’ then ‘I would forgive him’ when prompted.
- Proceed to the Homecoming quest and select ‘I am here to help.’ After storming the castle, choose the ‘Fight with us, Kyobei’ dialogue option then defeat Nakatomi.
- Meet back up with Ibuki in Kashiwara and go for ‘Your mind works in beautiful ways’ and then ‘You don’t have to be alone’. He’ll then join the league and become an ally.
- Start the Putting Down Roots quest at the Hideout and choose ‘You have lovely eyes’. Gather the anemone flower seeds in Iga and bring them back to Ibuki, then pick ‘I want more than friendship’ when given the dialogue option. Yasuke and Ibuki will share a kiss.
Naoe can romance Mayu. Captured by VideoGamer
Choose ‘I know that feeling’. Captured by VideoGamer
Mayu
The fifth romanceable character is called Mayu, an enigmatic widow who takes a liking to Naoe. She has a particular interest in the Jizu statues dotted around Japan that you’ve likely stumbled into by this point.
- Start the Mayu’s Offerings side quest in Gose in the Yamato sub-region of Asuka Rocks Basin. When prompted, select ‘I know that feeling’.
- Find all 69 Jizo statues across Japan, then return to Mayu.
- More to follow…
Can you romance multiple characters in Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
Absolutely, there’s no testing love triangles or scorned lover shenanigans going on in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The culmination of all romance arcs are one and done affairs (apart from Katsuhime, which feels more definitive and Naoe’s intended love interest) with no lasting consequences on either the main story or the ability to romance other characters. Have at it then and romance all four characters with no risk of souring your chances with any of the others.
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