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A game’s early hours are often a statement of intent. Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ prologue is Ubisoft out for redemption, tuned to what you’d typically expect from the likes of PlayStation Studios: a confident, cinematic, hyper-focused exposition sweating with promise, the type that fuels a fizz of excitement for what’s ahead. There’s no dragging you kicking and screaming into a horizonless open world from the get-go. Instead, you’re given a slow and steady primer where every step feels orchestrated and refined. And my is it a pretty thing, dripping in decadent next-gen detail. It’s glorious and stylish stuff. Remember stepping out into Elden Ring’s Limgrave for the first time? There’s a sprinkling of that magic here.
It’s all a bit of a wind-up, though, a seductive fluttering of eyelashes before the AC foundations of endless map markers and box ticking peek through. You’re soon back to that familiar rhythm. Free of the prologue’s narrative guardrails, the world map stretches west for what feels like miles, but also, north, east, and south. Question marks dot it like a bad rash. You know what’s coming and what you’re in for. Though the legacy glut is there, it feels more thoughtful, more intentional, less like filler than in, say, Valhalla. It’s a fun and easy familiarity. I’m more inclined to jump back in over the next few weeks to clear the map of its beckoning question marks than I have been since Origins.
The dual protagonist switch-up was always going to be a gamble, running the risk of distilling what could have been one well-rounded character into two middling offshoots of the same basic archetype. However, Ubisoft has done well here, if only in their distinctive playstyles, which you can genuinely feel with the controller in hand. The screen shakes as Yasuke lumbers about, his armor clanking heavy as he stomps, a meaty, palpable reminder the man is an absolute unit. On the other hand, Naoe feels light and acrobatic, freely grappling and darting across rooftops, dive-bombing unsuspecting goons with a blade to the trachea and dipping out in seconds. There’s also a well-seasoned duality to their dispositions: Naoe’s spews more sass than my sister three glasses of cheap proseccos deep on Christmas morning, while Yasuke is more of the gentle giant, slightly laconic but warm, just don’t double cross him or his people.
Apart from some fixed-in-stone story quests and character-locked side activities, you’re free to hot-swap as you see fit. It’s not a gimmick either, as you encounter situations that favor one over the other, but you have the flexibility to play as you choose. Yasuke is useless at stealth, while head-on fights with Naoe result in these pseudo souls-like dodge-a-thons that mostly end with a game over screen. Prefer Naoe’s agile from-the-shadows throat slicing that harks back to the design of early Assassin’s games? You can storm through the majority of the game that way. Conversely, if you’re more partial to Yasuke’s butcher-first-ask-questions-later brutishness akin to the full-on brawls in Odyssey, nothing is stopping you from playing out that samurai power fantasy for most of the game.
As you venture deeper into Shadows’ rangy map, there’s a sense Naoe received a bit more love during development. In most situations, she offers more flexibility and variety, which, in Shadows, means more fun. That, however, may be my preference for playing the invisible assassin, a ritual of economic movement and methodical infiltration. Yasuke is still a good time and I see plenty of players favouring him. Again, it’s a question of options and it’s commendable how Ubi has catered to both styles of play. Whichever you opt for, the combat is stellar with an array of katana, bows, teppo, kunai, smoke booms, abilities, and environmental facilitators that promote a violent visceral creativity.
Narratively, Shadows is the typical AC fare – a mixture of soppy, effusive sentimentality, genuinely thoughtful moments, zero-to-absolutely-era-defining stakes, and the usual ‘we may be stabbing our way through Japan, but, you know, revenge is serious business’. Cynicism and a bit of fatigue from over a decade of AC games aside, the writing is solid in a lot of places. The story works well to get you to explore the open world, albeit at a coursing pace if only to get through everything that’s out there. Shadows does feel more bound to a recognisable history with the whole animus memory beaming mostly hushed to a background whisper. It flows together well with an ensemble of characters you’ll befriend along the way that represents a welcome, homelier contrast to the brutal business of assassinating. It’s light on emotional labour and as digestible as they come, which has, for better or worse, become the series’ trademark.
As is often the case with games anchored in hulking open worlds, the best bits are found away from the story and off the beaten path. This is possibly the best interpretation of feudal Japan this side of Ghost of Tsushima. There’s a meditative quality to slowly exploring (and even fighting), taking your time to imbibe the sights and sounds. Auburn leaves waltzing about thick bamboo forests. Towering pagodas shading quiet shrines. Tea fields swaying languidly as the dusk sky pings orange. And, of course, the vibrant eruption of ephemeral sakura blossoms in spring.
That stylistic focus extends to other parts of the game. Assassinations make the screen go monochromatic before erupting red as your chosen protagonist finishes off a target. The thunk of weapons being sheathed. Footsteps on fresh snow and tiles clanking as Naoe pads across a rooftop. Sparing koto plucks as you meander up a stone path. These are all beautifully and audibly evocative in a way that hammers home the setting and period. But, Shadows so often wants you onto the next thing, never encouraging you to pause and admire for too long even though its world seems designed for just that. It’s an odd paradox that I found myself butting heads with as I tried to rekindle the magic of the slow, focused opening hours.
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There are also more gamey annoyances. For one the scouts system – a replacement for the traditional on-map quest markers. They’re deployed from the map to reveal objective search zones based on a set of clues. The target is in Izumi Settsu, southeast of Osaka, and hangs about in a shrine, for example. They work as a consumable resource that replenishes when the seasons change and can be topped up at Kakurega – unlockable spy hubs spread across the map that also act as fast travel points – for a fee. Conceptually, it’s a great idea, especially for those who want to play detective before reaching a quest objective. In practice, the novelty wears off quickly and turns into a chore, especially for main story quests where you mostly want to know where to go and what to do. You’ll often find yourself short on scouts, forcing you to make an unnecessary detour in an already lengthy game.
You can recruit more scouts at your Hideout, an approximation of the hub in Valhalla where you construct buildings to upgrade weapons, train allies that you summon in combat, and unlock perks like better healing or quicker XP progression. There’s also a big emphasis on customization with tons of cosmetics, skins, pets, and items you can find across Japan to make this mini-village your own. I’m not the target audience for the whole customization thing but I can see those that enjoy it finding their fill here. My main gripe, though, is that to collect upgrade materials to expand or upgrade the Hideout you’re provoked into taking on optional castles or camps that often play out identically. Approach, hide on a rooftop, tag enemies, take out a set number of elites, loot a chest, assign scouts to smuggle back resources, and repeat. It’s forced busywork, especially if all you want is to lessen how infuriating it is to constantly run out of scouts.
A quick word on performance. My first couple of days with Shadows were beset by excruciating stuttering issues, the game slowing to a staccato crawl. These caused a crash or two on a machine that exceeded the minimum system requirements by a good margin and despite dialling down the more demanding graphical settings. But, a chunky patch swooped in, eradicating the problem entirely. It’s been smooth playing ever since: steady frame rates, short load times even when darting from one corner of the map to another, and, again, consistently gorgeous landscapes and visuals. Hopefully, this applies to most players.
Despite its minor irritants, Assassin’s Creed Shadows borrows a leaf out of the Prince of Persia The Lost Crown’s book in that it feels less like a product and more like a labour of love. It’s a timely reminder that beyond the scandals, the dubious layoffs, the wavering stock price, and a string of flops, Ubisoft can still make great games. Though imperfect and moored to indelible design traditions and gameplay rituals, Assassin’s Creed Shadows fizzes with style, intention, and detail, curating the best parts of the series into a confident and deeply enjoyable journey through feudal Japan.
Reviewed on PC. Review code provided by the publisher.
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