Assassin’s Creed Shadows Review: A Bonafide Hit for Fans, Signalling a Strong Future

For as long as I can remember, Assassin’s Creed fans have been clamouring for a game to take place in feudal Japan. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the long-awaited answer to these pleas. Developed by Ubisoft Quebec, the game takes players through the sprawling backdrop of 16th-century Japan, during the final stage of the Sengoku period. As a civil war culminates in the lands, players step into the shoes of two diametrically opposed characters who take on the shadowy group known as the Shinbakufu.

Assassins’ Creed Shadows allows players to take on the role of both characters as their respective stories intertwine. Together, they lead a charge against the Shinbakufu, offering varying gameplay elements that players can chose from throughout the story. The game maintains many core elements from the series but allows players to choose who to play as and how to tackle certain missions. The open-world design of Assassin’s Creed Shadows is also inspired. The colour pallet, shadows, and weather all culminate to make this game the best looking in the 16-year-long series. However, the game isn’t without its flaws. Frustrating elements are preventing Assassin’s Creed Shadows from breaking from some of the obvious issues the series has seen in the past.

An army of two

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is by and large a character study of these two characters. The game ditches the long-term story telling of being outside the Animus for the most part, leaving only minor breadcrumbs to chase. It’s a relatively easy entry to jump into and enjoy. In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you’ll play as Naoe. As a female shinobi who lends herself to the standard assassin gameplay, Naoe is entrusted into the conflict with the members of the Shinbakufu after they invade her Iga village, stealing a box (largely a McGuffin throughout the story). Yasuke, on the other hand, is an African samurai who is large in stature. Trained by Oda Nobunaga, Yasuke leverages his size to take on enemies without subtlety. This provides players with options of how they want to play. During missions or while exploring the vast open world, players can swap between Naoe and Yasuke depending on how they want to approach the objective.

For instance, Naoe is the character to choose when I want to infiltrate an enemy castle silently. Using bushes and hiding around corners, I was able to take enemies and systematically assassinate them using my hidden blade. Naoe has all the atypical trappings of an assassin within the franchise. With stunningly fluid parkour maneuvers, a tool belt of smoke bombs, kunai knives and abilities to hide underwater, Naoe excels in the position of an assassin. However, once in open combat, her weaknesses become more apparent. While light on her feet, her strikes with a katana, kusarigama or tanto, her strikes aren’t super powerful. Naoe is also unable to withstand a lot of damage.

Yasuke, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. What he lacks in subtly when sneaking through tall grass or attempting to climb up walls, he makes up for in damage output. Yasuke does have some assassin qualities like being able to mantle up shorter walls. He can also assassinate unaware enemies, though not silently. However, whether using his long katana or kanabo, Yasuke isn’t a force to be reckoned with. He’s also able to smash through doors and wield long-range weapons like the teppo (rifle) or bow. While having advantages of damage output and more defence, Yasuke simply can’t climb or infiltrate enemy compounds as easily as Naoe.

During the campaign, which took me around 45 hours to complete, I was able to continuously swap between the two. This not only made gameplay feel incredibly fresh but also gave me options for how to complete objectives. Both characters play incredibly well and offer enough differences that I felt encouraged to use Naoe and Yasuke in equal amounts. However, both suffer from core components. The parry and block system of the characters when in open combat can be finicky. While able to block certain attacks, opening up the enemy for a retort, these systems aren’t as clean as I wish it was. At times it can be frustrating to successfully block an enemy you’re locked onto only to be hit from behind without the fluidity to swap targets with enough time and precision.

The awaited playground of feudal Japan

Since the early days of Assassin’s Creed, fans have been waiting for the series to take us to Japan and let us play as a shinobi, taking down the Templars or an equivalent organization. However, this future felt far from certain once Sucker Punch beat Ubisoft to the punch with 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima. The open-world game seemingly filled the hole that players wanted Assassin’s Creed to. However, despite not being the first of its kind to market, Assassin’s Creed Shadows utilizes the time period and backdrop to such an extent, that I can overlook how familiar it is.

Ubisoft Quebec has placed such an emphasis on the art direction that Assassin’s Creed Shadows beams off the screen. The colours and rich tapestry of leaves falling and puddles on the road make up a sight to be seen. With a day-and-night cycle and rotating seasons, areas on the map like Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe all feel authentic to the era and stunning to explore. From a high-level perspective, there’s so much to do in the world. While not taking down the Shinbakufu, I was able to take on many side objectives, tracking supplementary targets. There are POIs to unlock for fast travel with collectibles abound to help level Naoe and Yasuke up, unlocking new skills for their respective skill trees.

While I find it unfortunate that Assassin’s Creed Shadows doesn’t have any standout areas across the map or memorable locales, the map and subsequent playground we have to explore is greater than the sum of its parts. However, there are some glaring issues I take with the level design. For instance, the map is ripe with lust forests. However, you’re unable to fully explore these forests when riding your horse. The game encourages you to navigate the roads and paths, ignoring these large chunks of greenery. It seems like a wasted opportunity to not have any gameplay elements take place in the forests and trees. Assassin’s Creed Shadows also provides the ability to build your own hideout. Collecting resources in the open world, you can build a forge, a dojo and other buildings that provide Naoe and Yasuke passive perks while playing. It’s a bit of a cool concept, allowing some ownership over the world. Ultimately, it lacks anything that demands your attention.

Paving the road forward

Over the new era of Assassin’s Creed, the franchise has only sought to get bigger and more ambitious in its scope. A bit portion of the die-hard crowd, including myself, found that Assassin’s Creed Valhala sacrificed quality for quantity, with a runtime of over 100 hours. Assassin’s Creed Mirage course corrected with a smaller, bite-sized take on the formula. Assassin’s Creed Shadows gives players a bit of a mixed bag of sorts. While still drawing for ambition, the latest game places its characters in the spotlight, creating a compelling throughline for players. The side content, while still engaging, is secondary to Naoe and Yasuke’s core directive.

Balancing a sprawling open world with just enough objectives to be digestible, Assassin’s Creed Shadows narrows space between bloat and barreness. I found myself wanting to stop on a path, take a sketch of an animal in the wild or pray at a shrine. These smaller checklist style objectives feel more ancillary than they have in the past because they aren’t in abundance. Ubisoft Quebec also showed a lot of restraint from having markers and objectives litter its maps. Assassin’s Creed Shadows feels the franchise is back in a monumental way and should be celebrated for its achievements. If you’re a fairweather fan of the franchise or looking for a contemporary entry to play, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the one to consider.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows launches on iPadOS, macOS, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on March 20.