New Horizon or Stagnant Legacy? Assassins Creed Shadows Strives for Greatness Amidst Familiar Challenges

It’s improbable that the trajectory of a major entity like Ubisoft will solely depend on the triumph of a singular blockbuster single-player title. However, the company cannot tolerate another significant misstep in the near future following the lukewarm receptions of Star Wars: Outlaws and XDefiant that failed to impress. Ubisoft is in dire need of a significant success (and for the Rainbow Six Siege X overhaul to be successful). The silver lining for the corporation is that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to fulfill that need.

At first glance, it meets expectations: a vast Assassin’s Creed adventure requiring many hours to complete. There’s a wealth of content beyond the main narrative, with numerous missions and side quests constantly beckoning your attention. I found little room for boredom throughout my gameplay, even during extensive flashbacks — a testament to the thoughtfulness and dedication of Ubisoft’s developers in crafting this expansive universe and the narrative interwoven within it.

Ubisoft could not afford to have the game launch with issues and then spend months addressing them, reminiscent of Cyberpunk 2077. Fortunately, Assassin’s Creed Shadows operates smoothly across my consoles (standard PS5 and Xbox Series X) and PC for the most part.

The visuals are stunning on my top-tier gaming setup, which includes an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, a 14th-gen Intel i9 CPU, and 32GB of RAM. I encountered no problems while running everything at ultra settings. Performance hovered between 55-59 fps with no notable framerate drops, except for a somewhat jarring transition to cutscenes, which operate at 30 fps. It’s essential to mention that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is confirmed for Steam Deck, although I could not test it on that platform.

There were no noticeable slowdowns during hectic combat on any of the three platforms I utilized. However, I did notice minor visual glitches on PS5. Early in the game, while walking through puddles in performance mode, the water gathered on a dirt path shimmered in an unrealistic manner, distracting me from a conversation with a companion.

While traversing snowy landscapes, I noticed textures on grass peeking through the snow fading in and out as I galloped across the countryside. This occurred in balanced mode, designed to optimize both performance and visual fidelity. While these are minor complaints, they did briefly disrupt my immersion.

Another oddity was that my horse frequently got stuck when I called for it. For instance, if I stood on a narrow bridge and summoned my mount, it might materialize into the river below. This was a slight annoyance related to the programming that enables the horse to catch up to your location, but it is forgivable given the numerous tight pathways you’ll navigate.

Two protagonists with distinct narratives

A notable feature this time is the ability to interchange between two characters almost freely. Naoe, a shinobi, embodies the traditional Assassin’s Creed lead, while Yasuke, a formidable samurai, can break down doors and effortlessly carry foes to concealment. There are missions and interactions that necessitate controlling one character, but in the open world, you predominantly can choose either.

Throughout my playthrough, I mostly favored Naoe. She is significantly more agile and adept at infiltrating enemy strongholds — her grappling hook proves invaluable — and executing stealth takedowns. After all, she is the only one with the legendary hidden blade. Her movements are incredibly fluid, an aspect of the game that reportedly benefited from the extended development time during its delays.

Unlike Yasuke, Naoe can utilize the traditional eagle vision ability to uncover enemies, hiding spots, and loot through walls. She is also quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat, especially as she earns abilities like the valuable double assassination. Her kusarigama, a weapon consisting of a hooked blade connected by a chain, enhances her combat capabilities.

That doesn’t imply Yasuke isn’t enjoyable to play as well. Quietly thinning enemy ranks with his bow or making a ruckus with a teppō firearm before charging in to finish off the rest with a long katana, crushing club, or unique moves like sending an enemy crashing into a wall never lost its appeal.

Both characters are well-developed and portrayed, especially with the English audio. However, the lip-syncing occasionally fell out of sync with the dialogue, becoming distracting in cutscenes. Although I didn’t experience the game in immersive mode, where characters speak in their respective languages of Japanese and Portuguese, I would be intrigued to see if the lip-sync issue persists in that mode.

Personal stakes intertwined with a grand objective

Nonetheless, the narrative was compelling enough to keep me engaged throughout cutscenes and the overall gameplay experience. It is a narrative that begins with deeply personal stakes for both protagonists and broadens to include the protection of Japan’s future. The writers have crafted a story filled with intrigue and complexity, and I appreciated how they integrated the wider Assassin’s Creed mythology into Shadows.

I would assert that the story and gameplay richness make the 40-60 hours many players will spend on this game worthwhile. (The newly implemented scouting system — which you’ll utilize to pinpoint the location of objectives after learning, for instance, that a target is in a certain area — is effective.) Still, I preferred the more concise 20-hour experience Ubisoft offered in Assassin’s Creed Mirage.

I enjoyed playing in canon mode, which eliminated dialogue choices, allowing the narrative to proceed as intended by the designers. It’s too much of a spoiler to disclose how Naoe and Yasuke become allies, but their interactions, particularly Naoe’s flirty dynamic with a certain firearm-wielding character, are generally captivating.

The voice actors (and let me tell you, there are numerous speaking roles here) generally perform admirably. Yet, it’s somewhat odd to hear a character speaking in a typical North American accent amid a cast that generally features Japanese and Portuguese accents.

While the storyline is compelling, some aspects of its structure felt peculiar at times. The main narrative includes flashbacks, such as a combat tutorial right after an exhilarating prologue, which disrupts the flow, even though they enrich the backstories of the protagonists.

Frustrations with the skill tree

I’m not particularly fond of how Ubisoft has organized the progression systems. Both Naoe and Yasuke possess six distinct skill trees, each divided into levels. To access the next level, players must gather enough experience points from various side tasks, like horse archery or discovering hidden treasures scattered throughout temples. While these activities can be enjoyable, it becomes frustrating when you have mastery points available yet need to scurry around to honor shrines or locate meditation spots before you can unlock some of their more exciting abilities.

There are other outdated elements in the game. Beating a rōnin — a samurai hired to eliminate the protagonists — in an entertaining battle rewarded me with decent loot, including some legendary light armor. However, I was unable to equip it because my character had yet to reach the necessary level. This makes little sense.

Scaling enemy difficulty between regions, a practice Ubisoft abandoned in Mirage, feels tiresome here as well. It’s an artificial method for escalating challenge and progress when other strategies like creative level design, new enemy types, or player-controlled difficulty adjustments could be utilized. Given the historical context of the series, it does seem that some of Ubisoft’s gameplay concepts are trapped in the past.

In general, I prefer not to spend my time hunting for gear upgrades merely to remain competitive in a new area. That said, certain perks on specific equipment can be beneficial. Stealthily infiltrating fortresses to eliminate key enemies in order to unlock a treasure chest with valuable gear felt rewarding — even as a minor task while I navigated toward a viewpoint on enemy territory. Fortresses serve as crucial strongholds and present a defensive edge against assailants, so it stands to reason that adversaries would be stationed around viewpoints, which reveal new areas of interest visible to our heroes once they reach a designated height.

Even without that aspect of gameplay, reaching a viewpoint is always worthwhile, as has often been the case in the Assassin’s Creed series. The minimum reward is a breathtaking vista of the surroundings, and given that Shadows is visually striking, I made it a priority to obtain every viewpoint on my journey.

Aside from the aforementioned puddle and grass issues, it’s delightful to explore this beautiful game, with its rich vegetation, thoughtfully designed settlements, and dynamic weather system creating a vibrant, immersive world that is sure to leave an impression. The lighting mechanics allowing Naoe and Yasuke to extinguish candles and lanterns to aid in concealing themselves at night were also a clever addition.

There are numerous enjoyable elements in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. One moment that reminded me of a scene from The Last of Us Part II occurred when I was about to initiate a tranquil side mission and an assassin attacked me. This unexpected twist was amusing. Moreover, an optional battle against a formidable foe at the base of a flaming tower during the night felt exceptionally cinematic.

Instances of tranquility frequently arise, such as in meditative moments and appreciating the view from viewpoints, along with Naoe’s preparations for a tea ceremony central to the storyline. Simply wandering through woodlands and encountering harmless creatures as the breeze dances through golden brown leaves during fall can be soothing, too.

This stands in contrast to the game’s frequent and brutal violence. Besides the swift executions facilitated by Naoe’s hidden blade, several of Yasuke’s kill animations involve decapitating enemies or severing limbs. The truly peaceful sequences effectively balance the brutality.

A lot is at stake with Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Ubisoft is undoubtedly hoping for a strong launch and that players won’t hesitate to buy it at full price. There’s also significant competition on the horizon, especially with Sucker Punch Productions’ sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yōtei, set to be released later this year.

There appears to be sufficient appeal in this title to attract both loyal Assassin’s Creed enthusiasts and newcomers drawn to the 16th-century Japanese setting, even if they lack familiarity with the series. Assassin’s Creed Shadows showcases remarkable technical achievements, strong performances, and an expansive, well-crafted narrative, albeit it is unfortunately hampered by some frustrating elements and dated gameplay mechanics. Still, I look forward to continuing my exploration.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will launch on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC, Mac, Amazon Luna, and Ubisoft+ on March 20. An iPad version is also planned for the future.