“Assassin’s Creed” fans have clamored for a chapter set in Japan for years. The concepts mesh well enough. Ubisoft’s assassins lurk in the shadows and try to kill without commotion while ninjas in popular culture have the same MO. It was an ideal combination.
Unfortunately, Ubisoft has taken its time bringing “Assassin’s Creed” to the land of the rising sun, and in the meantime, several developers have explored the idea of an open-world adventure set in an older Japan. “Ghost of Tsushima” was the most notable one and showed how much potential the setting had.
That has only raised the expectations for “Assassin’s Creed Shadows,” the franchise’s first main series entry to the Far East. With so much riding on this chapter, Ubisoft developers said they delayed it for more polish. That enabled them to balance and stabilize the game while refining and elevating key aspects of the experience.
“Shadows” is ambitious as it features a more dynamic experience that starts with the setting of the late Sengoku period in 1579. The team said it evolves with time as the game captures the passage of time with different seasons and extreme weather. If this impacts the world similar to what “Forza Horizon 4” did and not just applies a new skin to the environment, then it could be a fascinating step in the evolution of open-world games.
A FOCUS ON DUALITY
In the demo I played, the developers wanted to focus on the duality inherent in “Shadows.” They described this era as a world of war and politics, a time of violence but also beauty and culture. The two protagonists Yasuke and Naoe represent this duality. They come from different backgrounds as Yasuke was a slave of Portuguese churchmen, who was originally called Diogo. Oda Nobunaga took an interest in the African. He saw a warrior’s spirit in his actions.
Meanwhile, Naoe Fujiyabashi is part of a shinobi clan in charge of guarding a mysterious box. The two are part of the battle but on differing sides. In this brief introduction, I learned the basics of the two characters. Yasuke represents the combat aspect of “Assassin’s Creed” with the fighting turned up to 11.
Being stronger and more powerful than most foes he faces, the black swordsman has a move set reflecting that characteristic. He can crash through doors like the Kool-Aid man. He has a special move with each weapon as he powers up his adrenaline to launch attacks. He has the ability to dash away, but it’s nearly always better for him to block or parry.
Yasuke is a retainer to Oda Nobunaga
A LOOK AT COMBAT
In “Shadows,” players again use the R1 and R2 buttons for fast and strong attacks. Players can hold both to build posture for stronger attacks that can break an opponent’s guard, so that players can follow that up with a combo. Combat doesn’t flow like a Platinum Games title, but rather, it’s more like a boxing match, where players try to create an opening to land a combo.
Players have one additional weapon they can switch to. That can be an additional melee weapon or bow and arrow or rifle. It’s smart to plan out what arms to bring because players will encounter different situations where a gun may be needed or an armor-crushing kanabo comes in handy.
During combat, adrenaline is built up and that’s used for special moves like a Battle Cry that staggers enemies or other tide-turning moves. Also in general, Yasuke has more health and carries more rations. When running around, he destroys objects just by nudging them. All of this creates a character that feels like a samurai Terminator. Yasuke is a relentless killing machine with a brute force that lets players feel as though he can handle the most intense combat situations.
Players can call on help from recruits if they need a distraction or a quick kill in “Assassin’s Creed Shadows.” (Ubisoft)
BEING STEALTHY
Naoe represents the stealth aspect of “Assassin’s Creed” games. True to her kunoichi upbringing, she tosses kunai that can one-shot foes from a distance. She specializes in infiltration and uses a grappling hook to scale walls or swing across branches. Interestingly enough, she and Yasuke can not only duck down and sneak in the bushes if need be, but they also have the ability to go prone and crawl out of sight. It’s more useful to the smaller Naoe because she can squeeze into places that Yasuke can’t such as the crawl space beneath homes.
Stealth in “Shadows” is represented by an eye at the top of the screen. It shows off how visible the protagonists are and escalates into yellow if an enemy has suspicions after seeing players and jumps to red if players become a threat. It’s a transparent and fair way to know whether enemies see players rather than figuring out their cone of vision.
When it comes to combat, Naoe relies more on speed rather than strength. She can block attacks, but she’s more reliant on dodging. She also throws traps and smoke bombs that help her evade enemies so she can continue her hit-and-run tactics. One of her best weapons is the Kusarigama. It’s a fast weapon with a weak attack, but it has a wide area of effect that allows Naoe to be more effective when surrounded.
Naoe’s other notable ability is her eagle vision. She’s the only one who has it, and again, it helps her in missions that require stealth. With it, she can see behind walls, so she can mark her enemies and methodically take them out. It’s often a better option than bulldozing through enemies.
INFLUENCES FROM PAST GAMES
Further in the campaign, players recruit others to join their cause, and they join Naoe and Yasuke in their quest. Players can call upon them and they’ll jump to players’ aid. Some act as assassins taking out enemies near bushes while others are the muscle acting as tanks or distractions so that the two protagonists can attack them using bows or rifles. It’s reminiscent of “Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood.”
As for the concept of two protagonists, Ubisoft has done it before with “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate,” but in that entry, Evie and Jacob Frye played similarly.
“Assassin’s Creed Shadows” takes place in the late Sengoku period and deals with a power vacuum in the country. It features historical fitures such as Kuroda Kanbei, left, and Naoie Ukita. (Ubisoft)
NEW WAY TO DO QUESTS
The other major change in “Shadows” is how Ubisoft Quebec allows players to explore the world and tackle quests. That has been an issue since the franchise’s inception. “Assassin’s Creed” has often been criticized for having too much content that wasn’t very good and the quest design left much to be desired.
In “Shadows,” the team takes a new approach, and I played through one quest that highlighted how it works. The line is called The Noble and deals with the Ukita clan and the complex politics of the era after Nobunaga’s death. Hideie Ukita is a boy who becomes the ward of Kuroda Kanbei to cement a pact. During talks between Hideie’s father, Naoie, the boy is kidnapped enflaming tensions between Kanbei and the Ukitas. It’s up to Yasuke and Naoe to search for the boy, but that investigation leads to some surprising revelations.
The investigation begins at the captain of the guard’s house, but to find it, players get clues and they must look at a map to figure out where to search next. The protagonists can use spies to scour an area on the map, but it costs money. Using clues from the quest giver, players can pinpoint a search location and send a scout to search it. If it hits, players will see a destination icon. From there, players can take their horse to the area and examine the area themselves. Players see guards around it raising suspicion and this is where Naoe shines as she uses her eagle vision to spot enemies and mark them.
It’s how she can infiltrate an area, find the dangers and eliminate them without harming a hostage. If Yasuke were to barge in, the outcome could have been different. Players can switch between the two during downtime out of combat or when not part of a story-focused mission. Although Naoe was great during infiltration, Yasuke showed off his combat prowess fending off an ambush later in the quest. The swordsman is so powerful that he can feel like an easy mode in frustrating situations.
Players can build hideouts in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. (Ubisoft)
SEPARATE APPROACHES
Eventually, the Noble quest line led to a more narrative-focused mission, but what’s special about “Shadows” is that during these events, Naoe and Yasuke have their own approaches, leading to different starts of the quest. Ubisoft Quebec doesn’t try to shoehorn each protagonist into a scenario, but rather, the team creates a distinct scenario for them to tackle. Playing as Naoe, I had to infiltrate a castle and take out three spies dressed to look like servants.
I eventually made it to the final legs of the storyline, and it gave me a chance to choose between and Naoe and Yasuke. Seeing as how the next few floors required combat, I picked Yasuke and the long mission was completed.
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This new way of finding clues for quests and narrowing down the search radius using scouts bridges a gap between a hands-off approach and a guided one. It gives players the best of both worlds, so that they can learn more about the environments and get a sense of exploration while also fulfilling a need to just get a quest done with minimal frustration about finding where to go next. The spies do that work for the players.
Although scout spies can be costly, players can refill them by finding hideouts scattered around the world. This is where players can also refill their healing rations and do other administrative duties. Aside from main quests, players will also encounter side quests (It is a Ubisoft game after all.) but the developers try to add more value to these tasks by connecting it the progressions system.
By doing side objectives and snagging collectibles, players build up their knowledge points for each character. Those knowledge points unlock higher-tier skills. Through the campaign, players will amass points to invest in the skill tree by defeating foes and finishing quests. Both characters have their own separate point pools.
“Shadows” represents another effort to revamp “Assassin’s Creed” after exploring a “Witcher”-like experience over the past three games. It brings back old ideas and rethinks others, trying to fix the flaws of the past games. Having two characters mitigates some of the repetitive gameplay, but it’s the content and quest design that will be the biggest issue. If Ubisoft can craft the right amount of entertaining and compelling quests, then “Shadows” can point the franchise in the right direction.
“Assassin’s Creed Shadows” is scheduled for release March 20 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, PC and Mac.
