Assassin’s Creed Shadows is finally here, almost six months after it was supposed to be released. As a fan of the franchise since day one, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this open-world adventure set at the heart of feudal Japan, an era that players have been requesting for many years. It’s finally here, and I’ve already logged stacks of time exploring my authentic, dual-protagonist journey.
This game is great, but it’s not perfect. It’s one of the best ‘modern’ Assassin’s Creed games in the series, boasting the RPG mechanics and the gargantuan open-world environment we’ve come to expect from these titles since 2017’s AC Origins was released. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to land well with every fan – myself included.
Read on and check out my full Assassin’s Creed Shadows review to understand what I mean.
Feel free to check out the video version of this review if you’d rather digest it that way:
Saved by the World
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has one of the most stunning worlds in franchise history. If there’s one thing I can say quite openly, it’s that 1579 Japan look gorgeous. The ability to move through seasons only adds to that beauty, allowing players to transition from the incredible colours of autumn to a world blanketed by a layer of snow in winter.
The world might feel overwhelming at first, but the pacing helps with that. Like in previous games, certain areas are considered off-limits until you’re tough enough to venture into them. And I mean off-limits – I found myself getting thoroughly humbled with a one-tap death from some hulking samurai because I crossed borders far too early more times than I can count.
It looks flawless on the surface, and everything from the weather systems to the dynamic day-night cycles works well. This is where my gripes with Assassin’s Creed Shadows start to surface, though.
For instance, wildlife is everywhere, but it seems far too random to make sense, and you can’t kill animals in this title, so the fauna doesn’t serve a purpose. Also, NPCs are going about their lives everywhere, but as with previous titles, they’re repetitive and never show any facial expressions, which always rubs me the wrong way.
If you choose to play via the non-guided mode, you’ll have to naturally explore the open world and find your objectives based on clues and tips, which is nice enough if you’ve got the time to do so. Exploring Japan in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is nice enough, and there’s plenty of scenery and hidden locations to uncover, but ultimately, it’s yet another enormous Assassin’s Creed map.
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Variation by Design
The dual-protagonist system is decent enough, and it offers a good spread between tactics. In 2015, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate was released with a similar operating model, but Jacob and Evie Frye didn’t feel different enough. In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Yasuke and Naoe are poles apart, and they couldn’t be more different if they tried.
Yasuke is cumbersome but immensely powerful and imposing. Naoe is at the other end of the spectrum – she’s light, agile, and stealthy, but much more susceptible to succumbing to a brutal death at the hands of enemies. I’ve stressed that Naoe is the most entertaining character to play as in series history. She’s so fast and fluid, and her combat mechanics are intense and so refreshing.
It’s a very intentional split, and you’re often given the choice to play through certain sequences as either character, but open-world exploration can be completed as you see fit. If you prefer the heavier hand of an armoured samurai, then opt for Yasuke, but if you want to control a speedy shinobi, then you’ll pick Naoe.
Even stingers, responses to each character, and parts of the soundtrack are unique depending on who you play as, which is another neat touch.
The acting between each character is also superb, with special props being given to Naoe’s actor, Masumi Tsunoda, who makes her major video game debut in Shadows.
There are plenty of weapons to get to grips with, abilities aplenty, and stacks of skills to learn. The ability system works similarly to every Assassin’s Creed game since 2017, but these aren’t demigod warriors, so they’re a little more bound to realism, which I love. I was never a fan of the mythical stuff.
One complaint I have about the combat mechanics is that finishing moves become very old, very fast. In a single fight, you might see the same finishing move play out several times, which isn’t a good look. The game has some of the best stealth mechanics in history, but the open combat sequences could be a bit better.
Also, Yasuke might be a phenomenal powerhouse, but my word, he is clumsy. As you sprint around, he’ll clash with everything from barrels to fences and from screens to doors, falling head over heels through every breakable object in the world.
Related: How to Add Pets to the Hideout in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Authentic but Empty
I’ve explained that the world in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is beautiful and a wonder to explore, but the meaningful content spread around the world is quite thin. Most of the side objectives I picked up as I explored were simple tick-box quests such as ‘Kill 100 Enemies in This Region’ or ‘Find 10 Things in This City’.
The core campaign is great and extremely cinematic. The soundtrack and the visuals mixed with the set pieces and acting all win top points from me, but it’s the side stuff that needs sharpening. There’s just not a lot of weight to the filler content. The side contracts, the Shadows Projects, the collectable hunting – it’s all just bland and quickly becomes boring.
Do I really want to kill 100 bandits in a certain area five times to unlock a new hat? Probably not.
There is a lot of side content, from assaulting enemy castles to finding spontaneous missions from NPCs, but once you’ve done it all a few times, you’re left not wanting to do it again – but you need to if you want to unlock everything.
If you want to eliminate every target that pops up, you’ll be in for a pretty tough time, too. As I dug into Assassin’s Creed Shadows, I found myself constantly finding more circles of enemies to assassinate:
It’s a similar story with the base-building elements of the game. You can build a full-fledged Hideout complete with multiple, open-ended buildings, ornaments, trees, rocks, and so on. It’s great, but I feel that the requirements for constructing certain buildings are unrealistic and such a grind, casting a pall over a feature that I was looking forward to.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve spent hours in photomode capturing every angle of this idyllic, incredible world, but there’s only so much depth you can get from snapping photos in a fairly empty world.
Related: Learn How To Get More Keys in AC Shadows
Verdict: Buy
There’s enough meat on the bones here to justify the purchase, and the game’s visuals, stunning world, and cinematic campaign all contribute to my recommending the title. However, the cracks in the game’s foundations are evident, the flaws that have existed for years are front and centre, and it’s not enough of a change from the formula that we’ve known for years to feel all that different.
Ultimately, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is technically sound and authentic and represents a world that fans of the franchise have wanted to explore for many years. The artistic choices are great, the soundtrack is impressive, and the ambience is stellar, plus Naoe makes for a phenomenal lead, but there are just too many niggling flaws for me to consider this a perfect title.
Buy it, but don’t expect anything too different from the last game – or the one that’ll probably follow this one.
For more Assassin’s Creed Shadows content, check out my breakdown of what the game is about
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