If you love stealthy ninja assassinations and love brutal samurai swordplay, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is one game that you wouldn’t want to miss.
The latest in the Assassin’s Creed (AC) franchise once again embraces the series’ stealthy roots after the smashing and bashing, raiding and pillaging gameplay of the large open-world AC Valhalla from 2020.
And unlike 2023’s AC Mirage, which has a more compact open world, AC Shadows’ expansive map is more akin to the ones in AC Valhalla, AC Odyssey and AC Origins.
AC Shadows’ similar setting and gameplay to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima begs comparison, but what makes AC Shadows different is having two completely different playable characters.
AC Shadows in set during the tumultuous Sengoku civil war period in 16th century Japan, when Oda Nobunaga, the powerful daimyō (Japanese for feudal lord) sought to unify the land with blade, fire and blood.
With entire villages slaughtered, a small pocket of resistance in the form of assassins still stood in Iga. It was also during this time when some Portuguese Jesuit missionaries were in Japan and brought an African slave with them.
AC Shadows is a story of revenge and redemption, cleverly tying the fates of two very different characters. With all the controversy surrounding the game’s characters, debatable historical inaccuracies and cultural insensitivities, a key question has become more important: Is AC Shadows fun?
Sneaky shinobi, tanky samurai
You play Naoe, a young shinobi (assassin in Japanese) seeking justice and Yasuke, a black slave that Oda Nobunaga promoted to be a samurai.
The real fun begins after Act 1 when you can switch between the two characters playing any time outside of combat or hostile zones, offering vastly different playstyles between a sneaky shinobi and samurai tank.
Although some earlier AC games have featured dual-character gameplay in different ways like AC Odyssey and AC Syndicate, AC Shadows has improved this aspect by focusing on each character’s uniqueness, with specific quests and missions that are tailored for just one of them.
The duality of Naoe and Yasuke offers variety in playstyle and weapons, which makes it feel a little bit like cheating but I can’t deny how much fun the flexibility offers.
For instance, I use Yasuke to clear out small bandit camps and territories, but I prefer to use Naoe to infiltrate huge castles and fortresses since they have many more strong enemies that should be ideally picked off by silent assassinations.
Only Naoe can use a grappling hook to swing across gaps or climb up vertically on rooftops, which is necessary for unlocking Viewpoints for fast travel. Her Eagle Vision is also useful for tagging unseen enemies for efficient infiltration.
Another advantage of switching characters is if one character gets spotted and has a “wanted” status, which means they will be attacked on sight. You can switch to play as the other character to avoid the “wanted” status.
While trying to play stealthy as Naoe, I still get clammy palms when she is being detected by enemies since she’s more vulnerable than Yasuke. Admittedly, she gets better in combat after having access to better weapons and gear, but it is harder for Naoe to fight off hordes of enemies unlike Yasuke, who can easily make light work of a large group.
Naoe uses a variety of ninja tools like the shuriken, smoke bombs and bells, as well as weapons like the katana (longsword), tanto (short sword), kusarigama (short sickle on a chain) and the super useful kunai (throwing dagger), which can take down enemies from a distance.
True to the AC tradition, Naoe can also use the hidden blade to assassinate a target — the dramatic whiteout effect that contrasts with the enemy’s crimson blood is sheer poetry.
On the other hand, Yasuke can use an assortment of samurai weapons, such as long katana, naginata (polearm), bows as well as the noisy teppo gun. Although his kills are less elegant and poetic than Naoe’s, he has a satisfying finisher that violently lops off enemies’ heads.
Yasuke also has the unique ability to carry and place explosives, which is required for blasting open a way forward for some exploratory side quests. Although Yasuke can scale and unlock Viewpoints, he does not do a graceful leap of faith, but jumps down feet first in an unglamorous way.
Both characters have different tiered skill trees with abilities and perks that can be unlocked using Mastery and Knowledge points that are gained by completing main and side quests. Naoe’s skill tree focuses on developing her shinobi and assassin skills, while Yasuke’s focuses more on samurai and warrior type skills.
AC Shadows features improved combat compared to AC Valhalla, which was pretty much a smash-and-bash game with less focus on stealth. Instead of mashing buttons and chaining combos, well-timed parrying, dodging and posture attacks count for more in AC Shadows.
Posture attacks require you to hold down the attack button before timing its release — it is slow but potentially more efficient if the hit lands. Like previous AC games, there is also the adrenaline system where the adrenaline gauge is filled with successful kills and can unleash limited deadly abilities for Naoe and Yasuke.
Social story
AC Shadows’ story starts off slow in the beginning, with lengthy cutscenes and flashbacks which might cause gamers to get bored and give up before finishing Act 1. Despite the efforts in trying to build up on Naoe’s motivations, the story arc is not as engaging nor as much of a moral struggle as Ghost of Tsushima.
There are lots of non-playable characters (NPCs) in AC Shadows but most are pretty silent. Some do drop hints about potential activities, side quests and bandits in the vicinity, while others can be hired as scouts if you do them a good deed.
Most random NPCs tend to be rather overactive when bumped into, and respond differently to whom you are playing at the moment. Peasants tend to bow to Yasuke or look at him curiously or fearfully, while Naoe will elicit a much milder and sometimes ruder reaction.
Most NPCs are a quiet bunch, but some conversations drop hints about side quests, areas of interest or bandits nearby. There are some dialogue options for Naoe and Yasuke to choose from when interacting with key NPCs, which may occasionally have consequences in the game.
For those who prefer the “default” options and just go along with the story, there is a “canon mode” that automatically selects a response without any input.
Some key NPCs can be enlisted as allies after completing some side quests with them, and are useful in turning the tide of battle by setting them loose on enemies. These allies can level up in the hideout’s dojo at a cost.
However, most characters in the game are bland and quite forgettable, so there isn’t really any real bonding with them. Even the romance options feel rather superfluous.
Not all those who wander are lost
AC Shadows’ expansive map spans the Kii Peninsula to Wakasa, and includes cities like Osaka and Kyoto, which is great for virtual tourists who love to take in the sights of feudal Japan.
However, it is much smaller in scale compared to AC Valhalla, which crosses various countries. Getting around the map is easy by travelling on horseback or fast travelling to unlocked hideouts and Viewpoints.
Instead of having a flying avian scout like in previous AC titles, you have to recruit and send out human scouts to find objectives and areas of interest on the map. Scouts can be used once each season, so it is wise to use them prudently.
They are also needed to smuggle resources from bandit camps and castles. Castles contain a legendary treasure chest that requires you to kill a number of high level Samurai Daisho before unlocking, which means actual kills are required and not just sneaking to the chest.
AC Shadows offers plenty of activities for keen explorers. Apart from hunting down and eliminating targets, AC Shadows also features interesting side quests including one that involves investigating a child kidnapping ring.
Other activities include painting sumi-e (Japanese ink painting) of wildlife, finding legendary animals, looting legendary chests in fortresses and castles, and finding lost scrolls in temples.
All these activities can reward you in XP, loot, money or points for levelling up your characters. Some activities are only available for either Naoe or Yasuke, such as visiting kofuns (tombs) with legendary chests that can be looted after solving traversal puzzles.
For Naoe, she can meditate at kuji-kiri (ninja hand signs) spots which will trigger a minigame to press the buttons in a timed sequence. They provide a nice calming break amid the violent bloodletting. Plus, there will be a flashback side quest sequence which fleshes out Naoe’s relationships with those close to her.
Yasuke has a similar minigame where he can seek out Kata Masters and perform a Kata to earn knowledge points and XP. In addition, Yasuke can take part in horse archery minigames for similar rewards.
Both characters as well as their horses can swim across rivers and streams, and you can always commandeer a little fishing boat to reach islands or bigger ships in deep water, but don’t expect full-fledged naval battles like in AC Valhalla or AC Odyssey!
AC Shadows has a convenient Pathfinding feature which I started using more when I realised that stubbornly jumping on slopes and dashing blindly through the forest takes longer than simply following the road on horseback.
In addition, climbable surfaces in the outdoors are not always obvious, so it can be a hit or miss when trying to scale a mountain. However, if you have time to take in the sights and explore every nook and cranny, going about on foot is truly enjoyable.
Besides marking the passage of time and showing off the beautiful scenery of the four seasons, the transition of seasons has implications in respawning enemies, replenishing your scouts, removing “wanted” status and sending smuggled resources to your hideout.
If you are tired of a wandering life, you can hang out at the main hideout (known as “kakurega”) in Izumi Settsu, which is the first region that Naoe started her adventure in.
The base can be expanded to add useful buildings like a forge to upgrade weapons, dojos to level up allies, a study to gain more scouts and even places to show off trophies and sumi-e paintings or other decorative items.
Like a mini Sims game, you can beautify the hideout with plants, ornamental features and roof tiles. The best part of the hideout is that you can adopt the stray cats and dogs that you find during your travels!
New buildings and upgrades require resources and money, and there are also smaller kakurega scattered around the map which need money to unlock, so looting camps and castles is a necessary activity.
Each region’s kakurega also has optional contracts such as stealing cargo, eliminating bandits or specific targets that can be completed for easy money.
Eye of the beholder
AC Shadows features stunning graphics and details, and might be the most impressive that I have seen in an AC game. The variety offered by the four seasons, realistic weather as well as night and day cycles is a real treat for the eyes.
The seasons are highlighted by colourful flowers in spring, heavy rains in summer, red and yellow leaves in autumn, and thick snow in winter. Of course, the natural scenery, accurate architecture and landscapes of Japan are showstoppers in their own right.
The super-detailed graphics like mist on the characters’ (and even the dogs’) breath in winter, flickering fires, falling leaves, sand blowing in the wind, footprints in the snow and tracks after stepping on blood makes it worth playing on sharp 4K OLED displays.
The way that the characters interact with the environment is painstakingly detailed. They slip when trying to run on an icy surface and stumble in deep snow.
The highly detailed and destructible environment in AC Shadows is spectacular and realistic, with screen doors falling apart during combat, bamboo shoots being cleanly sliced, blood spilling from decapitations and even lanterns being sliced and going out.
Unfortunately, this also adds to the game’s controversy. Shrines can be damaged and have been portrayed as being disrespectful. There’s now a patch from Ubisoft to fix things.
For PC gamers, the recommended requirements from Ubisoft to play at 1080p at 60 frames per second at medium graphics preset are high:
- Windows 10, Windows 11 (64-bit versions)
- AMD Ryzen 5 5600x, Intel Core i5-11600K, or better
- 16 GB RAM running dual-channel mode
- AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12 GB), Intel Arc B580 (12 GB, with ReBAR on), Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060Ti (8 GB), or better
- Solid state drive
With such beautiful graphics, it is worth playing at a higher resolution with a 2K or 4K OLED display, if your system (and wallet) can support the eye candy. For that, check the full recommended specs here.
I played the game on my system with an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card in 4K, and the game looks gorgeous and plays smoothly.
However, I encountered the DX12 Error 0x887a0006 issue sporadically and was crashing to desktop several times, which forced me to relaunch the game. Thankfully, the game could be manually saved which means not too much progress was lost.
As with most open-world games, AC Shadows has a fair share of amusing and annoying bugs. Enemies who were assassinated bounced back to life, which gave me a fright especially since I was already busy looting.
There were also occasional graphical bugs like Naoe’s leg perching in an impossibly awkward position, objects floating in midair, and Yasuke riding on an extremely jerky horse which made me seasick.
I also had issues with the camera angle in enclosed spaces which limited the view, making close quarter assassinations and combat challenging. As a result, I tried to bring the fights out in the open, though at the risk of alerting more enemies.
TL;DR
Despite being dogged by the draggy pacing of the story, unmemorable memorable NPCs and an assortment of bugs, AC Shadows is one of the strongest modern entries to the franchise.
AC Shadows’ dual character gameplay, more deliberative combat and mesmerising graphics make it a fun experience. It is a marked improvement over the previous AC Valhalla in terms of stealth and combat, with a story that is more grounded in history than mythology.
With beautiful natural landscapes of feudal Japan over four seasons to explore and loads of activities for both playable characters to partake in, AC Shadows is a game to savour and enjoy.
It is a must-play for fans of stealth-based games, lovers of Japanese scenery and culture, and those who want a spectacular game to show off their gaming hardware and displays.
However, the gratuitous violence and blood means that AC Shadows is only suitable for an adult audience.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is available for PC on Ubisoft Store, Steam and Epic Games for S$94.90, Xbox Series X|S at S$94.90, and PlayStation 5 at S$97.90.
