Ubisoft has been putting out extensive RPG experience in recent installments of Assassin’s Creed which have both loved and critic opinions. The latest installment in the Assassin’s Creed Series is the Assassin’s Creed Shadows taking a step toward an extensive RPG experience. The storyline is broad, the world is big, the streets of the towns and cities are populated, offers both stealth and aggression options, combat is comprehensive, and a lot of side content. This is our review of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

NOTE: The review copy of Assassin’s Creed Shadows was provided by the publishers. This review was done on PlayStation 5.

Story

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Review – Story

For the first time ever, the Assassin’s Creed title takes place in Feudal Japan, in 1579 during the late Sengoku period. Japan is on a brutal path toward unification driven by Oda Nobunaga. The corrupt foreigners infiltrate the land and Oda Nobunaga invades the peaceful province of Iga. After the invasion, a young Shinobi, Naoe embarks on a journey to fulfill the promise that she made to her father. On the other hand, Yasuke, the African Samurai in the league of Oda Nobunaga finds a new purpose in confronting the demons of his paths.

Players will pursue the story as Naoe in the starting 10 – 15 hours of the game. Upon reaching the first major event of the story, Naoe and Yasuke will cross paths. Here, players will get to know more about Yasuke and his past. From here, both of the protagonists will join up to stop the corrupt invaders.

Gameplay

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Review – Gameplay

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a third-person action-adventure video game with two protagonists with completely different paces and playstyles. It is not the first time that the AC series has two protagonists at the same time. However, it is the first time that both of the protagonists are unique. Naoe is a Shinobi from Iga and she is a highly skilled Assassin who hides in the shadows and deals with the danger stealthily. She has access to a great set of Shinobi tools including, Kunai, Smoke Bombs, Bells, and more.

Moreover, she has great parkour aptitudes allowing her to climb up and down swiftly. She can use her grappling hook to climb onto the ledges of the structures, giving her more mobility in scouting the areas. Moreover, a lot of the highest points are on top of the buildings and towers, so she is great for scouting the map and unlocking nearby points of interest.

Yasuke on the other hand is a skilled Samurai like no one. With his unmatchable Strength, he faces every threat confidently. He is not as quick as Naoe but has access to core parkour skills, allowing him to climb small structures and walls. Moreover, with great strength, you can break down the barricades and doors by sprinting at them.

With both protagonists being completely unique, it gives a great choice of preference to the players. Players can experience both Shinobi playstyle and Samurai playstyle. As you explore the world, you will also run into events where you can help the people for some crucial rewards.

New Gameplay Mechanics

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Review – New Gameplay Mechanics

Assassin’s Creed Shadows offers a lot of new mechanics that you get to learn in the starting hours of the game. The first major one is the Hideout in Iga. From the events of the early game, the home of Naoe will be destroyed. For her to face the difficult challenges, she must build her house back and gather all the help she can. As you get back to Iga, you will be able to build and upgrade the structures of the hideout.

You build and upgrade the structures using various resources including, crops, wood, and minerals. These resources can be found in the world, mostly at the enemy camps and strongholds. Furthermore, as more NPCs join the Hideout, you will get more Scouts. Scouts play various roles. You can dispatch the scout to highlight the location for your tracking quest. Moreover, if you come across a storage of hideout resources, you can smuggle those resources using Scouts.

Furthermore, building and upgrading the Hideout is very crucial. One of the essential structures that you should build and upgrade is the Forge. The Forge allows you to upgrade, dismantle, and engrave Naoe and Yasuke’s gear. So, as you level up, the enemy’s difficulty levels up alongside you. It is better to visit the hideout frequently to keep your gear upgraded.

Another new mechanic in the game is the Kuji-Kiri. It is a meditation practice for Naoe, allowing her to revisit the events of her past. Players can play the short segments of Naoe’s past to learn more about her. As a result, players will earn a Knowledge Point, which is crucial for increasing Knowledge Rank.

New Skill System

The Knowledge Rank is a new addition for unlocking the higher skills for Naoe and Yasuke. In addition to the regular Mastery Points that you will use to unlock the Skills, you must gain a new Knowledge Rank to unlock the next tier of skills in all the Skill Trees. Both Naoe and Yasuke has six unique skill trees. These skill trees enhances the abilities of their core mechanics and weapon usage.

The Knowledge Rank and the overall Player Level are universal. It does not matter which character you play the most to level up, the other character also levels up and gain Mastery Points simultaneously. To gain the Knowledge Rank, you will have to collect a certain amount of Knowledge Points. The Knowledge Points can be gathered by completing side content like finding scroll pages at a certain location, clearing a castle from Samurais and looting the legendary chests, practicing the horse archery, meditating at Kuji-Kiri spots, and more.

It is a great new system, allowing players to explore the world to complete the side content alongside the main story. For all the players who want to strengthen both the characters, have to attain high Knowledge Rank. The max Knowledge Rank is six requiring around 60 Knowledge Points. Every skill in the skill tree requires a certain amount of Master Points so, you will have to upgrade the skills according to your playstyle.

Dynamic Seasons and World

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Review – Dynamic Seasons and World

For the first time, we get to witness the Dynamic Season changing in a beautiful Japan setting in the AC series. The world includes all four seasons and each season changes the look of Japan and its vast meadows and dense forests completely. You will get to experience each season for a good couple of hours before they change. As the season change, it resets your Scout count and brings any smuggled resources to the Hideout.

With every season, you will get to see the change in the overall locations of the world. For instance, you will get to see frozen ponds and lakes in the Winter season. If you try to run on the frozen ponds, the character will find it hard to control their steps. Moreover, the dense of snow in the open areas will make the character slow.

Combat

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Review – Combat

Let’s talk about combat in AC Shadows. The Combat is very comprehensive in AC Shadows, offering a wide range of weapons to both the protagonists. Naoe has three different melee weapons along with Assassin tools. She has high mobility, allowing her to hit multiple enemies at a time, making her hard to get hit by the enemies. Moreover, you can use the tools of her to approach every situation differently. If you want to assassinate a certain target, you can distract others with the bell tool and get to the target without any problem. Alternatively, you can throw a smoke bomb to lower the vision of the enemies and assassinate the target in the blind.

Yasuke on the other hand is just a brutal Samurai with a lot of Strength. From the moment you get to play Yasuke, you will feel like a proper warrior. He can easily take out big targets like nothing. He has access to various melee weapons as well as ranged weapons. The ranged weapons include a handgonne and a Bow.

Furthermore, there is an Adrenaline mechanic that allows Naoe and Yasuke to use special abilities of the weapons and other actions. Naoe has access to low Adrenaline points whereas, Yasuke has three right from the start. These Adrenaline points can be seen in a diamond shape above the health bar. The Adrenaline points do not fill on their own, but by fighting and encountering the enemies. As you dodge and parry the enemies, the Adrenaline point will start to replenish. Using the special abilities is a great way to take down stronger enemies.

Visuals and Sound

The visuals and the representation of Feudal Japan is astonishing. There are various clean details in every aspect of the world, which you can adore for hours without getting tired. Every town, village, and castle, itself is very much alive filled with people and peace. Characters have a great lively behavior. You will see great expressions and details on the characters’ faces throughout the game.

The voice acting for the characters is fantastic, especially if you play the game in Japanese language. The voice might feel odd and a bit lacking in the English language. Overall, the writing is good as well but sometimes it does feel like lousy dialogue writing. However, the thing that kept me going was the music and soothing vibes of the nature. The world is beautifully crafted in Assassin’s Creed Shadows and I greatly give props to the devs.

Verdict – 9/10

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is probably the best extensive RPG in the series, giving more expansive experience than Odyssey and Valhalla. One of the best improvements that the game offers is the removal of unnecessary markers on the map. The compass on top of the screen will not show you any unnecessary marker, allowing you to explore freely at your own pace. It is much easier to read the map and gather your thoughts as you progress through the story.

To all the Assassin’s Creed franchise fans, I highly recommend you trying out Assassin’s Creed Shadows as it is the best extensive RPG in the AC series. It is fast-paced, cinematic, breath taking visuals, compelling storyline, different playstyles, and engaging characters, all that bring a great experience.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows releases on March 20, 2025, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

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