Hyderabad: In its 18 years of existence, Assassin’s Creed has been through a lot. Kicking off in 2007 as a stealth-focused franchise, it gradually shifted to action, combat, and exploration. With the release of Mirage in 2023, the franchise embraced its stealth roots, only to realise— why choose one when you can have both! Thus enters Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the dual protagonist title designed to woo both old and new players of the franchise, giving them the liberty to choose between stealth and action.
Ever since Ubisoft dropped the first trailer of the game, feudal Japan and the two protagonists have been all everyone can talk about—for better or for worse. Instead of serving players with a cosmetic swap between male and female character models, the game features two full main playable characters, each with its own unique play style. There is Naoe, a shinobi assassin from Iga Province who is fast and agile, then there’s Yasuke, a powerful African samurai of historical legends—something which got the game everyone’s attention from the very beginning.
Assassin’s dual protagonists
The game starts with Naoe, allowing you to experience the stealth in its full glory as she evades enemy detection, distracts guards using kunai, shuriken, and smoke bombs, infiltrates enemy bases with grappling hooks and parkour skills, and assassinates targets with the hidden blade. She is the true Assassin’s Creed experience. Yasuke enters the game at a later stage. He is large, deals a ton of damage, can bash through doors, and can handle multiple enemies at once with ease. He wields heavy weapons to overpower enemies in direct confrontations. He is the true action RPG experience.
Both characters have their fair share of disadvantages as well. While Naoe is featherweight and gets dominated really fast when surrounded by multiple enemies, Yasuke can’t do any assassin stuff, sprints much slower, and can’t climb much.
Ubisoft probably wanted players to rely on Naoe and Yasuke for different scenarios—the assassin shinobi when you need to go from one place to another and sneak around to kill a small number of enemies and the powerful samurai when you need to dominate the battlefield, smash some bodies, and cut off some heads. Having two protagonists with two distinct playstyles served as a refresher for me and made the gameplay enjoyable.
However, I feel the game favours Naoe’s agility over Yasuke’s raw power. Once you master the shinobi assassin, there is hardly any situation that Naoe can’t handle or place where she can’t reach. Meanwhile, even when you master Yasuke, he is at a disadvantage when it comes to getting anywhere or doing anything other than combat. While Yasuke’s brute strength and direct combat are satisfying, his mechanics limit his playstyle and make him feel one-dimensional, leading to a less engaging experience.
The predictable Assassin's Creed story
Shadows' story focuses on Naoe and Yasuke. Both characters have strong personalities. Naoe is intense and cunning, exhibiting a fiery spirit. While her single-minded focus feels repetitive at times, her narrative arc focuses on reclaiming her family’s honour, which, even though it is quite generic in the gaming world, gives her a deeply personal stake in the story. Yasuke is a man of devotion and honour who comes across as a protective figure. His status as a foreigner in feudal Japan adds another layer to his character.
The chemistry between Naoe and Yasuke is satisfying and elevates the dual protagonist setup of the game. Strong voice performances and dynamic camera work help depict emotional payoffs beautifully. However, Shadows fails to give similar treatment to both protagonists' individual stories. While the game explores thematic depth with the foreigner samurai facing prejudice, Yasuke’s backstory and motivations feel underdeveloped. The game focuses more on Naoe’s revenge arc, which ends up overshadowing Yasuke’s journey.
The game also faces pacing issues. It starts slow as if we’re waiting for things to pop up, gets dragged in the middle with repetitive quests and side activities, and then tries to wrap things up quickly towards the end. The plot is predictable and fails to capitalise on its setup, charged by a strong historical atmosphere in feudal Japan.
It’s like Ubisoft pulled out their usual “bad guys want power, go stop them” playbook. While it is not bad, it is something we’ve all seen hundreds of times before. Ubisoft probably played it safe with the plot, as they already had placed their bets on the dual protagonist system. Any other variable might have made the title riskier.
Gameplay: Hits with a few misses
Being an Assassin’s Creed title, Shadows still features signature stealth elements like hiding in bushes and the age-old method of luring dumb enemies to their swift deaths. However, the new title refreshes things up by introducing certain new elements and tweaks, such as slightly smarter behaviour by some enemies, unexpected traps, and noise-making floors that blow your cover. The stealth experience is a step better than Ubisoft’s 2023 ‘back to the roots’ title Assassin’s Creed Mirage.
Combat is fairly simple, with dodging and parrying being important parts during direct confrontations. Based on your character, you get to choose heavy or light weapons. Just like in AC Brotherhood, Shadows also lets you call in allies for quick assists. The skill tree is straightforward, allowing you to decide how your character grows. This is just like every other action-adventure RPG I have played since the very first God of War game. You earn points to unlock new things by exploring the large, open world and taking on challenges. While this makes exploration rewarding, several areas lack variety, and repetitive objectives tend to become monotonous. After a while, it started to feel like a chore, and I dreaded upgrading the skill tree, but not on the same level as I despise Genshin Impact and its gacha-based artefact upgrade system.
Shadows also features a home base system like AC Valhalla, where you can build a workshop to craft and upgrade your weapons, among other things. You can choose to decorate the space or get off without putting any effort into the interior.
The best-looking Assassin’s game
Coming to the visuals, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a marvel that delivers a vibrant and reactive world teeming with jaw-dropping detail. Think God of War (2018) but with more people. From big cities and castle towns to fishing villages and hunter encampments, the high population in Shadows makes the world alive.
Set in 16th-century feudal Japan, the game features breathtaking landscapes featuring mountains, forests, and cherry blossoms (obviously)—all scattered throughout a big and varied map. From foggy mornings to sunlight slicing through a bamboo forest, the game looks every bit of a beauty. The dynamic weather and seasons add another layer of charm to the scenery. Shadows also celebrates Japan’s old architecture style that speaks volumes from Kyoto’s streets to towering castles. Intricate details like shrine rooftops peeking through treetops, flapping daimyo robes, and wind-blown leaves make the scene alive.
Shadows is, without a doubt, the best-looking Assassin’s Creed game, which is also in great shape when it comes to performance. For a game of this size, it doesn’t feature significant bugs, which is a great improvement over past Ubisoft titles. Also, there are only rare instances where the game struggles to keep the graphics or FPS stable.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Review Verdict
Assassin’s Creed Shadows ambitiously blends stealth and action with its dual protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke, offering players distinct playstyles. Naoe’s agile shinobi antics deliver a polished stealth experience, while Yasuke’s brute force caters to action fans, though his limited versatility makes him feel one-dimensional. Set against the stunning backdrop of feudal Japan, the game is visually breathtaking and technically solid. The story, while bolstered by strong chemistry between the leads, stumbles with predictable plotting, uneven pacing, and repetitive open-world quests.
Shadows is a true Assassin’s Creed game, which builds upon the success of the previous instalments, but couldn’t escape Ubisoft’s familiar formula. Apart from some tiresome aspects, the game manages to deliver an entertaining package and also presents itself as the entry point for new players who’ve never played an Assassin game before.
Rating: 4/5
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Dual protagonists offer distinct stealth (Naoe) and action (Yasuke) playstyles, catering to varied preferences. | Yasuke’s limited mobility and one-dimensional mechanics make him less engaging than Naoe. |
| Stunning visuals with vibrant feudal Japan settings, dynamic weather, and detailed architecture. | Predictable storyline with pacing issues and underdeveloped character arcs for Yasuke. |
| Polished stealth mechanics with improvements over the past Assassin titles. | Repetitive open-world quests and lack of variety lead to monotonous gameplay over time. |
| Strong chemistry between Naoe and Yasuke elevates the narrative experience. | |
| Technically stable with minimal bugs and solid performance for a game of its scale. |
(Game reviewed on PlayStation 5; review code provided by the publisher)
