UBISOFT’s Assassin’s Creed series has had its ups and downs over the years, having reinvented itself multiple times since it started in 2007.
Recent games have had a heavy focus on RPG elements, which has been largely well-received by many, but somewhat alienated fans of classic Assassin’s Creed gameplay.
3
3
3
Part of this was because of a shift to focus a bit more on combat, with characters able to fight off large groups of enemies, with stealth becoming less important compared to past games in the series.
This is due to the nature of the RPG elements in the game — with more options for weapons and their upgrades, a heavier focus on combat is an understandable change.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows tries to split the difference between these two styles of gameplay by offering players two distinct characters, a bulky, combat-focused samurai named Yasuke, and an agile, stealth-focused ninja named Naoe.
In a four-hour preview of the game, we got to try out both characters extensively, and we came away surprised at how well everything flows.
Shadows drops players into 16th century Japan, where legendary leader Oda Nobunaga is at the height of his power during a civil war to try and unify the country’s feudal states under one banner.
Both Yasuke and Naoe have their own ties to Nobunaga, with the former having been freed from slavery by the warlord and the latter having had her village destroyed in his ruthless war.
How, exactly, these two come to know each other and work together is unclear at this stage, as the preview only covered the introductory period of the game and a vertical slice midway through, but it’s an intriguing setup nonetheless.
It’s made even more intriguing by the seeming addition of the Assassin Brotherhood, something that has largely been missing from recent outings in the series and sorely missed by many fans.
Feudal Japan is beautifully recreated in Shadows, with gorgeous visuals as far as the eye can see — though it’s worth noting we played on PC, where the settings can be cranked up quite a bit compared to console versions.
The gameplay is where things get really interesting, though, because both Yasuke and Naoe are worlds apart in terms of how they play, how they handle, and how they fight.
Naoe is a completely stealth-focused character, with more than a few tricks up her sleeve to help her remain undetected by enemy forces.
She’s agile and fast, able to effortlessly dodge enemies, climb buildings (with the help of a grappling hook) and most importantly, exploit shadows to remain hidden in the darkness.
While Naoe is standing in shadows, she’s completely invisible to enemies both near and far, and this opens up a lot of interesting gameplay options.
You can extinguish light sources to create more darkness, which in turn makes it easier to move around without being detected.
Combined with her increased verticality, ninja-like athleticism, and various throwing tools like shuriken and kunai, Naoe excels at the classic stealth gameplay that fans of the series’ yesteryear love so much.
Another interesting addition for Naoe is that she can not only crouch, but drop down entirely onto her belly, allowing her to hide in even shorter grass or remain undetected on rooftops she might otherwise be spotted.
Yasuke, on the other hand, is stripped of the elegance of a stealthy assassin and becomes a demon of the battlefield instead.
He can’t grapple up buildings, has limited options for stealth, and is easily spotted by enemies from a long distance away.
What he lacks in stealth capabilities, though, is more than made up for in his combat capabilities, where his considerable size and strength lends him a significant advantage over Naoe.
Yasuke can burst through locked doors and knock down enemies simply by sprinting at them, and can handily take down strong enemies with just a few swings of his katana.
That doesn’t mean Naoe is bad at combat – she’s quite capable, all things considered – but with her, you’ll need to do a lot more dodging and parrying, since even basic enemies can take her down to low health with just a few hits.
Both of these characters are fantastic, but I found myself gravitating towards Naoe for most of my time with the game, since I was looking for an experience much closer to old-school Assassin’s Creed gameplay.
Yasuke was fun to use in a few combat situations, but his lack of traversal abilities in the world felt very limiting, making Naoe the obvious choice.
Thankfully, you can switch between the two characters at any time except during story missions, although those also sometimes offer the ability to switch at certain moments like big fights.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows feels like a return to form for the series, reviving some of the best parts of the series’ past without abandoning the modern gameplay seen in recent RPG titles.
While the final product is still some months away after a last-minute delay, based on our time with the game it looks like Shadows is shaping up to be the perfect Assassin’s Creed game for newcomers and series veterans alike.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and iPad on March 20, 2025.
The latest PC reviews from The Sun
PC and Steam hardware and game reviews from our team of expert reviewers
Hardware Reviews
Game Reviews
If you want to read more reviews from Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo and Steam, check out our gaming reviews hub.
