Video of review.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows – The Long-Awaited Leap into Feudal Japan
For years, Japan has been the “break glass in case of emergency” setting for Assassin’s Creed. The fanbase has been screaming for it, and now, Ubisoft has finally dropped Shadows, planting the franchise in the ruthless, shifting tides of 16th-century Japan. But as the immortal rap ninja DMX once said: It’s not what you heard, it’s what you hearing.
None of that fanfare matters if the changes aren’t deep enough to make the game stand apart—not just from its predecessors, but from every other open-world stealth-action title that has flirted with the setting. Also, yeah, there will be spoilers about 16th-century Japan in here, so if you’ve managed to dodge every historically obsessed Twitter thread, consider this your warning.
Shadows is stepping into a world where Assassin’s Creed Valhalla made nearly $2 billion, redefining what "success" looks like for Ubisoft. Now, this game has to prove itself—not just as an AC title, but as an experience that can hang with modern competitors while delivering on a fan dream nearly two decades in the making.
Two Protagonists, Two Paths to Mayhem
Shadows takes the franchise’s dual-protagonist setup to its furthest extreme. Sure, Syndicate gave us Jacob and Evie Frye arguing about whether saving child laborers from Victorian sweatshops was worth it, but Shadows goes beyond alternating cutscenes and light character-swapping.
On one side, you’ve got Yasuke—historically the first African samurai, a powerhouse who wields weapons like wrecking balls and solves locked-door puzzles with a 250-pound battering ram disguised as his own body. He’s a blunt-force instrument, a walking earthquake. Then there’s Naoe, a shinobi trying to finally drag this franchise back into something resembling stealth gameplay. She’s the classic ninja fantasy—agile, sneaky, and wielding a kusarigama that turns her into a medieval John Wick with a weed-whacker.
Their intertwined storylines explore honor, duty, betrayal, and the sheer chaos of an era where warlords swapped power like poker chips. And while the game gives you two perspectives, it’s not just narrative filler—these characters exist in a world that actually reacts to them differently. Their reputations, their skills, the very way they move through environments—it all feeds into how the game unfolds.
And it’s not just the dual protagonists shaking things up. The world operates on a seasonal cycle, meaning you’ll be stalking through cherry blossom groves in one mission and slogging through snow-covered villages the next. If you played Assassin’s Creed Origins, expect a similar scale—but with more verticality, more environmental stealth, and more rice paper doors to slice through like a katana-wielding home intruder.
Gameplay – Reinventing AC’s Core Loop
You kick things off with a short Animus sequence before being dropped into the thick of it. The game opens by alternating between both characters—Yasuke navigating samurai politics, Naoe dealing with the fallout that puts her on the shinobi path. This setup gives you a sense of the game’s broader conflicts before it sets you loose with Naoe, letting you learn the ropes: stealth, movement, combat, weapon switching, meditation, painting (yes, painting), and mission structures.
Instead of a traditional quest log, Shadows uses a massive objective board, a living web of interconnected targets—lords, outlaws, and general scumbags who all have a role to play. If you run discovery mode, you’ll have to physically track down clues in the world to pinpoint objectives, or you can send scouts from your hideout to do the legwork. If you want a more guided experience, you can enable traditional waypoints and markers.
The hideout itself is a fully customizable base, built and expanded with supplies found throughout the world. Want a dojo? Build one and train your side characters. Need better weapons? Upgrade your forge. Find a temple in the wild? Now it’s part of your estate. Even stray dogs and horses can be brought back. And yes, you can decorate it to your heart’s content—because even ninja-samurai hybrids need a comfy home.
Combat – Two Opposing Styles
Shadows keeps the core Assassin’s Creed mechanics—open-world exploration, parkour, horse riding, and boat-jacking—but differentiates itself through combat. Like Syndicate, Odyssey, and Valhalla, it splits the protagonist roles sharply, but unlike those games, the divide isn’t just narrative fluff.
Naoe: The Silent Death
Naoe’s combat is about precision. She’s not here to trade blows—she’s here to ensure enemies never get the chance to retaliate. The kusarigama lets her control space, while smoke bombs, shuriken, and noisemakers allow her to set up fights on her own terms. Assassinations aren’t always instant; tougher enemies require skill investment to be taken down in one hit.
Her focus system highlights enemy vulnerabilities, showing where her assassination attempts might fail—because this isn’t one-hit-kill city. If she miscalculates, things go sideways fast.
Yasuke: Walking Annihilation
Yasuke is combat. He wields katanas, war clubs, spears, and a goddamn rifle, each designed to turn enemies into historical footnotes. His posture attacks—heavy blows that shatter enemy defenses—make him a tank. If Naoe is a ghost, Yasuke is the nightmare in the doorway.
Weapons matter. Yasuke’s naginata turns fights into a defensive ballet, sweeping through multiple foes. His club is a battlefield reset button, sending enemies flying like ragdolls. His rifle? Powerful but man I didn't like using it. His bow was a bit better but ranged with him just never floated my boat.
This distinction extends to stealth—where Naoe relies on shadows, Yasuke can brute-force a single assassination before the alarms start ringing.
AI and Difficulty – Stealth Finally Matters
Ubisoft has finally put some teeth into enemy AI. On easy, guards wander aimlessly, as if existentially questioning their career choices. On medium, they’re alert enough to be a problem. On hard, it’s an entirely different beast—guards track footprints in the snow, respond dynamically to sound, and won’t just forget you exist if you break line of sight for five seconds.
Gone are the days of easily escaping by crouching in a bush. Guards notice missing allies, investigate disturbances, and adjust patrols accordingly. Some enemies are outright warlords—mini-bosses with their own skills, capable of turning a routine infiltration into a massacre.
And environmental factors matter. Rain can muffle assassination sounds. Snow slows movement and reveals footprints. Summer heat affects stamina. Ubisoft has finally committed to physical storytelling in a way that changes how you engage with the world.
Graphics – Seasonal Beauty with Brutal Combat
Shadows is visually stunning. The verticality of Japan’s architecture is finally used to its fullest, while dynamic weather ensures that the world looks different every time you visit a location.
Combat animations are brutal—limb-severing, bone-crushing, and visceral as hell. Yasuke celebrates a kill like he’s winning the goddamn World Cup. But some animations still suffer from that classic AC stiffness, particularly in climbing.
The cutscene lip-syncing? Bad. The textures? Mostly solid. The seasonal changes? One of the best visual storytelling tools in the franchise.
Audio - Hit and Miss
I wasn't a fan of the english voice overs as much as I have been in prior titles. It just is what it is. That being said the games sounds are excellent, informative and useful in combat as well as fleshing out the worlds feel.
Final Verdict – A New Assassin’s Creed Era?
Shadows is slower than past AC games. The opening hours feel like Ubisoft actively restraining itself, pacing the game with all the urgency of a DMV clerk on their lunch break. But once the systems open up, it delivers a stealth-action hybrid that actually respects its mechanics.
Is it a perfect game? No but damn if I didn't enjoy it more than I expected despite issues.
Ultimatlly the slow starting and oddities did bring this down for me. I don't like it as much as Odyssey or Syndicate or Rogue but its still enjoyable enough.
For fans of AC’s exploration and history—this is a win. For those looking for instant action, Shadows might feel like it’s punishing you for even showing up.
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