The announcement of Assassin’s Creed Shadows caused a storm of emotions among fans of the series and ordinary gamers. However, not in the way Ubisoft expected – new scandals began around the developers from the Quebec branch, the Japanese began to hate the black samurai Yasuke, and the company’s shares began to lose ground. However, today’s material is not about this: we wanted to collect all the known information about the game, without touching on the swearing and scandals.
Plot and characters
The setting is Japan, the Azuchi-Momoyama period, around the 1580s, during the reign of Oda Nobunaga. The warlord will be one of the characters, but it is not clear for how long – there are historical prerequisites for Nobunaga’s imminent death during the game. Also, for the first time in almost ten years (since the release of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate in 2015, to be precise), we will be presented with the struggle between the Assassins and the Templars – in the 16th century, both factions had already ceased to be the “Hidden Ones” and the “Order of the Ancients”.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will feature two main characters: Naoe, a ninja girl from the village of Iga, and Yasuke, an African samurai who was a real person and is the first in the series to play the role of the protagonist.
Fujibayashi Naoe is the daughter of the famous character Fujibayashi Nagato, one of the legendary ninjas of the Iga clan, along with Hanzo Hattori. There is very little information about him, Oda Nobunaga, during the unification of Japan, will destroy the village of Iga, which will lead to the resettlement of ninjas throughout the country. It is not yet clear what motives drive her, because here too, the trace of the second main character is visible – he will participate in the destruction of the village of Naoe and the ninja clans.
The reason for my uncertainty about the plot of Assassin’s Creed Shadows was Yasuke, a real historical figure, the famous “black samurai” who came to Japan as a servant of Jesuit missionaries, as part of a campaign to “trade with the southern barbarians.” He also greatly impressed Oda Nobunaga, got into the annals as his servant and therefore earned fame.
There is a lot of unconfirmed information on the Internet that Yasuke was Nobunaga’s samurai – perhaps one of the first non-Japanese to be given such a title. Ubisoft also reminds us of this in the accompanying video, which talks about the game’s characters – in fact, it is a blank slate for them with the opportunity to write any hero. It is known from reliable sources that, according to the “Records of Prince Nobunaga”, Yasuke had a small katana-wakizashi at his disposal, as well as his own residence and servants. But a samurai in itself is simply a minor nobleman with an allotment, obliged to military service, and not a mythical warrior or someone especially close to those in power.
Here are some of the tales. At the first glance at Yasuke, the commander ordered him to “cleanse his skin of ink”, and when he realized that this was indeed a man with black skin, he was even more surprised. It is not clear at what point, but Yasuke came under Nobunaga’s command and became his bodyguard: the servant of the Jesuit Alessandro Valignano, apparently, knew Japanese well or learned it directly on the islands – there are records of communication between Nobunaga and Yasuke. The black warrior was close to Nobunaga’s family, and, according to some sources, even cut off his head in 1582, when the commander was betrayed and committed seppuku. After these events, Yasuke’s story ends.
How Ubisoft will bring the main characters together and unite them under the player’s control is still a big question. I can only assume that the betrayal of Akechi Mitsuhide, one of Oda Nobunaga’s generals, as well as the death of the commander, will lead Yasuke to Naoe. And maybe to the brotherhood of Assassins.
Basics of gameplay
The two main characters imply that the player will be allowed to switch between them. Moreover, information appeared in the material from IGN that this will be possible to do at any time, except for individual story missions – as it was in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.
The difference between them is that Naoe has a quiet and stealthy approach, while Yasuke has a forceful one. The girl, for example, will not be able to counterattack, but will only be able to reflect the blows of enemy samurai and dodge, and will also be able to non-lethally get rid of servants and guards. Yasuke will have armor that will protect him from enemy attacks and allow him to act more openly.
Both heroes, judging by the materials on the Internet, will have “Eagle Vision”, which marks enemies and important targets since the first part. So, servants who wander around the castles will be marked in orange, and guards – in red. By the way, servants will also be able to raise the alarm – they will run to the nearest guard if they notice the main characters in the forbidden territory.
The cinematic trailer also showed off some of the main characters’ weapons. Yasuke wields a katana, a large kanabo stick, a yari spear, and is also said to have an arquebus at his disposal. While Naoe is armed with more “secret” types of Japanese melee weapons: shurikens, kusarigama – a scythe on a chain, possibly several daggers, and a hidden blade. The latter, similar to the wrist weapon of Connor Canaway, the protagonist of Assassin’s Creed 3, can be folded and used as a tanto – a Japanese knife. And yes, Ubisoft confirmed that they will return to the combat system battles with a hidden blade through the tanto style.
Each type of weapon will have its own upgrade tree, and equipment mastery points will be collected like in The Elder Scrolls – the more often you use it, the better you become at handling a particular type of weapon. It is also announced that each of the heroes will be able to create their own katana – this is a beautiful detail, because this weapon has become iconic even outside of Japan.
Characters will also be leveled up and unlock active skills by reading scrolls – they will be hidden in the open world. But at the same time, weapons found, experience points earned and resources will be shared. I want to believe that Ubisoft will think of a moment when players could play only for one character, and when switching to another during the story, they would not feel disadvantaged because of the choice.
World of Assassin’s Creed Shadows
According to the developers, the open world is built in such a way that Assassin’s Creed Shadows can be played in any style. Both Naoe and Yasuke will have plenty of paths and opportunities to complete the task.
The seasons will also influence this, changing at the wave of the scriptwriter’s pen. For example, icicles on the roofs can fall to the ground when Naoe runs along the edge and attract the attention of the guards. Or a pond, where one could hide from pursuit in the spring, will freeze, and snow will fill the cracks where the heroine could crawl on her belly. But, as the developers promise, in winter the guards will gather near heat sources – which means they will be more localized and this will open up more paths. A similar system was already in Assassin’s Creed 3, but it was more decorative – the main character slowed down while moving through the snow, the guards crowded around the fires, but that’s all.
Ubisoft also promises to introduce a full-fledged system of hero detection indicators in the light. Naoe, for example, will be able to extinguish torches and knock down burning lamps – this system is inspired by Splinter Cell. Apparently, Yasuke will have the same abilities, but the developers additionally note that he is a tall man in armor – it will be difficult for him to hide and his style is precisely combat.
Naoe will also receive a grappling hook, and there will be points throughout the game world where you can grab onto it. However, according to IGN, this hook is not exactly the same as in Syndicate – it is a full-fledged rope on which the heroine can swing and get to previously inaccessible places. Just like the main character in Ghost of Tsushima. By the way, this moment was demonstrated to us in a CGI video released on May 15. And with the help of the grappling hook, you can pull yourself up to the ceiling beams and wait for a passing patrol – to launch a surprise attack from above.
The developers also said that the game will feature destructible environmental objects. Of course, you won’t be able to break the lock, but for example, in the cinematic trailer, Yasuke breaks through shoji doors with the bodies of several servants, destroying them. And Naoe will be able to kill opponents through shoji if they are standing next to each other – just like Jin Sakai in Ghost of Tsushima.
The world map will be divided into three large regions: Iga (Naoe Village), Arima (the battlefield), and Omi (the agricultural region). The game world will be about the same size as Assassin’s Creed Origins, which is reassuring — Shadows won’t be as monstrous as Valhalla and Odyssey.
Synchronization points no longer open the map – the legendary camera flyby is a thing of the past. Now, sitting at a high point, the player himself must mark interesting places and they will be marked on the map. The drone bird, which was a sin in the last parts of Assassin’s Creed, will also disappear. Now you need to rely only on your own skills, which will definitely please fans of the old parts.
Nonlinearity, brotherhood and murder
Ubisoft also said that the story campaign will be based on killing specific targets from Naoe and Yasuke’s list. Most of them will have a daily routine, you will need to find out their location and where they are most often. But sometimes, as the developers say, you will be able to “just stumble upon” a passing target.
To find targets, you will have to create your own network of spies and scouts. There are very few details about this feature of Shadows yet, but seeing a full-fledged brotherhood of assassins and using them in the field again, as was the case in Brotherhood, Revelations and the third part, is a long-standing dream of fans of the series.
Frankly speaking, the same system of “goals and nonlinearity” was promised in the previous parts of the RPG trilogy. However, only Mirage was able to bring it to mind, where you really had to search for clues, although the picture of the enemy’s location was formed automatically. I would like a little more freedom and room for making mistakes, so that the player would immerse himself in what is happening. It would be interesting if even skilled players made mistakes due to incorrect preparation and incorrect data – as could happen in reality with shinobi.
But there will still be plot targets to eliminate in the Black Box system, first introduced in Unity. There will be several ways to enter the protected area and unique ways to kill the Templars.
Infinite Release Date, Platform, and Price
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is coming out on November 15 on all current platforms: PC, PlayStation 5 and both Xbox Series. The game will require the Internet for installation, but you can play it without an Internet connection.
Which is odd, because Shadows is the first game on the Assassin’s Creed Infinite platform. It will be a separate hub when new parts of the series are launched, where cosmetic items, battle and season passes will be purchased, and, according to rumors, there will be the ability to launch any part of Assassin’s Creed – by subscription! So far, there is no other information about Infinite.
The price of Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an unpleasant surprise – $70 for the standard, $110 for the “Gold” and $130 for the “Ultimate” edition. The set is complete: for an extra $40, players will get access to the game three days early, as well as a season pass – Ubisoft has already announced that Shadows will have two add-ons, although the game has not even been released yet. In the Ultimate Edition, on top of everything else, they will sprinkle beautiful skins for the heroes, five skill points and a filter for the photo mode. Sounds like something worth overpaying almost half the cost of the product.
A collector’s edition of the game was also presented, which will include figurines of the characters, a tsuba for a real katana, a steelbook with images of Naoe and Yasuke, an artbook and lithographs with the characters, a world map and a wall scroll decorated to match the game.
Summary
If we sum it up, the biggest drawback of Assassin’s Creed Shadows so far is the lack of gameplay, but open pre-orders. After so many years of stepping on its own rake, Ubisoft can’t learn that players want to see the product face to face before giving it their hard-earned money. The price was also an unpleasant surprise, although “Shadows” will be available in the Ubisoft+ subscription service – maybe this is an attempt to promote its own subscription system?
In this article, I tried not to touch upon the scandals surrounding Shadows, which began to swirl around the game immediately after the trailer was released. This is a topic for a separate conversation.