- 9 hours ago
- 10 min read
Looking Past the Noise:
Why AC Shadows is My New Favourite in the Series
Written by Adam
It’s no secret that I love Assassin’s Creed Shadows. It’s THE Assassin’s Creed game for me, and despite the negativity surrounding the game, I wanted to express my love for the game and why I find it to be my favourite Assassin’s Creed thus far. Let me be clear: this is an opinion piece; you are welcome to disagree with me if you wish.
First off, Feudal Japan is my favourite period of history - specifically from the start of the Sengoku period (1467-1603) to the end of the Meiji Restoration (1868-1889). I’ve been fascinated with these periods of history since I was a kid, and have always thought that Japan would be the perfect setting for Assassin’s Creed. Many others thought so too, as it was the most requested setting for AC since the first Assassin’s Creed, and Ubisoft Quebec didn’t disappoint!
Fidelity and Immersion
The world of Shadows is incredibly authentic, almost to a fault. I’ve talked about AC1 or Assassin’s Creed Syndicate as the most immersive in the series, and for good reason. But Shadows is immersive in a whole other different way. The fidelity of the world is unmatched, both in a sensory and visual sense. Villages and towns are bustling with people; merchants are peddling their wares, children play fight, and performers in the street use Zashiki Karakuri to entertain, to name a few.
Ubisoft Quebec's encouragement of roads to travel is controversial, if only because Assassin’s Creed players aren’t accustomed to being limited in how they travel. However, once again, it is authentic, and as I discussed in my last article, “the player is constantly surrounded by nature, helped by the fact that Japanese culture and way of living emphasise respecting, living, and connecting with nature. The roads are often lined with dense forests, and players can stumble upon hidden bamboo groves and abandoned, dilapidated temples.”
It’s all in service of showcasing and respecting the setting and the culture of the people that live there, something which the RPG games excel at. This focus extends to the weather and season system. Usually, the weather in games is used to make a world feel more tangible, and nothing more. In Shadows, the weather does that, for sure—NPCs and guards will react to the weather, rushing inside when it rains and shivering in the cold. However, its main achievement is the way it can completely change the gameplay dynamic, offering players different ways to tackle their goals.
An Example of Dynamic Weather in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
- Credit to Master Hekate’s Ceremonials
For instance, snow can offer additional cover for Naoe when infiltrating a castle, but falling icicles can alert enemies to your presence. Or heavy rain can mask the sound of your approach before delivering the killing blow. It’s also very effective at emulating classic Samurai media when fighting in a downpour or when blood splatters on the snow. This is a specific point that only applies to those who play on a PS5, but the Audio Focus feature on your console can amplify quiet noises to make Shadows even more immersive, as it focuses on the ambient background sounds. The 3D audio, coupled with the Dualsense controller’s sensory features, arguably makes Shadows the most immersive AC.
I’ve spoken about Ubi Quebec's decision to make Shadows’ travel more road-based, but I’ll always be amazed at Shadows achieving something that I’ve never seen in an open-world game before. By forcing the majority of travel to roads, Ubisoft allows players to form a mental map of the world, and through this, they become familiar with the map to the point that the Pathfinder becomes obsolete. I don’t know whether this was intentional or not, but it’s an awesome detail nonetheless. This increases immersion as players don’t need to rely on an external navigation source to reach the objective. I often walk around towns and villages to take in the architecture, people, and culture. The NPCs reactivity to the player is far better than previous AC games, especially when playing as Yasuke. There is truly a sense of presence that I feel in Shadows that is absent in other Assassin’s Creed games.
Story and Characters
The story is one of the most criticised aspects of Shadows, and it’s not hard to see why after the incredible narratives of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. However, it has some genuinely excellent narrative moments sprinkled throughout alongside a premise that’s honestly really enjoyable. The Templars using the Shinbakufu as a proxy is textbook Templar behaviour, and while the decision to retcon the lore was entirely unnecessary, it’s fine for what it is. Not every story needs to be the most incredible tale ever told; it just needs to give the characters a reason to do what they do.
Speaking of characters, Naoe and Yasuke are two of the best protagonists that Ubisoft has created for Assassin’s Creed, both as a duo and singular. Their relationship feels so real and genuine that it eclipses any before it in Assassin’s Creed. Shadows takes the time to flesh these characters out, not just in the main narrative but also in small quests that explore their past, motivations, and sometimes when they're just having fun and relaxing.
Naoe and Yasuke - Credit to Master Hekate’s Ceremonials
The only game that comes close to this level is Assassin’s Creed III, where Connor helped the people living at the Homestead, and his personality shines through in these interactions. In fact, Shadows shares quite a bit of DNA with AC3 through the hideout. While the Homestead couldn’t be freely customised to the extent of the Hideout, you could interact with the characters and see them going about their daily activities. I’ve spoken about the hideout at length in my previous article, see here, but suffice to say, it’s the deepest and most involved base we’ve had in the series thus far.
Gameplay
Gameplay seems to be where Shadows shines the most for players, and no wonder. Ubi Quebec has taken inspiration from Japan’s culture for the moment-to-moment gameplay and the activities that exist in the world. From martial prowess to the concept of Zen, almost every aspect of Shadows’ gameplay leans into Japanese culture.
Combat
Combat is a largely subjective thing. Some people prefer the power fantasy that Assassin’s Creed of old provided, like AC3 or Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. The fast pace and fluidity of these systems were their strong points, and normally that would be enough. While I enjoyed the combat systems of older AC games, particularly AC3 and AC1, the RPGs fix a major problem that those systems had, and that’s the depth. In the older games, it was all too easy to hop from one enemy to the next without any real variation or, dare I say it, challenge. For lack of a better word, it was shallow.
And that’s where the RPG games shine. The skill tree system allows the player to customise their playstyle to their heart's content, adding perks to fine-tune their experience. Many players would point to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey as the best example of this, and while that’s valid, I didn’t really engage much with that side of Odyssey. Breaking my usual habit of ignoring builds, Shadows provides a sandbox of perks, skills, and weapons that is simply too rewarding to overlook.
The nature of perks means there are tons that are useless or just don’t fit your playstyle, but this time around, I’m more inclined to experiment, and I think that’s because of the weapons. Being a martial-focused culture, Japan has many weapons that the devs could have chosen for Shadows, and I think we’ve got a nice selection here.
Each weapon and its corresponding abilities allow the player to manipulate enemies in ways not seen before in an AC game. Just look at the Kusarigama, for example: Naoe is able to entangle enemies, pulling them into advantageous positions and controlling the battlefield where she is usually on the back foot. There are more options than ever before, and with the uniqueness of the weapons, Shadows stands out as arguably the best combat system in the franchise, at least mechanically.
While not directly tied to combat, I enjoy being able to transmog different parts of the Shadows’ weapons, and it makes sense since Japanese weapons, particularly the Katana, are somewhat modular.
The most important aspect of combat, though, is how it feels. No matter how mechanically deep a system may be, if it doesn’t feel great to play, it’s a failure. Once again, this is subjective, but Shadows is the best feeling combat in the franchise to date. There is such a consistent and satisfying cadence and flow to it. I do think that Yasuke feels slightly better than Naoe in terms of pure flow, but that’s just the way he plays.
Now onto the minute details that only a combat nerd like me would notice. The way Yasuke and Naoe parry attacks is different. That’s obvious, but what I love is how this reflects both their personalities and training. Yasuke is firm, unwavering, and never faces away from his opponent, while Naoe steps to the side, always looking for an advantage.
Then there are little details in the animations that I love. One of them is Naoe readjusting her grip on the hilt after a heavy posture attack, and Yasuke settling into Hassō-no-kamae, known as Wood stance in English, after a parry.
Stealth
I think I speak for most Assassin’s Creed fans when I say that Shadows’ stealth is the best in the franchise. Using shadows to mask your approach, using the small but effective tool kit to manipulate enemies, and finally delivering the killing blow from the cover of darkness.
There is simply nothing like it on the market today. Games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice may have a shinobi as a central protagonist, but the game design and devs’ expectations of the players are totally at odds with Shadows. In Sekiro, stealth is intentionally barebones and is used as a means to an end, a way of thinning out the herd before you’re inevitably forced into combat.
Shadows wants the player to remain in stealth, and if detected, the game expects the player to use the environment to vanish once more. The very environment is designed for players to utilise every aspect of their surroundings, from wells to wardrobes, to even the ground, as Naoe can go prone (a first for an Assassin’s Creed game).
Naoe using Kunai - Assassin’s Creed Shadows - Ubisoft
I understand the frustrations that some people may have about the lack of social stealth. It is historically accurate for the Shinobi archetype after all, but I feel that Ubisoft Quebec really wanted to hone in on the pop culture fantasy of being a Shinobi. Without a doubt, they absolutely nailed it.
There is nothing like the feeling of infiltrating a restricted area in Shadows; it’s hard to describe, but it’s just so acutely perfect. The closest franchise that I can think of that even comes close to rivalling Shadows in this department is Tenchu, which has been dormant since 2008.
Tenchu Wrath of Heaven - FromSoftware/K2
World
The world of Shadows, much like the previous RPG games, is geared towards immersion, and I believe that the open-world activities present in the game follow the same philosophy. As stated above, every gameplay aspect of Shadows is informed by Japanese culture. Activities like the Kata and Horse Archery represent martial prowess and the Samurai origins as horseback archers, while Kujikiiri is an example of Zen and being at peace with nature and yourself.
Naoe performing Kuji-kiri - Assassin’s Creed Shadows - Ubisoft
While many have pointed out that these activities feel mundane and underwhelming, I believe that’s the point, and I think the dev team was trying to emulate Japanese thinking and culture: to be at one with nature and find purpose in the mundane and ordinary. It’s far more grounded and designed to teach and immerse the player in the culture. I’m not saying that this is an excuse for the activities being boring, but I understand the devs' likely thought processes.
Many people will argue with this, but I feel that the target board and the way the game structures its side missions lend themselves more to feeling like a living, breathing world instead of feeling too gamey, if that makes sense. The player discovers clues, talks to people, and becomes invested in the world. The gameplay loop reinforces the point of the Kakushiba Ikki - helping the people of Japan. It’s an evolution of Odyssey's loop, where you had to use clues to find your target, but with Shadows, it’s more involved as it requires direct input from the player.
It’s not perfect, and it has its flaws. Too many times, I’ve found a target and killed them with no idea who they are or what group they are part of. But when it works, it feels like a more focused evolution of AC1’s investigations. I view Shadows as less mechanically rich, opposed to Odyssey, for instance, but to me, it feels like a leaner, organic reinterpretation of AC1’s gameplay, albeit messy at times.
The Animus Hub
I believe the modern-day (MD) storyline is essential to Assassin’s Creed and forms its core. Despite this belief, I was optimistic about Ubisoft’s decision to introduce the Animus Hub and separate the modern-day from the main narrative. If you want to know more about my perspective on the Animus Hub before the release of Shadows, I’ve written an article discussing its similarities to my favorite MD sections from Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed Rogue and more.
Yasuke taking on a Corrupted Daisho - Assassin’s Creed Shadows - Ubisoft
While it isn’t as immersive as it could be and would benefit from audio and video files, I really enjoy it for what it is, not what I think it should be. For me, I don’t need cutscenes and voice-acting to fully immerse myself in a story. I’m perfectly happy reading something and using my imagination to fill in the blanks.
The modern-day storyline in Shadows is genuinely intriguing, and as someone who enjoys existing in the world of Shadows and Assassin’s Creed, completing Animus Anomalies is especially enjoyable (see here for my thoughts), and the player-as-protagonist approach only heightens my immersion in the game’s world.
Conclusion
For me, Assassin’s Creed Shadows represents the ultimate evolution of the franchise, masterfully blending historical authenticity with refined, leaner gameplay mechanics. By focusing on the specific cultural nuances of Feudal Japan—from the "Zen" of seemingly mundane activities like praying at shrines to the Shinobi fantasy that is not available anywhere else on the modern market—Ubisoft Quebec has created an experience that prioritises presence and immersion above all else.
The game’s greatest strengths lie in its:
Unmatched Immersion: Utilizing sensory features like 3D audio and a dynamic weather system that fundamentally alters gameplay, such as rain masking sounds or snow providing cover.
Mechanical Depth: Offering a combat system that feels more satisfying and varied than its predecessors, highlighted by unique weaponry like the Kusarigama and character-specific animations that reflect the protagonists' personalities and training.
Evolved Systems: Reinterpreting the investigation loops of AC1 into a more organic, world-focused experience that encourages players to truly inhabit the setting rather than just following an objective marker.
While it may take bold risks—such as the controversial shift toward road-based travel and the separation of the modern-day narrative via the Animus Hub—these choices ultimately serve to deepen the player's connection to the world and the Assassin’s Creed universe. For those willing to look past the negativity and enjoy Shadows for what it is, not what they think it should be, the game offers a leaner and respectful tribute to Japanese history that stands as a new high point for the series.
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