Assassin’s Creed Shadows reviewed by Jarrett Green on PC and PlayStation 5. Also available on Xbox Series X/S.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows takes a flashing blade to the series’ established norms, trimming them to a more precise form in lieu of chopping them down outright. Combat is aggressive and requires more intentional parrying and skill management than in the past, and exploring the gorgeous provinces of Sengoku-period Japan is encouraged thanks to the revamped map that deemphasizes collecting icons and checking off lists. Naoe and Yasuke are well-realized and memorable protagonists, even though most of the story they drive follows pretty predictable paths. Both have unique playstyles that bolster each other’s weaknesses, but they are ultimately imbalanced by the fact that you can make use of the stealth and exploration skills of the master shinobi far more than the superhuman strength of the samurai. This isn’t the Assassin’s Creed that will change the minds of folks that never connected with the series before, but for those of us with lots of hours logged in the Animus, the sum of Shadows’ parts provide a refreshing realignment of the series that you should not skip.
#IGN #Gaming #AssassinsCreedShadows
Assassin’s Creed Shadows takes a flashing blade to the series’ established norms, trimming them to a more precise form in lieu of chopping them down outright. Combat is aggressive and requires more intentional parrying and skill management than in the past, and exploring the gorgeous provinces of Sengoku-period Japan is encouraged thanks to the revamped map that deemphasizes collecting icons and checking off lists. Naoe and Yasuke are well-realized and memorable protagonists, even though most of the story they drive follows pretty predictable paths. Both have unique playstyles that bolster each other’s weaknesses, but they are ultimately imbalanced by the fact that you can make use of the stealth and exploration skills of the master shinobi far more than the superhuman strength of the samurai. This isn’t the Assassin’s Creed that will change the minds of folks that never connected with the series before, but for those of us with lots of hours logged in the Animus, the sum of Shadows’ parts provide a refreshing realignment of the series that you should not skip.
#IGN #Gaming #AssassinsCreedShadows
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GamingTranscript
00:00It's wild that it took almost 20 years and dozens of games for the biggest stealth action
00:11series around to finally bend towards feudal Japan.
00:15Assassin's Creed Shadows makes the most of that theme, with a great pair of shinobi and
00:19samurai hero sharing center stage that are fun to sculpt through giant castles or wade
00:24into vicious battles with.
00:28Besides the setting, the bulk of the changes this time around focus on making smaller tweaks
00:33to well-established systems, such as less cluttered maps and skill trees, while also
00:38doubling down on things that really worked in 2023's Assassin's Creed Mirage, like the
00:44more focused combat that accompanies its better-paced main quests.
00:48It's not a perfect reset, as imbalances and missed opportunities abound, but I feel more
00:55confident than ever that Assassin's Creed could be back and here to stay.
01:09Like a river in the rainy season, Shadows' story overflows with cliches and tropes.
01:15But morally complex intersecting plots still keep the intrigue high, which is the same
01:20trick that made Assassin's Creed Valhalla's stories work when they did.
01:24I don't think I was particularly wowed by any of the writing on a regular basis, but
01:28there are some standout moments of tense reflection and curious happening sprinkled throughout.
01:38The typical Assassin's Creed conspiracy woven into it fits perfectly within the war-torn
01:43Sengoku period of Japan, too, like a hidden blade snugly in its wrist sheath.
01:47It's still a bit too full of go-here-do-that quests as bridges between major moments, but
01:53Shadows is organized in a way that can be enjoyed in pieces and at your leisure without
01:58getting too lost between plot points, almost like how one might enjoy a good book.
02:06The leads themselves are wonderful.
02:07You spend a lot of the early game with the sharp-witted and brooding Naoe, who is among
02:12the last shinobi warriors of the Iga clan, a role thrust upon her by tragedy.
02:17That tragedy befell her in part by the hands of the charismatic hulk Yasuke, who is a
02:22tireless warrior for justice and peace.
02:26When they begin working together, they are frequently each other's most reliable counselor,
02:30with different perspectives on the events going on around them.
02:39In other words, they truly do balance one another.
02:42And while I don't think either one would win popularity contests against some of the
02:47other series' stars like Ezio or Edward, together they serve as a bright light in the
02:51center of a largely dark tale of revenge.
02:58Most of the missions in Shadows starts on the refreshingly intuitive objective board.
03:02Thematically, this approach matches the tone of using all of the information you gather
03:07to identify hidden members of a secret society trying to plunge Japan into chaos.
03:12Functionally, the way it organizes outstanding tasks and the people involved is far more
03:16useful than the old bulleted quest lists.
03:19Making a quest gave me a short list of clues to help discern where the objective was.
03:24Past Assassin's Creed games have tried versions of this before, but this one is the first
03:30one that I felt consistently made me look at my map and actually deduce where the spot
03:34in question might be.
03:36Rather than lighting up your map with a galaxy of tooltips, Shadows mostly relies on sparse
03:41points of interest icons to push you towards the areas you'll need to see in person.
03:46Even when you climb up to the signature high points to take a good long look at your surroundings,
03:51you'll see a bunch of these things that tell you that there's something out there,
03:55but you're going to have to go check them out for yourself to know what.
03:59I love this.
04:00I could feel my brain starting to detangle the checklist conditioning that years of these
04:05games have instilled in me.
04:07Most of these undiscovered locations fall into a number of reliable categories, like
04:11castles you can infiltrate and attempt to steal special gear from, or any of the many
04:15villages scattered across Japan.
04:18But you can't be sure unless you take them in for yourself.
04:25A common thing I would always stop to handle whenever I came across them were world activities.
04:30These are smaller locations and events that, when completed, add knowledge points to your
04:34characters, adding new options to their skill trees.
04:38Not all of these events are exciting, but they often don't take too long and the points
04:42are worth it in the end.
04:44And some can add an interesting distraction from the action for a short spell.
04:52Between outings, I spent some time at the hideout.
04:55After collecting minerals, crops, and wood out in the world, you can use those resources
04:59to build and upgrade important buildings here that give you access to new assets.
05:04I spent the majority of my time at the forge managing my equipment, while other important
05:08buildings provide features that can be managed in places outside of the hideout, like the
05:13new summoning ability from the dojo, which let me call in help from certain allies I
05:18met during my adventure.
05:25I'm glad I didn't have to dote on this place very much, as I personally can't be bothered
05:30to decorate a homestead.
05:32Those who can won't be disappointed by the amount of cosmetics available to find and
05:37buy.
05:42This version of 1500s Japan is a beautiful place.
05:45There's such a symphony of color over every hill and across every lake.
05:50Each season brings with it incredible landscapes, sometimes covered in the copper brown of autumn
05:56or entombed in deep white snow.
06:00I found the weather to be some of the best I'd ever experienced in an open world.
06:03It was hard not to be moved watching powerful winds pick up and bring in rolling thunderstorms,
06:08especially when nature reacted to it all in real time, as flocks of birds take flight
06:13and ground critters scurry to find safety.
06:15And not for nothing, but in my dozens of hours and shadows, I encountered remarkably few
06:21bugs for a game this size.
06:27The 40-hour main story revolves around unmasking and eliminating members of a deadly organization
06:33called the Shinbakuma.
06:34Once you've chosen a target, their multi-mission arcs give you regular opportunities to handle
06:39the situation with either Yasuke's might or Naoe's stealth.
06:43While there are certainly scenarios where one is more useful than the other, in general,
06:47there are remarkably few quests where Naoe isn't better suited for the task at hand.
06:56If the Assassin's Creed playstyle is a combination of concepts like exploration, parkour, stealth,
07:02and combat, Naoe can do all of these competently, excelling at parkour and stealth in particular,
07:08while Yasuke can't climb very well or sneak around much due to his size and general lack
07:14of grace.
07:19He is a devastating force in combat, but Naoe can simply sneak around most situations if
07:25Yasuke would cut his way through, solving them with so much less trouble.
07:29As much as I like Yasuke, he's far more limited and one-dimensional, with large parts of this
07:34game not quite designed to take advantage of his strengths.
07:41It's particularly disappointing because Shadows does find ways to tailor missions around both
07:45of their skills on occasion, usually in bigger, more pivotal, and more important battles where
07:51both heroes need to operate together to succeed.
07:54These special missions are separated into sections that allow you to choose which characters
07:58proceed with, changing what's asked of you depending on your choice.
08:02It's awesome, and made the more homogenous space between these moments a real bummer.
08:10Combat overall is more challenging and thoughtful than in the past.
08:14Enemies, especially in groups, are more aggressive and tend to have solid defenses, both in that
08:19they block a lot, and also in that many of them are armored, essentially giving them
08:24another life bar.
08:26Effectively taking them down means having a solid defense of your own, dodging and deflecting
08:30their blows to make them vulnerable, and taking advantage before they recover, though the
08:35camera can really struggle to keep all of the action in frame.
08:41Straightforward combat encounters really sing when playing as Yasuke, whose suite of weapons
08:47are all perfect for decimating enemies.
08:49Even outside of his toys, he's a juggernaut of a man, being able to literally run through
08:54walls and shake the earth with his blows.
08:59Naoe is very fragile by comparison, and while capable of doing lots of damage when enemies
09:04are vulnerable, she gets overwhelmed easily by mobs, especially well-armored cruisers.
09:13On the flip side, Naoe is a menace when striking from the shadows or catching enemies unaware.
09:23There are some new features, like being able to crawl and dodge while prone, as well as
09:27some returning ones, like her eagle sense and the long-missing double assassination,
09:31all of which add up to make Naoe one of the most robust assassins in the series.
09:41Gaining your combat abilities is mercifully less tedious than Valhalla's skilled constellation.
09:47Naoe and Yasuke have skilled trees focused on their weapons and specialties, with every
09:51node feeling far more impactful than simple passive damage bonuses, which still exist,
09:56but in small amounts.
09:57Gaining new abilities is obviously the most impactful, but some of the real hidden gems
10:02add new functionality to weapons, like being able to turn certain attacks with Naoe's
10:07one sickle into grapples that let you pull enemies into obstacles or off cliffs.
10:14Speaking of excess, Shadows takes a big step backwards from the work done around your inventory
10:19in Valhalla or Mirage.
10:21There are far too many pieces of randomized, color-tiered gear to pick up from fallen foes
10:25or earn as forgettable quest rewards that had no chance of making it into my rotation.
10:31Some might do as last-minute stopgaps to keep your stats in line with the bad guys, but
10:36only until you find that next piece of legendary gear or earn enough resources to level up
10:40a piece you already like.
10:42The skills of legendary gear, like this armor that has a chance to negate ranged attacks
10:46entirely, are impactful in a way that the generic buffs that you get from the lower
10:51tiers of gear never even come close to.
10:58Assassin's Creed Shadows takes a flashing blade to the series' established norms, trimming
11:03them to a more precise form in lieu of chopping them down outright.
11:07Combat is aggressive and requires more intentional parrying and skill management than in the
11:11past.
11:12And exploring the gorgeous provinces of Sengoku period Japan is encouraged thanks to a revamped
11:17map that de-emphasizes collecting icons and checking off lists.
11:22Naoe and Iyasuke are well-realized and memorable protagonists, even though most of the story
11:26they drive follows pretty predictable paths.
11:30Both have unique playstyles that bolster each other's weaknesses, but they are ultimately
11:34imbalanced by the fact that you can make use of the stealth and exploration skills of the
11:39master's shinobi far more than the superhuman strength of the samurai.
11:43This isn't the Assassin's Creed that will change the minds of folks who have never connected
11:47with the series before.
11:49But for those of us with lots of hours logged into the Animus, the sum of Shadows' parts
11:54provide a refreshing realignment that you should not skip.
12:05For more action, check out our reviews of Monster Hunter Wilds or Xenoblade Chronicles
12:11X Definitive Edition.
12:13And for everything else, stick with IGN.