Assassin's Creed Shadows: The AGExp Review
Here at The AGExp, we're cutting through the noise to focus solely on the game itself, not the surrounding political or social commentary. A big thankyou to Ubisoft Australia for giving us the chance to jump in and experience their latest Assassin's Creed title.
Assassin's Creed Shadows is the twenty ninth entry in Ubisoft's once award-winning Assassins Creed franchise. Leaning heavily into the RPG elements of their most recent titles again leveraging the two-protagonist formula, each with very differing play styles.
Naoe is your more traditional assassin. Able to scale just about anything with ease and better suited to attacking from the shadows before returning to them. Her tools perfectly compliment this play style with smoke bombs and the deadly Kunai, Kusarigama a hooked and chained throwable that brings you in close for a quick quiet kill, my personal favourite Tanto for its sheer speed and precision and the ever-trustworthy Katana. Naoe's only weakness comes in groups of enemies where it is easier for you to flee and take them out one by one fully embracing the "there is always another way" mantra.
Yasuke is her opposite, utilising his size, strength, heavy armour and weaponry not even buildings are capable of stopping him when he gets moving. Brutality is his strength and everything else gets put to the side.
Yasuke is introduced early on as a servant to a travelling Portuguese missionary before fate intercedes and a local lord sees potential in him as more than a mere servant. He frees him from servitude and trains him in the way of the Samurai with Yasuke proving himself a faithful addition to the lords' armies leading them to many victories. After the initial introduction Yasuke takes a back seat for some time. He isn't playable again until much later in the story, leaving you to experience the world primarily through Naoe's eyes and actions.
Naoe is a young woman destined for something more. Her story is a conventional revenge story without too much context I want to spoil outside of that. She is tasked with avenging her family and village, rebuilding an area and taking your standard AC approach of hunting down the group who wronged her and dispatching them one at a time.
Unfortunately, the story lacks weight compared to similar titles, falling short of what we've come to expect from the franchise. The dialogue ranges from flat to downright cringe-worthy, often having me mashing the skip button whenever possible. Cut scenes are similarly inconsistent – some brilliantly propel the story forward and get you pumped for what's next, while others feel like tedious chores you're forced to endure. This all stems from the bloat that's crept into recent AC titles – supposedly to give players more freedom but often just padding out the experience. While Shadows isn't nearly as bloated as Valhalla, it still follows the same tired tropes that have become the series' calling card lately. This approach has created a divide: newer fans seem to enjoy the expanded format, while AC purists desperately want a return to the tighter, more focused games of old.
Gameplay is another varied beast. Movement and traversal through the land is as you would expect from an open world title but lacks finesse. It is very apparent that the focus has been on smaller areas within castles and towns which is where the gameplay comes alive. Naoe is able to climb anything you can see within populated areas and provides a sense of accomplishment as you leap from tree to tree or run across rooftops to break line of sight. You can hide in any manner of ways to ambush the enemy and be gone without being seen. My best moment came by completely looting a castle early on, during a stormy night with the only people seeing me were the 3 main samurai I had to dispatch of to open a locked chest. By the time they saw me it was too late.
Visually, Shadows is hands down one of the most gorgeous open-world games I've ever played. Japan has been meticulously reimagined in beautiful detail. I am notorious for wandering in open world titles and this has been a feast for the senses. Whether viewing the scenery from atop a mountain, a synchronisation point or paying your respects at one of the many shrines, the attention to detail has stepped up immensely from previous titles. The extra time taken to polish prior to release was put to good use. Weather is constantly changing as do the seasons and walking through a cherry blossom grove you could be forgiven if you forgot you were in the middle of a mission.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been the subject of some discourse since its reveal and, to put it bluntly, the negative conversations that still flow through my news feed are all unfounded. Shadows has its flaws - and there are many - but at the end of the day it is a game that you can pick up and put down as you wish. Having put over 100 hours into Valhalla I am once again slowly falling back into that style where I am more interested in just experiencing whatever it is Shadows has to offer without pre-conceived expectations.
Assassin's Creed Shadows unfortunately falls into the category of another 'checkbox' title from a developer that has become synonymous with this style. While many of us hoped for more, what we got is exactly what should have been expected.
There is nothing inherently wrong with Shadows. It looks beautiful, plays like an AC title and runs well but at its core there just isn't a lot there. It is a game you play simply to experience the game you're playing, and you'll need that mindset going in. If you're a fan of the newer Assassins Creed RPG style titles there is plenty here for you to enjoy and it will feel familiar. If you're an AC purist or on the fence it might be worthwhile waiting for a sale.
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