Assassin's Creed Shadows
Review
A return to form
by Jordan Helsley
reviewed on PC
One-and-a-half stories, two protagonists.
You should know that this is primarily our Shinobi Naoe's story, as the assassin of the crew, and for the first act of the game she's acting without her Samurai counterpart. As happens so often in stories in and around feudal Japan she's on a quest for revenge, and to retrieve a mysterious box that belonged to her now-slain father. Because the murderous band that took his life came wearing masks, the lump sum of the story involves investigating and identifying those that played a part. This is notable for a number of reasons, including the fact that the first acts you perform on the controller are in the shoes of Yasuke, the big, bad-ass Samurai, before he goes off on his own for hours. The story moment is impactful, the literal call to adventure, and it highlights the juxtaposition between the combat styles early, but the time away makes it confusing in hindsight.
While different choices with the story and marketing could have made Assassin's Creed Shadows something a bit more interesting in regards to Naoe and Yasuke, I was ultimately shocked that the boilerplate story hooked me the way that it did. Part of that was the investigation mechanics (that can be turned off in favour of straightforward waypoints) that forced me around the map to see the sights. The other part was the characters, often living their lives the best way they can before helping our protagonists with a little quid pro quo. They don't always hit gracefully, but they do enough of the time. Likewise, the villains, both the core revenge targets and the tertiary groups of jerks, are actual characters, rather than just villainous moustaches with swords. That's not to mention choices you can make to spare some of your targets from a bloody death. It all turns a story that could have floundered into something at least a little compelling that doesn't try to be something it isn't, and avoids falling too far down the Kurosawa-hole.
The story is also presented in this nonlinear web of connections. Rather than a list sorted by main missions, side missions, etc, it's a map of people, and they'll have quests attached to them. Once I got used to it, I really liked it. It helps to keep the entire picture of bad guys, good guys, and unknown guys in perspective, but also allows you to easily shift your focus. I wanted to increase my relationship with a particular ally, and instead of trying to remember the quest name, or scrolling through a list, I went to their picture and selected their quest. No matter which character you're playing as, though, you're often doing the same thing. In story moments where you're asked to choose which character to play as, the other often isn't off completing some equally important part of the mission. There are a few enjoyable exceptions, but mostly they're just waiting somewhere waiting for the next cutscene. It takes away a bit of the other character's motivations, making them feel more like an afterthought than a considered piece of the narrative. This feeling is exacerbated when you end up getting some tutorial explaining something you’ve been implementing for a dozen hours already simply because you weren't, and couldn't, play as Yasuke in the opening.
A New Japan
The real propulsion of Assassin's Creed Shadows is the world, though. It's also what sets the game apart from so much of the rest of feudal and Sengoku Japan media. These large cities that sprawl out from giant castles are huge and feel positively alive. Gone are the prescribed groups of people roaming around that you can blend into in favour of individuals moving around with seemingly their own objectives. People are walking to the shops, conversing with each other, engaging with cultural traditions. Very rarely did the moments between missions feel scripted when it came to the other people. This also means that some of your assassination targets are just in the world. In the middle of a completely separate mission I identified a target and was able to take them out, without any investigation or infiltration mission, and continue on with my day. It evokes some of my favourite games in that aspect, and added to the joy of just existing inside this version of Japan.
None of this works quite as well if the game doesn't look as good as Shadows does. The design of the landscapes, the castles, the architecture are all gorgeous, but the dynamic weather and distinct seasons really serve to kick things up a notch. I probably ended up with more time in this game's photo mode than I have in every other game combined, and most of that was just beautiful view after beautiful view. Even the winter, which makes traversal a bit more arduous because you have to trudge through the snow, ended up delighting with picturesque vistas or random blizzards in the middle of an intense fight. Ultimately, when I was able to manually advance seasons, I sought the spring to get some of that sweet, atmospheric (and perfect for stealthy stabbing) rainfall.
It's a good thing every bit of the map feels authored, because this map is massive. And a massive map means lots of traveling to and from. You do get a horse, which helps to speed things up a bit if you're okay following the roads, but I often opted to just run through the forests. Doing so is a bit easier on foot because you can slip between trees that your horse cannot, but the mountainous terrain often meant I went sliding back down an incline because I got overzealous. Why would I do this to myself? I have no patience when I see a fast travel spot. Entering brand new areas means tracking down the various viewpoints that unlock points of interest on the map and give you free travel. Unfortunately most of these are inside a hostile castle, and take a little more work than just climbing to the top when you just want to get it done. The things that really saved my sanity more than once were these scout hideouts you stumble into. These are buildings, often inside of cities, that get marked on your map when you get close to them. At any point you can pay a small bit of money to unlock this location from the map, no matter where you are, and fast travel to it. For areas I ran through on a mission, or because I wanted to get to the next one, I was saved from my "I'll come back to that nest later" self.
Play It Your Way
When it comes to unlocking these towers, and infiltration in general, Naoe is your girl. In fact, long after I got the ability to switch to Yasuke I rarely even entertained the idea. Yasuke is the fighter. He's a hulking bruiser that follows the Samurai code, turns enemies around before brutally assassinating them, and runs through doors with his shoulder. He's also not made for interiors, or any sort of climbing. Many viewpoints are simply inaccessible to him because he's unable to scale the multi-tier pagodas, for instance. In some ways, playing as Yasuke is playing on hard mode. Wires that Naoe can run across snap under Yasuke's weight. Rooftops that are no problem for the Shinobi's grappling hook are impossible for our Samurai. If you jump off a viewpoint into a haystack as Yasuke, he bounces out and destroys the stack. Yasuke is best deployed at certain story moments that ask you to pick a character when a fight is about to start, otherwise you're hamstrung on just about everything Assassin's Creed is known for. Naoe, on the other hand, is everything else, and not bad at fighting, either. Her Shinobi skills not only make traversal as easy as the series has ever been, but also give fantastic stealth options. It's not quite Tenchu-levels of Shinobi goodness, but it's as close as we've gotten. Her biggest downside is the limited ability to use the grappling hook, usually requiring particular positioning directly below, but not too close to, an appropriate lip. It feels good to attach that thing and climb up real quick, but it's less freeform than just about anything else in the game.
Yasuke is the stronger combatant in terms of health, power, and weaponry. If that wasn't enough, he also starts with a front kick that would make King Leonidas blush as the enemy flies 20 feet through the air. It's a joy, as is his giant club, teppo rifle, and shoulder charge, as long as the combat space is roomy. Constrained spaces don't give him much room to move, and often lead to awkwardly bumping into doorways and walls. Naoe's parkour still has the imprecise "stickiness" that has plagued the series intermittently for a decade, but it works more often than not. Luckily both characters level up at the same rate, and you're getting loot for both, so neither is left behind if you leave them in the stable for a while. When I first switched to Yasuke for real I had 70-some skill points to assign to make the strong man even stronger. I just never felt the need to pull his skills out of the toolbox, outside of specific missions or giant blocks that only he can engage with. Rest assured, if you do resonate with Yasuke's version of rip-and-tear combat, you can switch between the characters at just about any time in the menu without moving an inch.
New Assassins, Same Creed
Rather than buck any trends in the series, Assassin's Creed Shadows is just about the truest realization of the series' ethos. That is to say, while the component parts have been adjusted, it still earns the franchise name. The map is not quite as overloaded with icons, opting instead for a smaller number of more important areas of interest, but it's still quite a lot. Just about every one of these has varying levels of wealth, meaning there's plenty of loot to find, and only some of it feels meaningful. Even at the end I was just comparing damage numbers to decide how to equip my characters. Weapon upgrading is cheap enough that I could have stuck with the same ones the whole time anyway. Part of the problem lies in the tier system, and the fact that "Legendary" gear is absolutely littering the map, mission rewards, and chests you stumble into. None of it felt it mattered, and a generous transmog system meant I always looked how I wanted to while doing it.
That also means there are nods to the series' other titles. Brotherhood's recruitment system has been pared down to scouts, which help find objective locations or gather supplies, depending on how you want to use them. Valhalla's settlement has shifted to something closer to a homestead that's as much about decoration as it is about usefulness, even extending to petting dogs and cats to unlock them for your space, or painting wildlife to unlock artwork. It is optional, but it feels good to craft a landscaped and purpose-built space to hang out in between acts of bloodshed. The Animus is still around, but is maybe at its most baffling here. And, of course, microtransactions and a (free) battle pass almost hide in the menus. In some ways it's getting to a really good place, in others it remains misguided.
Assassin's Creed Shadows is the culmination of ideas from a series that is old enough to vote. It took 25 games (and one movie) to get here, but the calls for a trip to Japan have been rewarded with something largely great. Until the series fundamentally changes again there will be inherent flaws, as many of those are still present. The role-playing mechanics still haven't been figured out, and neither has the loot. Occasional glitches still pop up, and remain frustrating in the moment. It is compelling enough, though, in both its story and its visuals, to forgive, which is maybe more than can be said for other recent entries. It’s a great assassin playground that allows you to pace the action yourself or adjust the difficulty as you see fit (including a toggle for instant assassinations, helping with the annoying "stab a guy in the neck and take off half his health" moments). Importantly, it doesn't disappoint much, but unfortunately for Yasuke it disappoints at least a little. His story is fine, if undercooked, he's just not that useful overall due to limited mobility that makes him the anti-assassin. It's a novelty, a gimmick, and Shadows may have even been better without his inclusion, trimming down the length, but it's still a very good game, and the best the series has delivered in quite a while. The most overplayed setting AC has ever used also ended up being its most dynamic, most engaging, the most desirable to just hang out in. They found a good balance between just assassinating people and providing little extras to engage with. It's a course-correction from the recent "RPG trilogy," without abandoning those ideas wholesale. The ultimate point is this: Assassin's Creed Shadows is the best representation of being a pure Shinobi since probably 2005, and will probably remain that way for a while.
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8.3
fun score
Pros
Great Shinobi action in a beautiful setting enhanced by its weather effects and living world that makes for a joy to play and exist in. The story is a little more compelling than it appears on the surface.
Cons
Yasuke's abilities are a bit too limiting, acting counter to everything the series is known for. Some nagging glitches still pop up at the most inopportune time. Still haven't quite solved their RPG mechanics and loot system problems.
