Assassin's Creed Shadows: finally something new or just samurai instead of Vikings?

Ubisoft has finally brought Assassin's Creed to feudal Japan - and it seems to be one of the most serious experiments in the series in recent years. Two protagonists, two playstyles: Naoe, a nimble shinobi (as spies were called back then, now known as ninjas) who plays classic stealth. And Yasuke is a mighty samurai who goes into battle like a tank without brakes. The approach is interesting, the atmosphere of feudal Japan is gorgeous, and the mechanics have received noticeable improvements, especially in terms of combat dynamics and world interactivity.

In Assassin's Creed Shadows, players will have to play as two characters: the samurai Yasuke and the shinobi Naoe. Illustration: a shot from the cutscene in the game

But, as always, there are some nuances. Some players found the pace of the story too choppy, and the structure of the missions sometimes repetitive. And there were also some controversies about historical accuracy (Yasuke was the first documented African in Japan to serve as a daimyo for Odou Nobunaga), as part of the community actively debated whether the characters and cultural context were canonically presented even before the game's release. Instead of assassins and templars, we have two clans - Kakushiba Ikki and Shinbakufu, respectively.

Quick transition

• Game mechanics: what has changed and how new is it?
• Plot and characters: good old revenge
• Characters: dual protagonist system - Naoe and Yasuke
• Evolution of combat and stealth mechanics
• Exploring the open world
• User reaction and sentiment analysis
• To sum up.

Assassin's Creed has been jumping through historical periods for so many years that it could easily teach a course in world history at a digital university. From the Crusades to the Vikings, from revolutionary France to ancient Greece, the franchise has been diligently putting players in the hoods of different eras. But feudal Japan? It was a fan's dream that Ubisoft finally made in the form of Assassin's Creed Shadows. Expectations are high, discussions are heated, and in the meantime, we will dive into what has changed compared to the previous parts. Is this a new big step for the series or just another open-world park where you can hunt bamboo bears?

Game mechanics: what has changed and how new is it really?

In Shadows, you can finally crawl on the ground, breathe bamboo, and run away on a hook - Ubisoft adds a little ninja fantasy to stealth. Ubisoft decided not only to change the scenery, but also to shake up the very essence of Assassin's Creed. In Shadows, stealth is no longer just sitting in a bush and waiting for the guard to leave. Now there is a real shinobi mode: you can crawl on your stomach on the ground and almost merge with the background. For fans of the stealthy approach, this is almost like a birthday present.

The crawling mechanic is simple but effective. Now the hero not only ducks, but literally squeezes into the ground to get into narrow passages, go unnoticed, or just look epic. This is another step towards the same "shinobi-fantasy" that we were fed in the trailers. Although more characters will move across endless rooftops than bushes, as before. Only now it is mainly the roofs of pagodas.

Stealth mechanics. Illustration: Ubisoft

Another novelty is water stealth. Swimming into the reeds, breathing through a bamboo tube, and waiting for everything to calm down is no longer a scene from a ninja film, but a normal gaming tactic. It is especially useful when you want to avoid a fight, but the swamp is all around you and you have no spirit to turn back.

The developers also added a hook. And I want to say: finally. Vertical movement no longer looks like hard labour: you just grab it and you're on the roof. It's not "climbing as usual" - it's fast, dynamic, and, most importantly, convenient for escape when something goes wrong (and it will).

Eagle eyesight is back, and what's most interesting is that it's exclusive to Naoe. She is now the only one who has this signature feature of the series. Instead of instantly seeing the entire crowd of NPCs, the player gets a more restrained but accurate system: enemies glow red, allies glow orange.

Enemies are highlighted in red, allies in orange. Screenshot: YouTube-канал MKIceAndFire

In order not to leave the player completely alone with the hostile world, a new mode was introduced -"Observation". It is available to both heroes and allows you to manually control the camera, mark enemies, objects, and at the same time feel a little like a strategist. The function of the scout eagle, which in Origins or Valhalla flew around and showed everything, has been retired. Now you will have to get information with your feet, eyes, and a little bit of your head.

But the exploration doesn't end there. Shadows has a full-fledged spy network. You can upgrade it, manage it, and collect data even before it's time to go in with a katana. This metagame level adds a new strategy to the gameplay - now you have to plan not only the way to the castle, but also what you know about it.

And that's not all. Now the shadow is not just a dark spot on the texture. If Naoe is hiding in the dark, especially at night, she literally disappears for enemies. And this is not magic, but a new game mechanic. Light sources can be extinguished with shurikens, turning the location into your own improvised stealth arena.

The weather has a significant impact on the gameplay. Illustration: Ubisoft

Ubisoft has also cranked up the weather. The seasons change, just like in life, and it's not just cosmetics. Snow makes it difficult to move, frozen ponds become temporary bridges, and rain or night really changes your chances of sneaking in undetected. In other words, the environment becomes an active player in the game.

Table: Comparison of key gameplay mechanisms in Assassin's Creed Shadows with previous games

Plot and characters: good old revenge

Assassin's Creed Shadows throws us back to the 16th century - right at the end of the Sengoku era, when everything in Japan was burning, fighting and redrawing borders more often than Ubisoft changes logos. This is the time when political intrigue, internecine wars, and power struggles were not a background, but a full-fledged gameplay mood. And if there are any "native" themes for the Assassin's Creed series, then Sengoku-Japan fits them like a shuriken to the belt.

Ubisoft, surprisingly, approached the setting not only from the point of view of style but also with cultural respect. Following concerns from the Japanese community, the company immediately added a day one patch that made the furniture in temples and shrines indestructible (yes, you can no longer test the strength of every katana rack), and also ensured that unarmed NPCs in sacred places do not bleed pixels of blood when attacked. Who would have thought? Ubisoft is listening - 2025 is not in vain after all.

And for those who like not only to swing a katana but also to immerse themselves in history, Shadows has broughtthe "Code of Cultural Discovery". It's not just text inserts, but a whole encyclopedia about the Azuchi-Momoyama period: with history, art, and cultural nuances. Educational content is now with shurikens.

Ubisoft decided to bet on two main characters, and the plot of Assassin's Creed Shadows is built around their crossed paths. Naoe is a shinobi whose home province was destroyed, so she plays the game on revenge and shadows. Yasuke is an African who has risen from slave to samurai and serves Odu Nobunago. His story is about honour, loyalty and survival in the cruel world of feudal Japan.

For those who want to know more: Iga Province and the shinobi

Iga is a historical province of Japan located in the modern-day Mie Prefecture. During the Sengoku period (15th-16th centuries), Iga (along with another province, Koga) became a legendary centre of ninjutsu, the martial art of shadow warriors, then called shinobi. Due to its mountainous terrain and isolation, the region was ideal for training agents in espionage, sabotage, and guerrilla warfare. The Shinobi of Iga were known for their discipline, skill in stealth, trapping, weapons, and reconnaissance. Their techniques and organisation became the basis for the mythologised image of the ninja. The most famous confrontation was between the Iga and the forces of Oda Nobunaga, which ended in a brutal invasion in 1581 and the dispersion of clans. But it should be understood that these were, in fact, peasants with weapons, and they had no chance of winning a fight with a samurai. Therefore, they preferred stabbing in the back and were mostly used as spies.

The themes of revenge, honour, and personal convictions are developed through the contrast between the two characters. Naoe and Yasuke look at the same events from different angles - one as an assassin from the shadows, the other as a powerful fighter who stands in the front row of any battle. This adds depth, and the plot takes on different shades depending on whose perspective we see.

In the end, Ubisoft is playing with familiar themes again: personal revenge, the path to justice, the choice between honour and survival. However, the setting of feudal Japan and the unique origins of the characters can make this story more interesting than the usual "teenager finds a hidden blade and becomes a mega-killer". If they do it right, it will be one of the best stories in the series. If not, we will get another "revenge quest" that everyone will forget after the final credits.

Characters: dual protagonist system - Naoe and Yasuke

In Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft has finally figured out that two protagonists are more interesting than one, especially if one is a shadow and the other is a battering ram. And although this is not the series' first attempt to play with multiple voices, it's done on a grand scale - in one corner of the ring is the stealth ninja Naoe, and in the other is Yasuke, a samurai who doesn't need to hide because everyone around him already knows that it's going to hurt.

Naoe is a shinobi who can disappear into the shadows, crawl on the ground, and use all possible arsenal of "little things for silence": smoke bombs, shurikens, bells for distraction, kunai throwing knives - like a set for an evening walk. She has access to classic eagle vision (now exclusive), so she can see who to watch out for and who to exploit. Her style is fast, quiet, and no chance of a response. Katana for attacks through the shoji's sliding doors? E. Kusarigama for flexible mass cleansing? Check. A hidden assassin's blade for an elegant end to a fight? Yes, of course. And her parkour is so smooth that Unity fans are already wiping away a few tears somewhere.

Above. Screenshot from Assassin's Creed Shadows

Yasuke is the complete opposite. Stealth? I haven't heard of it. He enters the courtyard like an upgraded battering ram and immediately turns the battle scene into a reenactment of the Battle of Sekigahara. A long katana, a naginata, a kanabo, a yumi bow, even a teppo rifle - he has an arsenal like a gun store. And most importantly, he blocks attacks like a tank that has been given a "counterattack" button. He doesn't work covertly, and he doesn't need to - his style of play is so straightforward that he associates the word "tactics" only with the position before the final blow.

Yasuke. Screenshot from Assassin's Creed Shadows

You can switch between them, but not immediately - the function is unlocked in the course of the plot. Missions mostly give you the freedom to choose, but sometimes the game decides which of them is better to throw into battle. As a result, we have two completely different approaches to the passage: you can stand in the shadows, or leave ruins behind. Reviews so far tend to show that playing as Naoe is more interesting - the classic stealth familiar from the best days of the series is back.

This system gives more variability than in the previous parts, where there was a maximum choice: "sneak up" or "just go and fight".

In a word: Ubisoft decided not to invent a new formula, but took two opposite archetypes, threw them into one game, and gave us the opportunity to choose who to be: a shadow that kills without a trace, or a storm in armour that hides nothing but demolishes everything.

Table: Comparison of playstyles for Naoe and Yasuke

Evolution of combat and stealth mechanics

Ubisoft decided that the combat in Assassin's Creed Shadows should be not just spectacular, but also a little bit toothsome. Now, instead of mindlessly clicking the attack button, we have "pose attacks" - you hold the button down, build up anger (or strength), and when you hit it, the enemy's block goes into memory. Light ones are faster, heavy ones are more powerful. And then there'sthe "vulnerable state": if you make a perfect dodge, a short window for counterattacks opens up, which is best to fly into with a runaway attack - either with a pose attack or some active ability, depending on the style.

Yasuke and Naoe's parry works differently. Yasuke's is simple: he deflects it, throws it back, and while the enemy is wondering what happened, he finishes it off. Naoe's is more sophisticated: she dodges to the side, opens the enemy's flank... but she can also catch a bayonet in the back if she doesn't watch the crowd. Because there are many enemies here, they are different and not stupid. There are "blue attacks" - a flurry of blows that need to be parried in series, and there are "red attacks" that you should run away from - dodging, because otherwise it will hurt. Although the battle has become harder, players say it's pleasantly harder. It's less arcade, more like you're hitting for real. But RPG elements still stick out - critical damage sometimes makes you remember that you are in numbers, not in the real world.

The situation with stealth is even more interesting. Ubisoft seems to have finally remembered where the series started and made Naoe almost invisible in the shadows. Literally. If there's a shadow, there's a hiding place. If necessary, you can create a shadow yourself by extinguishing the light with shurikens. We also added a new pose - lying down. Not for photo shoots, but to crawl under a fence, hide on roofs, or even hide in water, bamboo is not included, but it would be logical. In this position, Naoe can even roll over if she needs to change her position quickly.

Thanks to her small stature, she literally squeezes into cracks, hides in tight closets, and ambushes enemies like a real shinobi.

Capturing enemies is now manual - grab and pull.

There's no automatic targeting - just you, your body, and the slightest sound that can ruin everything.

And the enemies are pumped up. They see you (if they see you, because sometimes on the standard difficulty level they don't see/hear the character killing their colleague right next to them or don't react to bloodstains at all) and chase you. If they run away, they look for them in pairs, and they don't fall for whistles so easily.

Samurai can even block a stab in the back and check hiding places.

In short, there are no more freebies. And while Shadows clearly wants to return the series to its roots, as Mirage did, not all players are happy about it: you have to come out of the shadows to do serious damage. And this breaks the pace of the hidden game a bit.

There is no social stealth in the game - the one with crowds, benches, and dissolving into the city noise. And for some, this is a disadvantage. Because being a shadow is cool. But being a shadow in a crowd is even cooler.

Exploring the open world

The developers came to the conclusion that a map covered with icons is not an open world, but a checklist with GPS. That is why Assassin's Creed Shadows decided to change the approach: at the start, you see only the names of regions and a few hints of interesting places. There are no hints like "here's a chest, here's an NPC, here's your duty" - now you have to find everything with your feet and eyes. And not just find, but actually explore.

The Observation mechanic has become the new norm for sync points. Did you climb the tower? Good for you. But instead of automatically opening half of the map, you have to turn on the eagle's eye and move the camera like a tourist with a drone. You have to see the objects and mark them manually. It's especially spicy when the synchronisation point is right in the middle of the enemy camp. If you take a chance, you open it. If you don't, watch from a safe distance as someone else does on YouTube.

The world of Shadows is a real landscape with mountains, ravines, waterfalls, and treacherous corners.

In order not to get lost in all this natural diversity, you can activate Pathfinder, a navigational tool that will show you the way to the markers while riding your horse. But then again, it's all in the hands of the rider.

Instead of a standard quest list, we have a"Goal Board"- a more convenient, visually organised system for those who want to understand what they are doing and with whom they have not agreed. In addition, there are Kakurega scattered around the world - a kind of ninja hideouts: here you can replenish supplies, sort through equipment, manage spies, and teleport if you are really lazy.

A fragment of the goal board. Screenshot: YouTube channel MKIceAndFire

This world does not look huge: it is smaller than Odyssey or Valhalla, and somewhere on par with Origins. But there is less garbage. Not every location here is "just another cave with wolves". In general, Ubisoft is trying to make the world smarter, not bigger. Fewer icons, more intuition. Less "follow the marker", more "what's over the hill". And in 2025, this sounds like a breath of fresh air to some. Or at least like the sonorous sound of a shuriken on a bamboo wall.

User reaction and sentiment analysis

Assassin's Creed Shadows gathered a classic cocktail of reactions at the launch: critics are delighted, players have mixed feelings, Steam shows "Very Positive", Metacritic users are pressing 5.9 with gritted teeth (professional critics give a score of 81). In short: for some, it's a "Japanese stealth novel", and for others, "just another grind simulator with loot and shurikens".

Poster with game scores from various websites. Illustration: Ubisoft

81% of positive reviews on Steam is impressive, especially against the backdrop of 9,000 (at the time of this publication) reviews. People praise the atmosphere: feudal Japan, stunning visuals, aesthetics at the level of "make this your desktop wallpaper". The division into two protagonists also comes into play - they say that each player will find their own style: if you want to be a shadow, take Naoe, if you want to break fences and people, take Yasuke. They note interesting characters, upgraded stealth (now you really have to think), a combat system with a weight of blows, and the fact that the map is not blown up to the size of Greenland - it seems to be a relief. They also added praise for cultural sensitivity: Ubisoft has tried to portray Japan without the Western "anime filter", and this has been noticed.

But on the other hand, people are not silent. It's a classic of the genre: boring grind, one-person quests, microtransactions that look like a monk in a Shinto temple. Some players spit on the combat, saying it's too simple. Others complain that in order to deal damage from stealth, you still need to give yourself away - critical hits don't work without it, and this spoils the whole "ninja vibe".

There are also complaints about the plot: a boring pace, a lot of names, clans and political mess - for those who don't know Japanese history, it's like watching a TV series from the middle of the third season. Parkour has been compared to the old instalments - not in favour of Shadows. And Yasuke is a character that is the subject of many a spear in the comments: some people get high on his fighting power, others see him as Ubisoft's attempt to make the story more "multicultural" than it needs to be. Some people feel uncomfortable playing as him because the gameplay is "wooden", and others because the historical figure raises more questions than answers.

Shadows turned out to be not only another part of the series, but almost a social experiment.

Some people see it as an evolution, others as a marketing kaleidoscope on the bones of the classics. But one thing is for sure: there are no indifferent people. This means that Ubisoft has managed to touch something. Another question is who, where, and why.

Table: Summary of user attitudes towards Assassin's Creed Shadows

In the dry balance

Assassin's Creed Shadows is not only a new part of the series but almost an application for a reboot with a samurai-ninja flavour. Ubisoft has shot in the direction that fans have been asking for for years - feudal Japan, swords, shadows, bamboo, and two heroes with their own gameplay temperament: Naoe, the silent death in the shadows, and Yasuke, a walking earthquake in armour.

Naoe and Yasuke walk off into the sunset. Illustration: Ubisoft

The game pleases with a number of upgrades: movement has become more lively, the combat system is heavier, and stealth is finally not just crouching in the bushes. The open world is also controversial: is everything here designed for exploration and adventure or for clearing 150 icons on the map?

Critics are playing the applause game - Steam says it's fine, the press loves it. But the players are not so sure: the atmosphere is great. Characters? Charismatic. Game mechanics? - revived. But the narrative is stuck, sometimes you get a feeling of familiar Grindhouse déjà vu, some of the quests are very monotonous, and Yasuke's historical interpretation raises questions for some of the audience. Another question is where are the assassins and the Templars? You hardly hear about them (there is a separate short branch of quests in Naoe) - instead, there are kakushiba-ikki and shinbakufu.

As a result, we have a game that knows how to surprise, but does not always hit the mark. It balances between respectful fanservice and risky decisions. And although Shadows hasn't yet become "the game that changed everything", it has definitely moved the series forward. And this is much better than another Valhalla clone with a different sword and the same quests.

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