Assassin’s Creed games have always provided a certain degree of freedom to the player when it comes to missions and challenges, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows is no exception. But the player has been limited by the character’s abilities. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate offered some variation in gameplay, where Evie and Jacob Frye had slightly different fighting styles.
Ubisoft appears to have taken a page from this game’s book but gone for even more variation in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The cinematic reveal trailer introduced us to our two main characters, Naoe and Yasuke, along with giving us a glimpse of their capabilities.
Choose Your Playstyle in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Bringing new characters to the franchise should be more than a simple gender swap option. Players could choose whether to be male or female in Odyssey and Valhalla, but the difference was purely cosmetic. So, when Assassin’s Creed Shadows revealed two playable characters, people were a bit worried, but the trailer itself put those worries to rest.
Assassin's Creed Shadows | Details
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▪️New gen only (PS5, XSX, PC) on an updated Anvil engine
▪️Takes place in Feudal Japan in the year 1579 during the Azuchi-Momoyama period
▪️The time period sees a range of activity, including Portuguese merchants, legions of samurai, shinobi,… pic.twitter.com/ZdvY9MyyA4
We got to see both of them in action in the trailer, and it appears Naoe and Yasuke have different fighting styles. Naoe, being a shinobi, will take a stealthy approach, engaging in combat only when needed and using a kusarigama to keep distance. Yasuke, the samurai, will take a more direct approach, leveraging his strength and weapons to get into brutal close-quarters combat with his enemies.
The game is going to allow rapid switching between the two characters in the open world, allowing players to experience both types of combat. There are also going to be character-specific quests, which we assume will play to their strengths and exploit their weaknesses to create a challenge. So, it would be good to get familiar with how both can be used.
These two styles can also be said to be inspired by the previous two games. Mirage was a return to the roots of the original Assassin’s Creed formula, with stealth requiring planning and patience. Valhalla allowed players to enact the role of a Viking berserker by charging with dual-wielding blades. Shadows appear to combine these playstyles.
Action Central to Assassin’s Creed Shadow Gameplay
Ubisoft has put extra effort into working on the environment’s destructibility and sliceable objects. The world is going to be vast, but something is missing in the maps that every other Assassin’s Creed game has included so far. It appears Ubisoft wants players to explore the map rather than just running between markers.
The game is also bringing a dynamic weather system, with the seasons affecting the environment. This would be a factor when considering stealth in the game, as spring would offer tall grass to hide under, while winter would freeze water bodies to make them easier to cross or potential hazards.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows pre-order is now open, and the game will launch on November 15, 2024. We can expect to see gameplay-focused videos soon, as they will be the true test of whether people want to invest their money in the franchise once again. If the end product is as impressive as the cinematic trailer, this could be the best Assassin’s Creed game in a long time.
What are you most looking forward to in Assassin’s Creed Shadows? Let us know in the comments below.
