The series finally gets its ninja-themed game, which feels both inevitable and different at the same time, with the samurai Yasuke shaking up the formula.
Scrambling across rooftops, stalking your prey and diving blade first towards their vitals. ASSASSIN'S CREED has always had a lot of ninja in it for a game set almost everywhere else across it's thirteen previous mainline games.
As soon as the time period switched with ASSASSIN'S CREED II, players have been calling for a game set in Japan, and eighteen years later we're finally here, with much of the scifi modern day plot jettisoned for an incredibly solid samurai and ninja simulator.
It's not been without its controversies, Yasuke the black Samurai who stars as one of the two playable characters was a flash point for internet bigots who said a game series that featured ancient futuristic races and genetic time machines wasn't historically accurate.
Have you ever fired up one of these games? There is literally a disclaimer at the beginning. It's a historical themed playground.
In ASSASSIN'S CREED: SHADOWS, it's actually Yasuke with his hulking frame and incredible power that gives the series a brand new way to play without jettisoning the tradition gameplay of previous games.
SHADOWS are really only important to one of half of our dynamic duo this time around, when you're playing as the Igan shinobi Naoe, this game feels very very similar to previous titles. There are acrobatic flips, magic eagle vision radar that highlights enemies and slow strategic stealthy gameplay that rewards tactics over all out combat.
Yasuke is absolutely not that, he wobbles on ledges smashes through parkour furniture and doesn't take rubbish from anyone. It's actually kind of incredible, a bit like stepping into the shoes of a boss you'd normally be tasked with murdering in an elaborate fashion.
He can regenerate health with the right perks, he can shrug off a lot of direct damage, he can cleave a foe in two in about three hits, but he's never going to be able to do a backflip.
I found myself switching back and forth pretty frequently, sometimes you just wanted to get in and get out where the traditional Naoe excels, other times you just want to go on an absolute rampage, a blood bath. I know this is a violent game series but it actually felt a bit obscene in parts how brutal it could be.
Aside from a few quests that were locked to each character you were given almost complete freedom to do tackle most missions with whoever took your fancy at the time. Yasuke isn't going to worry about stealth at all, not that he can't hide but honestly that's not what he's for. Naoe needs that stealth to achieve her goals.
It's good that this series is able to mix up the playstyles, the worlds created for these games have always been incredible detailed and fascinating but now there is a new perspective, one from ground level which really helps you take it all in.
Instead of one character picking up every single upgrade, it's now split between the two, which makes for more interesting options, powerful ranged attacks are pretty much limited to Yasuke for example who wields a bow or a gun, while Naoe throws kunai knives and shurikens at medium range.
It's feels better to have these two distinct playstyles available, rather than trying to cram it all in, but every now and then I forgot that Yasuke couldn't scramble up walls in the same way as his counterpart could and that led to some relatively hasty switching back and forth between characters. It's a very quick transition really, which is good, you don't want to be stuck on a loading screen if you need to quickly change for the utility of the opposite protagonist.
Our characters are both outsiders, but in ultimately different ways, Naoe who grew up in Iga under the shinobi schools was disconnected from the court politics of feuding daimyo and rival lords.
Yasuke who of course came with the Portuguese to Japan is a cultural outsider, but is in many ways far more connected to the palace intrigue than Naoe is.
When taking down the many, many enemies on your objectives list, the game does a pretty good job showing how each character connects to this world, with flashback sequences galore. It's nice world building and storytelling and I never felt like it was a detour from my established path.
The game doesn't really waste much time in pointing the bladed end towards your foes, it mostly gets out of the way, even if occasionally it strays into what I like to call 'open world busywork' of collecting chotchkes and murdering minor bandit lords.
This setting within the "warring states" Sengoku period in Japan's history is just ripe for battles across its relatively large play space. Head in any direction and there will be someone to fight, with Kurosawa like nameplates appearing when certain baddies appear on screen.
It looks incredible the cities and towns feel interesting and populated with heaps of enviornmental beauty to behold.
Each of these games are a historically themed sandbox and SHADOWS is one of the best looking to play in yet.
As I said in my review for ASSASSIN'S CREED MIRAGE, the longer I play this series the more I come to appreciate the core storylines, and spend less time with the laundry list of tasks to complete. You do stray from the path a little bit, but I find just doing only what happens to be right in between you and your next overall objective feels like the best way to play.
You could easily get lost in this game for a long time, there is a lot here to explore. A lot of people to slay.
There was always a worry when the series finally made it to Japan that it wouldn't do it justice, that it'd feel like just a cardboard cutout version, but I think this far on from the original games it feels like exactly the right place to be.
Do yourself a favour and make a big effort to play as Yasuke as much as you can, it's a really different experience and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
A copy of ASSASSIN'S CREED SHADOWS on Xbox Series X|S was provided to SIFTER for the purpose of this review.
