Assassin's Creed Shadows - Nov. 15, 2024

Nauls

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Hold onto your katanas, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is slicing in later this year.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ug340Fz74A


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjAzNpMYTxw


After years of countless requests from the community, Ubisoft is finally giving us a proper Creed game set in feudal Japan. This one sees the return of dual protagonists – a fictional stealth-focused character name Naoe, and a combat-focused African Samurai named Yasuke (who is based on an actual historical figure). The dual protagonists should come as no surprise since Shadows is developed by Ubisoft Quebec, the same studio behind Syndicate and Odyssey.

I’m sprinkling my optimism with a healthy dose of Ubisalt™, but I have to say I am excited to see how this one turns out. Having two separate characters for stealth and combat appears to be, at least on paper, a good response to the general criticism that the recent series entries have strayed too far from the core assassin gameplay of the legacy titles (Mirage not withstanding). And the setting should at least be more interesting than the terribly bland Valhalla. I missed Syndicate, but Odyssey was easily the best AC title I've played in years, so hopefully they can replicate that success here.
 
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Ardax

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I missed Syndicate
Syndicate was definitely my favorite of the "old school" AC games. I know everyone else seemed to prefer Black Flag, but 🤷‍♂️. And I looooved Odyssey. So seeing that the same studio will be doing Shadows is encouraging.

Haven't played Mirage yet (just haven't made it back into AC yet), and I was a little disappointed in the choice of protagonist.

I'm a little worried about their dual protags having different focuses (combat vs stealth). I rather prefer them being pretty interchangeable so people can play the character they want the way they want. Maybe they'll end up being that way anyway.
 

Ragashingo

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The two main characters are said to lean heavily towards stealth (the girl) and combat (the guy) respectively, though each can do a bit of the other. The main website says:

As the quick-witted and agile Naoe, use noise, light, and shadows to evade detection as enemies respond to their changing surroundings. Distract guards using kunai, shuriken, and smoke bombs, infiltrate enemy bases with your grappling hook and parkour skills, and assassinate your targets with the hidden blade.

As the charismatic samurai Yasuke, strike your foes with brutal precision and power. Use his combat-oriented skills to attack, block, parry, and defeat your enemies. Master the vast arsenal of weapons at your disposal – featuring katana, kanabo, bows, naginata, and more – to free Japan from its oppressors.

You decide whether to play as a shinobi or samurai. Master complementary playstyles of two fully realized protagonists, approach quests with whichever character you prefer, as each possesses their own respective progression, stats, skills, and gear.

My biggest problem with Assassins Creed over the last decade or so (Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla) is that they were all just soooo daaaang BIG. It didn't help that leveling in those first two was a bit broken in that multiple times I found myself out of compelling story to play but under leveled for the next section and basically having to work 3x as hard to stay alive.

Valhalla mostly fixed the leveling issues, but then swapped out the combat in a system I liked less, it just didn't feel as impactful, and leaned so heavily on the norse gods that I could go hours or days faffing around as Odin doing a story I didn't care about when I wanted to get back to the viking story I did.

So, yes... On one hand, this looks decent out of the gate. I really enjoyed Ghosts of Tsushima, so something set near (a little past?) that time period might be very fun. On the other hand, I literally swore off playing any more Assassins Creed games because I haven't actually be able to finish any of them... ever. How much money do I want to pay to not finish this one??
 

Nauls

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My biggest problem with Assassins Creed over the last decade or so (Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla) is that they were all just soooo daaaang BIG.
Ubi has confirmed that Shadows is slated to be around the same size as Origins, just more densely populated because the latter is, well, desert. But yeah, odds are they're still going to pack it with stuff. Still a far cry from Odyssey however, which was an absolute beast.
  • Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (2015) — London: 3.70 km²
  • Assassin’s Creed Origins (2017) — Egypt: 80 km²
  • Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (2018) — Greece: 130 km² / With the sea: 256 km²
  • Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (2020) — England: 94 km² / With the sea: 120 km²
  • Assassin’s Creed Mirage (2023) — Baghdad: 2.40 km²
It all really depends how engaging the game is. Odyssey had great characters, story, setting, and combat. Valhalla had none of that IMO. Consequently, I didn't even get half way through Valhalla before giving up, even though it was notably smaller.
 
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Nauls

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New extended gameplay showcase out:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjAzNpMYTxw

So far so good. Highlights both styles of gameplay & combat, as well as choosing which character to play for accomplishing certain objectives. The classic freeform assassin-style gameplay is there, which is great. Weather effects look slick, and we also apparently get seasons based on the short montage at the end of the video.

And most importantly - you can pet the dog. I'm hoping doggo has a quest where you help find its missing coins.
 

NervousEnergy

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Hmm... I also have both Origins and Odyssey, but only played a few hours of Origins. Didn't grab me, but I may give it another shot - or just try Odyssey since it seems to get universal acclaim.

My issue with all of them is that they're not Assassins Creed games. They're action RPGs. Syndicate and Unity were great (and great AC games), though Syndicate was super easy.
 

Chris FOM

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I liked Origins a lot but it took a while to come into its own. It had one of the worst in media res openings I’ve ever seen, and for such a huge change in gameplay it spent remarkably little time helping the player shift gears from the old stealth stabby to the new ARPG action. Those opening hours were rough.

It does eventually come around to feel more like Assassin’s Creed, although never all the way. There are enemies that even a fully upgraded Bayek can’t one shot with a stealth hidden blade to the throat. AC should never have enemies that can’t be one shotted with a stealth hidden blade to the throat. But the good news is those tend to be unique enemies that are designated to be combat challenges, and once you clear those opening hours stealth stabby becomes far more effective and at times crucial.

It’s not a fully successful transition and is clearly an ARPG in AC wrapper, a dual identity it never fully merges, but I won’t deny that it gained a lot from the loss. And Origins also benefits from a spectacular setting as well as my second favorite protagonist in the series behind only Ezio (caveat, haven’t played Unity, Syndicate, or anything after Origins).
 
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NervousEnergy

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I enjoyed Unity quite a bit - it got a bad rap from many due to technical glitches, though I think it was mostly poor optimization. Throwing a massively over-spec'd PC at those problems usually solves. them. ;) I never encountered any serious bugs. I was very familiar with the setting and my wife speaks fairly fluent French, and she really enjoyed watching me sneak around and listening in to the (very accurate) period conversations. We'd been to many of the locations and the layout and details were first-rate. I don't remember being all that impressed by the MC's character or the general story, but I was so taken with the Revolutionary Parisian setting that I didn't care. Plus it was fairly challenging - you had to work to break sight-lines if you got caught and Arno wasn't a one-man army when he didn't have surprise.

Syndicate was also awesome for the setting (love London), and the new twist of twin MCs was neat, but it was much, much easier than Unity. Hiding was trivial and you were a super-hero wrecking machine when you didn't want to hide, but shaking off the Bobbies in the industrial parks of London never got old.
 
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Kinda surprised they haven't explored this part of the world until now. Looks interesting.
I think people often just see assassins = ninja and don’t realise how hard it is to actually fold Japan into the AC lore about the Assassin vs Templars and lost civilisation. Feudal Japan when “ninjas” existed is also when Japan was extremely closed off from foreigners and foreign influences. Even during the Sengoku period which Shadow is based on where Jesuits were allowed in their movement and influence was strictly regulated. Sure they can just make a ninja stealth game without the AC lore and conspiracy stuff but then it would just be another ninja stealth game.

Actually no it won’t, cos the AC franchise isn’t even that good of a stealth game franchise to begin with when it comes to play mechanics. :judge:
 
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NervousEnergy

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I have a hankering for an Action RPG after finishing Ghost of Tsushima, and my current Stellaris playthrough, while fun, isn't scratching that itch. I've owned Odyssey for a while (I think last year's Steam sale), and the opinion seems to be that it's the best of the ARPG AC games. Either that or pick up Origins again and try and get past the rather boring intro.
 

Semi On

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I have a hankering for an Action RPG after finishing Ghost of Tsushima, and my current Stellaris playthrough, while fun, isn't scratching that itch. I've owned Odyssey for a while (I think last year's Steam sale), and the opinion seems to be that it's the best of the ARPG AC games. Either that or pick up Origins again and try and get past the rather boring intro.

Just play Odyssey. It's a lot of fun (though too damn big).