Assassin's Creed Shadows (Xbox Series X|S)

Game description:

Assassin's Creed Shadows is an upcoming 2025 action role-playing game developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft. The game is the fourteenth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series and the successor to 2023's Assassin's Creed Mirage.

Gameplay:

Set in 16th-century Japan towards the end of the Sengoku period, the game focus on the millennia-old struggle between the Assassin Brotherhood, who fight for peace and liberty, and the Templar Order, who desire peace through control, from the perspective of two protagonists: Fujibayashi Naoe, a kunoichi (a female shinobi), and Yasuke, an African samurai inspired by the historical figure of the same name. The two characters have a different gameplay style, allowing quests to be approached in multiple ways. Players have the ability to switch between characters as they progress through different missions. Yasuke's combat features destructible environments and realistic weapon impacts, providing a cinematic fighting experience, in addition to using arquebuses, giving him a powerful long-range capability. Meanwhile, Naoe brandishes the iconic hidden blade with its pivot feature to serve as a tantō, as well as utilizing a kusarigama to fend off attackers, swinging its chain in wide arcs to create distance. Moreover, she employs stealth tactics with an agile and lethal playstyle, hiding in the rafters and ambushing enemies through Shoji paper doors.

Game review:

Assassin’s Creed Shadows takes a flashing blade to the series’ established norms, trimming them to a more precise form in lieu of chopping them down outright. Combat is aggressive and requires more intentional parrying and skill management than in the past, and exploring the gorgeous provinces of Sengoku-period Japan is encouraged thanks to the revamped map that deemphasizes collecting icons and checking off lists. Naoe and Yasuke are well-realized and memorable protagonists, even though most of the story they drive follows pretty predictable paths. Both have unique playstyles that bolster each other’s weaknesses, but they are ultimately imbalanced by the fact that you can make use of the stealth and exploration skills of the master shinobi far more than the superhuman strength of the samurai. This isn’t the Assassin’s Creed that will change the minds of folks that never connected with the series before, but for those of us with lots of hours logged in the Animus, the sum of Shadows’ parts provide a refreshing realignment of the series that you should not skip.