Ubisoft has finally revealed the name of the next game in the Assassin’s Creed series – Assassin’s Creed Shadows is coming to PC and consoles this fall. Also, French company Ubisoft has revealed the game’s “world premiere trailer”, which showcases the game’s feudal Japan setting and protagonists.
Yes, Ubisoft finally gave in to fan requests for an Assassin’s Creed game set in Japan, and has taken the series to the Land of the Rising Sun. To be fair to Ubi though, fans knew a Japanese Assassin’s Creed was coming since Shadows – previously known by its codename Assassin’s Creed Red – was revealed in late 2022.
The trailer below lets gamers take a look at the game’s feudal Japanese setting, more specifically late 16th century Sengoku period Japan: a land of conflict, shinobis, samurais, cherry blossoms and bloody warfare too…
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will also offer two distinct protagonists to play as. On the one hand there’s Naoe, a shinobi from Japan’s Iga province, who judging by the trailer will be good at stealth and silent killings. There’s also Yasuke, a samurai of African origin who’s a fierce warrior in combat as seen in the trailer below.
The game having dual protagonists is not new to the series either: Ubisoft did that before with the pretty good Assassin’s Creed Syndicate in 2015, and the French company has confirmed you’ll be able to switch between either protagonist during the game, although Naoe and Yasuke will each have specific missions which require you to play as one or the other.
A minor controversy has erupted over Ubisoft having Yasuke as a protagonist in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Some, especially in Japan, had wanted to see a Japanese protagonist instead of the African-born Yasuke in Ubisoft’s upcoming game. However, this is the first time that Ubi has made a real historical character the protagonist (or co-protagonist in this case) of an Assassin’s Creed game. This also will help differentiate Ubisoft’s game from other games like Ghost of Tsushima or this year’s Rise of the Ronin, which all featured Japanese leads. There’s also Naoe to play as, a fictional Japanese character who’s the daughter of a real-life Japanese historical figure, so complaints over Yasuke don’t seem to hold much water.
Also interesting is the fact that the game will have a dynamic weather system as Ubisoft told IGN (via GamesRadar). For instance, increased vegetation in spring will make it easier to find cover for hiding (and stealth kills too), while this won’t be the case in winter. But reduced visibility and noise from storms will also help the would-be assassin when winter sets in, though. It remains to be seen, though, whether this will make the game more fun to play or not, even if Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be pretty substantial open-world game unlike last year’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage which was a shorter experience.
Actually, Ubisoft has revealed the map size will be similar to that of 2017’s Assassin’s Creed Origins. There will also be big Japanese castles to explore with Ubisoft saying of these that “the way they were built, it’s a level designed by itself… It’s so big, it’s like an adventure each time you go in the castle”.
All in all, Assassin’s Creed Shadows looks like it could be one of the year’s most interesting games. It will also be the first new-gen Assassin’s Creed, coming only to PS5, Xbox Series X and PC. But if Ubisoft can deliver a game of the same scale and quality of past titles like Assassin’s Creed Origins or Assassin’s Creed Valhalla then gamers are in for a treat come Assassin’s Creed Shadows release date on November 15.