Assassins Creed Shadowsis the game fans wanted for a long, long time.
It just makes sense.
Stick an assassin in feudal Japan, and you already have gold.
© Image: Ubisoft
But, of course, its never that easy.
I love history, and I love stealth games.
The Assassins Creed games should be my favorite franchise, right?
© Image: Ubisoft
I did not enjoy it when the series switched to its modern RPG-lite identity.
Instead, its half a stealth game.
When I say that, I mean it literally.
© Image: Ubisoft
The world is colorful and vibrant, far more than the dreary Assassins Creed Valhalla.
The weather effects and wind kicking up dust down dusty dirt roads were particularly breathtaking.
My demo started with a section of the games introduction where we were introduced to our two main protagonists.
There’s more coming to Assassin’s Creed Shadows, including a hideout-building minigame. © Image: Ubisoft
Naoe, a shinobi and member of the deceased Iga Ikki clan, and Yasuke.
I was already intrigued by the setup.
Of course, I chose the latter.
Naoe is young and wants to show her capabilities to her father.
Shadows was being worked on long before FXs Shogun series premiered.
Ubisoft told me players can play with full Japanese and Portuguese voice casts and subtitles, including accurate lip-syncing.
The setup intrigued me enough to see what the other missions have in store.
I just know I would play one character far more than the other.
This was when the game faced blowback forUbisoft execs boneheaded decisionto nix female characters in Unitys co-op mode.
In the games pitched black box missions, youll have multiple opportunities to switch off between each protagonist.
The game is built so that the two protagonists play very differently.
Yasuke can climb but is much slower than Naoe when mantling over a chest-high wall.
Instead, Yasuke can bash down doors.
The minute-to-minute fights in Shadows can be enjoyable.
Naoe can use a grappling hook to scale walls.
She can climb effortlessly and sprint across any precarious ledge.
She can throw smoke bombs to escape enemies and quietly take out enemies.
Yasukes assassination is him literally running a man through and lifting them off their feet.
Good for keeping quiet?
I wish there were more than hay stacks and benches that barely wink at the series past promise.
However, the climbing and parkour still cant match what was in Assassins Creed II 16 years ago.
The climbing animations lack weight, even while the assassinations and combat look as good as they ever have.
Coming off of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I also appreciated the simple strong and heavy attack system.
Its not perfect, of course.
The fights became too claustrophobic during the final assault on Himeji Castle.
The camera was pressed in and cut off the enemies constantly surrounding me.
But I know I would keep playing despite all my qualms.
I must be in the mood for another sneaking game.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
IsAssassins CreedReady for Its Next Era?
AsAssassin’s Creed Shadowsapproaches, the franchise and Ubisoft prepare to enter uncharted, possibly game-changing waters.
