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What seemed like a mirage (no pun intended for the last game) is finally happening. After years of pleading to have an Assassin’s Creed entry set in Japan, Ubisoft finally revealed Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and with the cinematic trailer, we have many things to be excited about. While we still have to wait a few months to take control of the dynamic duo of a Shinobi and a Samurai, that doesn’t mean we can’t start getting hyped for this adventure.
10. The Setting
When we think about assassins in other media, we can’t help but think about ninjas. We’ve seen these figures in many places, and they are the epitome of stealth. So, when Ubisoft created the Assassin’s Creed franchise, we were all John Travolta in the Pulp Fiction meme, looking around and waiting for the company to take us to Japan. Well, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will take us there. Set in the Sengoku period, we’ll get to explore one of the most famous Japanese eras in the historically accurate landscape Ubisoft always brings.
9. The Playable Characters
Fans of the franchise might remember how Unity kind of killed the hype for the series for a while. Sadly, that affected Syndicate when it launched, and not many got to experience the game, which let you play as two different characters. Thankfully, this new installment will let us take control of Naoe, an adept Shinobi, and Yasuke, a charismatic Samurai. While there isn’t gameplay yet, we’re excited to see characters with different styles, and we can’t wait to see them in action.
8. Stealth Mechanics
If you played Assassin’s Creed Mirage, you might remember that Ubisoft tweaked the franchise’s stealth mechanics to make them much better than in past installments. With Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the studio promises to make use of lighting, sound, and other elements for an immersive stealth experience. This might be the stepping stone for the Splinter Cell remake we are waiting for or the beginning of some new sneaky gameplay systems.
7. The Return of the Brotherhood
According to the official site, we’ll be able to meet people and build our network of spies. This might remind players of Assassin’s Creed Revelations, which had a fantastic system of hideouts and allies you could send on missions. Hopefully, we’ll see something like this in Shadows because the setting and the characters are great for this type of mechanic.
6. An Ever-Changing World
If you head to the game’s website, you can see many screenshots of certain landscapes changing through the seasons. If that’s the case, this will be the first time that the word season isn’t accompanied by the word pass in a Ubisoft game. This time, it seems we’ll see Japan changing from Spring to Winter seamlessly as we progress through the game. This will definitely bring an extra layer of immersion and beauty to the game’s world.
5. Different Approaches to Combat
In the trailer, we got to see Yasuke and Naoe beating enemies up differently. Since one is a Samurai and the other one a Shinobi, we can already see they’ll play differently. When I saw this, it reminded me of Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, which I hope Ubisoft used as an inspiration for the different gameplay styles. Being able to pick if I’ll smack my enemies with a kanabo or stealth-kill them as a true ninja excites me.
4. Separate Character Builds
Whenever there are many playable characters in a game, one thing that puts me off is that all of them level up simultaneously. I know it sounds weird because that system saves time and effort, but I want to get the hang of every character and take my time building them. According to official information, Ubisoft is going down that road. Naoe and Yasuke will have different gear, skills, and weapons.
3. Freedom of Choice
Similar to Syndicate, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will give you freedom when choosing who is the character you want to take on a quest. It is uncertain if it’ll work as Watchdogs Legion, where any character could do anything, or if some quests will be tied to Naoe and Yasuke. I hope it’s the latter because, as much as I love choosing my character for a mission, I also hope we get character-oriented quests.
2. A Potential New Modern Story
This hasn’t been confirmed, and it’s all just something I wish we get, but we can all agree that it is time for a continuation of the present-day plot. Mirage didn’t delve into this at all and instead focused on Basim’s story. Yes, there were some tidbits here and there that connected it to Valhalla and one particular character, but we haven’t seen the usual present-day narrative take the stage. Hopefully, Shadows will keep that story moving forward in a way.
1. The Chance to See if Ubisoft Has Learned From Its Mistakes
This might be a strange thing to be hyped for, but hear me out. Lately, Ubisoft has taken a few steps forward and a dozen backward. However, Assassin’s Creed Mirage showed the studio understood what fans wanted and gave us that. With Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the developers have another opportunity to show us they are putting the franchise back on track. For better or worse, Assassin’s Creed was many players’ first approach to stealth games and modern RPG mechanics, so we hope this game does justice to the series.
Even if Assassin’s Creed Shadows won’t hit the digital shelves until November, the announcement is there, the characters are out, and the hype is growing. While we just got a cinematic trailer, we can’t wait to see how the gameplay will look. With two characters to put in a dynamic world, Ubisoft has twice the work ahead. But if Mirage showed us something, it is that this legendary series is making its way to the top again, one game at a time.
