For understanding of my perspective here, Valhalla is still the only game in the series that I haven't completed yet but I do plan to some day, maybe after I'm done with Shadows. I'm playing the game with the Guide mode disabled.
- Story - "I do what I'm told. I have never done anything else."
Assassin's Creed Shadows has a very long story introduction. The first two to four hours were mostly cinematics. I've spoken many times on how I can't stand so much dialogue in all games in general because it's usually just so boring and useless and doesn't actually tell a story. I was probably around forty minutes into it when I realized I was enjoying the story. I was sitting here listening to them and watching them have a conversation with not much going on and I was not bored. The story is good, man. I like it anyways. It's not a story I haven't heard before many times but it is well written, directed, and voice acted (I'm playing in english). The word "incredible" did cross my mind multiple times. The experience was great to me even though I'd definitely rather play much more in-between story elements.
Assassin's Creed Shadows started out with Yasuke as the first playable character but after the story switched me over to Naoe, I had played as her for nine or so hours without seeing Yasuke. Once I did see Yasuke briefly again, I thought the storytelling of how his path crosses with Naoe was perfect. Very well done. I've mostly stuck to the main missions but I have played some side content as well. I have not reached the point in the story yet where I can switch between the two when I want to.
- Side Content - "Under me, sandal bearers become lords."
One of the pieces of side content I've done a few times now is these meditation spots with a neat little mini-game that leads you into a cinematic side mission that takes you through the history of the character you're playing as. I'm assuming that there are different meditation spots for each character once you get further into the game but I'm not there yet to know for sure how it works. The memory missions for Naoe have taken me into her past to experience her history, what happened to her family, her training and becoming an assassin. Every meditation spot I've done so far has been truly impressive. They feel like they're supposed to be main story missions because they add so much depth to the character. Update: not all meditation spots have a story.
Another piece of side content I've done is something they're calling a "kofun." It's comparable to the tombs in the original series without the parkour of course, or the pyramids in Origins. They're pretty cool labyrinths you explore your way through to find rare treasure. That treasure is almost guaranteed to be something awesome in my experience with these newer games in the series since Origins. I really enjoy these a lot.
One thing about these pieces of side content in Assassin's Creed Shadows is that they're very long. This is not a game you wanna throw on for a thirty-minute quick sitting. You'll probably want at least two hours of free time to sit down and play this. That's my thought, anyways. Maybe you can pull off thirty-minute runs but I don't know what exactly you'd be doing. There are castles in this game, similar to the previous forts in the series so far. The castles I've completed so far took a minimum of around an hour to get through for completion, not for walking distance, to be clear. The Kofuns I've done have taken thirty to forty mins on average. The Memories have been around 20 - 40 mins each. Forgive me as I am totally guesstimating. I did not pull out a timer and watch it. I'll try to remember to do that. They're just long, man. They're involved. It is an RPG, after all.
So, to sum up, the side content I've been very impressed with so far: the meditation memory stories are long and add very much depth to the main characters, kofuns are cool labyrinths that reward worthwhile treasure, and castles are enormous, challenging, and badass.
- New Game Mechanics - "You are his body guard but also his slave, are you not?" - "I have been subject to worse men, and I yet live."
I like some of the new game mechanics. Using the aim button automatically uses your eagle sense to spot nearby treasures. I don't remember that being in previous games? If it was, I never used it. There are shrines at seemingly every major city as well as some small villages where you can pray at and receive a temporary buff such as increased damage, ability regen, and I'd guess there's more I haven't seen yet or forgot about.
I'm not impressed with the new prone only because I think it should just automatically work rather than require the extra button hold. I get that it's a new game mechanic but I don't find it to be that special. It is cool going prone, it's just that the extra button interaction isn't really necessary and doesn't really add much immersion. But maybe that's just me. I wouldn't be surprised if younger or other players may find that to be very cool.
I did not like the grapple at first in Assassin's Creed Shadows. Not because it doesn't work good but because of the restriction it forces. The world design is different now. Instead of being able to climb over every single little thing, you are now forced to go around specific areas. I did think it was kinda dumb to force the grapple on players just to limit the world more but I started to really like what the devs did with it. There's still plenty of freedom of choice, some of the pathing will just make you have to think or navigate a little more is all. I loved the freedom of climbing in Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla but it also kind of felt unrewarding cuz it was faceroll but smooth, mostly. I still have yet to use the grapple too much in my nearly fifteen hours, well, I dunno with all the cinematics exactly.
For the more advanced climbing puzzles, the yellow splashes are way too obvious and ruin immersion. I think it would be better if they blended in more. A game option to remove them completely would be nice.
I have walked through deep forests where I couldn't really see my character and I was just pushing forward until I could see while I was trying to get to my next destination. I did that on purpose just to see what the game would allow and I loved it. Reminded me of The Crew, full freedom off-road. That was when I had started encountering hills I couldn't climb up and was forced to go around. Those are fun though when trying to zig-zag up and having that work.
- Combat & Gameplay - "This is the only way to set things right. Blood for blood."
I didn't think I was going to like playing as Yasuke when I saw that he was going to be a "brute" and basically have no stealth skills. But when I played as him, I was impressed with how powerful he is. Almost the entire time I've been playing as Naoe, as much as I enjoy her, I've been wanting to play as Yasuke. I really look forward to playing as him again. I've been slowly getting through these castles with Naoe but I want to walk in with Yasuke and just smash all their faces in.
The combat is mostly okay. At first I was really impessed with all the new animations but I noticed the animations are very limited. You do get different weapons types which change your attacks up but to put it simply, it's like each weapon only has two attacks and you do that over and over again. That's not literal, it would just take quite a lot to explain fully what I mean. If you understand, cool, if not, sorry!
There are still lots of ability talents I have not unlocked yet. They look badass in the talent previews. Some of the talent points seem like a waste. I can't stand one-percent and two-percent increases. In most cases, even ten-percent is a waste of a mention to me. What's one-percent of a dollar? Not impressive or worth thinking about, neither is ten-percent.
There's no auto health regen unless you're fully outside of a conflict zone. If you're inside a hostile area, you do not regen health no matter how long you're out of combat from what I've seen so far. I'm not a fan of that. I don't hate it but I don't like it. You might like it and that is fine with me but you suck. I'm kidding.
Some Fast Travel points require you to spend in-game currency to unlock them. I don't understand why and it's just a silly addition. It's as stupid as ARPGs that charge you in-game gold to reset skills. It's just dumb and pointless to me and ruins that experience. Does it make sense to you?
Assassin's Creed Shadows continues the series' whacky behavior and AI during combat. One example is walking right near and in front of an enemy that doesn't detect you. Another example is when enemies just circle too long without attempting to attack. A last example is when I would come across two groups of enemies fighting against each other and could walk right in and take their treasure while they fought each other. I actually love that and think it's hilarious but it doesn't seem right, ya know? These are kind of "normal" issues with a lot of games but I don't understand how we're this deep into the Assassin's Creed title and the games still have the same exact issues. I forgive it because seventy-percent to eighty-percent of my playtime is usually smooth and overall I really enjoy my time in these games.
- Visuals and Final Thoughts - "The battle is over but the war has just begun."
As you can probably tell from the trailer and screenshots of Assassin's Creed Shadows, the game is absolutely gorgeous. That's no surprise as each installment has improved visually. It's still worth mentioning because it's truly beautiful. There are new artistic elements to some of the gameplay and cinematics that I'm not sure how to describe, they're beautiful and cool, example above. These are the kind of visuals I wanted in Ghost of Tsushima but didn't get. (I love that game). The combat and AI are better in GoT.
I would bet that for a first-time gamer or first-time player of this series, this game would be mind-blowingly incredible and something they'll never forget. I still prefer faster paced games. As much as I love a good story, I don't want to sit for twenty minutes or two hours watching a cinematic. I want to play.
These are my very early impressions. I still have a long way to go and more to see but obviously I already had a lot to say which is why I decided to share this so soon. Please let me know if you like this post or if you think it would have been better if I waited to complete the game before finishing it. As long as it is now, it might be double this after I complete the game. But it might be a month or longer before I end up completing it. Please feel free to let me know where I might have said too little or too much. What type of information is missing, or what you felt wasn't needed? I am unsure if I will be back to write a full review after completion.
Assassin's Creed Shadows released on March 19, 2025, on PlayStation 5, Xbox S/X, and PC. It surpassed two-million players in two days. Thanks for reading. Game on.
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