Assassin's Creed Shadows

Assassin’s Creed Shadow’s ability to seemingly strike a perfect balance between the older titles in the series and its RPG brethren. This is exactly what I want RPG Assassin’s Creed games to be going forward.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a massive success and a winning combination of stealth and steel. It’s a fantastic entry in the open-world RPG line of games in the stealth series and the most refined version of that style yet, with satisfying and rewarding exploration, brilliant combat, and a dual protagonist system that really works. Even a few minor quibbles can’t hold it back.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows in a nutshell is a more refined, polished game with more of the same familiar formula. This isn’t a big revamp, nor are there any deep changes. However, it’s the best the series has been for a while. Fun combat, a pair of genuinely interesting protagonists, and a gorgeous recreation of 16th century Japan mean the flaws are easier to overlook.

Though imperfect and moored to indelible design traditions and gameplay rituals, Assassin's Creed Shadows fizzes with style, intention, and detail, curating the best parts of the series into a confident and deeply enjoyable journey through feudal Japan.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is one of the best games in the series in a long time, though it doesn't do a lot to push forward. However, it's actually quite playable on the Steam Deck.

Assassin's Creed Shadows provides an unexpected amount of player agency against the Feudal Japan backdrop fans of the series have wanted for ages. Two fleshed out characters come together to deliver one of the best stories in the series yet.

An Assassin's Creed game set in Japan. For generations, this was the dream — but when Ghost of Tsushima released in 2020, it felt like the desire dissipated. Sony and Sucker Punch had beaten Ubisoft to the, er, punch, and so, in a weird roundabout way, Assassin's Creed Shadows almost feels like it's late to its own party.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows arrives at a strange time for Ubisoft. The company needs a win after some rough releases that each had their own merit but didn’t quite stick the landing for a variety of reasons. Avatar: Frontier of Pandra, Skull and Bones, XDefiant, and Star Wars Outlaws have all failed to set the world on fire over the last eighteen months.

Despite the weight of the world on its shoulders, Assassin's Creed Shadows is a great entry in the series with one of its best worlds to date.

Majestic in scope, impressive in detail, Assassin's Creed Shadows honours the beauty of feudal Japan, even if its strongest moments are saved for the personal stories of two protagonists.

With the exception of some quirks with the quest system, a less-than-stellar English voice track and a storyline that may not be the most compelling of the franchise, it's hard to find major faults with Assassin's Creed Shadows. Ubisoft has found what could be the new formula for the franchise, and it will hopefully retool this formula to keep future titles fresh for players.

Ultimately, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is technically sound and authentic and represents a world that fans of the franchise have wanted to explore for many years. The artistic choices are great, the soundtrack is impressive, and the ambience is stellar, plus Naoe makes for a phenomenal lead, but there are just too many niggling flaws for me to consider this a perfect title.