After taking players to the Viking Age England and 9th century Baghdad in Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Mirage respectively, Ubisoft will now transport them to ancient Japan, a land known for its samurai warrior class and ninjas, with the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Shadows. Here are 10 things you need to know about the new Assassin’s Creed game set in Japan.
Genre
Assassins’ Creed Shadows is a third-person open-world role-playing action game. It is the 14th main instalment in the Assassin’s Creed video game franchise, preceded by 2023’s Assassins’ Creed: Mirage.
Developers
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows is the result of collaboration among multiple Ubisoft studios, namely Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Osaka, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Bucharest & Craiova, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Sofia and Ubisoft Ukraine.
Publisher
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows is published by Ubisoft Entertainment SA.
Protagonists and their shared destiny
Assassin’s Creed Shadows features two protagonists: Yasuke and Naoe. Yasuke is an African samurai, while Naoe is a shinobi Assassin from Iga Province. The “remarkable duo will discover their common destiny as they usher in a new era for Japan”, says Ubisoft on the game’s website.
Play as Yasuke or Naoe
In Assassin's Creed: Shadows, you can play either as a shinobi or a samurai. You can "approach quests with whichever character you prefer, as each possesses their own respective progression, stats, skills, and gear," said the developers.
Setting
Assassin's Creed Shadows is set during Japan's “turbulent” late Sengoku period.
Naoe: Combat skills and weapons
Naoe is an adept and quick-witted shinobi and can “use noise, light, and shadows to evade detection”. As Naoe, you can use throwing weapons like the kunai, shuriken, smoke bombs etc, “infiltrate enemy bases with your grappling hook and parkour skills” and assassinate targets with the hidden blade.
Yasuke: Combat skills and weapons
In contrast to Naoe, Yasuke prefers “brutal precision and power” when dealing with opponents. As a samurai, you will learn to attack, block, parry, and eventually beat the enemies. Yasuke’s weapons include the katana, kanabo, bows, naginata and more.
Exploration
"We didn't want to hold the player's hand too much with icons and markers," said the developers in a website post. Exploring the open world of Assassin’s Creed Shadows requires the player to observe the environment and investigate a lot. “In Shadows, information is something you need to look for and earn, whether through your spies, NPC encounters, or through your own eyes”, added the developers.
Platforms and release date
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows will launch on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (via Ubisoft Store, Steam and Epic Games Store) and Macs with Apple Silicon chip (via the Mac Store) on March 20, 2025. The latest Assassin’s Creed game is also confirmed for the iPad and will arrive later on Apple’s tablet.
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