Poor Ubisoft can’t seem to keep a secret these days. Assassin’s Creed: Shadows (formerly known as AC: Red) has been officially announced as the latest entry in the series, following weeks of increasingly large, detailed leaks.
Coming November 15th for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X, Shadows is the Japanese-centric Assassin’s Creed game that fans have been asking for since pretty much the very beginning. Of course, Ghost of Tsushima been Ubisoft to the punch on that one.
The trailer depicts Naoe, a female shinobi, as she crosses paths with Yasuke, a real-life historical figure who was notable due to being the earlier African to appear in Japanese historical records. For the game, Ubisoft have taken a fair amount of liberty, describing him as a “powerful samurai of historical legend.” There is no evidence to suggest that he was a samurai. At most, he would have likely been elevated to Bushi.
The Ubisoft games have become known for their slightly odd juggling of history and fiction. They often take real-world events and characters, and then awkwardly twist them to fit Ubisoft’s fictional storyline.
Both characters are playable, and the trailer, although it features no gameplay, seems to indicate that Naoe will be the stealthier character while Yasuke favours straight combat. This is confirmed by Ubisoft: “As Naoe and Yasuke, players can master two complementary playstyles, with each character featuring their own progression paths, skills, weapon options, and stats. Whether they embrace Naoe’s stealth skills or Yasuke’s combat prowess, players will have plenty of ways to approach objectives.”
This idea of dual protagonists harkens back to Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate which featured brother and sister duo Evie and Jacob Frye. While both played like the typical assassin, one favoured a more brute-force approach over the other.
That makes sense because Shadows is being development is being led by Ubisoft Quebec, the team behind Syndicate and 2018’s Odyssey, which also featured two lead characters, albeit in a very different way.
A second trailer delves deeper into who Naoe and Yasuke are. Check it out.
Other gameplay details revealed include a spy network, the ability to call in allies during missions and even a hideout you can customise and use to train your squad.
I’ve fallen out of love with the Assassin’s Creed games over the past few years, but I’m interested in checking this one out. Hopefully, it’s less bloated than Valhalla, but a more creative than Mirage.
