Assassin's Creed Shadows

Overly Dramatic Review in One Sentence

Whether you are a terminator or a ninja, the gameplay and scenery are outstanding with either a gut punching or unfulfilled storyline.

The Actual Review

Game time:

PC: 79.3 Hours

Gameplay

I need to say something upfront. It will be incredibly difficult to not compare this game to Ghost of Tsushima. They are EXTREMELY similar games with differentish storylines. So I will do everything that I can to not make those references.

When talking about the fighting, it is a drastic difference between the two playable characters. You have Yasuke and Naoe pronounced "Yas-kay" and "Now-eh". Yasuke is a terminator. He is towering over the enemies and as such is incredibly powerful. His attacks are strong and brutal, to the point that the game calls it a "Brutal Assassination" when attacking someone without them noticing. Whereas Naoe is very much the ninja, the Shinobi. She is quick and does quiet assassinations much like the old Assassin's Creed games.

When you do get into a fight, the fighting playing is fun. It does get VERY repetitive. It really gets fun when you are surrounded by enemies, and you are wanted, so the Guardians shows up. Speaking of doing the same things over and over again, this map forces it. There is so much up and down in the mountain ranges that you spend so much time running between multiple places. There is also a mechanism where you climb to these high places and sync with the map to see the world around. In previous games it would clear part of the hidden map so you could see where to go. This game didn't do that so you have to run around EVERYWHERE to know where the locations are. I honestly think the game would have been 5 hours shorter if the map had been cleared better, so players could see where things are or how to get there. When you compare this to older Assassin's Creed games like Assassin's Creed Origins, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla, those games have a mix of open area and hills/wooded area, so there is some verity. This one is all wooded area and hills so traversing the map is just frustrating.

The RPG elements are really good. They feel worth getting and the way to raise your knowledge makes running around the map worthwhile, minus the issues above. The armor and weapons on the other hand are not as worthwhile as you'd think. When you pick them up they have skills and stats. You run the ones that you like or do the most damage and move on. Speaking that you can upgrade all of them, there is no reason to keep any spares. The engraving system to add additional perks to them is cool and makes for some interesting play-throughs, but I'd rather one perk and be able to change it with the addition of a different type of damage than what they currently have. That is semantics though. I am nitpicking at them since it felt pointless to have so many weapons and armor when you really just wanted the legendary ones, and they were easy to find.

Graphics and Sound

The music was such a vibe as the kids say. During boss battles you had this Japanese rap and it was such an awesome song. I would have kept that playing during any fight. The only sound that wasn't really good was this boar/bear sound. I am 99% sure it is the bear sound from previous games, but placed on a boar. There are no bears in the game.

Graphics is where I think we saw some outstanding work. On the first night I was playing, the lights are off, and the game has a thunderstorm going on. The lightning lit up my room and was just wonderful to see in game. Then there are season changes that drastically change the environment, what you can see through the dreaded woods, how you can hide, and how you can move (the snow gets very deep). However, these are all outstandingly beautiful in their display. Just stunning to look at.

Story and Characters

I have no issues with either character. I really don't have an issue with the dialogue for the most part. There are some weird ones, but I'll take it. What I do have an issue with is the pointlessness of the story to the overall master story that we have had for the last 10–15 games.

In my opinion, what Assassin's Creed did so well in the beginning was this blend of Historical game play with a modern day component. The basic story is that your DNA has memories in it and a company is using those memories to find these artifacts from an ancient alien race that would give them the power to control the world. So each game is a different time period and the modern day pushes this "Assassin vs. Templar" story line. So each game, the Templars have been the bad guys who want control and the Assassin's are working for free will. Cool, this game has that... kinda. The Templars and the Modern day game play are so much an after though that you don't even interact with the Templars for the most part until the second act, and the modern day appears to be optional (I have 99% of the game complete and am only missing some collectables which don't matter for the story). I don't think the game would have cared if I missed some modern day glitches, but either way they were just telling me a story with pictures. I feel like it is a waste of content. It didn't drive the overall war between the two elements forward. Just some esoteric argument about the ability for humans to make their own choices.

As for the historical story, it follows a relatively truthful story with some additional elements. Yasuke is a real person and his story line in the game is my favorite part of the game. It felt real, like a man trying to find his place in the world when he has been a slave and is now a free-ish man. Naoe on the other hand just feels like she is stumbling into the right place at the right time. Starts on a revenge mission and at some point decides revenge isn't needed, but protection of the people is. She was never raised to be part of the creed and so a lot of that mission isn't pressed upon her so it feels like a forced plot point rather than a natural commentary of her person.

My Rating

The Assassin's Creed games are my favorite games other than the Mass Effect series. I have enjoyed playing all the games for what they were, and this game was almost one of my favorite. It is a great return to from honestly with an ability to turn on instant assassinations. What hurts it is the lack of attention to detail for the story. I am very tired of not being part of the Creed for the main character. That is the main complaint alongside with the modern day. Because of this, I am going to have to say that this is "Worth a playthough."

Parental Rating

There is obviously a lot of violence. I mean the game is called "Assassin's Creed." There is no language, and the romance options are basically just leading to kissing. The morality that the game is working to instill might be something that my parents would appreciate. I should ask them.

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