Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Shadows from Japan

Scenarios of this kind have always inspired the creative minds of writers, screenwriters, and video game programmers, who, plunging headlong into the eternal battle between good and evil, always find interesting ideas. Assassin’s Creed, at the time of its release (and we’re talking about a full 17 years ago, an eternity in video game terms), caused quite a stir for introducing gray characters, difficult to distinguish as good or bad, protagonists of dynamic adventures where stealth and well-thought-out strategies triumphed over reckless and unjustified assaults.

A halfway point between present and past, with a subtle but palpable glance toward a dystopian and far from rosy future, the saga has allowed us to travel truly anywhere and in any era, from the Templars to the pirate raids of Port Royale, passing through the guillotines of the French Revolution all the way to even testing the blades of mighty Viking axes. It was only a matter of time before Ubisoft decided to conquer the eastern shores of the Land of the Rising Sun: Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, coming out on 15 November 2024 for Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X, is in fact set in Japan, in an era as turbulent as it is fascinating. Setting the stage for the story of the samurai Yosuke are the constant and grueling battles between the feudal domains that dotted the entire country: we find ourselves in the Sengoku era, the dark renewal in the name of blood and modernity that will culminate in the famous battle of Sekigahara is at hand.

Yosuke and Naoe, skilled and deadly kunoichi, as well as extremely fast, will become unlikely allies as the plot unfolds, still rather nebulous despite trailers and gameplay sections shown at various trade fairs and industry shows.

What we know for certain is that Ubisoft, for its fourteenth iteration of perhaps the longest-running franchise in its history as a producer, seems intent on going big: adopting a broad perspective like its more illustrious “rival” predecessor, namely the already legendary Ghost of Tsushima, the player will be able to tackle its single-player campaign by following the main storyline amid betrayals, dusk duels, and the Assassin’s Creed that has never been so rigid and at the same time so captivating, or head toward peripheral areas, woods adjacent to villages burdened by crushing taxes and manifest poverty, and try to carry out side quests for the local people by defeating bandits and recovering resources for the support of women and children.

Even the course of the seasons, changeable by definition, will greatly influence the story and approach to these quests of the Yosuke-Naoe duo, an element that I think has a special charm, as well as a narrative value of considerable impact: the main storyline thus presents itself as substantial and far-reaching.

Shadows but has other arrows in its quiver for us: the management of the bases where we will recruit and train spies and warriors will be entirely up to us, filling, in the intentions of the Canadians at Ubisoft, the “managerial” gap that has always been a weakness of the saga, despite the feeble attempts with Brotherhood and the fourth pirate chapter.

I caught a glimpse in the official footage shown so far of a respectable arsenal of weapons available to Yosuke and Naoe. The reproductions of katana, shuriken, and daikatana appear decidedly faithful, and praise is due for the choice of arming the kunoichi with the kusarigama, an exceptional and spectacular medium-range weapon that, I am sure, will make the clashes exceptional and fun.

Whether it be the shadows, at last, that bring light to the new initiates of the Creed?