By Giving Players A Choice, Assassin's Creed Shadows Undermined Its Best Idea

It’s been a year since Assassin’s Creed Shadows launched, and I’m still thinking about it. My opinion on what the game is remains largely unchanged–I’ve talked about this at length in both my Assassin’s Creed Shadows review and Claws of Awaji DLC review–but if I could take a moment to talk about what Shadows isn’t, I fervently have one wish. Shadows’ best idea, that it tells its story via a split perspective, should have been pushed further. In fact, that should have been the entire focus of the game’s second act–I want Act 2 to have solely been about two distinct characters growing simultaneously, and perpetually being unable to see eye-to-eye with one another while still unified in a shared purpose.

Shadows has two playable protagonists: the shinobi Naoe and the samurai Yasuke. The former is fictional, native to Japan, and driven by vengeance; while the latter is a real person from history, an African outsider, and motivated by duty. The point is that they’re very different people, reinforced by differing playstyles–Naoe primarily relies on subterfuge and stealth, while Yasuke is geared toward excelling in open combat as a powerful warrior. Save for specific missions, Shadows allows you to freely switch between the two as you explore 16th-century Japan.

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