Assassin's Creed Shadows is a rare instance where the trite phrase "it has something for everyone" is true. Shadows combines the openness of Odyssey and Valhalla with the urban density and verticality of classic Assassin's Creed. Sneaking through dangerous situations or powering through every enemy in sight are both viable options. Historical fiction and Assassin's Creed's modern sci-fi fantasy get equal treatment, and there's much more storytelling than usual. On paper, it sounds like Shadows tries too much, but after spending four hours with a demo version, it seems like that approach is the best thing Ubisoft could have done for the series.
Shadows takes place in 16th-century Japan during a series of political and military crises stemming from Japanese warlord and conqueror Oda Nobunaga's attempt to unify the country under his rule. Foreign interference is rife, and local landowners and rulers seek any opportunity to advance their own claims. Into this complex tangle of machinations step Shadows' two protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke.
Yasuke -- who begins Shadows as Diogo, a slave to Portuguese priests -- impresses Nobunaga with his open-mindedness and combat training and eventually joins his army as a samurai. The prologue sees them lay waste to a nearby settlement holding out against Nobunaga's attempts to unify Japan, and then the story shifts perspectives to Naoe. She's a commoner training as a shinobi and rushes to aid her father and the defenders of a village Nobunaga's forces are attacking. Naoe's father sends her to recover a box that shadowy forces want to steal and gives her a hidden hand blade -- the series' signature weapon that belongs only to members of a secret assassin order -- as a key to unlock its resting place. Things don't turn out well for either of them.
The two disparate stories tie together in some way not shown during the preview session, but even with the theatrics and silly conspiracies behind Naoe's story, the portion of Shadows that Ubisoft showed is more concerned with how the machinations of people in positions of authority affect those around them and shape Yasuke's and Naoe's missions. The demo's Harima section, for example, follows a complicated power struggle between a region's leader, his military advisor and the minor nobles meant to support them, in addition to how those struggles spill over into their personal lives.
Shadows handled these moments well, balancing tension and drama without the campiness some of the series' past entries often fall into. There's plenty of melodrama throughout, of course, with betrayals, extended sequences where someone's family member dies tragically, and even an ambush by a shrine maiden-turned-ninja assassin. Shadows just makes sure it's more grounded than usual, particularly during pivotal moments. The final mission's climax felt dangerous and unpredictable, even though the branching narrative choices it offered seemed to have little influence over what happened.
Whatever openness to influence the story Shadows may or may not offer in the final version, it affords the player freedom in everything else. Ubisoft often receives criticism for its approach to open-world design. Modern Assassin's Creed and Far Cry games fill overly large maps -- and the screen -- with unmissable icons for quests, treasure, points of interest and dozens of other things to do, blurring the lines between completing objectives and ticking chores off a task list. Assassin's Creed Shadows has its share of map icons, but is less likely to overwhelm players thanks to a new set of interface options that control how much information, if any, appears. Turning objectives off and exploring just with curiosity and a good sense of direction is entirely possible, and if things get too open, Shadows lets players switch on markers and other aids whenever they want.
The best example of how these methods turn open-world drudgery into something more enjoyable is in Assassin's Creed Shadows' investigation missions. Yasuke and Naoe will have to gather information about a target before moving in to question or apprehend them. They can use scouts they recruit to find intel for them and pinpoint locations or pick it up themselves by talking to others, listening in on conversations and doing a bit of deduction work. There's no penalty or extra bonus for taking either approach, so if things get too complicated, there's no harm in turning objectives back on and getting help from scouts.
Shadows lets its world be unknown and -- more than occasionally, thanks to Shadows' striking visual design -- even fills it with a sense of wonder. Sketching a heron as it stretches on a riverbank or watching raindrops pelt a forest canopy is just as rewarding as finding a temple hidden away off the road or discovering some useful piece of equipment. Granted, Shadows still gamifies most of these things. Sketching wildlife gives Yasuke knowledge points, for example, which he uses to learn new skills, but making these little discoveries unaided makes them feel special anyway.
It adopts a similarly open approach to stealth and combat. Any scenario lets players choose between Naoe or Yasuke, though the selection is locked during combat and story-essential missions, and Ubisoft designed encounters to unfold smoothly regardless of choice. The demo ends with the duo infiltrating a castle and apprehending a rebel, and while the mission layout is the same regardless of the chosen protagonist, the way through it changes drastically.
The castle's layout and its guards' routines force Naoe to use her stealth tools and Shadows' new parkour skills in strategic ways. She can run up walls, use a grappling hook to reach distant hiding spots, distract enemies with noises and use the cover of a smoke bomb to vanish, then hide underwater and pop out at the right moment to incapacitate a sentry -- and every action feels smooth and natural. It's a welcome change, after the staleness of Assassin's Creed Mirage's stealth routines and clunkiness of its controls.
Then there's Yasuke. Where Naoe can run up walls, he can barely pull himself over a small ledge -- understandable, given the hefty set of armor he's wearing. That means hiding and unseen jaunts across rooftops are out of the question, and his method of problem-solving is closer to Eivor's in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Violence is Yasuke's answer, and Ubisoft gave him several tools to aid that. Yasuke uses swords and a kanabo -- a large club studded with spikes -- but he also gets an early modern musket (that's horribly inaccurate in the most historically accurate way possible) and a bow and arrow. That's in addition to a set of special skills, such as a shove that sends enemies flying several feet and a powerful rushing attack that's just as useful for repositioning Yasuke as it is for handling crowds of enemies.
The most impressive thing so far about these different playstyles is how expertly it seems Ubisoft designed Shadows' missions. Tempting as it may sound to avoid stealth and opt for a straightforward brawl in every situation, certain areas make it easy for enemies to overwhelm him and reward a sneakier approach. It lets players experiment and find what works for them in a way previous Assassin's Creed games -- and most of Ubisoft's open-world games in general -- just can't, though how novel all of this will still feel after seeing it play out across the game's many other regions remains to be seen.
Assassin's Creed Shadows launches on March 20, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.