Thanks to a renewed focus on the core concepts that the series was originally built upon, Assassin’s Creed Shadows delivers the most satisfying experience the franchise has offered in years. The game features the best parkour system since Unity, allowing you to seamlessly transition from the ground to castle rooftops. The addition of a grappling hook further enhances your ability to reach prime vantage points swiftly. Perched on a tightrope high above your enemies, you're just a drop away from executing the perfect kill—as long as you're playing as Naoe, that is. Switch to Yasuke, the game's second protagonist, and you're in for a completely different experience.
Yasuke is slow, clumsy, and unable to kill silently. His climbing abilities are reminiscent of a cautious grandparent, making him a stark contrast to the typical Assassin’s Creed protagonist. This design choice by Ubisoft is both baffling and fascinating, as playing as Yasuke feels like stepping away from the traditional Assassin’s Creed experience.
Initially, the significant difference between Yasuke’s capabilities and the series' core philosophy was frustrating. What's the point of an Assassin’s Creed protagonist who struggles to climb and can't perform silent takedowns? However, the more I played as him, the more I appreciated the unique perspective he brings. Yasuke's design, while flawed, addresses critical issues that the series has grappled with in recent years.
You don't get to play as Yasuke until several hours into the campaign, after spending your initial time with Naoe, a swift shinobi who embodies the "assassin" aspect of Assassin’s Creed better than any protagonist in a decade. Transitioning to Yasuke after mastering Naoe's fluid movements is jarring. This towering samurai is too large and noisy to sneak through enemy camps effectively and can barely climb anything higher than his own head. His inability to find handholds on Japan's jutting roofs and his slow, precarious movement on rooftops introduce a sense of friction. Scaling environments becomes a chore, often requiring scaffolding and ladders to make any significant progress.
While this doesn't force Yasuke to stay at ground level, it certainly encourages it, limiting his access to high vantage points and making it difficult to map out threats and plan accordingly. Unlike Naoe, who can rely on Eagle Vision, Yasuke has no such advantage. Choosing to play as him means sacrificing almost everything except raw strength.
Assassin's Creed has always been about stealthy kills and vertical exploration, concepts that Yasuke directly opposes. Playing as him feels more akin to Ghost of Tsushima than Assassin’s Creed, especially given his lack of stealth training and reliance on samurai sword skills. Yasuke's gameplay is centered around fierce combat, a feature that Tsushima is celebrated for and Assassin’s Creed often criticized for.
Playing as Yasuke challenges you to rethink how to approach Assassin’s Creed. Historically, the series has allowed players to climb anywhere effortlessly, akin to Spider-Man with a knife. Yasuke changes this dynamic. While many areas are beyond his reach, careful observation reveals hidden pathways designed specifically for him. For example, a leaning tree trunk can lead to a sync point otherwise inaccessible without a grappling hook, or a castle's open window on the second floor can be reached via a staircase-like arrangement on the courtyard's exterior wall. These paths are more engaging to discover than the mindless scrambles of past games.
However, these pathways only take Yasuke where he needs to go, limiting his freedom for general exploration and making it challenging to gain the high ground to observe enemy patrol patterns. Yasuke's stealth capabilities are limited to the "Brutal Assassination" skill, which is anything but subtle, involving impaling an enemy on his sword, lifting them off the ground, and yelling. It's more of an opening move for combat than a stealth takedown. Yet, when combat ensues, it's exhilarating. Shadows features the best swordplay Assassin’s Creed has seen in over a decade, with purposeful strikes and a variety of techniques, from brutal rush attacks to satisfying ripostes. Finishing moves are graphically intense, creating a stark contrast to Naoe's stealthy approach.
The separation of combat and stealth into two distinct characters prevents the blending of styles seen in Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, where direct conflict often overshadowed stealth. In Shadows, Naoe's fragility means she can't engage in prolonged combat, forcing players to flee, reposition, and reset the stealth loop. Yasuke, on the other hand, offers a break from this tension with his combat prowess, making him an enticing choice for those seeking intense battles, especially as his skill tree unlocks over time.
Yasuke's design is intentional, yet it's challenging to reconcile with the core tenets of Assassin’s Creed—stealthy kills and vertical exploration. While characters like Bayek and Eivor ventured too far into action territory, they still retained the fundamental abilities of an Assassin’s Creed protagonist. Yasuke, as a samurai, is thematically appropriate in his lack of stealth and climbing skills, but this means you can't play Assassin’s Creed in the traditional sense when controlling him.
The real challenge for Yasuke is his counterpart, Naoe. Mechanically, she is the best Assassin’s Creed protagonist in years. Her stealth toolkit, combined with the verticality of Sengoku Period Japan's architecture, fulfills the promise of Assassin’s Creed: becoming a highly mobile silent killer. Naoe also benefits from the design changes that shape Yasuke, requiring players to assess climbing routes and find anchor points for her grappling hook, yet she can leap further and climb faster. Her combat flow is as ruthlessly violent and impactful as Yasuke's, though she can't endure battle as long. This raises the question: why play as Yasuke when Naoe offers a more complete Assassin’s Creed experience?
AnswerSee ResultsUbisoft's intent to offer two distinct playstyles with Yasuke and Naoe is admirable, yet it creates a double-edged sword. Yasuke's unique approach provides a compelling contrast to the traditional Assassin’s Creed experience, but it also opposes the core ideas that make the series unique in the open-world genre. While I'll always return to Yasuke for the thrill of his combat, it's through Naoe's eyes that I'll truly explore Shadows' world. Because when I play as Naoe, I feel like I'm playing Assassin’s Creed.
