I loved exploring Assassin's Creed Shadows' rendition of Japan. It's highly detailed and feels alive, with bustling towns and villages and dynamic weather that I found incredibly atmospheric and immersive. But it's also absolutely jam-packed with stuff. In some regions, it's difficult for Naoe and Yasuke to go one hundred meters or so without coming across a quest NPC, settlement, or some other open world activity.
The sheer variety of things to do and see in Assassin's Creed Shadows is both a blessing and a curse. I love how little activities and side quests share little morsels of feudal Japan's culture, but blend it all with the usual dialogue systems, quest choices, skill points, upgradeable gear, and even base management, and it's a lot to wrap your head around. If you're just getting into Assassin's Creed Shadows, do as I say and not as I do by letting me take you through some of our excellent guides that will help you master the ways of the Kakushiba Ikki.
The Assassin's Creed Shadows basics
As soon as you begin a new game, you're presented with options like Assassin's Creed Shadows Canon Mode and Assassin's Creed Shadows Immersive Mode, letting you decide some core elements of the game's presentation right from the start – the former effectively removing any semblance of choice from the game for a more linear experience and the latter forcing most NPCs to speak in their native language (good for fans of subs and not dubs).
Thankfully, the game itself begins with a relatively simple, if a bit lengthy, tutorial, but if you've chosen to keep Canon Mode off, it's a good idea to learn about the various Assassin's Creed Shadows dialogue symbols as early as possible. Starting as Yasuke, you'll be introduced to the key players in the story, as well as the central conflict when you switch to playing as Naoe. Find out how to retrieve the box in Assassin's Creed Shadows – your first stealth assassination mission – and you'll then meet the devious Shinbakufu gang.
There are no Assassin's Creed Shadows multiplayer modes, so you can't have other players joining you in your revenge mission, and Assassin's Creed Shadows isn't on Game Pass either.
After some more tutorial and prologue business, you'll eventually be let out into the rest of the world as Naoe, which is where you'll realise how bloody massive the Assassin's Creed Shadows map is and that this is only an hour or so into the game (if you're wondering how long it takes to beat Assassin's Creed Shadows, we've got you covered). At this point, it's a good idea to start by finding all the nearby Makinoodera Temple lost pages for an easy Knowledge Point and pay attention to our Assassin's Creed Shadows tips as these will help you a lot from this point on.
Make sure you also know how those previously mentioned Assassin's Creed Shadows Knowledge Points and Assassin's Creed Shadows Mastery Points work as you should have earned at least one of each by now. Earning both is crucial to upgrading Naoe and Yasuke's combat prowess across their many skill trees, and if you want some pointers for where to spend your points, be sure to check out our guide on the best Assassin's Creed Shadows skills for Naoe and Yasuke.
At this point, you might also be wondering when you get to play as Yasuke, but switching characters in Assassin's Creed Shadows doesn't come until a fair bit later. You've got to complete quite a lengthy quest chain as Naoe first, but it's good to know Naoe and Yasuke's differences for when you do eventually get to play as the super samurai. Yasuke's style is very different to Naoe's and I was not prepared for how un-stealthy he is.
The Assassin's Creed Shadows hideout explained
Speaking of Naoe's quest, there's still a bit of personal admin for her to do before you can begin her quest properly, namely establishing a base of operations with Tomiko – the Assassin's Creed Shadows Hideout. This is where the game throws in some light base management mechanics, which appear complicated but are actually quite simple.
The most important part of the Hideout is that you can construct and upgrade various functional buildings to grant passive benefits and sometimes special features. I wish I had completed the early Way of the Blacksmith quest in Sakai much sooner as it unlocks the Forge building, which is how you upgrade weapons and armor in Assassin's Creed Shadows – but bear in mind you'll need special crafting resources and Assassin's Creed Shadows money, or Mon, to pay for these upgrades. Constructing Hideout buildings also requires specific resources, so you'll need to farm Assassin's Creed Shadows Hideout Resources as you play, with Assassin's Creed Shadows scouts being the best method for that by far.
What to do after the hideout in Assassin's Creed Shadows
With the Hideout established, you can finally venture all over the Izumi Settsu region, including the towns of Sakai, Osaka, and Amagasaki. Assassin's Creed Shadows seasons should also come into play from here, unexpectedly changing the environment and weather as you complete various quests – it's a mechanic that I honestly found a bit confusing at first, mainly regarding when seasons change as it's both based on your actions and an in-game timer.
As you explore these towns, you can follow quest leads for two of Naoe's targets – the Golden Teppo and The Wounded. As part of these quest chains, you'll be visiting all sorts of locations across the towns and their environs, so make sure you're spending your Mon on Kakurega fast travel points whenever possible and prepare to face the following sticking points:
That final quest can also affect how you recruit Yaya in Assassin's Creed Shadows, letting her join the Hideout as one of several Assassin's Creed Shadows Allies. These potential companion characters can be found as part of quests and recruited to the Hideout, and some of them can even be Assassin's Creed Shadows romance options for Naoe or Yasuke.
What to do in Izumi Settsu
As you wonder around Japan, you might come across some NPCs who ask you curious questions, so you might want to have the Assassin's Creed Shadows riddle answers ready.
With at least one Naoe's first two targets defeated, you should be directed to the Yamashiro region and Kyoto with a new quest, but there's plenty more that I recommend you do in Izumi Settsu first. If you've taken down the Wounded but not the Golden Teppo, I recommend doing so as this target grants Naoe an excellent tanto weapon – arguably one of the best Assassin's Creed Shadows weapons, in fact. Strike Katano Castle and Takatsuki Castle too and loot their main chests so that Naoe can don some of the best Assassin's Creed Shadows armor too.
Hopefully, you used Naoe's stealth skills to acquire most of this gear without much trouble, but it's possible that you've been branded with Wanted status – this isn't always a huge problem, depending on where you are, but not being wanted is obviously preferrable, so make sure you know how to remove wanted Status in Assassin's Creed Shadows. There are also loads of side quests and activities to undertake in the region, helping you level up and increase your Knowledge Rank to prepare for the harder regions around the map:
If you're looking for even more extracurricular assassin activities, there are also Assassin's Creed Shadows Projects from the Animus, but you're not missing out on much by avoiding these.
The AC Shadows Butterfly Collector mission is a lucrative way to get some easy Mastery Points. Just as long as you can find all the insects in question.
With that, you should now be ready to head up to the Yamashiro region and Kyoto for the next targets on Naoe's hit list. As part of this, you'll need to take on the Assassin's Creed Shadows Belly of the Beast quest, which will eventually lead to you finally taking control of Yasuke. At this point, you may have also upgraded your Forge sufficiently and acquired some decent Legendary gear that you can upgrade and improve further thanks to Assassin's Creed Shadows engravings.
As mentioned, Assassin's Creed Shadows is a huge game, and unlocking Yasuke sort of feels like the point at which the game begins properly, despite how far in that can happen. But, if you've been following along, you should now be set up nicely to take on the rest of this shinobi and samurai tale. And if you enjoy it enough, you can do it all over again thanks to Assassin's Creed Shadows NG+!
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