The creative director of Assassin's Creed Shadows says that the decision to feature two distinct characters is part of the Assassin's Creed fandom's desire for two different types of main character.
In an interview with GamesRadar+, Jonathon Dumont explained why Assassin's Creed Shadows characters Yasuke and Naoe have such different ability sets, pointing to Assassin's Creed Syndicate for his answer. That game, also developer by Shadows main studio Ubisoft Quebec, was the first to feature the dual-character archetype that appears in this new game.
"In Syndicate," Dumont explains, "what we set up is to have banter between different types of assassins. The two twins are bickering at each other and it's a cool vibe. They were a little different but not that much in playstyle." When it comes to Shadows, however, the duality of its characters "was driven at first not necessarily by the story, but a little bit more the gameplay."
In making an Assassin's Creed game set in Japan, Dumont reveals that it was the need for specific character archetypes that helped create Yasuke and Naoe - "we wanted a shinobi archetype, a ninja," he says, but it was also clear that the game would need a samurai archetype.
"But marrying the two on top of each other sort of diluted both fantasies," he says. "So we tried to make it their own. We really wanted to have the ninja fantasy - you climb everywhere, you have gadgets, you throw kunai, and then you stay in the dark, you're really spry, you have a grappling hook. But once you get in combat, you can get overwhelmed." As a samurai, clearly Yasuke has very few of those tools at his disposal, but instead, Dumont describes his playstyle as "the opposite" of Naoe's - "Samurai kicks the front door in, is a super-warrior."
But the need for those two different types of characters doesn't just stem from Syndicate. Dumont explains that it's also linked to the overall brand, and how it shifted with Assassin's Creed Origins. "Earlier on, it was much more of a parkour and assassination and stealth-driven game, and then with Origins, we had a lot more combat." That was also the case in Valhalla, and it means that now, "we have fans of both." That means, hopefully, "have fans that will all like what's done in Shadows," because fans of the Period 1 games - from the original game to Syndicate - and Period 2 - from Origins onwards - should all find a playstyle they like in Yasuke or Naoe.
You can find out more about those playstyles in our big Assassin's Creed Shadows preview.
