I need everyone to know about the hidden cat island in Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Cat islands aren't too uncommon in real-world Japan. The cat populations in places like Aoshima and Tashirojima sometimes even outnumber the human populations, adorably, and in its commitment to rendering Feudal Japan in all of its meowtastic glory, Ubisoft recreated one specific location.
Japan's Okishima Island, sometimes referred to Town of Cats, is fully in Assassin's Creed Shadows. If you venture out to the Omi region and swim to the island northwest of Azuchi, you'll be greeted by the sweet sounds of purrs and meows and biscuit-making. And, amazingly, the island is located in Lake Biwa, just like its real-life counterpart.
I'd recommend making a trip down there as Naoe and Yasuke, since both heroes have their own unique pet animations. Or you can just enjoy watching them nap by the water in peace. If you do decide to shake some hands, though, you can even recruit the animals into your very own hideout and create another cat island. (This paragraph alone is making a very good case for GOTY.)
It's not hard to see why Assassin's Creed Shadows is outperforming some of its other RPG siblings with two million players in two days, then. Ubisoft say the game's enjoyed a better launch than Assassin's Creed Origins and Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the latter of which also had a strong cat disposition on account of it being set on Mediterranean islands, of course. I can sense a common theme here. (If you want your game to be successful, just up the slider that says 'Cats'.)
Assassin's Creed Shadows dev says "it's not a documentary," and Ubisoft is "not trying to show Japan from a very clinical or an overriding stereotypical view"
