Assassin's Creed Shadows review: "More confidence, texture, and purpose than we've seen since Assassin's Creed pivoted into RPG territory"

For as long as Assassin's Creed has existed, fans have fantasized about Ubisoft taking its stealth-action series to feudal Japan. Beneath the sheer weight of expectation, of players spending nearly two decades wondering how the setting could (or more perilously, should) work, Assassin's Creed Shadows would be well within its right to collapse under the strain.

Instead, Ubisoft shoulders that burden with more confidence, texture, and purpose we've seen since Assassin's Creed pivoted into RPG territory. There's ambition here – along with the risk-taking needed to realize it – and although Assassin's Creed Shadows can at times still feel too familiar, it proves more than worth the wait.

Double act

Set in the late 1500s, Assassin's Creed Shadows follows two protagonists – samurai Yasuke and shinobi Naoe – who team up to dismantle the Shinbakufu, a group of anonymous power brokers attempting to seize control of Japan. The bulk of the story revolves around unmasking and assassinating these targets, and is largely non-linear. You can choose to investigate one target before another – though a lack of level-scaling means it's easier to start with lower-level regions and work from there – and similarly decide whether to play as Yasuke and Naoe, who you can pause and switch between at will.

From a mechanical perspective, the dual protagonist system is executed phenomenally. Both characters have vastly different strengths and weaknesses, which become increasingly important to keep in mind as the game gets more challenging.. Yasuke is a powerhouse in combat, capable of taking on entire garrisons, but watching the samurai pull himself over a short fence is hard to watch. Naoe is the opposite – she's far more fragile, but much better at stealth and parkour.

These differences make for an especially rich dynamic, where you'll switch between both protagonists based on what each mission calls for. My time in Assassin's Creed Shadows was split evenly between both – I'd play Naoe to pull off slick assassinations in heavily-guarded castles that would be tricky to fight through head-on, then tag in Yasuke for tasks where open combat seemed likely. By divesting players' skills across two separate characters, Ubisoft is able to confidently lean into both the series' stealthy roots and the RPG-style combat that came later without sacrificing one or the other.

Combat itself is the best it's ever been in Assassin's Creed. Fighting as Yasuke, whether trading blows with a long katana or lopping off arms with a naginata, carries serious heft; while keeping crowds at bay with Naoe's kusarigama (essentially a sickle and ball on a chain) almost makes it worth getting spotted by soldiers. Moving as either can be a little janky – you'll randomly half-climb a wall mid-fight or clip into enemy attacks during a fight at times – but parkouring as Naoe is far more fluid, thanks in part to a grappling hook that lets her scale buildings and otherwise-unclimbable walls.

Yasuke and Naoe's individual drawbacks are just as important as their strengths. Because no one character can do anything, there's a level of reactivity and emergence that's been sorely lacking in Assassin's Creed's do-it-all approach. Some of my most memorable moments have come from fumbling stealth as Naoe and having to scrappily fight through to the merchant I planned on sneakily knifing, or fumbling stealth as Yasuke (there's a theme here) because the samurai's clunky tip-toeing turns heads from a mile away.

This freewheeling nature clashes with the narrative, though. Yasuke and Naoe's personal storylines are largely standalone, as is each Shinbakufu member's investigation, which means you're bouncing between 10-plus smaller storylines rather than sticking with one cohesive story. There are moments of excellence: Yasuke's revenge epic is deliciously spaghetti Western in tone, and the protagonists have fantastic chemistry when they're together. A handful of pivotal scenes even trade the game's instrumental score for Japanese folk and rock tracks, creating a sense of stylish personality we've never really seen from the series before.

But the overarching plot treads water for the majority of its 30-40 hour runtime and, by its end, fails to bring its loose threads together in a satisfying manner. An open ending doesn't feel earned, and rather than a meaningful conclusion for either protagonist, you're left with a sneaking suspicion that Shadows isn't done with your wallet just yet.

Likewise, Yasuke and Naoe's stories never quite come together. It's a real shame, because their moments together – whether in cloud-gazing conversations, late-night sake binges, or fawning at baby tanukis – make up some of Shadows' best bits. The same can be said for pursuing romance (each character gets their own suitors) and completing allies' personal quests – sneaking through castles and stabbing samurai is the grisly meat of Shadows, but it's these human elements that give it meaning.

Even Ubisoft's signature open world fare has a lot more purpose than we've seen before. The hideout system from Assassin's Creed Valhalla returns here, although it's closer in scope to a feudal Animal Crossing than the relatively passive village-building of Ravensthorpe. You're given free reign and a generously-sized plot of land: buildings can be placed wherever you like, and include a mix of practical facilities – like a forge for upgrading gear, or a dojo for training allies who can be called to help in a fight – along with purely decorative options. You can also keep any animals you pet (or stop to paint) in the wider world, which – if you're anything like me – results in housing more akitas than assassins.

All of the hideout's buildings and decorations are pricey though, and require sourcing building materials from less-deserving hands. This can range from sweeping up bundles of crops at makeshift bandit camps, to taking on optional contracts to pilfer wood from well-guarded forts. Similar resources are also used to upgrade your weapons, which in turn is necessary for tackling higher-level missions and castles – the latest (and excellent) iteration of Ubisoft's signature outpost-clearing shenanigans. Assassinating the samurai daisho leaders of these castles (and plundering their storehouses) as Naoe is sublime – arguably the best stealth sequences Assassin's Creed has ever put out – as the risk of being spotted and dragged into a bad fight means you have to put real thought into your every movement.

At a bigger picture, there's a nice level of interconnectedness to Shadows' optional busybodying. Skill trees for each protagonist are gradually unlocked by earning Knowledge, which is in turn gathered by completing minigames and side activities scattered through Japan – these can range from completing horseback archery courses to practicing martial arts and visiting shrines. Knowledge is a fantastic nudge for making you engage with the world at a livelier level – something the series' past RPGs haven't quite managed before – but a limited amount of activities means they can feel a little repetitive and chorelike after a while.

Wanderlust

Still, Assassin's Creed Shadows' world is the most animated the series has ever been. Most quest objectives are actively obscured, and instead of a precise location you're given tips – some more helpful than others – leading to their general area. From there, you can choose to send scouts from the hideout to narrow down your search, or look for yourself.

It's another surprisingly bold splash of friction for Ubisoft, pushing you to interact with Shadows rather than merely sling from one waypoint to the next. During one such search I was distracted by a bandana-clad shiba inu charging around a village, while its beleaguered owner called for it several streets over. Did it help the investigation, or start a side quest? No and no – but 30-odd hours later, I'm still thinking about that village and the shibe's reign of terror.

Japan is also the perfect setting for photo mode devotees. Exploring off-road is difficult due to the country's mountainous terrain (the game recommends you travel via paths), but it makes for some thoroughly stunning views – you'll ogle every syrupy golden sunset, and savor each horseback ride through the forest. Seasons also change while you're playing, meaning a rich red canopy you pass beneath in autumn may be draped in twinkling snow come winter.

These seasons also have practical purposes – scouts are replenished with their changing, provinces where you're wanted by authorities will forget about you, and moats will freeze over in the cold, as examples – but they're largely just beautiful set dressing, the sort of visual treat comparable to the likes of Red Dead Redemption 2's sweeping Americana or Ghost of Tsushima's own rendition of Japan.

Seasons are indicative of a much broader statement – Assassin's Creed Shadows wants to do it all. It wants to be the shinobi fantasy as much as the samurai fantasy. The cherry blossoms and the snow. There's an examination of Ubisoft's formula here, a lunge toward the texture that's reshaped RPGs in recent years, but the studio's moreish open world formula is still there. Not every idea comes together neatly, and two phenomenal protagonists feel wasted on a lackluster story, but this is a titan in the same leagues as series staples Assassin's Creed 2 and Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag – and Ubisoft's best RPG to date.

Before diving into feudal Japan, check out our ranking of the best Assassin's Creed games in order