I've played 40 hours of Assassin's Creed Shadows, so please learn from my biggest mistake and pay attention to Knowledge

Open worlds are a blessing and a curse. You're free to explore at will, hoovering up whatever side quests and collectables tickle your fancy at any given moment, but there is a lot vying for your attention. Assassin's Creed Shadows is no exception. Is the main story taking me to a new region? Cool! I'll get right on that – let me just help this group of polite farmers, clear six bandit camps, and climb every single tower along the way.

But some of Assassin's Creed Shadows' activities are designed to be done as you find them, rather than in one hectic binge. Knowledge points – used to unlock higher tiers of skills for both Naoe and Yasuke – are gained from interacting with the world in a few different ways. However you end up gathering Knowledge, take it from me: it's something you'll want to stay on top of before you need it, not after.

Clown college

As you may have already gathered, I'm a bit of a procrastinator. If you dangle shiny things – in Shadows' case, uncompleted map icons – in front of me, I will veer helplessly toward them without quite realizing I'm doing it. Unfortunately, some of those icons tend to be a little bit more exciting than others (side quests!) or have more immediate rewards (castles) than activities that need to be completed for Knowledge.

To be clear: I do enjoy the latter tasks. They come in all shapes and sizes, with some intractable only as Naoe and others as Yasuke. Naoe can meditate in scenic spots or complete certain parkour challenges, while Yasuke practices martial arts with experienced practitioners and completes horse archery trials. Both of them can also gain Knowledge by visiting various temples, shrines, and tomb-like Kofuns. When it's laid out like that, it may seem obvious that Knowledge is intended to be collected while you're out chasing more pressing matters. But it's all-too easy to sideline, and when that takes hold, unlocking new skill tiers feels a lot like work.

Over the 40-plus hours I've played in Assassin's Creed Shadows, there have been a handful of moments where I've realized how woefully behind I am in leveling Yasuke and Naoe's perks. Unlocking new tiers requires a lot of Knowledge (another sign you're not meant to do it in one go), which for me, kicked off several gluts of shrine-binging and not-so-relaxing meditation sessions to earn fancy double-assassinations and new naginata techniques.

As all of Knowledge's activities are pointedly lower-stakes than the world's other offerings, it gets grindy very quickly. Even with so many options for getting points, they very quickly blur into one big capital-c Chore. Shrines stop becoming gorgeous feats of architecture to ogle – instead, scenery to skim over with Eagle Vision to see what you're there for – and fumbling meditation's quick-time event ironically becomes extra frustrating when you know there are several more waiting to clear.

In short: don't play Assassin's Creed Shadows like I did. As tempting as it is to careen between map markers, treat Ubisoft's latest open-world like a tourist. Stop and pray at shrines to enjoy the moment – go on, take a screenshot while you're there – and take a spontaneous adventure at the next Kofun you find. See where a Hidden Trail takes Naoe, or try out a horse archery trial if only to hear Yasuke blame the sun or an off day when you come up a few points short of perfection. This way, you'll end up with plenty of Knowledge when you need it most – and better yet, you'll have a lot more fun engaging with Shadows' world.

This is how I've been playing since rolling credits on Shadows, and Knowledge has felt so much better. I've even unlocked a whole new tier of skills for Yasuke and Naoe without realizing, which feels like being rewarded for doing nothing – in hindsight, exactly how Knowledge is meant to work. After spending years wishing Assassin's Creed would make its open-world offerings feel more natural, I completely fumbled getting to enjoy Shadows doing just that. Learn from my mistakes – savor the adventure, and you'll find the journey beats an otherwise very grindy destination.

We've ranked the best Assassin's Creed games - how close does our list line up with yours?