Assassin's Creed Shadows evolves on Syndicate's twin dynamic: "It would have been better if we pushed the two characters much further apart"

The flash of a kunai as it extinguishes a lamp. The careful movement, crawling through long grass on elbows and knees to remain out of sight. Taking advantage of a sudden heavy shower of rain to turn slow steps into a sprint into a knife-in-the-dark assassination. Assassin's Creed Shadows feels like the series at the peak of stealth.

Brutal assassinations that have you yell to attract attention just before the kill. Running full pelt to smash down wooden doors. Using a teppo gun, massive kanabo club, or a samurai sword to dismember foes. Switching weapons mid-combo. Assassin's Creed Shadows can also feel like the least stealthy entry.

One or the other? Not quite. It may be stealthier and bloodier than the series has ever been before, but Assassin's Creed Shadows is at its best when it's both things at once – each side of the coin complimenting each other. Rather than simply providing two disparate options, Ubisoft Quebec has been careful to craft two characters that feel unique with their own specialities, but also their own disadvantages, while still empowering both to be able to deal with situations in their own way. After several hours with a slice of the game, I end up loving both characters, switching often to take advantage of each character's unique skills, and to retry tricky missions in new ways.

The two heroes' dynamic evolves something Ubisoft Quebec first implemented with twins Evie and Jacob Frye in Assassin's Creed Syndicate. The former favored stealth, while the latter was a brawler, but for the most part both were very competent at all things. "We were in our infancy and a little shy," says associate game director Simon Lemay-Contois, who oversees parkour, stealth, and combat – what he calls "applied gameplay". "Coming out of Syndicate we knew that, okay, it would have been better if we pushed the two characters much further apart. "Let's try to find our two characters to be as opposite as possible in everything we can."

"They were a little different, but not that much in playstyle," says creative director Jonathon Dumont on Syndicate's twin stars. "Here it was driven at first by not necessarily the story at first, but a little bit more the gameplay." From a mechanics standpoint, tackling feudal Japan's Sengoku era made the choice of character types obvious. "It's Assassin's Creed Japan! If I don't play ninja…" says Dumont, shaking his head. Yet a samurai archetype was just as crucial. "Marrying the two on top of each other sort of diluted both fantasies."

Best of both worlds

"It's always tricky, because we want our characters to be the best ever every time," says Lemay-Comtois. But making each character distinct, flaws included, only allows for each to shine even brighter in their own ways as they join forces to take down a shadowy group of villains. Naoe might be the sneakiest assassin we've seen in the series to date, and Yasuke's weapon mastery gives viking Eivor a run for their money.

"We really looked at it as: 'What are our advantages and disadvantages to both characters?'" says Dumont. "They can both fight, Naoe can fight a bit as well, but, you know, fight four samurai at the same time? It's gonna be a tough challenge. So you have to go back a little bit more in this stealth loop. And Yasuke, I mean, he needs to go through everybody. So I think that having drawbacks is key."

Taking stock of what worked in previous entries, and where to push things as well as pull them back, was important. "If you take Basim [from Assassin's Creed Mirage] as a starting point, we gave Yasuke less things than Basim, and we gave Naoe more things than Basim, in terms of parkour," explains Lemay-Contois. "And then for combat, it's the reverse. We know what the middle ground is for most of our characters that came before, and we're denying things for one or the other [here], depending on how we want them to shine."

Iteration is one thing when it comes to long-running gaming series, but it's tough to take something away from players. "It's a sacrifice, and we were worried it would cause frustration in the beginning," says Lemay-Comtois, "but having been through many, many play tests and people finally getting their heads around how those two characters play – why you want Yasuke sometimes, and why you want Naoe some other times, and having players jump back and forth – it makes sense."

Controlling the time of day, and the drone-like bird have also been removed, all to keep players immersed in the moment, and to appreciate the specialties of each character in different conditions. "With the entire dynamic world that we built, we didn't want players to always fast forward to night and play Naoe because she has a pretty significant edge at night," says Lemay-Comtois.

Twin power

So how does a ninja with a secretive family history from Iga province, and a samurai invading her land, come together? That wasn't part of the demo I played, as it skipped ahead right before the two presumably come together. But later on, it's clear the two get along very well, and trust each other immensely.

"They start from two opposite ends of the spectrum," says Lemay-Comtois. "Once they get along, they get along. [...] They are very lockstep, once they mend the bridge between them, which you haven't seen." With that said, they each have their own path that reflects their background, beliefs, and ultimate goal – all part of avoiding as much overlap as we saw in Assassin's Creed Syndicate.

"We wanted to have them be contrasting. So, you know, having the big, strong character be the level headed one, and Naoe being the strong, quick to anger character as well is kind of, I would say, not the obvious choice that we could have made," says Lemay-Comtois. "It gives you the buddy cop feel of an interesting relationship, instead of just two characters that are basically twins." It's not the only time "buddy cop" is mentioned as I talk to other developers on the demo floor about the duo. But if you do insist on a Twins comparison? "It's more like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito [film] Twins in this case," Lemay-Comtois chuckles.

The choice to build out this dual-protagonist dynamic, and in doing so stripping back the experience into something leaner to make intricate game design decisions shine, is a bold one. But with the engine for a mega franchise like Assassin's Creed as big as it is, how easy is it to make that call? After all, few franchises are passed between internal lead studios – with Call of Duty Warzone being the biggest other example.

Prone to stealth

With so many support studios assisting, and having experience leading development themselves, the combined effort is a big help. "We always know what the other studios are up to, and we're trying to work together as much as we can, and share tech and share design concepts and stuff," says Lemay-Comtois. "It's interesting, because we sometimes have an idea of what's coming after us. It's interesting to see how they're going to take what we're doing and push it in different directions. Open communication, I would say, is the trick."

This means each studio can push for what they want to evolve, and what to leave behind. "The fantasy of the shinobi, all the flips that Naoe does, I don't think will carry forward," muses Lemay-Comtois, as it's a feature that feels so personal to Naoe. "Whatever other Assassin's Creed [developers] down the pipe want to do, they can always pick and choose what they want from what came before and use it or not. Such as the bird, which we didn't pick for Shadows."

Whether features like being able to go prone will continue forward remain to be seen, but across my hands-on it feels like a natural and defining aspect of movement in Assassin's Creed Shadows, redefining the series in a core way. And it's personal for Lemay-Comtois. "I'm a big fan of [Ghost Recon] Wildlands," he confirms, as well as other games where "prone into grass feels very stealthy". The concept was decided upon early in development, but took some convincing to get off the ground. "I tried really hard to push for prone navigation. And you know, had to prove that it added value to directors and stakeholders. And obviously it does. So it's one more layer of stealth that brings Shadows forward [with] renewed stealth for the franchise."

Alongside Yasuke's combat prowess, which translates mechanically into the likes of a combo chain system that can support charge attacks, multiple button patterns, and on-the-fly melee weapon switching, both feel distinct and standout. But importantly, they both feel like leads in their own rights, complimenting one another while also having paths just as compelling to follow.

This is even reflected in the musical choices. The Flight, who scored the likes of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, returns, joined this time by the Japanese "psych rock" outfit Teke::Teke, as well as a collaboration between composer team Thunderdrum and Tanzanian-born vocalist Tiggs Da Author. Both groups offer some vocal tracks for the series for the first time, but have also both composed musical soundscapes specific to each character, reflecting their backgrounds and the journeys they're on. Audio director Greg Newby calls this a "character driven satellite music experience", adding that "it's a way for the player to connect with them in a more kind of emotionally salient way".

I can't wait to hear more, and to play more. Both Naoe and Yasuke have already won me over, rising fast up my ranks of favorite Assassin's Creed protagonists even after only a few hours with the gang. Will Edward Kenway ever be toppled? That remains to be seen – but with Assassin's Creed Shadows releasing as soon as March 20, 2025, I won't have long to wait.

What to play while you wait? Our best Assassin's Creed games list will help you out, and who knows, this game could be on it too before long!