Assassin's Creed Shadows hands-on: Stealthier and bloodier than ever

The introduction to Assassin's Creed Shadows is the bloodiest the series has ever been. Spurts of blood and the crackling flames of burning villages and bodies showcase seriously impressive visuals while being a statement of intent: Ubisoft Quebec isn't shying away from the defining violence of the era. A long-requested setting from fans, we find ourselves in the warring states Sengoku era, where the country's people are caught in the midst of a violent struggle for power between provinces and their warlords.

It's a conflict that Diogo – who most will know as Yasuke – is thrown into without choice. Known as the former name when we first meet him, he's a slave and bodyguard to a group of Italian missionaries, accompanying them as they petition Oda Nobunaga for the freedom to travel through his lands to preach. Taken with Diogo's warrior instincts, and curious about his skin color, Nobunaga takes him under his wing, giving him his new name and setting him on the path of a samurai. Yasuke, he says, "may become a legend, or he may die."

One man army

Skipping forward, I take control of Yasuke as Nobunaga's forces invade Iga province. Using a samurai sword – one of several weapons Yasuke is proficient with – I decimate enemies, cutting them to ribbons and then some. Attacks marked white are parried; leaving foes vulnerable to being dismembered. Blue attacks are parried in sequence; and eventually leave foes open to having their arteries sliced. Red attacks are unparryable, but can be perfectly dodged; again, leaving the opponent open to a vicious execution. "You can turn off the violence, if that's too shocking, but we kind of like it," chuckles Simon Lemay-Comtois, associate game director, showcasing a particularly gnarly finisher.

Between letting the red juice spray, Yasuke's strong and light attacks can be performed in a variety of combo sequences – any move of which can be held to charge up a powerful guard-breaking strike. Melee weapons can even be switched out mid-combo to keep the chain going, with attack patterns of their own – the kanabo club, for instance, can send enemies ragdolling; or the naginata spear can be twirled to smack groups all at once. Switch up from melee, and Yasuke can even pull out a huge bow or a teppo rifle to get headshots with a variety of destructive missiles (or indeed, to blast away an alarm bell just before it rings).

Yasuke is massive too, you feel the heft as he moves. But it's not a problem. He's powerful enough that he simply feels like a tank in his massive samurai armor. Standing in place after literally sprinting at and exploding a wooden door with his shoulder, oncoming enemies can be parried and cut down where they stand, weapon skills and finishers adding flourishes of contrasting colors to the screen. It feels a little like Ghost of Tsushima when holding your ground, yet versus stronger foes Yasuke trades blows more dynamically, the weapon toggling having shades of Devil May Cry 5. He's a one man army even if among the violence he wonders what is truly righteous, an outsider finding his place.

It's a fantastic entry point to the story of Assassin's Creed Shadows, which so far seems to be about finding your place and your people in a world in chaos. Yasuke might be an outsider to Japan, and he might be an outsider to the world of Assassins – but he's warm and caring to those he cares about, and is able to work towards something better. Even if he doesn't love the methods with which he must work to achieve it, he nevertheless won't balk against using those skills he's good at if it's the right thing to do.

"Yasuke is not an assassin, because the narrative makes sense that he is not," says Lemay-Comtois, when I ask about the design lineage between him and Eivor as a viking, and Kassandra/Alexios as a mercenary-like misthios. "Like Barnabas, the ship captain in [Assassin's Creed] Odyssey, was not an assassin – it's just Yasuke is much more involved in the story, but he doesn't have to be an assassin, he has his own motivation and core beliefs."

With his ferocious fighting style and outsider roots, Yasuke is a massive departure for Assassin's Creed. But, importantly, he's not alone.

Sneak attack

While Assassin's Creed Shadows is sometimes the least sneaky entry yet, Assassin's Creed Shadows is also the stealthiest the series has ever been. As Iga Province burns, Fujibayashi Naoe and her father, Nagato, watch from afar. Nobunaga's attack has brought chaos to their doorstep, endangering an artifact her father swore to protect. Needing to ensure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands, Naoe is thrust into the secret world guarded by her family, her father giving her a hidden blade to do so.

She contrasts the ideal samurai powerhouse that is Yasuke with her own promise. "We really wanted to have the ninja fantasy," creative director Jonathan Dumont tells me. Some of that means drawing from the director's history with the Splinter Cell series. Greater fidelity in Assassin's Creed Shadows isn't just for show, but really comes into its own with detection mechanics – light and sound can give you away, their risks based on environment conditions like time of day or the weather. Heavy rain can hide footsteps, and the cover of night makes it tougher for enemies to see you. There's even a part of the HUD that shows how visible you are at any time. Thrown kunai knives can be just as useful for putting out a lamp at range as it is lodged in the skull of a guard's noggin.

Yet, rather than slowing things down, this fidelity gives you more to react to at speed. Naoe is nimbler than any other Assassin's Creed protagonist to date. Whether ascending or descending buildings and walls with ease, she's quick, and always ready to do a flip or two that add a real sense of momentum. New here is a rolling dodge that doubles as a way to quickly cross small gaps or vault cover, and a way to tumble just out of sight and onto the floor. Yes, you read that right – Naoe can go prone and crawl on the ground, for the first time in the series. Getting that low aids in creating a sense of verticality and depth to the level design, as going low is now just as valid an option as going high. You can crawl through long grass undetected, while the many raised buildings of Japan give way to crawl spaces and trap doors.

Armed with all manner of ninja tools from shuriken to distraction-causing bells, Naoe's even got a grapple hook to hand. It's not the first time the series has tackled the tool – Ubisoft Quebec's debut game in the series as studio lead, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, had one – but here the physics are fully modelled. Attach to a grapple point, and Naoe can swing all around or pull herself up. And, yes, you can assassinate from it as well, meaning you can swing up and above enemies to land the perfect kill angle.

Getting spotted isn't a game over even as Naoe. She can hold her own in a quick tussle, especially with smaller foes, with a range of weapons herself. The chain-and-sickle kusarigama has plenty of depth with lots of spinning moves, and even the ability to grapple and pull enemies close with the chain. A smaller knife allows for quick attacks that can even be converted into assassination moves with the hidden blade in unison at higher levels. But more importantly, just as enemy detection has more nuance, so too does losing track of them. Hit and run tactics are perfectly valid, as with Naoe's range of movement options you can flank and outsmart pursuers to pop off another assassination opportunity.

Better together

So you can pick either a hulking combat expert to smush foes, or a more traditional sneaky assassin? Sort of, yes. "If you have a clear favorite, you can play most of the game with that clear favorite," says Dumont, outside of certain story moments. But what's great is how Yasuke and Naoe compliment each other, and how Assassin's Creed Shadows encourages you to think about switching for certain bits of missions, or to retry a tough challenge if you meet with failure. "You have that moment where you go: I just died. Okay, let me switch," says Lemay-Comtois.

Bigger missions even pause at each major checkpoint to ask who you want to continue as, with some context to prompt you to make your decision. Do you use Yasuke to bash through defenses to gain entry into the castle, or have Naoe sneak through to open the door from the inside? Yasuke to face down a group of guards, or Naoe to pick them off from the shadows? And who do you want to finish off the boss fight, where perhaps not only combat prowess is a factor, but who narratively should be the one to do the job? Being able to chop and change made me stop to think through my choice more carefully than I'd expected.

After I'm introduced to Yasuke and Naoe individually, I'm fast-forwarded to them mopping up a questline that has them uncovering one of the members of a shadowy masked society of villains (the Noble – teasing an unmasking structure similar to recent open world entries). As long as I'm not being pursued or in a hostile area, I can switch just from the pause menu, and I do a lot early on as I probe the challenges ahead.

While both characters can do a bit of each others' specialties, you do feel the push to make them operate well in that way. Yasuke can remain out of sight for a while if you're careful, though his size does mean he'll actually stick out of cover, and his refusal to silently kill – his "brutal assassination" has him yell out in order to force an enemy to turn and thus not stab them in the back – make it tough.

Likewise, Naoe can be effective in combat against quick shinobi, but land yourself with a Wanted status and stronger Guardsman will turn her to dust. Her ability to use a burst of Eagle Vision – which Yasuke cannot as he's not an assassin – makes staying hidden a little easier. Yasuke, meanwhile, can rely on whistling to draw enemies out, but otherwise is much easier to spot.

Rising above

Getting height is always advantageous for both, however, as they can each use Observe – the range of which is affected by how much you can see around you. Replacing the drone-like bird companion in recent entries, this provides limited information on points of interest around you, from where clues might be for certain missions to loot to scoop up. Keeping the ability locked to the character rather than pulling you up into the sky is to help with staying in the moment, immersed in the location directly around you. It's effective enough that I quickly forget that drone birds were a thing.

That's definitely not the case for everyone. "A lot of people have not forgotten!" says Lemay-Comtois as we talk birds. Its absence reflects how Yasuke is depowered when it comes to stealth, and Naoe is depowered when it comes to fighting. "It's a deliberate choice where we take something away from players," he says. "We're taking something away, but to benefit what Shadows wants to be and tries to be."

The same is true for things like time of day, weather, and the seasons – which just progress as you play the game. Otherwise, you could simply ensure Naoe always had perfect nighttime conditions to ace every challenge. "It makes you react to the world instead of, well, I'm just gonna tip the scale in my favor every time," says Lemay-Comtois.

Even 'Wanted' high-alert statuses, where enemies will target you on sight, only clear with seasonal changes by default. But they only apply to the character you were playing as when an alarm went off, giving another subtle push to change your hero if you want a slightly easier time.

Less is more here, and it's a bold choice that really works. Altering the world in your favor might be convenient, but it would detract from the experience here, where everything is pushing towards keeping you truly in the moment. And what a world Assassin's Creed Shadows is to be immersed in. Art director Thierry Dansereau says Ubisoft has targeted a "more realistic scale ratio", meaning mountains feel large, forests feel dense, and, importantly, the 30-plus castles that litter the land feel accurately "like big mazes that just keep going up" according to Dumont.

Weighing the scale

While Assassin's Creed Odyssey certainly felt like a massive world, the speed at which you could cross its many islands did make the scale feel, at times, quite truncated. That's not the sense in Assassin's Creed Shadows (though accommodations have, of course, been made – or Yasuke would constantly be ducking).

Many locations feel suitably dense, with plenty of nooks and crannies hiding either collectibles or points of ingress. Lots of interior locations, the castles in particular, are full of variety as you worm in and out of buildings, across gardens, and attempt to ascend. Likewise, even temples are made up of detailed little areas of their own, from ponds to hide in, to crawl spaces to lose pursuers – all as you attempt to pray for some sweet, sweet experience points, of course.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is violent and chaotic, but there's plenty of beauty to discover in this rendition of Japan too. Wildlife populates the land, but gone is Assassin's Creed 3's commitment to allowing you to skin anything with a heartbeat. Instead, approach silently, through fog that's procedurally rolled up the hills, and get your sketchbook out. Not only can your drawings be displayed back at your hideout, but the animals themselves can be placed and, in many cases, petted. Here, allies you've made through sidequests – taking a break from you summoning them to your aid like in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood – will have conversations with each other, and with you, about their worries and hopes and hopes for the future.

I'm left more excited for the future of Assassin's Creed than I have been in years. Yasuke and Naoe are instant favorites, easy to love within moments of meeting them for the first time. And, with its approach to scale, and smart decision to restrict past features in order to build a compelling core loop, Assassin's Creed Shadows refreshes an open world approach that was running the risk of growing stale. I'm eager to see if it can pull it all together across the full game, and I can't wait to spend more time with the unlikely duo.

The country is in chaos, homes are burning, and from the shadows even worse villains seek to use the misery to seize power. This is where you've made your home. Where you'll find people to call family. Time to pick up that blade, and do what needs doing.

Need something sneaky to tide you over until you get blades on with Naoe and Yasuke? Our list of the best stealth games is here to help!