When I stumbled upon a shrine early on in Assassin's Creed Shadows, my fate was sealed. Among the Torii gates and statues, a pack of black Akita puppies rollicked about on the ground, as their big fluffy mother doggo moseyed on over to greet me. Assailed by the cuteness of the scene before me, I slammed down the triangle prompt on my PS5 DualSense, and began petting the first of many dogs in Ubisoft's latest RPG. When an icon flashed up on my screen to inform me that I'd just unlocked the Akita as a pet for my future base, followed by the puppies I'd also dutifully taken the time to scratch behind the ears, I knew what I had to do.
With almost 60 hours under my robes so far, a lot of that time has been spent framed around the pursuit of finding and unlocking every available pet in Assassin's Creed Shadows. In fact, it feels very much like I've created my own Pokemon-style quest. Just as I'd fill up my Pokedex with all of the critters I could catch out in the wilds, I'm now filling up my base and pet menu with all of the animals I've encountered, earned through Animus rewards, or sketched as Naoe or Yasuke. Did I expect Assassin's Creed Shadows would become a game like Pokemon? Absolutely not. But I've been absolutely loving the direction my adventures have been taking me because of it.
All creatures great and small
As soon as I heard we'd have a customizable base in Assassin's Creed Shadows, I could hardly wait to bring my own to life. What I could never have predicted, though, was just how much influence it would have on my approach in Ubisoft's open-world. The first 20 hours of my time in the RPG, for example, were shaped by my desire to find decorative trinkets to dress up my pad – alongside a need to get my hands on the most stylish drip. But the pursuit of finding new pets has been my overarching side goal in my adventures so far, and I've not stopped actively trying to discover more since my first puppy encounter at the shrine.
I don't need a reason to pet adorable cats and dogs (who does?), but I love how I'm rewarded for the time I take to stop and interact with them as Naoe or Yasuke in more ways than one. Aside from the obvious cute factor, the ability to pet animals in Ubisoft's RPGs has never felt quite so purposeful as it does in Shadows, since it unlocks them and essentially allows me to bring them home to my hideout via the base building customization menu. So while I'm not throwing Pokeballs at roaming critters like I would in any one of the best Pokemon games, the petting button feels a little like Assassin's Creed Shadows' own equivalent.
Of course, petting fluffy friends isn't the only way to find and add more pets to my base. Anytime I spy an ornament vendor, I quickly rush over to see if they have any animals I can snap up to add to my collection. From a white serow, to an ox, and macaques, the Mon I've earned has never been better spent than when I've invested it in more animals to breathe life into my hideout.
Happily, finding more pets also links to one of my favorite side activities: Sumi-e painting. Every now and then in the open-world, I come across a little paintbrush and paper icon which marks the location of an animal I can sneak up behind and sketch out. Any time I come across one, it's like I've struck gold, because not only does this bag me a delightful little painting of the scene I capture – which can decorate the walls of my base - but it can also sometimes unlock the animal I see. Doing this activity has given me the likes of baby foxes, little piglets, and rabbits – to name a few.
The Animus also offers up some objectives in the world that will sometimes earn you Keys that can be spent on armor pieces, weapons, and, more importantly, unique pets. The only rewards I've used my Keys on so far are some special seasonal animal variants, which in my mind are a bit like Pokemon shinies – with a Sakura Fox and a shadowy Eikyo Akita now taking up residence in Yasuke and Naoe's home.
My hideout has become a veritable animal sanctuary at this point, with Akita puppies, cats, and all sorts of delightful animals roaming the grounds. I can't think of a better way to bring life to my virtual home, and any time I return as either protagonist and spend time with my pets, I'm constantly reminded that my Pokemon-shaped efforts were completely worth it. I don't know how many animals there are left to find or earn, but I know I won't stop searching – or petting puppies – anytime soon. I've gotta catch 'em all, don't I?
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