Image: Ubisoft
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set in feudal Japan with dual protagonists: the samurai Yasuke and shinobi Naoe.
Ubisoft has officially unveiled Assassin’s Creed Shadows, its latest flagship open-world title that takes place in feudal Japan. Originally codenamed Assassin’s Creed Red, the game will feature dual protagonists: a male samurai named Yasuke and a female shinobi named Naoe. The game launches on November 15, 2024.
Here’s the reveal trailer:
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has dual protagonists and seasonal mechanics
Ubisoft Quebec, the developer behind Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Immortals Fenyx Rising, is taking the reins of Ubisoft’s most popular franchise with Assassin’s Creed Shadows. According to Ubisoft, Shadows is set in 16th century Japan, as the country heads, “towards a brutal path to unification, where unrest grows as new coalitions appear and corruptive foreign influences infiltrate the land.”
Where past Assassin’s Creed games allowed players to choose between playing as either a male or female assassin, Shadows will feature dual protagonists for a change. This time, players will play as Naoe, a shinobi from the Iga Province, and Yasuke, a Black samurai pulled from the pages of real-life history. Both characters’ stories will intertwine in the game, allowing players to hop back and forth between playing as Naoe and Yasuke in turn.
There’s a practical reason this game features two playable characters, too: both characters come with unique playstyles, allowing players to live out their shinobi and samurai fantasies to the fullest without melding the two together. Naoe and Yasuke will feature their own stats, weapons and skill trees, with Naoe playing as more of a stealthy ninja while Yasuke excels in swordfighting and regular combat.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will also feature evolving weather and seasons, with different seasons impacting how players stealth through enemy bases in particular. For example, players might risk alerting enemies by breaking icicles on rooftops in the winter, but enemies will stick to warmer areas and struggle to hear the player in worsening weather as a tradeoff.
Players will also have to build up a network of spies to gain information and reveal new areas. They can recruit allies with specialised skills to help out during missions, and also customise their own hideout. The latter mechanic sounds similar to what players were able to do with the Odin’s Camp hub in Valhalla. We’ll see more of the game when Ubisoft drops a gameplay trailer next month, likely during its Ubisoft Forward presentation on June 10.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows launches on PC, Mac, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Amazon Luna on November 15, 2024.
