When Assassin’s Creed Shadows released, Twitter already held a Katana pressed against its neck. With a female Shinobi assassin and an African Samurai placed in the leading roles, the game hasn’t been received very well by people online. Ubisoft made some highly questionable marketing decisions right out of the gate while trying to sell merch, and accusations started flying that the game was dishonoring Japanese tradition. This backlash has put Ubisoft under heavy criticism, with content creators getting flamed just for playing. I’m a much smaller creator myself, and even I’ve been hesitant to stream my gameplay because of it.
The backlash comes from treating the game as a historical reenactment when Assassin’s Creed games have always been historical fiction. Fictional Stories, in a Fictional World, taken from real life inspiration. The franchise even has border line time travel through use of the Animus. But because many people seem to not grasp this, anyone who says they even remotely enjoy the game is now a paid shill. I don’t personally take issue with how the game portrays Japan, as long as it remains respectful and isn’t outright racist.
I also don’t mind playing as a female protagonist, her story feels well written enough, and while there have been times I have questioned her voice actors acting, her story and motivation has been clear the whole game. And getting to see Yasuke, a famous African samurai during this time period, is exciting. He’s obviously out of place in Feudal Japan, and the story does a good job at portraying his journey from a Portuguese-Christian owned slave, to a fearful warrior-samurai and right hand man to lord Odo Nobunaga. While all of this has led to a fun experience so far, the thing that pulls me out of it is how buggy the game has been.
The game just released this March, so there are bound to be bugs, but the type of bugs left in the game at release, and left unfixed 3 weeks after, are some I would consider unacceptable. Multiple game breaking bugs are still in the game, softlocking you whenever you encounter them. Player fixes range from a simple save reload to something excruciating like having to restart the entire game. Puzzle Tombs can get you trapped if an Explosive doesn’t spawn where it’s supposed to, leaving you banging your head against a wall feeling like you’re almost there but just barely not smart enough to figure it out. One wrong click in the tutorial for scouting and no matter what save you load you can’t leave the menu. It’s a mess to say the least, and bugs like this are still sitting on Ubisoft’s “Fix Later” list 3 weeks after release with thousands of hours having been played by play testers before release. From an Indie game this would be understandable but from a professional studio like Ubisoft with over 400 developers working on a single game at a time, it’s outright unacceptable.
When Ubisoft isn’t busy showcasing these monumental bugs, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is probably some of the most fun I’ve had in a video game this year. The story centered around a mysterious box, with enigmatic Onryo Samurai, is more engaging than I expected. The narrative outside the Animus? Still confusing as hell, but let’s be real, who’s ever played Assassin’s Creed for the real-world story? The contrast between the small and nimble Shinobi Naoe(“Now – Way”), and the massive and intimidating Samurai Yasuke(“Yoss – Kay”) is such a fun gameplay dynamic.
Sneaking around as Naoe is probably my favorite as I favor stealth in games rather than going in guns blazing. Stealth tends to turn the game into more of a puzzle, which gets my brain working. Assassinating the staff of an entire castle, and watching the Samurai Daisho walking around confused before I jump out of a haystack and put them down is such a fun gameplay loop, I wish the Castles reset more often.
Blowing through a horde of enemies with a single katana strike as Yasuke has also been a joy. The man is just so outrageously large it’s hilarious and magical. His signature kick has so much power behind it that it can send enemies flying off a mountain. It’s to the point where I’m genuinely starting to believe he might even be able to take on a Space Marine with little issue. He’s such a power fantasy and it’s so dopamine rewarding to play as him.
Whether it be dueling 30 British redcoats in the middle of the open streets in Boston, or going head to head with a Man O’ War when your pirate ship is 30 upgrades too low, the combat has always been the best thing about any Assassin’s Creed game, and Shadows is no different. The combat Shadows brings to the table shines bright. They’ve come a long way since changing the combat system in Origins, and It’s definitely for the better. Each weapon, from a Kunai to a Teppo, feels unique. Every tool has its own special role in combat, and when used correctly, the weapons flow into each other, dealing massive amounts of damage to enemies and filling up your “adrenaline” bar to get your special abilities ready to reign even more firepower down on your kyūteki (enemies).
The enemies in game are varied, and challenging, and even when it says that I’m way too low level to take on that Samurai Daisho from the next province over, it doesn’t stop me from trying to 1v1 him anyway (Though one wrong move and I’m out for the count in one hit). I’m only just barely through the campaign, but with my new RTX5070, the game looks phenomenal and I’ve gotten more than lost in the beautiful lands of Feudal Japan, spending hours just wandering through the wilderness taking it all in.
I really want to recommend Assassin’s Creed Shadows, it’s quickly shaping up to be one of my favorite entries in the series. I’m excited to see where the story is going, and being able to customize my Katana piece by piece is something I wish other games had. The game is visually a masterpiece, and you can tell that heart and soul went into the game where it matters, which is not something you get to see from the titans of the gaming industry much these days.
But despite the positives, the current state of the game just makes a recommendation too difficult to make. The bugs are too frequent and too severe to ignore. If you’re the type who can muscle through technical issues for the sake of a great experience, then by all means, give it a shot. If not I totally get it, but if Ubisoft ever fixes the problems, this is a game you absolutely can’t miss.
