Assassin’s Creed Shadows: 50 Details You Need To Know - IGN (2024)

After years of fans asking for a feudal Japan-set game, Ubisoft has finally announced Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Set during the era of samurai and shinobi, it brings elegant katana duels and the ninja arts to the franchise.

Thanks to Ubisoft Forward we’ve now had our first look at Shadows in action, and the gameplay reveals a huge amount about how this Assassin’s Creed plays. Combined with information we’ve learned from chatting with the developers, here’s a whole 50 fascinating details that shine a light on what’s new in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

The Setting

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows takes place in the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japanese history. The story begins in 1579 and will continue into the early 1580s. The time period means this is the first game in the series to feature the Assassins and Templars in their ‘classic’ forms since 2015’s Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.
• A number of historical figures play prominent roles in the campaign. These include Oda Nobunaga, the “great unifier” of Japan, and Fujibayashi Nagato, a master ninja of the Iga clan.
• Much like Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Shadows features two protagonists and you can switch between them as you play through the campaign. The first of these dual leads is Naoe, the fictional daughter of Fujibayashi Nagato. She is trained by her father to be a skilled shinobi.
• The second protagonist is Yasuke, a real historical figure. Originally from Africa, Yasuke came to Japan with the Portuguese in 1579 and soon became a samurai in the employ of Lord Oda Nobunaga. Shadows is the first Assassin’s Creed game to ever let you play as a real person from the past.

Stealth and Parkour

• As the title suggests, light and dark is a major part of Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ stealth systems. A new global illumination system creates dynamic light and shadows that affect enemy vision. You can now hide in shadows and even create darkness by destroying lanterns or killing torch carriers. A light meter on the UI shows how well concealed you are, from fully visible to completely hidden.
• Servants are a new type of NPC, ranking between civilians and enemies. While they cannot fight, they are able to call in reinforcements and raise alarms. They have their own patrol routes, and carry lanterns at night.
• Naoe is an Assassin and thus able to wield the iconic hidden blade. Much like the version used in Assassin’s Creed 3, hers is a ‘pivot blade’, which rotates 90 degrees to be used like a tantō.
• While Assassin’s Creed Shadows is another RPG-style game, Ubisoft seems to have learned its lesson about hidden blade assassinations not being instant kills. In the gameplay demonstration we can see it being used multiple times to kill in one stab, regardless of the target. Naoe can even be seen assassinating a fully-armoured target with ease.
• Some assassinations trigger a cinematic that showcases the kill in a cool way.
• Enemies can be assassinated through shoji screen doors.
• There is now the option to knock out foes when performing a stealth takedown, allowing for a more pacifist playthrough.
• You can now crawl along the ground in a prone position, allowing you to maintain a lower profile as well as get through small openings.
• When swimming underwater, Naoe can use a bamboo stick as a snorkel to refill her lungs with oxygen.
• Naoe has a grappling hook that can be attached to every roof edge, as well as a number of other anchor points. Unlike the zipline-like grappling hook from Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, this rope uses physics simulation to allow dynamic swinging.
• The grappling hook can be used to quickly climb into the ceiling space above corridors, allowing you to lay in wait for enemies patrolling beneath you.
• It can also be used to launch Naoe at targets and trigger an instant assassination.
• Eagle vision returns, allowing you to spot silhouettes of NPCs through walls. Enemies are marked in red, while the new servants are coloured orange.
• The drone-like bird, used in Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla to scout out areas and mark targets, is not available in Shadows. You’ll need to do your own reconnaissance work.
• As a shinobi, Naoe is the most skilled at stealth. Yasuke can use stealth, but his size and armour plating means he’s better at using those skills to get the drop on targets rather than perform a fully silent infiltration.

Combat and RPG Systems

• This era of Japanese warfare did not make use of shields, so your gear does not include any defensive options aside from your armour. Dodges and positioning is paramount.
• As a samurai, Yasuke is able to use his weapon to block incoming attacks and perform parries. Naoe is able to engage in combat, but she is unable to block or parry – instead she can ‘deflect’ enemy blows. Ubisoft hasn’t clarified the difference between paries and deflects, but it may be that parries enable counter attacks while deflects do not.
• Seemingly following in the footsteps of Ghost of Tsushima, there appears to be a combat stance system. Yasuke can adjust the position of his weapon in response to an enemy's stance. It seems likely that a rock-paper-scissors like structure may exist, in which certain positions are stronger or weaker against an enemy’s chosen stance.
• Yaskue can lock blades with an enemy, which triggers a cinematic battle of strength. It’s unclear from the gameplay video how this works, but it’s likely that this is a quicktime event.
• Killing enemies can trigger a variety of brutal finisher animations. More elaborate finishers are reserved for assassinating targets, which use a painting-like filter to transform the scene into a vivid cinematic moment.
• Enemy armour has a durability system and can be broken during combat.
• Pretty much every prop in the game is able to be dynamically damaged by your weapons. Katanas will slice through bushes and baskets Fruit Ninja-style, leaving accurate blade marks. Arrows will leave precise puncture marks, while blunt weapons will smash pots into tiny pieces.
• Many period accurate weapons are available to use, including katanas, the kanabō war club, yari spears, shuriken, kunai, and the kusarigama (a sickle on a chain).
• Yasuke is able to use arquebus rifles, providing him with a powerful long-range option.
• Each weapon has its own skill tree. Investing time into using a particular weapon will improve your proficiency with it.
• You can craft your own katana from gathered components and personalise it. A transmog system will also allow you to tailor your gear to look exactly how you want it.
• Active combat skills return and are unlocked by finding Ninja Scrolls in the world.
• Yasuke and Naoe have individual skill trees and gear, but share XP, collected weapons, and resources.

Dynamic World and Seasons

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows is built upon a newly updated version of the Anvil game engine. The new tech allows for better lighting through global illumination, the new breakable props, more detailed asset meshes, and much less pop-in.
• The new Anvil upgrade has allowed for a season system that sees the world progress through spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The current season is dictated by your progress through the campaign in order to maintain historical accuracy, but there are ‘steps’ that each period goes through to create a sense of authenticity.
• Each season comes with unique features that link to gameplay. For example, in the spring and summer when plants bloom and flower, there will be bushes and long grass to hide in. Later, in autumn and winter, those plants will die and thus remove hiding spots. Water also freezes in winter, which prevents you from entering pools and ponds. Icicles will form on rooftop edges and can fall if disturbed, potentially giving away your position.
• Seasons also affect NPC behaviours. In the summer, enemy samurai cut through bushes in search of you. In the winter, foes stay close to fires and warm places, potentially opening up new, colder paths for you to take.
• A fully dynamic weather system provides appropriate climate conditions based on both the region and season. Severe weather, like deep fog, howling winds, and snow impacts enemy sight and sound. A storm is an opportunity to mask your footsteps.
• The world features a surprisingly detailed ecology system. In spring, for instance, wind will blow gusts of pollen that have been spawned by trees, replicating a real ecosystem.
• The map is similar in size to that featured in Assassin's Creed Origins, and replicates the central region of Japan.
• The map is divided into regions based on Japan’s real historical provinces, including Iga (the home of the shinobi), Arima (the location of a major battle), and Omi (an agriculture “bread basket” region.)
• The iconic synchronisation points return, but in a reimagined way. Climbing to the top no longer plots a multitude of icons on your map, nor does it trigger the spinning ‘drone’ shot of the area. Instead, from this vantage point you’re able to survey the area for highlighted points of interest, which you can then seek out when back on the ground. Ubisoft expressed a wish for there to be less icons this time around, and so this appears to be one way of fulfilling that. Thankfully, despite this slight change, synchronisation points still act as fast travel locations.
• Shadows is set during a time of flourishing urbanisation, trade, and warfare. This allows for a wide range of locations, including towns, trading posts, farm land, and colossal castles that have been rendered at near 1:1 scale. Beyond these settled areas are mountains and forests.

Assassinations and Quests

• Shadows features a non-linear campaign largely focused on targets. Ubisoft says that you will be free to track these targets in any order.
• Some targets simply exist in the world and you may stumble upon them organically, without having researched and hunted them first. Others have more structured infiltration-style gameplay attached to them.
• Ubisoft aims to create a more rewarding journey by being a little more hands-off. While the campaign is still objective-focused, the studio hopes to enable more player autonomy by using hints to push players in the right direction rather than outright telling them where to go next.
• Most main quests can be completed as either Yasuke or Naoe, allowing for freedom of approach. However, both characters also have their own specific missions playable only by them, as well as bespoke introduction quests.
• Side quests and world activities are available beyond the main campaign. Notable things to find in the world include castles, temples, shrines, and art.
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s world was dotted with adorable cats that you could find and pet. Shadows brings animal petting back, but replaces cats with the obvious Japanese alternative: Shiba Inus.
• You can build up a spy network, with agents who can be sent on missions to gather intelligence on your targets.
• There is a hideout where you and your allies can gather.

If 50 details isn’t enough for you, then how about one more? Assassin’s Creed Shadows launches on November 15 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Mac, and Amazon Luna. Our exclusive Assassin’s Creed Shadows coverage also has plenty of extra information: check out our extensive feature covering the project’s ambition as well as interviews with the developers, our breakdown of the CGI trailer, and our guides to Yasuke and Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Senior Features Editor.