Assassin's Creed Shadows PS5 review: feudal Japan at its most beautiful

Feudal Japan has long been the most requested setting from Assassin's Creed fans. Yet while the likes of Ghost of Tsushima and Rise of the Ronin have already had their time in the sun, Assassin's Creed Shadows nonetheless comes at a time when interest in and appreciation of Japanese culture is at an all-time high, as also seen with the Emmy-winning hit Shogun.

The last instalment, Assassin's Creed Mirage, had been a leaner return to the series' roots in contrast to previous games becoming big and bloated, feeling more akin to grindy action RPGs than narrative-led open worlds. You can then think of Shadows as something of a crossroads for the series, except rather than taking one path over the other, it wants to have it both ways. It's why instead of choosing between protagonists, you play as two: Yasuke the samurai and Naoe the shinobi.

It's a compelling idea that in theory offers the best of both worlds. As a stealthy ninja, Naoe embodies Assassin's Creed's classic staples, from parkouring to stabbing bad guys with the hidden blade. Meanwhile, Yasuke represents the more direct combat in a similar vein as the spartan warriors and vikings you played as in Odyssey and Valhalla respectively. The twist is that you're not only playing as a historical figure for the first time but also the first foreign-born samurai, and of African origin.

Yet while this is a fascinating premise on paper, I find myself more conflicted with its execution. Even if Shadows is an open world game set in Japan with the kind of budget that most Japanese studios can only dream of, that doesn't make it immune to complaints that the series just can't seem to shake off.

Stick to the shadows

Yasuke should arguably be the most intriguing character, and Shadows would seem to agree since you start the game from his perspective, his dark skin an immediate fascination to everyone, including the ruthless warlord Oda Nobunaga. Yet serving as a samurai on the side of someone who has no qualms torching villages and murdering thousands of innocent people hardly puts him in a very rootable position, which is probably why when you switch over to Naoe, you actually stick with her for around 10 hours before the two's paths finally intertwine.

With that protracted time however, it's easy to grow comfortable with the idea that Assassin's Creed Shadows should actually just be a game where you just play as a ninja. Naoe's a likable protagonist and her motivations to track down and assassinate an ensemble of masked figures responsible for killing her father and stealing her clan's macguffin treasure are made very clear.

More importantly, Shadows feels just like playing the old Assassin's Creed games, from the majestic feeling of reaching an eagle point that gives you a pan of the stunning landscape to the return of eagle vision for spying enemies through walls. A grappling hook meanwhile also makes it easy for Naoe to traverse tall structures.

Two's a crowd

But once you're in control of both, you're more conscious of the limitations of each character. On one hand, it's admirable that, rather than just given a choice gender, or the dual but very identical-playing protagonists in Victorian London-set Syndicate, you have two very distinctively defined characters, but which you can still viably play in either combat or stealth.

In reality however, it means the combat-focused Yasuke's stealth options are actually very clumsy and comical (see what happens when he tries to perform a leap of faith into a haystack), while the stealthy Naoe has much less health and healing rations. With the latter, even if you slip through enemy territory perfectly, the RPG progression system means that you soon find that knifing someone in the neck only takes a fraction of their health bar. In other words, you'll still have to fight them head-on, except their goons also join the fray, and you then also have to fight with a horrendous targeting camera.

It's hardly favourable when there's already been a handful of games set in historical Japan released in the last five or six years that have starred a single protagonist who's capable of both open combat and stealth tactics. So here we are, in Shadows, with a samurai who's rubbish at stealth and a ninja rubbish at fighting that feels like a wilful contrivance to justify its dual protagonists. The one consolation is that you at least don't get guilt-tripped into being a knife-stabbing sneak like Ghost of Tsushima's Jin.

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I'm loving 'tourist' mode

Nonetheless, it can be easy to forgive Shadows' questionable gameplay design choices if you just want to roam around an open world Japan. After all, environmental design is definitely the game's strongest suit.

Powered by the latest iteration of Ubisoft's proprietary Anvil engine, it's easily the best looking game set in historical Japan yet, and which has a lot more going on than just pastiching Akira Kurosawa films. There's even an immersive mode where characters authentically speak in either Japanese or Portugese as it would have been at the time, the latter being the first and only foreigners in 16th century Japan, with no dodgy lip syncing.

A combat-free Discovery mode may not be in this game compared to its predecessors but virtual explorers will still find plenty of markers that reveal a lot of historical and cultural information about where you are or the sights you can see. There's thoughtful attention to detail and cultural references, like a mission involving tea ceremonies or correct prayer etiquette animations at the numerous shrines found all over the world map, alongside stylistic flourishes. I particularly like the tonal shift when you kill an assassination target, the visuals switch to a monochrome filter resembling a Sumi-e ink brush painting, a subtle design that's invaded by a shock of red blood splattering the screen from your poor victim.

Parkour life

The diversity of the environments are four-fold thanks to a dynamic seasons system that moves as you progress through the story and other quests. You might wish for it to be spring all year round so you can always appreciate those gorgeous cherry blossoms, but you also get the benefits of different gameplay features besides aesthetics, such as more long grass to hide in during summer, or snow in winter that also softens your footsteps.

It's just a shame that your ability to explore these environments can be compounded by your ability to traverse them. The series' stealth and parkouring has slowly evolved from its clumsy context-only controls to letting you crouch at will, and Shadows goes further by also letting you go prone while there's now a separate button for parkouring up and another down. And yet it's still all too easy to have buggy moments when your movement simply doesn't register like you intend and you find yourself clinging to or hanging over a building in full sight of an enemy.

Without a doubt Assassin's Creed Shadows has one of the most detailed and visually arresting open worlds you'll play; one with beautiful vistas over every climb ripe for pausing and capturing in Photo Mode. But, this is also a world with steep climbs and dense forests that, while realistic, is also absolutely tedious to wade through. In trying to find a quick route from A to B, it's not uncommon for me to have to give up riding on a horse and just run blindly through woodland, only for it to suddenly steepen so that I slip back down. Forget swearing the Assassin's Oath, Shadows just often had me swearing, period.

Assassin's Creed Shadows verdict

Ubisoft Quebec renders feudal Japan with breathtaking detail and sets up two fascinating leads to experience its warring period with, but the trade-offs between the dual playstyles and frustrating control issues will likely test your patience during this epic journey.

You'll still push through for the sake of Assassin's Creed Shadows' epic narrative and virtual historical tourism, but when compared with other older open world games set in Japan, you just wish it could feel more fun in the hands.