I just hope Ubisoft learns the right lessons from it.
Ubisofthas had a rough few years, and that’s an understatement.
Ubisoft actually pulled it off.
I encountered my fair share of minor glitches and a handful of crashes, but Assassin’s Creed Shadows is surprisingly polished for such a large and complex game… Especially one from Ubisoft.
This review was made possible thanks to a review code provided by Ubisoft.
Ubisoft had no input nor saw the contents of this review prior to publication.
AC Shadows review: What is it?
Price:From $69.99 at CDKeys|Best Buy|Amazon Release date:Mar.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows officially released onMar.
20, 2025, forXbox Series X,Xbox Series S, Windows PC, andPlayStation 5.
I encountered my fair share of minor glitches and a handful of crashes, but Assassin’s Creed Shadows is surprisingly polished for such a large and complex game… Especially one from Ubisoft.
Major performance issues, game-breaking bugs, and crashes have been common in many Ubisoft titles at launch.
Several of my complaints have already been directly addressed, and more updates are on the way.
On PC, matters are also quite positive.
Tredging through the snow and carving deep shapes into it certainly didn’t make AC Shadows miss a beat.
This was on one of the most powerful handhelds, though, so others may have very different experiences.
This game is beautifully rendered, with perfectly over-saturated visuals that highlight the immense detail in the environments.
Settlements will have their own ecosystems, too.
Autumn is unbelievably beautiful, through all its phases.
It’s not just the natural environments, though.
Castles, cities, villages, and even random farmhouses possess unmatched character.
This isn’t a static world, either.
This isn’t a cutscene. I just walked around the corner.
AC Shadows makes sure you, the player, know you have a presence in this rendition of Japan.
Many of the environments you pass through acknowledge your existence, too.
The world changes over time, too.
Through rain or snow, nothing stopped me from stabbing a lot of people in their soft bits.
Blizzards can wash the world in frozen white, disguising the horizon from your view.
I’ve not even talked about the beautifully detailed animations for animals, characters, and clothing, either.
It’s all very well done, but you may be too busy taking screenshots to notice.
Still don’t believe me? Here’s a bunch of extra pictures because I couldn’t stop hitting the screenshot button.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Enter: Naoe and Yasuke.
It’s here where you see the most dramatic changes Ubisoft has made to the modern AC formula.
Finally, parkour feels revitalized with a suite of new animations specific to Naoe.
There are lots of fur babies to meet in AC Shadows.(Image credit: Windows Central)
More importantly, it also feels more controlled despite the flashier animations.
Yasuke and Naoe are equally gifted fighters but in very different ways.
Yasuke, on the other hand, does not find the word “subtle” in his vocabulary.
Naoe plays in a field of flowers in spring.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Both play wonderfully, with interesting and engaging weapons and abilities that force you to think differently.
Beyond those two elements, Assassin’s Creed Shadows also,finallymeaningfully improves Ubisoft’s open-world formula.
No more is your map inundated with endless icons and a depressive grind to obtain 100% completion.
Naoe freezes her butt off during a snowstorm.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Ultimately, that’s what carries this game’s narrative and single-player campaign.
Yasuke is, in a single word, a complete badass.
you’ve got the option to also earn premium items just by playing the game.
Naoe wishes sunglasses had been invented to fight the glare.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will get more content after launch, too.
The first one is coming later this year with over 10 hours of new content and a new area.
You even have individual deadzone and threshold sliders for each thumbstick and trigger.
Naoe prays for a stray dog to love her.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Hundreds of people worked on this game, and their efforts are obvious.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an incredible RPG and one of Ubisoft’s best.
It all comes together to create a game-of-the-year contender for 2025.
Naoe visits one of many temples in Japan.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Assassin’s Creed Shadows isn’t perfect, but I love it anyways.
Here you’ll see a moment from Naoe’s best day ever.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Naoe is currently thinking “I could climb that."(Image credit: Windows Central)
Here, Naoe is trying not to think about all the bugs hidden in this grass.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Naoe says a prayer.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Naoe didn’t want to take this picture, the horse thought she looked cool.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Nothing like resting your aching knees after a long night of work.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Naoe’s home is beautiful. Too bad it spontaneously combusted (those aren’t spoilers it’s the prologue).(Image credit: Windows Central)
I feel like I can enter photo mode at literally any time and get a good picture.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Well, it’s a little harder to snap a pic when the whole world is drowning.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Naoe can still find plenty of opportunities to strike a dramatic pose, though.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Yasuke doesn’t mess around when it comes to putting people down.
Naoe has a lot more options for getting around the world then Yasuke.
There’s a lot to see, but more importantly you don’thaveto explore every inch just to find the 100th collectible teapot or whatever. The secrets you can find reward you for finding them.
I couldn’t get enough of exploring this world.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The prologue does a good job introducing each character’s unique traits.(Image credit: Windows Central)
For Yasuke, that mostly means bashing people’s heads in. Gently.(Image credit: Windows Central)
For Naoe, that means finding the sneaky way to stab people. Also gently.(Image credit: Windows Central)
I’ll say it: I prefer Naoe’s gameplay over the guaranteed one-shot kills of the classic AC games.
I loved playing as both Naoe and Yasuke (especially in the second half of the game), but Naoe was definitely my favorite of the two.
Future DLC will have to compete with what’s already in the game, so I hope Ubisoft has some truly interesting ideas up its sleeve.
There are plenty of ways to adjust even combat alone to meet your unique needs.
I never grew truly tired of being a badass ninja (with a side gig as a badass samurai).
