It’s fair to say that Ubisoft has been challenged with a task that doesn’t sit well with everyone when it comes to finally taking the Assassin’s Creed series to Feudal Japan. The backlash from fans along with Japan’s very own prime minister stepped in and Ubisoft certainly haven’t helped themselves in their latest venture. Despite the uproar, I find myself lost in search of closure with the series, and yet, I can’t stop playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
I’m approaching the 20-hour mark of my gameplay time. I’m nowhere near the finish-line, and I wonder if I’ll ever see the end of the game at all. I’m lost within the first area of Settsu, the very beginning area of the game, exploring every stretch of land across a MASSIVE map. It’s dense forests with cascading waterfalls in a set piece that I myself, and many fans alike, have been asking for since the inspection of the series, Feudal Japan. There are moments of pure beauty, mixed with a skill-tree that will take many hours to grind, if I want to have Naoe as the master assassins she’s destined to be. That’s right, I’m nearly 20 hours in, and I have yet to play her counter-part, Yasuke. He sits upon my objective ‘wall‘ with a list of a million and one other things to complete before I think I’ll see him at all.
Let’s not forget the base building that has been expanded upon since Valhalla. A much more in-depth expansion of base building where you are physically placing your forge or other builds, touching up interiors with shelves or armor, placing pathways and decorations is just the beginning of how far you can customize your settlement this time around. Then, there’s the stealth gameplay that I have been so hungry for. (Stealth games are dying, but, that is for a whole other piece.)
Yet, I don’t quite feel connected with the story after my 20 hours in AC Shadows. The story feels second place to the large-scale map, which I love scaling towards in search of the next synchronization point as the stunning vista opens up the landscape’s surroundings. Sending out my band of merry scouts to search for supplies or my next target. Every little corner I search becomes a larger piece of the puzzle that hides away one target after another for me to hunt down and eliminate.
Is It Fun?
Simply put, YES! Isn’t that what all games should be about? No, some are not about the fun, but more about the experience. So what’s the hook with Assassin’s Creed Shadows that makes it fun? I often say, if you can’t hook me within the first hour of your game, I’m done. Though the story and mediocre voice-acting that I often don’t find believable aren’t connecting with me. The gameplay however, is! I guess you could say I was hoping for more. I wanted a stronger connection to my purpose. Naoe’s search for revenge is there. I sense it, I just don’t quite feel like I believe her.
Is it a slow burn? Some of the best games I’ve ever played take hours to complete with the pay-off being much later in the game. A prime example is Red Dead Redemption 2. I was 25 hours into RDR2 and walked away. I was bored. The prologue was a slow burn that many struggled with to ride their horse off into the sunset. I later came back and played over 300 hours of the game, completing what is arguably one of the best stories ever, in a game! It took awhile for RDR2 to connect, but it hooked me much later on. Is this going to be the same with Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
I love climbing the rooftops, leaping off for a double assassination and following up with another flashy maneuver that is so stylized for an Assassin’s Creed game, it keeps me coming back for more. Searching for supplies to help rebuild my settlement as I tweak the statue in just the right place. Growing my band of scouts to help in so many ways brings me back to my AC Brotherhood days, a game within the franchise that will always stand out. Oh, that multiplayer!
However, here’s where the AC Shadows challenge comes into play. The Objective Wall! I won’t even call it a board. Why? Because it’s so big that there’s a wall of objectives to complete. From Settlement tasks, to main story targets, to side story targets, Naoe content, and more. There is a ton of content within AC Shadows to keep me going well into the next month and beyond. There is also a Battle Pass-like system with daily challenges that require you to complete challenges to gain keys that are for Data Fragments. I mean, wow, there is just one thing after another here to do. Which leads me back to the topic at hand.
The Assassin’s Creed Challenge | Will I Be Able To Finish The Game?
I’d like to think so. I certainly would like to see how it all comes together in the end for Naoe and Yasuke, but I don’t know when that time will be if I continue down my path of playstyle. Taking my time to scout out the area, sneak in to eliminate everyone, gather all the loot I possibly can, send in my scouts to gather more loot. Search and hunt down every single target, large or small, I’ll get them all! At the end of the day, I’m truly enjoying my early days with Assassin’s Creed Shadows and have no intention of slowing down. The stealth gameplay hits, and hits in all the right places as I search to complete my RPG build of Naoe.
I could just straight line the campaign to wrap it all up and move on. However, I don’t feel that’s the true way to play AC Shadows. Not for me at least. I want to experience everything. No stone unturned as I search for revenge. I expect to be playing close to a hundred hours with Assassin’s Creed Shadows before I walk away and that is no small task.
These are my early first impressions of Assassin’s Creed Shadows and I love what I’m currently playing, though it’s far from perfect. I have a lot left ahead of me to complete and, with more shadow stealthing, I’ll come back into the light once again in the future.
Let us know if you’ve played Assassin’s Creed Shadows and what you think of the game in the comments.
