Last week, I got to go hands-on with Assassin’s Creed Shadows for nearly four hours. While the game has been delayed several times, there’s no reason to be worried. The build I played felt very polished, and it’s shaping up to be the best Assassin’s Creed game since Black Flag when it releases on May 20, 2025.
While some recent Assassin’s Creed games have had multiple protagonists, they’ve never played as differently as Shadows’ pair of warriors. First is Yasuke, the slave-turned-samurai who is able to crash through doors with a shoulder charge rather than simply opening them. He’s a hulking figure, one that delivers powerful strikes but isn’t light on his feet. As Assassin’s Creed has always been very stealth-focused, it provides a very different feeling game as you’re not able to climb buildings easily or sneak around. Instead, it feels almost reminiscent of For Honor as you charge into combat, ready to take on any enemies.
The other protagonist, the shinobi assassin Naoe, is much more traditional. You’ll hide in tall grass, climb structures easily to strike from above, and set up stealth kills with ease. However, you’ll want to avoid one-on-one combat whenever possible, as her standard strikes are quite weak, and you can’t just fight your way out of every situation like with Yasuke. Essentially, Ubisoft allows players to pick a play style, as I was given the option to choose who to play during most of my missions outside of the more cinematic opening.
I spent most of my time as Yasuke since I wanted to see how a more combat-focused approach to an Assassin’s Creed game would feel like. You’ve got special skills you can equip and use your special meter on, such as a cool move that sees the screen turn black-and-white momentarily, like in an old Akira Kurosawa samurai movie, before you strike with a powerful blow. Even though you’re powerful, defense and parrying are still quite important as you can still get overwhelmed by multiple enemies, so spacing is also key to make sure you can get through battles. Of course, you’ve also got plenty of options at your disposal, as I had to switch to using a bow and arrow after I struggled in an encounter, and I even did some sloppy stealth as the large samurai. There are also plenty of weapon types, although I stayed using a sword since it just felt right for a samurai.
However, as the demo led to its conclusion, an epic assassination on Ukita Naoie, one of Japan’s Three Great Villains, I switched over to using Naoe for the most part as she fit the mission much better. This was the Assassin’s Creed I know and love, as I was infiltrating a castle without being seen, taking out guards one by one, and using the cover of darkness to my advantage by putting out lights inside. While I quite enjoyed playing as Yasuke, this still has all of the systems in place to be a great stealth game.
What I loved most about Assassin’s Creed Shadows was its handling of its setting. Japan looks beautiful, with gorgeous architecture and wonderful villages to explore (plus various dogs and cats to pet as well). I loved seeing the various historical figures that I’ve learned about in the past appear in the game, such as Oda Nobunaga recruiting Yasuke to fight for him. Ubisoft’s biggest strength has always been in its world creation, and that is still on full display here.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Preview: Final Verdict
After a very promising opening hours, I’m very much looking forward to seeing what all Assassin’s Creed Shadows will offer. I had a great time playing as both Naoe and Yasuke. It will be interesting to see how the characters evolve over time, as it did feel a bit limiting to either be stealthy or powerful rather than both — like Ezio or other protagonists, but the skill tree system looked robust and promising. The real star, however, is the Japanese setting, which Ubisoft has done a great job of replicating.
ComingSoon attended a Ubisoft virtual event for our Assassin’s Creed Shadows preview.
