Assassin's Creed Shadows Reviews
Come for the neck stabs and stay for the surprisingly great combat, Assassin's Creed Shadows is a stealth action buffet with a story to forget.
By sharpening the edges of its existing systems, Assassin’s Creed Shadows creates one of the best versions of the open-world style it’s been honing for the last decade.
Majestic in scope, impressive in detail, Assassin's Creed Shadows honours the beauty of feudal Japan, even if its strongest moments are saved for the personal stories of two protagonists.
Assassin's Creed Shadows is a spectacular return to form for the franchise, delivering one of the series' more tightly focused historical adventures.
Expansive, detailed and polished, Assassin's Creed Shadows is a fantastic exploration and stealth game with beautiful Japanese aesthetics, somewhat diminished by a thin story, clumsy narrative, and immersion-breaking design choices. Despite this, it's a thoroughly enjoyable entry into the series for fans seeking to explore medieval Japan.
Despite some repetition and bloat that makes Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ final stretch drag more than the rest of the game excites, its brave approach to exploration in a gorgeous world, heartfelt personal stories, and satisfying tweaks to the formula still make it stand as one of my favourite entries yet. While no one can say if Shadows will be the all-timer hit that both Ubisoft and the series need right now, I can at least say that it’s more than worthy of your time.
Not every idea comes together neatly, and two phenomenal protagonists feel wasted on a lackluster story, but this is a titan in the same leagues as series staples Assassin's Creed 2 and Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag – and Ubisoft's best RPG to date.
Ubisoft Quebec's Assassin's Creed Shadows messes with a good thing by including one too many playable protagonists.
Ubisoft's latest open-world RPG overcomes forgettable quests thanks to standout characters and improved stealth action
I’m actually at the point where I’m enjoying finding little problems with the game, because - most of the time - I know that means there’ll be something interesting on the other end of it. That is high praise for any work of art, but in a video game… it really feels like something special.
Is Assassin's Creed Shadows the hail mary Assassin's Creed and Ubisoft needed, or should this game have stayed in the shadows?
A beautiful recreation of 16th century Japan is stained with the clumsy ink of an uninspiring revenge tale, but take your time sneaking through castles and visiting temples to get the most from an impressive open world.
Assassin's Creed Shadows delivers on its promise of bringing back classic stealth mechanics while introducing new ones and combining the best of the older and RPG titles. The detailed open-world of feudal Japan feels full of life with compelling playable and non-playable characters, and different fighting tactics enrich the combat. But the game struggles to balance its two playable protagonists, and player choices are still inconsequential. TODAY'S BEST DEALS $69.99 at Amazon(Download) $69.99 at Best Buy $69.99 at Walmart
Assassin's Creed Shadows is a bloated collection of uninspired quests that quickly turn into a repetitive, boring grind. While the art and history teams deserve recognition for their efforts, it's all unfortunately wasted on a narrative that goes nowhere, is poorly explained, and has no satisfying resolutions.
We don't think this game will convince those who aren't keen on the current Assassin's Creed titles (it's the same formula, improved), but if you're up for it, you'll have a blast. Both technically and gameplay-wise, it's an exciting journey full of secrets and emotions. The extra development time is noticeable.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Fans of Assassin's Creed have waited an era or two for a series entry that lets you be a ninja and explore Feudal Japan. Thankfully, the wait has been absolutely worth it. Assassin's Creed Shadows is an astonishing achievement. Vast, impossibly detailed, immaculately researched, and enormously fun, Shadows is easily one of the best games in this storied franchise.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows almost feels like what it would be like if Ken Burns was tasked with making a video game. It’s exhaustive in how it depicts Japan’s feudal era even in fiction, crafting its world with the eye of a historical documentarian. It’s not quite the in-depth slice of life that Red Dead Redemption 2 goes for, but it approaches that same idea with fewer systems. Some of my favorite moments came when I just got bored of stabbing people and got on my horse instead. I didn’t stop every few feet to complete a puzzle. I didn’t stop to open another chest. I just rode, breathing in nature and listening to my own exhale intertwine with the wind.
Series fans will find a lot to love here, even if Shadows doesn’t quite take the step of truly challenging itself to be more than what we might have expected it to be. The moment-to-moment gameplay is fun, Naoe and Yasuke are both compelling in their own way, and the backdrop of Japan really does make for a beautiful stage on which everything plays out.
Assassin's Creed Shadows is one of the finest entries in the series, successfully bringing back stealth-oriented gameplay while retaining the RPG mechanics and refined combat mechanics seen in previous entries in the series, seamlessly integrating them with the dual protagonist setup and a well-paced story that doesn't overstay its welcome. While the game still features way more content and gameplay systems than necessary, its rendition of Feudal Japan is among the best ever seen in a video game, and it is well worth experiencing for the vast majority of players.
Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows is easy on the eyes, but a generally basic simulation, scant upgrades, and bland side activities weaken the effect.