- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Release Date: Mar 20, 2025
- Also On: Nintendo Switch 2, PC, Xbox Series X
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Apr 16, 2025Assassin’s Creed Shadows doesn’t feel like a step forward or a step back, it feels like a sidestep for the series. For every improved feature – like stealth or combat – there’s something that feels worse, like exploring the world and climbing to a high place for a vantage point. At the start, you’re embarking on a bold adventure, and in the midst of it all, it feels like trying to complete a shopping list in a new supermarket with no signs. It’s directionless, overwhelming, and tedious. You can’t even ignore the dozens of optional objectives, otherwise you won’t be high enough level to take on the main challenges. If you want a game that you can play for the next year, AC Shadows is it, but if you want a tight, narrative-driven stealthy ninja adventure, look elsewhere.
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Mar 18, 2025Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an excellent game but clearly not without flaws, even if the numerous innovations make it the best episode regarding infiltration. However, Naoe carries the game on her own, when Yasuke only has a central place in the story and not the gameplay. It's a game where freedom is at its peaks and it’s sometimes at its own disadvantage. The rhythm is irregular, the writing is often weakened by the poor animations during the cinematics. It’s a shame, because the game has an absolutely bluffing open world and an amazing and never seen before dynamic weather system that needs to become a standard now. Assassin’s Creed Shadows may not be the most sensational one, but it is, nevertheless, one the very good episodes of the franchise and sets its future brighter.
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Mar 18, 2025Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a decent game that delivers a good narrative, a set of great protagonists and strong gameplay, but never fully commits to melding the best aspects of both eras into a truly great package.
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Mar 18, 2025Outside of the new, most sought after destination of Feudal Japan, Assassin's Creed Shadows never really escapes its own shadow of boilerplate gameplay systems and its tried and true open world formula the series is known for. Whilst the game is at the same high standard as every other entry, it doesn't truly excel at anything more specific.
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Mar 18, 2025Assassin's Creed Shadows marks the continuation, and perhaps the end, of the cycle that began with Origins. However, the episode set in Japan also represents the downward spiral, in terms of quality of some components of the gameplay and content offering, of a structural model that is starting to feel the weight of the years. Shadows is a game that wants to please everyone and that does everything more or less well, but without truly excelling in anything, and - unfortunately - without leaving its mark. The epic of shinobi and samurai leaves open several glimmers of hope for the future. But we hope that, both with DLC tied to the story of Naoe and Yasuke and with the next episodes, the saga can truly start again, rediscovering the ability to amaze us.
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Mar 18, 2025If you’ve never liked Assassin’s Creed this won’t win you over but Shadows is a well-made and exciting iteration that’s impressively well-polished, even if it lacks any significant new ideas.
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Mar 18, 2025Ubisoft 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.
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Mar 18, 2025Assassin's Creed: Shadows is a game full of contrasts. On one hand, it offers solid stealth mechanics and a great combat system, but on the other, it features a lackluster storyline and generic exploration. If you're a fan of the series, you'll likely find something to enjoy here, but if you weren't convinced from the start, the combat and stealth may not be enough to win you over.
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Mar 18, 2025The bottom line is that Assassin's Creed Shadows is not a bad game, but unfortunately it is not really outstanding either. I had more fun with Naoe and Yaskue in feudal Japan than I had with Eivor in England back then. But it doesn't come close to Kassandra's adventure in Greece, for example. The design weaknesses mentioned are too obvious for that. Here, the game unfortunately wastes a lot of potential. And yet I will keep my adventure in Shadows in good memory.
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Mar 18, 2025There’s certainly room for improvement when it comes to its presentation and performance, but it’s hard to deny that Assassin’s Creed Shadows does so much so well. From its wonderfully realized world to its wealth of engaging quests and distractions, there’s plenty to enjoy here, regardless of whether you’ve fallen off the franchise in recent years.
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Mar 18, 2025Assassin's Creed Shadows isn't awful, but it’s not the game fans deserve. Clunky combat, awkward animations, and a departure from the series' standard make it a mixed bag. Still, its expansive world, production value, and new mechanics might justify giving it a try when its on sale, if you aren't an AC purist, that is.
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Mar 18, 2025The stories of vengeance in Assassin’s Creed Shadows are eclipsed by the game's quieter moments traversing feudal Japan on galloping horseback and visiting magnificent temples.
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Mar 18, 2025Despite all its controversies and pressure, Assassin's Creed Shadows is a good game, in which prevails what the franchise does best: a beautiful world and a compelling story, despite its lack of creativity in level design.
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Mar 18, 2025Assassin'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. None of the changes and tweaks that Ubisoft brought to the table move the needle, and the game is ultimately more frustrating than it is fun. This is a game that desperately needed to succeed, and instead, collapses under its own weight. Future Assassin's Creed releases need to innovate instead of being yet another rehash of games we've already played in different locations. There are other open-world games in similar settings that are much more worthy of your time.
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Jul 29, 2025Assassin's Creed Shadows is a small, yet flawed, step in the right direction for the series. While the story, characters, visuals, music, and main gameplay mechanics shine, the lack of development for the protagonists, the boring side quests, the continued emphasis on combat instead of stealth, and the frustrating action RPG mechanics severely hinder the experience. Unfortunately, it's not the evolution of the series that many fans were hoping for, and it pales in comparison to other games that have handled its formula far better.
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Mar 22, 2025As always, Ubisoft has crafted a highly detailed and undeniably beautiful world. Roaming the historical Japanese cities and countryside is undoubtedly one of the game's highlights. However, once again, Ubisoft fails to take a single step forward in its action, platforming, and-most crucially- stealth mechanics, making each new iteration of its beloved franchise feel increasingly stale and tiresome.
| This publication does not provide a score for their reviews. | |
| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
| These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation. | |
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Mar 26, 2025With the exception of some quirks with the quest system, a less-than-stellar English voice track and a storyline that may not be the most compelling of the franchise, it's hard to find major faults with Assassin's Creed Shadows. Ubisoft has found what could be the new formula for the franchise, and it will hopefully retool this formula to keep future titles fresh for players. Some diehard fans may find Shadows to be a bit too action-oriented and less stealthy than previous games in the series, but I feel there's still enough of the original formula in this game to satisfy them, as well as those who want to just use a big ol' sword to chop some heads.
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Mar 18, 2025I took so many screenshots playing Shadows because I kept being stunned by how much color and variety its world contains. A valley during the winter might feel cold, miserable, and icy, but later during the fall it becomes a breathtaking collage of orange, brown, and yellow as the wind whips thousands of leaves around. It’s almost like Ubisoft has built four different, massive open-world maps and each one is a visual treat.
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Mar 18, 2025With the amount of content and value on offer here and an incredible open world to sink upwards of 80 hours into, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an example of what the franchise can be among its best. While not every aspect is perfect, the game’s epic journey makes for the best Assassin’s Creed game in a decade, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for the franchise after seeing Ubisoft can still deliver on its flagship IP in a big way.
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Mar 18, 2025I enjoyed traversing the way-too-big map, finding all the little activities I could get into while on my way to the bigger story quests. I was thrilled every time the seasons changed and I got to see the land transform. Every bit of scenery is rendered with such detail that I felt transported to an era of Japan that, despite being covered to death in media, nevertheless remains endlessly fascinating. I was enthralled by the game’s deep and detailed codex that covered everything from the history of the era and its notable figures to the minutia of daily life as a Japanese peasant. Sure, popping out and killing ninjas is great, and I’m genuinely interested in how Yasuke and Naoe achieve their goals. But more than anything, I wanna visit the top of Mount Hiei and learn about the warrior monks of its Enryakuji Temple. We all watched Shōgun deservedly carry away all the awards. Playing Shadows felt like experiencing that show all over again.
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