Assassin's Creed Shadows

If you’re a fan of Assassin's Creed, hooked from the very first game, you’ll find a lot of love for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. It feels very familiar, but still manages to do a great job of adding extra relish in terms of combat, visuals, and storytelling. There's no doubt that the double protagonist pivot, with different playstyles, is a winning formula.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is everything I wanted from the series and more. The world is stunning, the combat is thrilling, and the dual-protagonist system adds so much variety to gameplay. Playing as both characters sometimes feels like experiencing two different games, thanks to their unique playstyles. The deep storytelling kept me completely immersed, and I never once felt bored. For me, it’s an absolute must-play for any fan of the series.

AC Shadows is the best game in what has been an incredible series.

After many years of waiting and entertaining games that did not shine, Assassin's Creed Shadows rises to the level of the best games in the series.

Considering I spent 112 hours in Assassin's Creed Shadows before setting the controller down, this game isn't much smaller than its predecessor — but it is far less bloated and far more focused. The best visuals, gameplay, and game design to come out of Ubisoft in years makes Assassin's Creed Shadows one of 2025's greatest games so far. I just hope Ubisoft learns the right lessons from it.

All of this takes place in a rich world, full of detail and life, resulting in an outstanding game. A very successful step forward for the series that dispels any doubts that might have arisen about it.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows isn’t just one of the best games of the year so far, it’s the new yardstick by which all future Assassin’s Creed games should be measured. This is an epic, sweeping adventure bolstered by jaw-dropping visuals and a masterful blend of stealth, action, and exploration. You don’t want to miss this one.

Assassin's Creed Shadows marks the arrival of the franchise in Japan, and it does it in style with one of the best installments of the franchise. Its story, its gameplay and its graphic and artistic level position it as the best game of the saga since it made the leap to the RPG genre.

I have been a big fan of the Assassin’s Creed games since their inception, back when Jade Raymond was shepherding young Desmond’s journey. It’s been a long time since then and the series has seen lots of changes and to me Assassin’s Creed Shadows marks the best this series has ever been. With its destructible environments, fantastic story and excellent characters, Shadows has managed to dethrone Odyssey as my favorite Assassin’s Creed game.

Assassin's Creed Shadows succeeds in immersing us in a beautiful medieval Japan, full of activities and missions to be carried out with the character we prefer; the settings, the narrative/cinematic approach, and the stealth gameplay are its strengths, but it's a pity for its too weak connection to the franchise's meta-lore and a sometimes disorienting mission structure. Regardless, if you love the series, action RPGs, or Japanese settings, it is a title not to be missed.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows delivers feudal Japan to the masses in style. Sure, Ghost of Tsushima beat it to the punch a few years back, but Ubisoft Quebec’s effort is wildly different in so many ways and an absolute pleasure to play. Whether you like stealth or action, Shadows is a light in the darkness.

With Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft once again proves that its studios have a real talent for creating universes and worlds in their own right. For those who love open-worlds and feudal Japan, there's no doubt that this installment will offer the expected change of scenery. In terms of gameplay, the complementarity and play styles of Naoe and Yasuke are truly refreshing, and we feel that efforts have been made, at various levels, to try to evolve the formula. Despite everything, if a few elements change, the very heart of the saga is still as present in the way we approach the game's content, sources of flaws that we have known for a long time: the redundancy of activities, the AI ​​​​that leads to quickly mechanical combat, and a somewhat flat story, even if it does have its epic moments. Ultimately, Assassin's Creed Shadows is an effective, mainstream, and entertaining installment, but the series' lack of polish and recurring issues mean that this installment hits a glass ceiling that prevents it from reaching the highest peaks.

Assassin's Creed Shadows feels like a rejuvenated new entry for the series: more polished, more streamlined, and more feasible in terms of completion than some of the recent games. I appreciated how quickly this game gets going — especially when compared to slower openings, like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. It still boasts a massive open world, something which those older games struggled to make as rewarding to explore as they could have been, but I'm itching to see everything Shadows has to offer. It really does feel like that feudal Japan setting is more worth the wait.

Assassins Creed Shadows takes ideas from previous entries as well as some bold experimental swings to create a defining entry in the franchise – perhaps as series-defining as Black Flag. We personally think it’s the best the series has ever been, and despite some parts of the narrative not quite sticking the landing, we had an absolute blast with Ubisoft's latest.

If I had to provide a quick summary of my time with Assassin's Creed Shadows, I would say it's a sprawling RPG with more hits than misses and that addresses a handful of the series' problems while being held back by several others. It's perhaps the most Assassin's Creed game in years, and that constitutes both many amazing strengths and several annoying weaknesses. It's Ubisoft as you know and love it.

An authentic Assassin's Creed experience with something for everyone, and the best RPG-style AC to date. Shadows finally brings the franchise back to the light with refreshed stealth, myriad combat abilities, and satisfying exploration.

Another solid entry for the series, Assassin's Creed Shadows offers a wonderfully rendered natural world, though it's not as unique as it once could have been. The typical mix of stealth and action gameplay is still enjoyable and is now split between two protagonists, though switching between them can be cumbersome. Fans of the franchise should be satisfied, if not exactly impressed.

Assassin's Creed Shadows finds peace and quiet amid a flurry of repetitive violence.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a beautiful, mostly fun game held back by head-scratching design decisions and nagging issues that have plagued the series for over a decade now. While it's far from a bad entry, it's the latest game in the series to fall short of reaching the soaring action highs of the beloved Ezio Trilogy or the epic RPG adventure of Assassin’s Creed Origins and Odyssey.