Stunning Sceneries, Empty Stories – Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the latest addition to the franchise, was finally released on 20 March 2025. The long-awaited sequel is set in feudal Japan, which has been requested by fans for a long period of time. With the game garnering hype months before release, Ubisoft teased beautiful sceneries and unique character gameplays that ultimately gained the interest of gamers all over the world. The game company also promised its supporters upgrades, historically accurate themes, and a unique feature of dual protagonists featuring Naoe, a female shinobi and Yasuke, a samurai of African descent. However, while the game indeed delivered amazing visuals and enjoyable game mechanics, Shadows fails to deliver in certain aspects, such as its storytelling and narratives, repetitive gameplay, and characters lacking significant development.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Trailer / YouTube
Assassin’s Creed Shadows features stunning graphics, depicting feudal Japan beautifully. The scenery is immaculate, with a variety of areas to be explored, including forests of Japan’s famous cherry blossoms, towering mountains covered with mists, and buzzing and bustling towns and villages. The game’s lighting and weather effects also allow players to fully immerse themselves in the environment. The game also features improved playstyle, with the stealth system, combat styles, and environment interactions being praised by critics. But what Ubisoft improved in the game’s graphics and gameplay, they lacked in writing.
AC Shadows Sceneries / Game Rant
While the gameplay and graphics indeed amaze players, the game’s plot lacks the depth that players, especially long-time fans of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, expect from an Assassin’s Creed game. Although the game excels in fun side quests and random objectives that keep players playing, its main storyline lacks elements to keep players invested. PC Gamer, a well-known gaming website dedicated to game reviews, remarked that the game’s plot was dull and its characters were forgettable. This is partly due to the open-world game mechanic. Players can freely explore the world at their own pace, in any order. This removes the immersion and sense of urgency for players to finish the main plotline, losing the excitement and thrill due to distractions and different priorities. The game also wasted the historical potential of feudal Japan. Feudal Japan has a rich and colourful history, filled with numerous notable events that the game could have tackled. From political disputes to cultural spectacles, the developers had much to choose from, yet delivered very little. Instead of using these as the main driving force and themes of the game, it was instead used as backdrops, making them seem less relevant to the plot.
Naoe Stealth / IGN
Besides the story itself, Shadows also failed to deliver on its characters. While the dual-protagonist feature was a unique and innovative feature that offered much promise, it also became a double-edged sword for the game. Instead of utilising this feature for better storytelling, the characters were instead left with underdeveloped personalities and backgrounds. Having two protagonists, Naoe, the female shinobi, and Yasuke, the African-descent samurai, gave players a novel experience as each character had distinct features and abilities that made their playstyles different from one another. Naoe excelled in stealth-related abilities, while Yasuke focused on brute force. However, while the gameplay was indeed novel and fun, the characters’ developments lacked depth. Naoe’s character arc felt underwhelming, making her character feel like a character simply used for gameplay rather than an actual protagonist. Yasuke’s potential as a character was greatly underutilised. Yasuke is based on a real-life person with the same name, who became the first samurai of African origins, nicknamed the “African samurai”. Though his character offered much historical and storytelling potential, his origins and background in the game were not fleshed out and left unexplored. With much controversy surrounding him being made a protagonist, his lack of character development did not help. Because of this, he felt like a character added for the sake of diversity instead of someone worth remembering.
Yasuke / Northeastern Global News
But aside from all these, Ubisoft’s greatest failures in the game are the theme and writing. In the Assassin’s Creed franchise, there is a common theme, which is the conflict between the Assassins and the Templars. Especially in the early games, the conflict between the two sides has been integral in their plots and genuinely tied to the story. However, in Shadows, this theme was underutilised, making it feel forced to be included just for the sake of story progression and including it in the plot. The developers also failed to integrate key themes and principles of Japanese culture. Themes including honour, discipline, and loyalty play key roles in Japanese culture and politics, especially in the setting portrayed in the game. This was a hugely missed opportunity because these themes would have allowed the game to feel more genuine and immersive while showcasing the culture of feudal Japanese society.
So while the game does deliver on graphics and gameplay, it leaves much to improve on with regard to writing and storytelling. Shadows received much hype from its teasers and trailers, but failed to deliver in the actual game. As a fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise who plays the games to immerse myself in the games’ story and culture, and someone who loves Japanese culture and history, it would be hard to recommend this game. Here’s to hoping the next instalment won’t disappoint.
Caitlin 
Clara 
Kath Smart