Assassin’s Creed Shadows finally showed me the appeal of Ubisoft’s tentpole franchise

Assassin’s Creed Shadows brings the franchise to the shores of Japan. After almost 20 years and 13 mainline games, Assassin’s Creed — the series about using flashy gadgets and techniques to murder your enemies undetected — has finally been set in a place famous for assassins who use flashy gadgets and techniques to murder their enemies undetected. I don’t know why Ubisoft waited so long. But I do know Ubisoft is in dire need of a hit, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows is poised to be one.

Ubisoft isn’t out to reinvent the formula with Shadows. In fact, there’s nothing mechanically (or even narratively) that separates this game from its predecessor, Assassin’s Creed Mirage. It’s just moved the game to a new location, with new characters and new storylines. The strength of the game comes from whether Ubisoft can make those things pop.

Shadows revives the dual protagonist system introduced with Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. To start the game, you play as Naoe, a young woman from Iga, a province of medieval Japan known for its shinobi. After her village is destroyed and her father is murdered, Naoe swears revenge on the shadowy cabal of masked individuals responsible. H …

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