The official premiere trailer for the next Assassin’s Creed game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, has finally arrived and with it, pre-orders for the game have gone live as well.
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The Assassin’s Creed Shadows world premiere trailer
This time, the time period is 16th century feudal Japan and the trailer shows one of the main characters, Naoe, hunting down her target, a samurai, as he runs through the woods, pulling out a shuriken as he tries to escape the assassin. A flashback reveals she is the daughter of Fujibayashi Nagato, a real-life ninja who led the ninja of the Iga province against Oda Nobunaga, another real-life person who is known as one of the three great unifiers of Japan and a military leader.
In service to Nobunaga is Yasuke, yet another real-life individual who was a black samurai (hey, Assassin’s Creed is historical fiction, after all). Yasuke and other samurai serving Nobunaga are seen decimating the homes of those living in Iga, with Yasuke saying that men seek either power, greed, or vengeance.
Naoe questions whether Yasuke will continue down this path or pick another one that’s beyond what they see, with Yasuke replying that they must look for that new path. Naoe is later seen infiltrating the stronghold of the samurai she was chasing earlier, with her and Yasuke killing his guards before catching up to their target and ending him.
Gameplay details
Ubisoft has confirmed that both characters will have different playstyles. Naoe will be the assassin/shinobi of the two, preferring to utilize her stealth training and the hidden blade, while Yasuke will be the warrior who thrives in straight-up combat, though game director Charles Benoit says they can do “a bit of both.” Naoe is described by the developers as being the passionate and intense one of the pair, while Yasuke is the thoughtful and level-headed one.
An article regarding details on the game from IGN says that the eagle that could scout areas from far above in previous games will not be available in Shadows, so you’ll have to rely on your own eyes and ears here. There will also be a new illumination system that will tell you how visible/hidden you are. Darkness can be created by destroying lanterns and killing torch carriers.
The campaign for Shadows will be non-linear and will focus on targets marked for assassination, with players being given more freedom in how they decide to do things. Some targets will have structured infiltration gameplay, while others can be encountered with no prior warning while playing. Either main character can complete most story-related missions, though they will have their own unique quests.
A new NPC type, servants, will also debut in this game and will set off alarms and notify enemies if they detect you. They are colored orange in Eagle Vision, which is also returning to the series. You can also go prone to decrease the odds of being detected as well as to slip through small openings.
Naoe can utilize her grappling hook to climb up to rooftops and the ceiling space above corridors, while Yasuke can kill from a distance using arquebus rifles. The black samurai can also use block and parry attacks, while Naoe can only deflect them (the difference between parries and deflects hasn’t been explained by Ubisoft). Enemy armor can be broken and there are no shields like in the previous games, so you’ll also need to be careful in regards to your position and dodge attacks as well.
Just like in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, you can flip back and forth between both playable characters, with both having new equipment they can unlock. Both characters share experience gained and have their own skill trees, with weapons also having their own skill trees; weapon proficiency can be increased by using a weapon more often. You’ll also be recruiting new allies, customizing your hideout, and creating your own shinobi spy network (I wonder if I’ll be able to theme mine around turtles).
The different seasons will be cycled through thanks to a new season system, which can be taken advantage of, but also bring some added gameplay wrinkles. For example, in winter, icicles will form on rooftops and can fall if you move across a rooftop, alerting nearby enemies. Said enemies will also stick closer to fires and open up more paths during winter. More grass and bushes will be available to hide in during spring and summer, but will not be available in autumn and winter as they will have died by then.
There will also be a dynamic weather system that creates the appropriate conditions depending on which region you’re in and what season it is. Storms, fog, and harsh winds are some examples.
Pre-order editions
In typical Ubisoft fashion, three editions are now up for pre-order:
- There’s the standard edition, which comes with the base game and nothing more.
- There’s the gold edition, which contains the game, the season pass, and early access three days before release if you pre-order it.
- You’ve also got the (VERY expensive) ultimate edition, which has the contents of the gold edition, along with the Sekiryu character and hideout packs, access to five skill points right off the bat, and the Red Dragon photo mode filter (I bet it’ll look great for Instagram).
- There’s also the (ULTRA expensive) collector’s edition, which contains the ultimate edition, a steelbook, a life-sized version of Naoe’s katana, a statue of Naoe and Yasuke, a world map, an artbook, two sumi-e lithographs, and an Assassin’s Creed wall scroll.
- Pre-ordering any edition will give you access to the ‘Thrown to the Dogs’ quest.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is sneaking onto consoles (Luna, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5) and PC come November 15.
