Today, Ubisoft officially announced Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the next major entry in a storied line of releases, after two days of speculation from fans following a title drop and teaser. This announcement, accompanied by a cinematic trailer, actually serves as a follow-up on the Assassin’s Creed Codename Red tease that was a part of a larger slate of “AC” announcements back in 2022.
Fans of the franchise have long wanted an Assassin’s Creed game set in Japan, and for good reason. The fusion seems foolproof; samurai and assassins, katanas and hidden blades, cherry blossoms, full moonlight, crimson red blood blending in on a set of Feudal-age armor… the imagery creates itself. Ubisoft have been aware of this too, going as far as to tease the setting in another of their titles, the hit multiplayer shooter Rainbow Six Siege, wherein an online map displayed a set of samurai armor with the AC logo emblazoned across the beltline.
This has been a long time coming, and now fans don’t have to wait any longer. We’re here to break down the new trailer and all the little details that come with it. Blade-for-blade, bit-for-bit. Let’s jump in.
The trailer opens on a man being pursued by a hooded figure in the forest. This opening scene cuts right before the climax, and is then revisited at the end of the cinematic to reveal a samurai. These are our two protagonists; the hooded former a shinobi assassin named Naoe, and the armored latter a samurai named Yasuke.
The trailer features plenty of hints at both their playstyles, seemingly combining the franchise’s classic stealth elements in Naoe with the more recent RPG-like developments (heavier combat, more weapon variety) being represented by Yasuke. Bridges are burned and people drop like pink leaves throughout as the two characters voiceover their interactions with one another, from meeting on Naoe’s home-turned battlefield to teaming up with one another. The trailer is topped off with Yasuke saying, “We are the shadows…” followed by Naoe, “that serve the light.”
After Assassin’s Creed Mirage, released late last year, provided fans with a more traditional, compact AC experience, Shadows is clearly a step back in the main-entry direction. The game is expected to match the map size of the critically acclaimed Assassin’s Creed Origins, featuring nine regions, and will look to bring a sense of scale like never before in introducing players to an open world iteration of Feudal Japan in 1579.
Despite not showing any gameplay, the trailer reveals hidden blade combat, an element of gameplay that’s always important to the AC crowd, as well as a variety of interesting weapons in addition to the obvious inclusion of the katana. There’s a grappling hook and what appear to be throwable shuriken, too.
What’s more, fans can look forward to new gameplay mechanics such as an evolving spy system and a completely customizable player hideout. Now that the trailer is out, it won’t be long before we get a gameplay reveal to see all of this in action, as well as consistent details from igitems as we crawl closer to the November 15 release date at the end of this year.
Click below to watch the trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and afterwards, you can pre-order it now wherever you buy your games. Until November, we’ll see you in the shadows…
Movies, long drives, and mint chocolate chip ice cream.
