Even before launch, Assassin's Creed Shadows was subject to a number of controversies, with Ubisoft, in separate instances, issuing a public apology for offending some of its Japanese fans and delaying the game twice after community feedback. In spite of all this, though, Shadows has stacked up to be a fairly successful Assassin's Creed game, garnering a peak player count of over 64,000 players and a decently-positive Steam review rating.
Assassin's Creed Shadows is on sale on Steam for 25% off until July 23, bringing the price of the game down from $69.99 to $52.49.
Assassin's Creed Shadows gameplay and reviews
Assassin's Creed Shadows takes place in feudal Japan, specifically in the final years of the Sengoku period in 1579. It follows a female shinobi, Naoe, and a slave-turned-samurai, Yasuke, as they forge an alliance, build up an Assassin Brotherhood in Japan, and wage war on the Templars.
Players face off agains their enemies as both Yasuke and Naoe, with characteristic Assassin's Creed combat and traversal offering dynamic fights, plenty of parkour, and a decent variety of weapons and equipment to use. Yasuke is a hulking brute that towers over just about all of his opponents and uses his samurai training to take down his opponents with mostly melee weapon types — long katana, naginata, and kanabo — or a yumi bow or front-loaded rifle. Meanwhile, Naoe uses a combination of melee weapons — katana, kusarigama, or the tanto hidden blade — and her shinobi tools, consisting of kunai, shuriken, smoke bomb, and shinobi bell, to take down her foes with stealth instead of brute force.
In our review of Assassin's Creed Shadows, we noted that the game could be rather demanding on system resources, but we found the gameplay to be quite engaging, while the graphics and the world design both make for a beautiful experience. Both Naoe and Yasuke are fun to play, with each character bringing its own unique gameplay style and feel to the table. The storytelling and setting are also intriguing, while the mix open-world RPG elements and new mechanics offer plenty to keep you busy without making the game a slog, at least for the most part.
The Steam reviews for Assassin's Creed Shadows are also rather positive, with 78% of the game's reviews recommending it to other players. Most of the detailed positive reviews echo our review conclusions, with players praising the graphics and world design for their contributions to the game's immersion, while the dual-protagonist structure also frequently gets mentioned as a fun way to add variety to the combat. Some users complained that the storytelling feels rushed at points and that some of the combat mechanics and UI elements could use some more polish, and there are a handful of reviews that bash the game's implementation of the open-world gameplay.
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