Yesterday, the big Ubisoft conference for this E3, or as they now call it Summer Game Fest, took place. In the 2024 Ubisoft Forward, there were several standout games and, as you know, the highly anticipated Assassin’s Creed Shadows was one of them.
Yesterday, during the 2024 Ubisoft Forward event, we were able to see a 13-minute gameplay of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The presentation was preceded by a musical performance and a speech by Charles Benoit, game director of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Benoit described how seasonal elements can affect gameplay possibilities, such as ice preventing characters from diving underwater in winter. The gameplay sequence presented during the presentation focused on the combined use of Yosuke and Naoe’s abilities to accomplish their mission.
The first glimpse of gameplay starts with an aerial view of feudal Japan, narrated by the shinobi Naoe. We see Naoe testing her hidden sword for the first time before moving on to the introduction of Yasuke. Another narrator emphasizes the importance of Naoe and Yasuke working together, stating: “You can see when two people fit. When they will be better together.”
After 10 minutes of gameplay, we have been able to confirm the big differences between playing with Yasuke and playing with Naoe. And most importantly, we found out how this mode will work.
How the gameplay will be and how we will choose the character for each mission
The game seems to be thought out and built to truly tell a story that works with two main characters, it doesn’t seem like a patch or a late design decision. And that was evident during the 10 minutes of gameplay that we were able to see.
As we suspected, Yasuke is a samurai of the brutal kind, with heavy weapons and a set of moves that will allow us to have powerful fights against many enemies at once. He won’t sneak through anyone’s roof, Yasuke will come in charging with his horse and then engage in a fight with everyone. It is honorable to attack from the front, attacking from behind would be improper for a samurai.
On the other hand, Naoe will be the ninja, the one who will silently infiltrate each fortress and leave a trail of corpses without being detected. Her combat and approach will be the most traditional within the Assassin’s Creed saga.
As for how Ubisoft plans to give weight to one character or another, it will be us players who, at each important moment in the story, will have to choose between Yasuke or Naoe to face the challenge ahead. This is great, as it will give players complete authority to play with whoever they want.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released on November 15, 2024, for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.
