By Giving Players A Choice, Assassin's Creed Shadows Undermined Its Best Idea

Assassin's Creed Shadows is celebrating its 1-year anniversary today, March 20. Below, we look back at how its dual protagonists could have made an even more meaningful impact.

It's been a year since Assassin's Creed Shadows launched, and I'm still thinking about it. My opinion on what the game is remains largely unchanged--I've talked about this at length in both my Assassin's Creed Shadows review and Claws of Awaji DLC review--but if I could take a moment to talk about what Shadows isn't, I fervently have one wish. Shadows' best idea, that it tells its story via a split perspective, should have been pushed further. In fact, that should have been the entire focus of the game's second act--I want Act 2 to have solely been about two distinct characters growing simultaneously, and perpetually being unable to see eye-to-eye with one another while still unified in a shared purpose.

Shadows has two playable protagonists: the shinobi Naoe and the samurai Yasuke. The former is fictional, native to Japan, and driven by vengeance; while the latter is a real person from history, an African outsider, and motivated by duty. The point is that they're very different people, reinforced by differing playstyles--Naoe primarily relies on subterfuge and stealth, while Yasuke is geared toward excelling in open combat as a powerful warrior. Save for specific missions, Shadows allows you to freely switch between the two as you explore 16th-century Japan.