Today we’re going to take a look at some of the best videos put out so far on the newest installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Shadows. While, so far, Ubisoft has kept most details of the new game under wraps, there have been a series of stunning reveals for the feudal Japan-based game that showed off some brand new mechanics, character styles, and the revival of some of the best qualities from earlier games in the series. In this article, we’ll go over 10 of these videos, and what they tell us to expect in the new game.

1. Assassin's Creed Shadows: Extended Gameplay Walkthrough | Ubisoft Forward - YouTube

Ubisoft has unveiled an extended gameplay walkthrough for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and it’s nothing short of gorgeous. Set against the backdrop of feudal Japan, this installment promises to be an addictive addition to the franchise, especially because it’s one that fans have been waiting years for.

From the very first frame, the visuals transport you to a meticulously crafted world. The lush forests, serene temples, and bustling villages are rendered with astonishing attention to detail. Whether you’re scaling rooftops or sneaking through bamboo groves, every scene feels like a brushstroke from a masterful painting. Ubisoft has earned some major respect from me for its developers’ artistic creativity in this new game.

While some fans have taken issue with Ubisoft’s historical revisionism, I think that this creative mandate is exactly what makes the series so engaging and enduringly popular. It’s not like world history is actually determined by two cults that have existed since ancient Egypt, after all. Shadows’ characters are a perfect example of this, taking one legendary historical figure who truly did exist and making an exciting and compelling fictional character out of him. Yasuke, the name given to him by his daimyo, was a man from Eastern Africa who really did immigrate to Japan in the 1500’s and become a sword-wielding retainer for a Japanese lord. The character and his beautiful setting capture the essence of feudal Japan—the honor-bound samurai code, the intrigue of warring clans, and the beauty of the Japanese natural and architectural landscape, and I for one am excited to finally see what the franchise does with this setting.

Yasuke demonstrating his sweeping attacks in “Shadows” cinematic trailer.

2. Assassin's Creed Shadows: Who Are Naoe and Yasuke? (youtube.com)

In this video, the game’s directors beautifully describe the whole philosophy behind the creation of this new game’s main characters. Naoe, our fictional protagonist, embodies the art of the shinobi—a ninja skilled in stealth, cunning, and precision. Naoe’s backstory is a creation of Ubisoft’s imagination, but it draws inspiration from true historical facts, which we will get to learn about along the way.

Yasuke, on the other hand, is no mere fictional construct. He was a genuine historical figure—a warrior who lived and fought during Japan’s tumultuous Sengoku period. Yasuke’s origins are shrouded in mystery, but we know this much: he arrived in Japan in 1579, standing out as a non-Japanese man with dark skin, dreadlocks, and an accent. His journey from Africa to Japan, likely as a slave turned warrior, is a testament to resilience and adaptability; a story that deserves to be told.

In the game, Yasuke becomes a confidant of Oda Nobunaga, a prominent warlord in Japan’s unification efforts. Their alliance sets the stage for epic battles, shadow wars, and the clash of Templars and Assassins. While the historical Yasuke might not have wielded hidden blades, his existence adds depth and authenticity to Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

So, we’ll get to pick and choose between the two as we go depending on our playthrough strategy and our preference for the enigmatic and imposing Yasuke, or the stealthy and fluid Naoe.

Yasuke toasting Naoe in the cinematic trailer.

3. Assassin's Creed Shadows Explained - Samurai, Shinobi, and Feudal Japan - YouTube

This Ubisoft video gives an in-depth sneak peak at all of the features of the upcoming game. The directors of the project themselves tell us about the art style that went into even the tiniest details of the trailer, including references to traditional Japanese art and modern anime, as well as the historical background that frames our characters.

Set during the Azuchi-Momoyama period in the late 1500’s, Shadows picked a perfect time period for a story about assassin’s lurking in the shadows and fighting powerful forces of injustice. This was a period of great turmoil for Japan, with warring clans engaging in bloody campaigns of conquest against one another using the new technology of the arquebus, an early form of gun, which devastated armies from a medium distance and revolutionized warfare in the region.

Yasuke’s real-life vassal, Oda Nabunaga, is a key figure in Japanese history, the “great-unifier” who still causes controversy to this day due to his brutal tactics. He conquered most of what is today Japan through a series of wars against many different clans. With violent warfare and chaos, giant castles, and warring factions of elites: what better time could there be for an Assassin’s Creed game?

From the cinematic trailer, a beautiful, historically accurate panoramic of the port of Sakai with Portuguese merchant ships in the harbor.

4. Assassin's Creed Shadows Official Gameplay - Combat and Stealth Evolved | Ubisoft Forward (youtube.com)

This video gives us an early look at the actual gameplay of the new game. It combines all of the best things that we had in the more recent entries in the franchise, while adding back the stealth elements that had been lacking. We get fast-paced, direct combat with Yasuke and a revamped version of the classic covert assassinations that originally made the series one of my favorites. Naoe has a few features never before seen, including the ability to go totally prone while moving between hiding places, a bamboo straw which allows you to sneak underwater for extended periods of time, and a hidden blade that pivots in her hand to become a small tanto blade for open combat. There is also a system of weak points and parrying indicators on enemies that keep open combat manageable. As an added perk, the whole world is designed to be breakable, so we can do things like assassinate people through paper screens and just tear through a bamboo grove in the middle of combat.

Screenshot from some real combat shown in one of Ubisoft’s teasers for the new game.

5.Assassin's Creed Shadows: 10 BIGGEST Changes You NEED TO KNOW - YouTube

This video by Youtube channel gameranx lists the biggest changes to the game, summarizing the most exciting new features that have been shown throughout all the other videos. For me, the most appealing among these is the ability to play two different characters at any time, and the very fluid and nonlinear flow of the game through the seasons, rather than through strict historical time. These are both very creative additions that allow for the franchise to maintain its focus on historical fiction while at the same time progressing towards even greater player autonomy.

As described by one of the game’s directors, the style of this split-screen from the trailer is intentionally mimicking the artistic style of anime, and uses a slanted dividing line to show the asymmetric relationship of the two at the beginning of the story. This contrasts with a later splitscreen with an even, vertical line portraying them as equals.

6. Assassin’s Creed Shadows: 50 Fascinating Details From the Gameplay Reveal - YouTube

This video from IGN gives us a quick overview of everything that Ubisoft has revealed about the game so far. Ranging from the play styles mentioned earlier to the innovative new combat system, IGN showcases a lot of gameplay. Most interesting is probably the system of weak points that makes combat extremely dynamic. This is a stark contrast to some of the earlier games that had button-mashing combat that never really challenged you, even against hordes of enemies. Now even your position during the enemy’s swing is going to change the amount of damage and types of attacks you can do.

A screenshot of one of the earliest missions in the game, at the beginning of which you have a choice of which character to play as.

7. Why Are Gamers Upset With Assassin's Creed Shadows? - YouTube

This game goes over the controversies that have been bubbling up around Shadows. First, there is the predictable anger about an African man being the main character. Many fans are upset that a game set in Japan would not be centered on a native Japanese person, but I think it’s fairly obvious that there would not be so much backlash if the game’s main character were a Portuguese missionary or some other person of European background. This one is definitely not just about people defending ‘authentic’ Japanese culture.

Aside from this general grievance about Ubisoft being too “woke” for gamers’ taste, there are some more convincing complaints about the general trend towards us no longer “owning” the games that we paid for. Along the same lines, there is the generally annoying pricing model which incentivizes overpriced pre-ordering and “gold” editions. There are also several criticisms, many of them from actual Japanese people, about the accuracy of certain details like designs of swords and architecture. In the end though, whine all we want, the game is what it is and a lot of us are still going to buy and play it.

8. I Got Exclusive Assassin's Creed Shadows Gameplay... - YouTube

In this video, streamer JorRaptor showcases some of the exclusive gameplay that he received access to following Ubisoft’s big reveal, and talks about some of his favorite aspects of the new game. He displays the way that the new dual-character dynamic allows a whole different dimensional approach to exploration of the open world. With Yasuke, you can charge right in like a bull in a china shop, while with Naoe, gameplay is designed for a more vertical approach using stealth and new tools to slip by walls and barriers. He also shows some of the mechanics that make Shadows more similar to other, less scripted open-world RPGs such as meditation to control the time of day and the rotation of the seasons. These aspects bring a whole new context to gameplay, presenting new environmental opportunities and obstacles that will be entirely unique each time we play it.

A screenshot from some of this early-access gameplay, showing off Yasuke’s ranged arquebus weapon as it ignites explosives.

9. Assassin's Creed Shadows: Gameplay Demo Reactions - YouTube

IGN’s Miranda Sanchez and Michael Higham react to the latest behind-closed-doors demo of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the main characters, and its feudal Japan setting. They showcase and review several of the games mechanics, and give their take on the game as a whole.

A scene from the cinematic trailer showing Yasuke’s proficiency with Japanese calligraphy; a historical reference to the real-life figure’s reported proficiency with the language.

10. I saw 'Assassin's Creed Shadows' behind closed doors... - YouTube

To wrap things up, we have one more exclusive from content creator and youtuber Luke Stephens. Luke gives his own opinions about the game in a really good, light-hearted summary. He gives some insightful takes into the smoothness of the gameplay, before he literally plays out some of the improvements on the parkour mechanics on a barstool in his hotel room, which if nothing else is pretty entertaining. He shows how Shadows promises to fix some of the biggest complaints that fans have had about previous installments like Valhalla and Odyssey.

One of the final scenes from the cinematic trailer, showcasing the stunning graphics as it portrays feudal Japan’s environment.

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