Review: Messy Exploration Holds Back Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Assassin’s Creed Shadows marks the long-awaited return of the mainline series. The country of Japan is absolutely stunning to explore, with one of the best gameplay systems and storyline to date. In fact, I think Assassin’s Creed Shadows would hands down be the best in the series if it weren’t for the heavily problematic exploration.

If you are like me and have always wanted an Assassin’s Creed game set in Japan, this title mostly lives up to those expectations. With around nine regions to explore and a vast story spanning roughly 40 hours without including any of side content, it is jam-packed with a gorgeous, fully realized version of 16th century Japan at the height of its Sengoku Period. It's a strong foundation.

The world depicted in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in a game. The visual effects, like the wind blowing through flower fields or the numerous vistas we synchronize with, provide some of the most detailed and stunning visuals I’ve experienced. I feel the graphics appear to be much more detailed than all past entries of the series I've played, and Ubisoft used a strikingly varied color palette.

It helps that the seasons in Assassin’s Creed Shadows play into its visual style. The four seasons change everything, from the look of locations to certain content available. Over the course of my time with the experience, I constantly found myself seeing something new. Or, well, sometimes I would if it weren’t for how problematic the exploration is.

It is a shame how bad actually experiencing and exploring the world is in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, especially since it is the installment I want to spend the most time savoring. For one, the map layout is awful. Foliage is everywhere, leading to an unbelievable amount of tall trees and bushes getting in your way. If you go off the beaten path, good luck seeing anything anywhere. The plant life makes it nearly impossible, and I couldn’t find a way to turn it down, either.

Worse still, climbing is not good in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. I long for the “climb everywhere” type of entries! This is, sadly, not one of them. It gets even more troublesome. If you go up an incline that is too steep, you’ll immediately slip down it. The unfortunate part is, this being Japan, there are hills and such uneven land everywhere.

If you even try to shorten your journey to a destination in Assassin’s Creed Shadows and go off of the road, then good luck. You will probably experience a lot of frustration as a result. (That is, if you can even see anything.) I remember my worst moment involved journeying to a viewpoint to synchronize 1,200 meters away from me. I tried to go in a straight line to shorten the distance as much as possible. I made it there! But for literally 800 meters of the journey, I couldn’t see anything because of the environmental execution.

To make matters worse, roads aren’t super common in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In fact, you can only see a handful of major highways on the map if you haven’t already been somewhere yet! These major paths don’t usually go by viewpoints or any other significant landmarks. So, it is up to you to rely on guides or run through the impossible-to-see-through foliage to get somewhere. Thankfully, navigating through towns, castles, and cities is far less of an issue, but getting to those spots can be a major headache.

This frustrating exploration is a stark contrast to the otherwise excellent experience found in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. For instance, the gameplay finally feels like it strikes the right balance between action-RPG and assassination simulator. Yasuke and Naoe help to provide everyone something to enjoy, regardless of preferred style. You can play most of the game as the person you prefer. If you like slower, almost Souls-like parries and dodges, Yasuke is the way to go. But if you prefer the more traditional assassin and tools skillset like me, Naoe offers that. This allows for a balanced blend of the Eivor and Kassandras of the series alongside its actual assassin roots. Though I will say Naoe isn’t still perfect, as her dual assassination doesn’t register all the time and requires a specific weapon type, but she's still a strong option.

While I generally don’t prefer the more action side of the Assassin's Creen series' recent games, Yasuke feels like the best protagonist thus far. His playstyle as a samurai slows everything down and turns it into a more weighty and ability-focused experience. It is to the point where, while you can grind and reach a high enough level to complete a quest, I found it possible to do quests above my level if I mastered blocking and dodging. This reward for player skill is a welcome change of pace.

What is also nice is the level of content in this experience. While I liked Assassin's Creed Valhalla a lot, I found its supplemental missions horrible and bland. Thankfully, Assassin’s Creed Shadows makes up for that with worthy side content that I felt encouraged to complete. Every piece of content feeds into another area. For instance, you might meet an NPC in the main story and rescue them. They then show up as an ally with their own side story, complete with assassination targets and the like. Or you might find some random animals in the wild, then draw a beautiful 2D painting of them. You can then display that painting or even the pet animal at your customizable Hideout. There are temples that grant XP or Mastery Points to upgrade skills. Every piece of side content has its place and complements the main story well.

And the best part is, that’s all before the actual story in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. This is by far the most engaging plot in the series yet. This is certainly a welcome change of pace after the forgettable Assassin's Creed Mirage plot. Naoe and Yasuke are by far the most heartwarming and memorable protagonists. Ubisoft gives you a lot of reasons to root for the duo on their journey. I will admit that, at times, it feels more like Naoe’s game, but Yasuke does get his moments as well.

The other side characters help to fill out the plot, too, especially when it comes to the Assassin’s Creed Shadows villains. This is by far the most unforgettable set of bad guys found in an installment. Instead of just being masked or unknown targets, Ubisoft uses the game’s story to make the player hate them, too. Or even empathize with some of them, in a couple of cases. This makes the story and hunt for the enemies more personal and engaging in the process.

This is all why it is such a shame that Assassin’s Creed Shadows falls apart in the exploration department. Getting to an goal is such a chore, despite the incredible visuals. But once you get to the primary objective in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you will find the best combat, story, characters, and setting in an Assassin’s Creed game yet. If it was more enjoyable to roam around the world, which is, sadly, how a large portion of your time playing, this would easily be the best overall entry in the series to date.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows releases for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on March 20, 2025.

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