Assassin’s Creed Shadows arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC as the series’ first trip to feudal Japan, and it lands with a score of 8.2 out of 10 from critics. The game splits its story between two characters players can control, a stealth fighter and a warrior fighter, letting players switch between quiet approaches and open combat depending on the mission.
Trailer, via Assassin’s Creed.
Two Fighters, Two Styles
The stealth character moves through Assassin’s Creed Shadows the way series veterans expect: high places, hidden blade tools, smoke bombs, and a grappling hook that opens up paths across castle towns. The warrior character plays almost like a different game. This fighter can’t climb the way the stealth character can, but can walk through the front gate and cut down guards with a sword or heavy club in plain sight.
The two characters never feel like copies of one another. Missions built around the stealth character reward patience and route-planning. Missions built around the warrior character reward quick action.
The Map of Japan
Assassin’s Creed Shadows sets its story across a large recreation of Japan, moving between provinces, castle towns, and mountain shrines. Weather and time of day change how missions play out — rain masks footsteps, and darkness gives the stealth character more places to hide. The seasons shift the map’s look over the course of the story, something the series hasn’t attempted at this scale before.
Two Approaches Compared
| Feature | Stealth Character | Warrior Character |
|---|---|---|
| Main approach | Quiet, hidden | Direct, open |
| Movement | Climbing, grappling hook | Ground-based movement |
| Weapon style | Hidden blade, tools | Sword, blunt weapons |
| Risk if spotted | High | Built for open fighting |
That split keeps missions from feeling the same across a long campaign.
Building a Base
Assassin’s Creed Shadows adds a base-building layer, letting players build and improve a home base that gives access to new gear, allies and abilities over time. It’s a slower system, tied more to long-term growth than to any single mission, and it gives the campaign a sense of progress outside combat.
Where the Story Drags
The main story stretches long, and side content piles up quickly. Some side missions repeat the same shape — sneak in, defeat a target, get out — without adding new ideas.
That repeated shape is the clearest drag on pacing in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
How It Looks
Character models, castle interiors, and open-air settings in Assassin’s Creed Shadows show a level of detail consistent with a major release on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. On PC, performance scales with hardware, giving players more control over frame rate and resolution.
Weather effects and shifting seasons stand out as a technical strength, especially during moves between provinces.
Weighing the Whole
The base-building system and the split between two very different fighters give Assassin’s Creed Shadows more shape than a simple checklist of missions across a map. Where the game struggles is in its length: side content repeats familiar patterns often enough that the middle stretch of the story can feel padded rather than paced. Players who stick with it will find a version of feudal Japan built with real care, even if getting through all of it takes patience of its own.
The game earns its 8.2 out of 10 from critics through that care, but the padded middle keeps it from a higher mark.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
