It’s wild to say this, but Assassin’s Creed Shadows might just be the most hopeful I’ve felt about the series in almost a decade. After so many bloated diet-RPGs that felt more like chores than adventures, Shadows somehow managed to stick the landing. It’s not perfect — far from it — but in some ways, that’s exactly why it hit me harder. It’s a game that finally feels like it’s trying again.
As someone who’s loved this franchise since Ezio and Federico climbed the Santa Trinita church, Shadows reminded me what AC can be when it actually cares. But at the same time, it also made it painfully clear that Ubisoft’s old habits die hard. For every thrilling step forward, there’s still a nagging stumble.
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5
The most polished Assassin’s Creed launch ever
Shadows’ polish renews my hope for attention-to-detail in the upcoming games
I can’t believe I’m saying this about an Ubisoft open-world RPG in 2025, but Shadows is insanely polished. Like, actually polished. No game-breaking bugs, no vanishing NPCs, no broken missions. It just works. I know how low the bar is for AAA releases — and that’s a trend I hope dies soon — but Shadows lands clean from the jump. From the first hour to the final act, everything feels tested, tuned, and fine-tuned — and if you’ve played Unity or Valhalla, you know how rare that is.
Visually, it’s consistently stunning. The dynamic weather, sunlight piercing forest canopies, reactive lighting — it’s easily the most technically accomplished AC game yet. This is truly next-gen Assassin’s Creed, and it feels like the series will only get richer and more visually ambitious from here. And all this polish does more than look pretty — it sends a message. Ubisoft can deliver a smooth, next-gen experience. They just need time, focus, and the will to commit.
That gives me real hope for what’s next, especially with reports suggesting the return of the Fear system from Syndicate’s Jack the Ripper DLC expansion. Horror elements mixed with Shadows’ polish and combat? That’d be a day-one buy, no question.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
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4
Combat is finally worth mastering
This is the least floaty combat system since the pivot
As I played Assassin’s Creed Shadows, I realized that this was the first time since AC: Syndicate that I actively wanted to get into fights. Combat in Shadows isn’t just better than its predecessors — it feels meaningful. The parry system is crisp, enemies are genuinely dangerous, and button-mashing no longer gets you all that far. As I mastered the rhythm of a duel as Naoe, I felt real satisfaction as I employed all the tools and abilities at my disposal to get out of tight spots. All of it did come together to make me realize I was right to give this game a serious and sincere chance leading up to its release.
Yes, some RPG elements still linger — there’s the occasional spongey boss, gear levels prevent me from assassinating someone I’m sneaking up on — but they don’t dominate. Instead, every encounter feels like it was built around clarity and intention. For a franchise that’s struggled to balance “action” and “stealth,” this felt like the first time the action side wasn’t an afterthought. If this is the new foundation for AC combat, I’m all in.
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3
Stealth isn’t just back — it finally works perfectly
Naoe was the ultimate assassin, and I need more of the same
Let’s be honest — stealth in the RPG-era AC games was more of a checkbox than a core mechanic. But in Assassin’s Creed Shadows? It’s back in full force. Playing as Naoe, I felt like I was back in the Ezio era — slinking through tall grass, clinging to rooftops, silently thinning out guards one by one. But what’s even better is how it finally coexists with the combat. In fact, stealth has never been as deep in the AC franchise as it is in Shadows, which is such a huge step in the right direction. With rumors of the next Assassin’s Creed game incorporating horror elements, stealth needs to be delivered perfectly, and Shadows is such a fantastic proof-of-concept for that.
Turning on instant assassination also made stealth matter all the more — if I painstakingly explored every avenue of assassination, crept and crawled to silently reach my targets, my hidden blade should be able to do the rest, no questions asked. As such, with instant assassinations, the stealth only felt all the more rewarding. This proves something I wasn’t sure Ubisoft could still do — create a modern Assassin’s Creed that feels like an assassin’s game. It’s not quite Brotherhood, but it’s closer than I ever expected.
Am I still going to skip playing as Yasuke any time I can? Yes — I have no intention of playing as the least Assassin-like character in the franchise when Naoe makes me feel like Solid Snake with a hood on, and I can only hope with crossed fingers and toes that gameplay goes more in Naoe’s direction than Yasuke’s.
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2
The story still doesn’t match the series’ potential
Weak writing and uninspired narratives sour the fun
For all the gameplay highs, Shadows still stumbles where it matters most — the story. The characters are passable, the chemistry between the two leads works well enough, but the writing lacks bite. Naoe’s voice acting in particular pulled me out of scenes constantly, and there’s a flatness to the pacing that keeps big moments from landing with weight. It all feels like setup, not payoff.
What stings is that Assassin’s Creed used to be great at this. Conspiracies, philosophical tension, ancient artifacts tied to real history — that was the magic. But Shadows plays it safe. It gives us a taste of that intrigue, but never dives deep. It’s serviceable, but not quite stirring the way Subject 16 and Desmond’s stories pulled me in. For a series that built its legacy on storytelling, that’s not good enough.
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1
The bloat is here to stay
The scale is smaller… but the bloat still lingers
Look, I understand how people come to love 200-hour open-world affairs. After long days at work, the small amount of time you do get to play, it’s often enjoyable to just go to a big map and clear a few checkpoints before calling it a day. However, the problem lies in the fact that the bloated formula we’ve seen Ubisoft apply for each of its diet-RPG Assassin’s Creed games is still here.
Is Shadows 200 hours long, the way Valhalla was? No. In fact, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the least bloated AC game since the series pivoted into the RPG-lite genre in 2017. Regardless, it’s still pretty bloated. The map is smaller, the content is more curated, and there’s less of that overwhelming “to-do list” feeling when you open your map. And yet, it still does feel bloated. The game may not throw a million icons at you upfront, but the sheer volume of camps, collectibles, and side quests quickly starts to feel like another checklist treadmill. There are games that do it better, and I hope the next Assassin’s Creed learns from them.
Shadows might hide its bloat better, but it’s still there. For the series to truly evolve, it needs to cut deeper, to focus on tighter, handcrafted experiences rather than sprawling quantity.
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Dusting off my hidden blade
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been a very solid return to form for the franchise. It doesn’t particularly reinvent the series or forge a new identity altogether. Still, its rich settings, polished execution, and deeply rewarding gameplay give me a lot of renewed hope for the future. I’m not just hopeful about Assassin’s Creed’s future — I’m excited, and that was certainly not on my 2025 bingo card. If this is the standard Ubisoft is setting going forward, we may be entering a true renaissance for the series.
Not just bigger maps or more icons, but meaningful evolution. Shadows proves they’ve still got it. Now let’s see how far they’ll go.
