Ubisoft’s Japanese-set action role-playing game Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released in March after several delays. The game will feature two distinct gameplay styles, both in terms of combat and exploration, with both protagonists taking on action and stealth gameplay. But if players prefer a certain playstyle and want to stick with one character for most of the game, the game will let them do that.
“Assassin’s Creed: Shadows” protagonist selection
“Assassin’s Creed: Shadows” creative director Jonathan Dumont said that if players choose to play most of the game with one character, they will not miss important game content.
“I don’t think you’re missing out on much. I think it depends more on your preference [say]”Well, if you chose one over the other, I would see how the game would fit that character,” Dumont said in a recent interview with ScreenRant.
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows features dual protagonists – Yasuke, a burly samurai who prefers head-on combat, and Naoe, a stealthy ninja who prefers to attack from the shadows. Both characters have unique skills, weapon abilities, and movesets.
According to Dumont, both protagonists will have their own introductions and individual quest lines, and players won’t be able to choose the other character, but the game’s core storyline won’t force players to balance gameplay between the two characters. Players can choose to play Assassin’s Creed: Shadows with either Yasuke or Naoe, and the game will “adapt” to their choice.
“There’s going to be a few options here and there, and I’d like to know what’s going on, what’s going to happen to this character, but I don’t think you’re missing out,” Dumont added.
“We’re not going to force players to try and split their time. So if you prefer one character over another for whatever reason, you might be able to play — I don’t know, I’m not going to give a percentage — but spend a significant portion of the game with one of the characters,” he said.
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows delayed
“Assassin’s Creed: Shadows” will be the first mainline game in the series after 2020’s “Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla”. The action RPG, set in 16th-century Japan, was originally slated to launch in November 2024, but was later delayed to February 14, 2025. When announcing the delay, Ubisoft said it needed extra time to further polish the game. “This will allow the biggest game in the series to fully realize its ambitions, particularly the promise of our two-protagonist adventure, with Naoe and Yasuke bringing two distinctly different play styles,” Ubisoft said in a statement in September.
Last month, the publisher pushed back the release date of Assassin’s Creed Shadows for a second time, saying the delay would allow the team to better incorporate player feedback it had gathered in recent months. The game is now set to release on March 20th on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X.
