Ubisoft’s upcoming entry in the Assassin’s Creed series, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, will feature large scale battles, a procedural faction system, and more.
During a recent AMA, Assassin’s Creed Shadows developers Brooke, Charles, Jonathan, and Thierry shared new details regarding the upcoming action role-playing game.
Yasuke & Naoe Weapons & Abilities
As per the developers, the game will give players the opportunity to acquire gear through chests, quest rewards, and unique targets. As Yasuke, players can equip dual weapons, choosing between melee/melee, melee/ranged, or ranged/ranged combinations. Meanwhile, Naoe wields two melee weapons that can be swapped during combat.
Naoe features hidden trail parkour and grappling hook challenges with secrets to discover. Players can recruit specific allies with bespoke quests and abilities, augmenting Yasuke’s stealth or Naoe’s combat capabilities, though the exact mechanics remain unclear. Large-scale battles reflect the scope of the war, while a wanted system will station guardians on roads during alarms. This system elapses as seasons change, allowing exploration of other regions or confrontation of greater threats.
Procedural Faction System
The developers also revealed that Assassin’s Creed Shadows will feature a procedural faction system that allows vying factions to gain or lose power as seasons progress, altering the layout of rewards and valuables in camps that can appear dynamically.
Accessibility Options
The game includes controller remapping, camera auto-follow options, and refinements such as improved parkour fluidity, combat animations, and cinematic transitions. A nonlinear quest system features bottleneck points enforcing linearity in target quest chains, with some quests evolving differently based on the character used. A “canon choice” Animus mode makes dialogue choices and mission outcomes for players.
Lore, Ending Paths & Hideout
The developers revealed that Assassin’s Creed Shadows reworks some Assassin’s Creed Memories lore and includes a historical database like in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, though no Discovery Mode is planned. The game has a singular canon ending but offers multiple paths and configurations that influence which characters appear in the finale. The hideout serves as a place to catch up with friends and recruited allies. Black-and-white mode is used for fighting specific targets and cannot be disabled.
Multiple Outfits & Large Scale Battles
Additional features include multiple outfits for each character, all of which can be upgraded. Hattori Hanzo appears in the game, and some cinematic scenes moved the development team to tears. A back eject move is included, along with large-scale battles to showcase the scope of the war.
