"Assassin's Creed: Shadow" first release time and platform

Release time: November 15, 2024

Release platform: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Amazon Luna, Mac App Store, Ubisoft Store and Epic Games Store.

"Assassin's Creed: Shadow" game background

"Assassin's Creed: Shadow" is set in the late 16th century Japanese Warring States period (also known as the Azuchi-Momoyama period).

This era is not only full of social unrest, but also the threat posed by the Portuguese, which adds a lot of drama. Therefore, it is very suitable as the story background of Assassin's Creed. Key foundational events of this period:

1. Three important figures came to power

Oda Nobunaga: He was an outstanding lord in the Japanese Warring States period. He unified the central region of Japan with a strong military force and laid the foundation for the unification of Japan. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the general he promoted.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi: After Oda Nobunaga's death, he quickly stabilized the situation and inherited his power, and finally unified Japan.

Tokugawa Ieyasu: After Nobunaga's death, Tokugawa Ieyasu reached a political cooperation with Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, Tokugawa Ieyasu won the Battle of Sekigahara and established the Edo Shogunate.

2. Social reform

Separate the military power of the lord from agricultural production: the samurai class gradually separated from agricultural production and became a professional soldier.

Land system reform: the daimyo redistributed the land and established a feudal land ownership system with themselves as the core.

3. Peasants and religious alliances resisted

Under the leadership of the Jodo Shinshu Honganji faction, religious forces and peasants jointly launched a military uprising.

The protagonist background of "Assassin's Creed: Shadow"

Dual protagonist mode: players can play as Naoe and Yasuke. Naoe focuses on stealth and parkour, while Yasuke is more combat-oriented and fully armed.

Naoe's background: At the beginning, she is a 17-year-old girl from Iga, the daughter of the famous ninja Fujibayashi Nagato, whose hometown was destroyed by Oda Nobunaga's expansion.

Yasuke's background: Born in Africa, enslaved by the Portuguese to Japan, and served under the Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga.

The two protagonists met because of Oda Nobunaga. Later, Nobunaga wanted to unify Japan, and Yasuke followed him to participate in the Second Tensho Iga War, and began to intersect with Naoe. The two had completely different views on Nobunaga's means of unification, which intensified the dramatic conflict and made people feel that everyone's fate under history is unpredictable.

Development of "Assassin's Creed: Shadow"

This game was developed by Ubisoft Quebec Studio, and its design focus is to satisfy players' fantasies about ninjas and samurai.

To this end, Ubisoft Quebec Studio consulted a large number of original Japanese historical documents and worked with historians, professors and cultural consultants to plan. In addition, its planners also went to Japan to understand the local landscape and culture, and worked with Ubisoft Tokyo and Osaka teams to create.

At present, the studio is still iterating the game, improving the details, and introducing seasonal changes, light and shadow elements into the game, allowing players to immerse themselves in the historical journey of Japan.

Compared with other versions, some major improvements of "Assassin's Creed: Shadow"

In addition to the huge changes in the background story/scene design of the game, "Assassin's Creed: Shadow" has made some other major improvements.

1. Cancel the "blend in the crowd" mechanism

In the new work, "Assassin's Creed: Shadow" no longer has the "blend in the crowd" mechanism.

Because Yasuke is difficult to blend into the crowd, and Naoie is also invisible as long as he does not make obvious movements, this mechanism has been cancelled.

2. Innovation of Leap of Faith

The protagonist's leap of faith action is different from before. When he is wearing a full set of armor, he cannot perform a leap of faith quickly.

3. Game graphics and technology

With the continuous improvement of game development technology, the game uses ray tracing global illumination technology, and the overall effect is more realistic.

At the same time, its geometric details and complexity are increased, and virtualized geometry technology is used. In addition, the game adds environmental destruction elements, such as breaking jars and destroying obstacles.

For more differences, you can read the subsequent Myhiddenblade article "Some major improvements in Assassin's Creed: Shadow compared to other versions"