Latest news with #Naoe
Mint
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
Assassin's Creed Shadows review: Vast and beautiful, with a story mode
Among all of the world's most popular games, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise is one of the most recognizable names globally. By itself, the lore created by this 18-year-old game series has been a landmark experience in gaming—giving players the experience of an open world that can be explored freely, close links to actual historical events in its storyline, and a narration that connects the protagonists of each game with multiple previous ones. Now, Assassin's Creed Shadows takes all of these elements to give fans of its franchise a setting that many forums had demanded for years—medieval Japan. Straight off the bat, Assassin's Creed Shadows does a fantastic job of recreating Japan in the late-1570s. This is not just because of the visuals, which are undoubtedly poignant, realistic and befitting of the game's set-up—the design of the terrain's layout, including the hideouts and the strategically placed side quests alongside the 22 main mission levels, actually makes Assassin's Creed Shadows a title that gamers can continue to explore well beyond finishing the main storyline. For those without prior context: this is the 14th game in the 18-year history of Ubisoft making Assassin's Creed. The plot is simple: players don the shields and armours of a fictional member of the ancient Order of the Assassins—dropped in the game within real historical context and events. The goal is largely to defeat an opposing faction—for the most part, the Knights Templar that sought to establish order in medieval and ancient societies with an iron fist. But through this journey, the game has evolved to offer historical clues for players, including links and tributes to older games within the main game itself. Also read: Inside India's first Lego store in Gurugram Assassin's Creed Shadows, too, has the same spirit. You play either as Yasuke, a former imprisoned slave, or Naoe—the daughter of master assassin Tsuyu and Nagato, a leading member of the resistance faction Iga ikki. Both the characters have their strengths and limitations—Yasuke is a humongous force of nature, capable of breaking down doors with sprints and going on a rampage as enemy numbers escalate. Naoe, meanwhile, is ideal for stealth and swift assassinations—throughout the game, you'd often find Naoe's nimble-footed approach to be ideal. As you set off in the game, you realize that the storylines and character developments have still remained one of Ubisoft's biggest strengths, making Assassin's Creed Shadows stand on the same podium as some of the world's best third-person role-playing narrative-driven games—such as The Witcher, The Last of Us, Uncharted and Control. You get absorbed with Naoe's predicament, and you find Yasuke's journey a fulfilling one as you progress through the game. It's important to note here that as you progress in the game, choosing the normal and expert difficulty settings will need you to invest heavily in upgrading your gear, attire and weaponry. If you're not a hardcore gamer and would rather enjoy the game's story, there is a 'story' mode where the combat is toned down to the bare minimum, with protagonists barely ever taking a hit. What's interesting is that even in the story mode, Ubisoft has ensured that players stay immersed enough in tactical movement and swift combat to get the most of the ideal experience of Assassin's Creed Shadows. But, the presence of such a mode increases the appeal for such a game with those who do not want to go into extreme levels of combat. Back to the story, though, and about halfway through the game, you realize just how massive the world of Shadows really is. For the average casual gamer playing about two hours a day, it took almost a full month to finish the main story levels of Assassin's Creed Shadows. With side quests and additionally discoverable regions to explore, it can easily take up to three months to really straddle the full expanse of the game. As you go through the game, you can't help but feel that the exchange of dialogues and the narrative stretches on for a bit too long. While most combats are nearly ideal, some design elements interfere with the smoothness of the gameplay—in certain battles for instance, Yasuke's weight and armour levels just do not come through. Such glitches can become increasingly frustrating, especially since after a point, you tend to feel that even the story is rather loose, and should have been much crisper to let the game's open world shine through more. The present-day binding narrative, which plays right at the onset to set you up for the game, also feels rather forced—surely, there could've been a better way to establish context and history to the assassin's journey. That said, Assassin's Creed Shadows put forth a glorious insight into just how fun this game series always was, and in many ways, continues to be. It may come across as tedious, and those who are not good at combat-and-stealth gameplay may even struggle to finish it or continue beyond a point. But, perseverance lets you discover various parts of medieval Japan where the sights are gorgeous, and getting to the top of the pole still gives you the 'master of the world' appeal that has remained intact since the very first of this series. Is it worth playing, then? Definitely. Assassin's Creed Shadows' biggest 'fault' per se is in just how big the game is—and that's not necessarily bad for those at whom the game is aimed at. Is it the best that the series has offered to date? Based on pure visuals, some would certainly say so. Played on: Xbox Series S; Price: ₹4999 onward; Developer and publisher: Ubisoft. Also read: Computex 2025: All things AI to come from the annual computer show
Metro
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Assassin's Creed Shadows co-op mode coming in 2026 after DLC claims report
A new leak has shed light on the release date for Assassin's Creed Shadows first DLC, along with a rumoured co-op mode. Assassin's Creed Shadows may have fallen short of sales for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, but it's still been a major hit for Ubisoft. Set in feudal Japan, the new instalment scored the second highest day one sales in the franchise's history. In the US, meanwhile, Assassin's Creed Shadows is the second best-selling game of the year so far, behind Monster Hunter Wilds. Ubisoft has already announced the game's first DLC, Claws Of Awaji, will release later this year, but a new report has narrowed down the release date. According to Insider Gaming, Ubisoft is 'targeting September 2025' for the Claws Of Awaji DLC, citing sources familiar with the game's development. However, it's claimed the DLC could be pushed back to October this year, depending on Ubisoft's release strategy for other titles. Elsewhere in the report, the previously rumoured co-op mode for Assassin's Creed Shadows, codenamed League, is said to still be in development and will launch 'sometime next year'. While this co-op mode was originally assumed to revolve around the game's two protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke, a source suggests it might include other characters too. 'While they're obviously central characters, there's a deeper narrative tied into the co-op that will expand the experience beyond just the two of them,' a source states. Assassin's Creed has some history with multiplayer, with the Paris-based Assassin's Creed Unity featuring dedicated co-op missions. Other games in the series have had multiplayer modes as well, like Assassin's Creed 3's wolfpack mode, but this was only really a minor distraction. More Trending As for Assassin's Creed Shadows first DLC, Claws Of Awaji takes place on the island of Awaji, where you will 'reclaim a lost treasure while avoiding the traps and ambushes of deadly new foes', according to a synopsis. It will feature a new bō weapon type for Naoe, along with new skills, gear, and abilities over the course of 10 hours. Beyond Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft is reportedly developing a multiplayer spin-off codenamed Invictus and a remake of Assassin's Creed Black Flag. Ports of both Assassin's Creed Mirage and Shadows are also apparently on the way for the Switch 2. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Former Bungie developers blame corporate 'greed' as cancelled subscription plans revealed MORE: No PlayStation showcase this summer suggest insiders as Sony waits till autumn MORE: PlayStation Stars loyalty programme is closing but Sony promises replacement
Time of India
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
How to find and defeat all Betrayers in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Image via: Ubisoft The world of Assassin's Creed Shadows is one where betrayal cuts deep. This interesting side quest sends you out to hunt down seven shadowy figures related to these dark dealings. Below is a guide on how to fins this quest and make an exciting move from shadow. How to start the hunt Head north from the Sea marker in the Omi region. Talk to Hori Hidemasa to accept the mission. The main objective is the tracking and termination of seven targets across feudal Japan. Finding locations & strategy 1. Fujichika Nakayama Place : Omi Region Threat Level: High (Recommended Level 50+) Tactics: Start off with rooftop assassination. If that fails, retreat and reactivate after enemy awareness has been allayed. Rewards: Ill-Fated String (Epic Bow) The Betrayers Guide For Assassin's Creed Shadow 2. Sato Katsubei Place : Yamazaki Castle, Yamashiro Tactics: Using a whistle from high grass lure guards. Rewards : Roaring Infamy (Epic Teppo), 320 Mon, quest item 3. Endo Tomoyasu Place : Koyasan, Kii Region Tip : This is Naoe's primary encounter with Hori when you play as her. Go back as Yasuke to go on. 4. Sato Genta Place : Military Harbor, northwest of Azuchi Castle Tactics : Yasuke Route: Weaken with guns, ranged attack first before getting into close combat. Naoe Route: Smoke bomb + assassination combo. Rewards : Surrender (Epic Katana), 370 Mon. 5. Itakura Shigezo Place : Himeji Castle, Harima Region Challenge : Mobile and heavily guarded. Tips: Direct confrontation with Yasuke's strength. Beware of Kunai Ranged and Leap Attacks. Rewards : Epic Samurai Daimyo Armor, 320 Mon 6. Usami Yoshiko Place : Periphery of Katano Castle, Settsu Tips : Spare or kill her depending on morality. Rewards : 275 Mon, no impact on quest continuation. 7. Masatoshi Nakahara Place : Final revelation from Hori after finishing kill assignments above. Tactic : Locked information behind completion of prior kills. Rewards after finishing the hunt Helmet of Hori Hidemasa (Gold rarity) Gold proceeds in bulk Optional romance unlock: Say "Meeting you was my reward" to Hori for a special scene. Assassinate the traitors - All The Betrayers Locations Assassin's Creed Shadows Tips for hunting Scout first : Take flight for bird vision and time-recon tools. Role switch: Use Naoe for stealth areas and Yasuke for brawn areas. Play the long game: Patience is a virtue more often credited with cleaner kills and fewer bloodbaths. In Assassin's Creed Shadowes, the Betrayers isn't just a quest for blood, it's a quest for choices, strategy, and playing a cold deadly game of political chess. Whether you strike from under the cover or see it at your foe, have faith in your blade and your judgement. Ready to rewrite history? The Betrayers are waiting. Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India , including match schedules , team squads , points table and IPL live score for CSK , MI , RCB , KKR , SRH , LSG , DC , GT , PBKS , and RR . Don't miss the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple cap .
Forbes
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Ten Things I Wish I Knew When I Started ‘Assassin's Creed Shadows'
Assassin's Creed Shadows Ubisoft While this may be coming a bit late, without bothering to get a review copy, I started Assassin's Creed Shadows at the same time as most other people. But given that this is my job, I've managed to put 40 hours in already, and I've learned a few things. Here are ten things I wish I knew when I started Assassin's Creed Shadows 1) Check The Castle 'Type' Before Invading – You can check which 'type' of castle, for Naoe or for Yasuke, the game recommends by looking at its reward, and seeing if its for him or her. A Naoe castle will have more sneaking zones and small entryways, a Yasuke one will have gates to crash and sometimes big boxes to move. However, given how much of a combat monster Yasuke is, I end up using him to blitz through either kind of castle most of the time. That is harder with Naoe. 2) Stay On Your Horse, Avoid The Woods – In terms of navigation, this game does not want you to take shortcuts most of the time. I would almost always use your horse and the path tracker when going nearly anywhere. The woods are dense and the hills are steep off the main paths, and it will be more trouble than it's worth. Follow the winding directions on horses and you will always get there faster. 3) Don't Forget The Hidden Skill Tree Passive – This is easy to miss because it doesn't look like a normal skill slot and you can't put points into it. But at the bottom of every skill tree there will be a circle that shows you that you will get increased damage or health or things like that the more points you put into a tree. Jam points in there to get things like the 50% damage boost I now have on bow and naginata because I make sure to also do points on the left side row of perks, which will account for a lot of them. Assassin's Creed Shadows Ubisoft 4) Don't Forget Double or Triple Unlock Skill Perks - This is easy to miss. A number of upgrades will have a little dot or two above them. This means they can be upgraded multiple times, and for skills especially, these can be big damage boosts, sometimes 100% more damage if you remember to hit those nodes. 5) Always Do Your Contracts – Contracts refresh each season, are incredibly easy and usually close by. They give you a lot of upgrade materials for your base, your gear or just money, and if you're short on any of that, never miss them. 6) Don't Bother Smuggling With Scouts – That leads me to my next point, don't bother using scouts to tag materials in enemy zones. They don't give you that much, contracts are much more useful, and you should be saving your scouts mainly to find quest locations or occasionally, reset your wanted level. 7) Get Unblockable Counter Gear/Perks – While there are many styles of play in the game, I cannot live without giving the ability to parry unblockable attacks to both characters. For Yasuke, that's a chestplate called Protector's Armor found in Nijo Palace in Kyoto you can get very early. For Naoe, it's not gear, but a Katana perk, though you need the final row of knowledge point upgrades to unlock that one, which takes a long time. Assassin's Creed Shadows Ubisoft 8) Ditch Old Gear Instead Of Always Upgrading – I made the mistake of trying to upgrade all my favorite gear endlessly, but you will quickly run out of materials for that. Do not be afraid to ditch old gear, even legendary gear, for rares or epics because higher levels will give you flat stat boosts that are hugely important. If you can't live without a legendary, fine, focus on upgrading that one. But not all of them. 9) Get Legendary Blacksmith Mods – This requires a max Blacksmith upgrade at base, but it lets you take legendary mods from gear and put them in other gear's slots. For instance, that unblockable parry perk from Yasuke's armor can then be put into any other armor along with the original base perk. 10) Don't Forget To Transmog – This is easy to miss, but making your guys look awesome is a great aspect of the game. You can delete gear and still have those styles unlocked. Most legendary gear will have its own unique look, but even lower tier gear can be some of the best in the game (the mask everyone always asks me about for one). Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Assassin's Creed Shadows' Is A Really Good Video Game
Assassin's Creed Shadows Assassin's Creed is a series that I've always deemed…fine. Throughout its copious installments over the years, I've enjoyed a few. Black Flag and Odyssey were the standouts for me, but five years ago when the sprawling, overstuffed Valhalla came out, I had to throw in the towel, thinking this just wasn't for me anymore. Enter Shadows. I wasn't even sure I was going to play this game, given my distaste for Valhalla, but I booted it up to see how the ninja/samurai Assassin's Creed game 15+ years in the making would finally work in practice. It works extremely well. Despite a size that very much seems like it's going to be on par with Valhalla, I cannot stop playing, and this is a game that so far has done nearly everything right. I think you could make the case it's a top 3 entry in the series, and honestly, it could make it to the peak by the end. I'm 35 hours in and the Assassins versus Templar stuff is entirely on the back burner, taking up probably 15 minutes so far, which I really don't mind. Rather, this is just a game where you play as a ninja and a samurai and murder people inside what I've found is a surprisingly poignant and compelling storyline so far. I have not been a fan of Assassin's Creed's desire to constantly rely on dual protagonists and I felt that here near the start when you first unlock Yasuke. But even though he's an odd puzzle piece in a series (that at least used to be) about stealth, the more I play with him, the more I'm having a blast. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe you'll use for almost all map traversal, and thievery or single-target assassinations. But there's nothing quite like crashing through the front gate of a castle and murdering three dozen enemies to hunt down five samurai leaders as Yasuke, who has the most brutal finishers in the game and a ragdoll straight kick that is genuinely hilarious in terms of how it makes enemies fly off edges or smash into walls. Similarly, Naoe's set of weapons, including the ability to wrap enemies up in a chain and yank them around, is almost as fun, and getting into open combat with her is a needed challenge when Yasuke can sometimes be easy mode. This is a beautiful game. I am constantly reminded of the sweeping landscapes of Ghost of Tsushima (this game in general is hugely reminiscent of that one, of course, and that was my GOTY back then). One of the most impressive aspects is a mix of its seasonal and weather systems, with spring buds, fall colors and blanketing snow, mixed with high winds and rainstorms pattering drops on my DualSense controller. The story is excellent so far. Naoe and Yasuke are a fantastic narrative contrast with Naoe bloodthirsty after the death of her father, and Yasuke the more measured companion, at least when he's not cutting people in half. Yasuke being in the game rather than just some other giant samurai is genuinely important to the story, as him being a black outsider in the land makes his story unique and compelling, and it's something the narrative embraces rather than ignores. There are so few black lead protagonists in gaming period, and Yasuke here is instantly elevated to be one of the best I've ever seen. Assassin's Creed Shadows Yasuke does present challenges, given that anything except open brawling is better left to Naoe, which results in area design issues that constantly plague his style. I'm also not a huge fan of the base-building aspect of Shadows which seems entirely superfluous, though my main issue with it is not its existence, but the horrible framerate within the zone that makes me never want to go there at all. This is not a full review, as even 35 hours in (with tons of exploration and sidequesting) I feel like I'm probably only a half or a third of the way done. But unlike Valhalla, I can't wait to play more and the size here is a positive not a detriment given how good the core of the game is. I cannot imagine attempting to review Shadows on a timed embargo, as that would be miserable. It's totally made for taking your time and enjoying the ride. So far, I'd highly recommend it, even to Assassin's Creed skeptics like I had become. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
