One of the biggest back-of-the-box features for the brand new Assassin’s Creed, named Shadows, is the presence of a dual protagonist system. While it’s not technically the first time the franchise has done something of the sort, the new chapter in this history-hopping open world franchise takes it several steps beyond what we’re normally used to. So the question arises: do Naoe and Yasuke play differently in Assassin’s Creed Shadows? This article will shed some light on that!
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the 14th mainline entry in this behemoth of a Ubisoft series, starting all the way back in 2007. Set in Feudal Japan in the 1500’s, it follows the stories of young female shinobi Naoe, who has to find her place and purpose after a devastating attack on her people, and Yasuke, a legendary foreigner samurai from Portugal who’s also trying to find his path in a land that isn’t anything like home. With various historical references, characters from actual real life history and a crazy amount of detail in the worldbuilding, it’s a brilliant jump into a fascinating place and time in human history.
After a prologue in which the players get a taste of some of the main conflicts of the game, the game predominantly focuses on Naoe’s backstory, as we learn more from her Iga origins and mysterious past. Before too long, the player gets to play as Yasuke as well, slowly unraveling how a former Portuguese slave turned into a samurai in service of Oda Nobunaga, regarded as the first great unifier of the lands of Japan. Since the characters are very different physically, the question is simple. Do Naoe and Yasuke play differently in Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
The short answer is that they absolutely do, yes. Naoe is a small and agile shinobi, masterful at stealth, parkour, even doted with a handy grappling hook that allows her to instantly climb up to higher surfaces – not unlike what we’ve seen in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. Yasuke, on the other hand, is a tall and muscular samurai, packing large health, resistance, but not being particularly agile or stealthy – on the flipside, his raw power is incredible, allowing him to serve all sorts of punishing attacks and spread terror between his foes. With both characters having their own skills, gear loadouts and statistics, the gameplay experience largely changes from one another.
I reckon Naoe will be the fan favourite here, as her stealthy and parkour-focused gameplay is closer to the traditional Assassin’s Creed experience – but I’ve found the characters to be perfectly complementary to one another, as I used Naoe for exploring usually and Yasuke for the harsher combat encounters. With most content of the game being playable with either character, it’s another extra layer of player agency, and it’s great to see two such distinct playstyles for the two protagonists of these Japanese story. Which character do you prefer in the game? Let us know in the comments, or on one of the many platforms XboxEra is on, and take a loot at all the rest of our Assassin’s Creed Shadows coverage!
