Assassin's Creed Shadows: Should You Play as Naoe or Yasuke?

Should you play as Naoe or Yasuke in Assassin's Creed Shadows? If you don't form an attachment to either of the title's protagonists naturally through the story, you might be wondering which character is categorically the best to choose. In this Assassin's Creed Shadows guide, we'll explore and answer: should you play as Naoe or Yasuke?

Should You Play as Naoe or Yasuke in Assassin's Creed Shadows?

For the first 10 hours or so of the game, you are locked in to playing as Naoe. Except for the prologue, where you briefly play as both her and Yasuke, the narrative is set up around the female shinobi and her plight to get back the mysterious box seen in the introduction. Yasuke joins her quest later on, but for all intents and purposes, the game's plot puts Naoe front and centre. Therefore, you could consider Naoe to be the main character and, therefore, the canon choice and the best pick between the two.

However, you're given the possibility of playing them both on purpose: because they excel at different facets of the open world gameplay. A brief glance at both characters reveals the following:

• Naoe is best at climbing, parkour, and stealth
• Yasuke is best in general combat scenarios

As such, you can fine-tune your pick depending on the type of encounter or quest you're about to face. If your objective is likely to involve multiple battles where stealth isn't an option, then kitting Yasuke out in all his armour and taking him would be your best bet. However, if you're sneaking into a Castle under the cover of night to try and assassinate a single enemy, then Naoe is the obvious choice.

You can still get by if one character attempts what the other is best at, but naturally, you're going to have a harder time. Naoe doesn't have as much health compared to Yasuke, so general combat is going to be tougher to survive. You'll take more damage and deal less yourself compared to Yasuke.

On the other hand, Yasuke finds parkour a lot more difficult. He takes a long time to climb walls and buildings, and has to carefully balance when traversing rooftops instead of quickly jumping from one to the next like Naoe does. His version of the Leap of Faith is more like a tumble into a haystack rather than a graceful jump and land, and jumping large gaps will see him needing to grab onto the edge and pull himself up rather than making it in a single move.

Therefore, the two protagonists definitely have their strengths and weaknesses, but they are able to overcome the latter if you have a strong preference. We strongly recommend investing time into both to make sure neither one completely falls behind in terms of their gear quality or unlocked abilities. However, you can have a favourite and play the vast majority entirely as them. If you have your favourite, feel free to stick with them. Just know there'll be some occasions where you're better off switching.

Does Playing as Naoe or Yasuke Affect Story Choices?

No matter which character you're playing as during main quests, you'll always be given the same decisions and choices to make. Therefore, your preference between Naoe and Yasuke will not impact the narrative — you can continue playing as them without the worry of altering the plot.

Did you find our guide covering should you play as Naoe or Yasuke in Assassin's Creed Shadows useful? Let us know in the comments below and check out our Assassin's Creed Shadows guide for more information.