
Assassin's Creed Shadows won't punish players who favour one protagonist over the other, as explained in a new interview with creative director Jonathan Dumont.
Speaking to Screen Rant, Dumont goes into some detail about how Shadows' character swapping actually works within the game's structure. This has been brought up before in official marketing materials, but it's still interesting to get the director's take.
So, starting at the bottom, Shadows has two playable characters: Naoe, the stealth-centric shinobi, and Yasuke, the combat-heavy samurai. You can switch between them at any time while exploring the open world, and they each have their own skill trees, equipment, combat styles, and parkour abilities.
But you don't have to keep jumping between them. Dumont says that the game "adapts" based on who you're playing as, with most story missions and quests giving you a choice of who to control.
As such, Dumont's opinion is that you're not "missing out on things too much" if you favour one hero over the other. "Have fun with the game, just play it as you want," he adds.
Dumont reveals that he likes to spend a few hours as each character, before swapping over when the time feels right: "Usually I play stealth and then I say, all right, let me destroy some camps and stuff all right for a while. And then I just change like that."
However, it should be noted that certain parts of Shadows will enforce the use of a specific protagonist. "They get individual introductions, and then they get their own questline also," the director explains.
"So that one is, let’s say Naoe, a personal questline cannot be played by Yasuke and those are two distinct things. But the core of the game can be pick your character and the game adapts."
In theory, the dual-lead approach should give Shadows some nice replay value — especially if you do end up sticking with one style of gameplay. But then, if recent titles like Assassin's Creed Valhalla are anything to go by, Shadows is going to be a long game.
Are you planning on playing as one protagonist more than the other? Or are you going to try and keep things balanced? Decide on an approach in the comments section below.
Who do you plan on playing as the most in Assassin's Creed Shadows? (588 votes)
- Naoe
- Yasuke
- I'm going to try and play as both equally
- I can't say just yet, I need to try them out first
[source screenrant.com, via videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 28
Well, I plan to use both, in a 50/50 ratio.
Really looking forward to this game, I’m gonna use Naoe for almost everything due to her fluid movement, but for boss fights and specific side quests I’ll definitely be using Yasuke.
From what I've seen/read, Yasuke basically excels at combat, but is useless when it comes to stealth and parkour; y'know, two of the core pillars of Assassin's Creed. So Naoe all the way.
Missing poll option: No plans to play AC:S.
Some specific quests along the way for each of the 2 protagonists would have been far better.
EDIT: meaning quests that have a definite impact on the game and it's ending, according to the paths you chose.
I'll definitely lean towards the stealth character with Tenchu being among my favorite series. Granted I don't expect it to get anywhere near scratching that itch. We'll see!
Don’t give a long answer…
It’s a simple Yasuke / Naoe question. 🥁 😅
I'd like to feel how they both play before making a definitive choice, since it's tough to say just from the promotional material we have so far.
I just want to start slashing away , I’ve been waiting for assassins creed Japan forever
@Kienda get out.
Despite the delays, despite the multitude of problems surrounding Ubisoft and a few with the game itself, I am still pretty excited for this one.
Just hoping Gamestop still honors the Collector's Edition preorders.....
I would have been excited for this if it were an Assassin's Creed game, but it's New Assassin's Creed, and I haven't enjoyed a singe one of these RPG mash-up monstrosities.
@Shinnok789 The article says both protagonists get their own questlines.
As long as it doesn't water down character development for each and ultimately the overall story then it's fine. Hopefully they ironed this out because I do tend to prefer single protagonist titles
@Kienda bravo 👏 👏 👏
This will be my first Assassins Creed since Syndicate so I'm quite looking forward to it, I think my main will be Naoe.
So basically exactly like Assassin's Creed Syndicate, got it.
That's not a bad thing as that was my favourite traditional Creed.
Really looking forward to this and Ghost of Totei. We are definitely spoiled.
@nessisonett Edited for a better understanding.
The idea that "you're not "missing out on things too much" if you favour one hero over the other" is what I don't quite like.
Imo the game would have benefited more from allowing players to carve a chosen path, meaningful for the ending... instead of "play however you want, it won't matter that much in the end anyway" style.
I'll play the game anyway, but I think that approach would have been much better.
Nope, not gonna support this. Too much stuff I don't like about it.
Not my bag. I liked the traditional AC. Played Mirage last year and really enjoyed it. (The story was forgettable nonsense, but the old-school AC gameplay was there in spades. No stupid enemy levels, and a paired down weapon and armour upgrade system with transmog, plenty of cool outfits. Highly recommend.)
I’m not sold on this game, but if it reviews well (critics and fans), I might pick it up when it gets cheaper. I only care to play as Naoe since I want stealth/assassin gameplay. I don’t care for beat em ups.
No comments getting banned r people on there best behavior 😅
Cool, but how do I make this about me?
I always play as a female protagonist when given the choice so Naoe it is.
Reminds me of shadow tactics game, and its big samurai, and small stealthy character.
Maybe they took some inspiration from it.
Im tempted to favor the stealth one, because we have so many melee combat focused games now and coming, after dark souls etc pushed it's popularity even more.
I like it too, but good to have different styles.
And the shinobi character seems cool with its moves, parkour etc.
Pretty much means I will play through twice! 2 games for the price of one! I am so excited for this game to drop!
Not sure if i'm going to pick this up or not. I've bought every major AC game at release, but I'm just really burned out on the Ubisoft formula. If it reviews well maybe I'll get it down the road a bit.
I hope the story missions are balanced for your choice, unlike in Syndicate where most story missions forced you to use Jacob for the grand majority of them and almost never gave you an option to chose.
I'm likely to stick to Naoe, so hopefully she's still strong enough to bring down camps by herself if stealth approach falls apart.
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