Followers are celebrating the ultimate replace for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which they are saying lastly fixes plot holes and provides the sport a correct ending, as Ubisoft admits some parts of the bottom recreation missed the mark.
Black Tides, a set of latest missions added free of charge yesterday, serves as the ultimate story chapter for Shadows, Ubisoft’s feudal Japan-set recreation that launched final yr to a principally constructive response.
However whereas the sport’s visuals and world drew reward, long-term Assassin’s Creed followers felt let down by some parts of its story. The blockbuster recreation’s narrative additionally ends relatively abruptly — seemingly establishing plans for future expansions (of which just one finally launched).
Now, over a yr on, Shadows has been despatched into the sundown — however followers appear pleased with the work Ubisoft has performed to cap off the sport’s story and characters. With out delving too far into spoilers, this week’s replace options a highly effective new Templar menace, immediately discusses the franchise’s mysterious precursor Isu race, and options quite a few Easter eggs and references to different video games within the sequence. There’s additionally a direct hyperlink right here to Black Flag — establishing subsequent month’s arrival of souped up remake Assassins’ Creed Black Flag Resynced.
For Shadows, Ubisoft intentionally sidelined the sequence’ normal deal with Isu, presumably to keep away from alienating new gamers and to deal with the sport’s setting with extra of a straight face than different entries (Odyssey and Valhalla received correct bizarre, however enjoyably so).
At this level, although, Ubisoft clearly understands that any followers nonetheless taking part in Shadows a yr later need to lastly see extra of these items — but additionally that it course-corrected an excessive amount of to start with.
“We acknowledge some story parts from the primary recreation that the neighborhood did not resonate with as a lot as we hoped,” mentioned affiliate recreation director Simon Lemay-Comtois, the general public face of Shadows’ post-launch updates, in a revealing new blog post. “So we’re taking these parts and that suggestions and attempting to place them to good use and deal with them on this last chapter. I hope the neighborhood is glad with the place we go away our two protagonists – and hopefully get much more excited for Black Flag Resynced within the course of.
“I am a participant too, and fairly often I agree with the sentiment of the neighborhood,” Lemay-Comtois continued, “so after they say issues like ‘give us extra Templar stuff!’ or ‘give us extra causes to craft tools builds!’ it isn’t arduous for me to agree and attempt to repair, add, or tweak issues to fulfill their suggestions. So Black Tides, which is our last story mission for Naoe and Yasuke, is how we kick that door large open and add extra Templar-focused story content material to wrap issues up. If you’re craving Templar content material and deep lore connections, you will not need to skip this one.”
In a thread on reddit discussing the replace, followers have praised its story discussing extra concerning the Japanese regalia, places and characters from earlier video games, and a persistent fan criticism that Shadows had retconned established lore across the Assassin’s Creed brotherhood’s Japanese origins. There’s constructive feedback, too, concerning the problem of the replace’s last boss — which is as difficult to beat as followers consider is acceptable for the character.
Shadows’ post-launch assist has ended on a excessive notice, then, as followers bid what looks as if a last farewell to Naoe and Yasuke.
“I do know these characters and the Japanese setting have way more left within the tank and I will at all times advocate for doing extra with them,” Lemay-Comtois concluded, “however for now, that is the tip of their story.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s Information Editor. You possibly can attain Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or discover him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social