I'm Annoyed Assassin's Creed Shadows Doesn't Make Better Use Of Its Best Feature

I truly believe that Assassin's Creed Shadows is not just Ubisoft's best game in a long time, but also one of the best games in the series. While my affection for its setting and time period may color my perception a tad, Shadows has earned such praise thanks to its vastly improved approach to exploration, narrative, and stealth. It is hard to deny that Shadows improves upon its predecessors - at least the modern Assassin's Creed games - in almost every way, rarely falling short of the high expectations placed upon it.

I feel this preface is necessary as I dislike being negative about Shadows. I spend most of my life and job feeling like I need to be negative, so when I get the chance to praise something, I'll take it. Shadows fixed Assassin's Creed for me, something I never thought possible, and it absolutely deserves to be commended for that. However, there is one element in which Shadows falters, and it's a genuine shame. As much as I'd rather gush over Shadows, I strongly believe that constructively criticizing a weak point could help rectify it for future entries.

Some Assassin's Creed Shadows Stealth Mechanics Feel Underbaked

Creaking Floor Boards & Servants Don't Matter

During the run-up to Assassin's Creed Shadows' launch, Ubisoft began promoting the various new stealth features, the coolest of which were Nightingale Floors and servants. The former, a real-life trap used during Feudal Japan, are floorboards designed to creak whenever someone walks across them, thus alerting nearby guards to their location. Servants, as they sound, are non-violent NPCs that will similarly alert nearby guards to your location if they spot you skulking about castles or generally off-limits areas.

Both features serve to make the world of Assassin's Creed Shadows feel more alive while making stealth significantly harder. At least, that's the intention, but, unfortunately, neither mechanic is pulled off particularly effectively and thus doesn't leave a meaningful impression. The aforementioned Nightingale Floors barely appear, typically being reserved for castles that don't really need to be explored, as the top floor always has the main chest, and it can be accessed from the outside. While very cool in concept, Ubisoft underused them to such a baffling degree that I forgot they were in the game at all.

Servants do help to populate castles and make them feel more believable, especially with their frankly rather adorable humming and varied animations. However, even on AC Shadows' best difficulty setting, they're just as easy to kill as any regular enemy. There's no punishment for killing them, so assassinating them, as you would literally every other guard, is a valid option. It makes them feel homogenous, yet another enemy to keep an eye out for, but not really fear, as they won't fight back outside of rare circumstances.

Instead, Shadows should have made it so these servants can only be temporarily knocked out, and killing them comes with some form of penalty. That way, players would have to strategize how best to navigate around them and avoid them altogether. Regardless, they're another disappointing stealth mechanic, which is a shame, especially as Shadows's stealth is so impressive otherwise that it is vastly superior to its direct competitors like Ghost of Tsushima.

I Wish Light Played A Bigger Role In Assassin's Creed Shadows

It Doesn't Affect Gameplay As Much As I'd Hoped

Naoe infiltrating a castle in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

However, as frustrating as the somewhat lackluster implementation of Nightingale Floors and servants are in Shadows, its most criminally underused stealth mechanic is light. Throughout all of Assassin's Creed Shadows' marketing, Ubisoft heavily emphasized how light plays a big role in the way players approach stealth. Sticking to the shadows would prevent enemies from spotting you, so snuffing out flames or hitting lanterns with your kunai is meant to be a necessary step while exploring Shadows' many challenging castles.

Unfortunately, I never found this to be the case. Exploring during the day is slightly harder in Shadows, as enemies can spot you climbing across rooftops, but never so much so that I actively avoided it. Occasionally, day would turn to night during one of my many infiltration attempts, and the experience wouldn't feel any different. Furthermore, I often see the prompt to extinguish lights but never feel it is wholly necessary, as there's rarely a particular building I need to gain access to, and even if there were, there's never enough guards within them to make it a problem.

Naoe Takeda kneeling in front of a Castle in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

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Outside the extremely dark Kofun locations,Shadows' implementation of light is poorly mishandled. It should be pitch-black the moment night hits, making exploring difficult without a light source. That way, players would rely on external lights to navigate but would also have to fear them if guards were nearby. Ubisoft didn't go hard enough with its lighting in Assassin's Creed Shadows, and as a result, it feels severely underbaked. It's a shame considering the potential this mechanic had and the effort Ubisoft went through to implement its barebones foundations.

AC Shadows' Stealth Should Be The Foundation For Future Assassin's Creed Games

It Has Many Amazing Qualities

There are some other minor problems with Shadow's stealth, but, frankly, they never really detract from the overall experience. I would absolutely have preferred for Nightingale Floors and the game's lighting to have had a bigger impact on gameplay, but even without them, stealth still feels phenomenally tense and is endlessly engaging. I never grow tired of sneaking around castles in Assassin's Creed Shadows as Naoe, and that's because what's on offer here is nearly flawless. Shadows nails the basics and adds plenty of new ideas to the formula to make it truly enjoyable.

That's why I firmly believe that Shadows' stealth should be used as the foundation for future Assassin's Creed games. In fact, much of Shadows' gameplay should be carried forward, including its more linear approach to open-world exploration and greater focus on cinematic storytelling. However, when it comes to stealth specifically, AC Shadows' fluid parkour and varied stealth sandbox are the gold standard from which Ubisoft should iterate slightly.

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Introducing more unique stealth mechanics in future AC games, such as a period-appropriate equivalent to the Nightingale Floors, would help spice things up, but otherwise, what Shadows has on offer is excellent. Ubisoft clearly took its time with developing Assassin's Creed Shadows, and it shows in pretty much every regard. There's also room for Ubisoft to update Assassin's Creed Shadows and refine the somewhat underutilized stealth features, thus making it the perfect example for the next generation of AC titles.