Assassin's Creed Shadows seems to have fixed the two major complaints I had with Valhalla

Assassin's Creed Shadows is one of the most anticipated games of 2024, especially for long-time fans of the franchise. The series initially started by carving its own niche among other traditional "open-world" games. However, over the last few years, the Assassin's Creed name seems to have lost its core identity and uniqueness.

2014's Assassin's Creed Unity is considered by many as the game that eventually led to the downfall of the series. However, it still, at its core, feels like an "Assassin's Creed" game. This is not something most fans (me included) can say about the last few mainline entries in the franchise (yes, AC Mirage included).

While AC Origins still felt somewhat like an Assassin's Creed experience, with the core ideologies of the series still intact within its narrative and gameplay, the same cannot be said about Odyssey or Valhalla. However, it seems with Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft is finally addressing the complaints I had with the recent RPG titles in the series.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the author's opinions.

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Assassin's Creed Shadows makes some significant improvements to its animation quality and stealth

Although I did enjoy my time with Assassin's Creed Valhalla. However, despite spending close to 300 hours playing that game, I never formed a positive outlook on it.

I don't have anything against Assassin's Creed going full RPG. In fact, I do like that direction, with Origins being my personal favorite game in the series. However, Valhalla, to me, felt very lacking.

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Assassin's Creed Shadows addresses the cutscene and animation quality issues of Valhalla

The first and probably most glaring issue I had with Assassin's Creed Valhalla was its presentation. To me, Assassin's Creed has always been the pinnacle of real-time graphics, especially in an open-world setting. The cutscenes in a game from the series used to be something that never felt to leave me in awe.

I still remember the first time I saw Assassin's Creed Unity running on my PS4 and being awe-struck by the sheer quality of the cutscenes, motion capture, and graphical fidelity. Even in the older Assassin's Creed games, like AC2 or AC3, cutscenes used to be fully mo-capped.

However, ever since Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the mo-capped cutscenes and general animation quality seem to have taken a nosedive. And even for a game that's marketed as a "return to the roots" like Mirage, the cutscenes weren't anywhere near as visually appealing as those older Assassin's Creed games.

I understand that for a massive RPG with multiple dialog choices, questlines, NPCs, and endings, getting every single cutscene mo-capped is an unreasonable ask. However, Ubisoft could've put a bit more effort into making the animations feel more natural and less robotic.

If games like Baldur's Gate 3 and The Witcher 3 can pull off non-mo-capped animations for cutscenes as well as they do, then why not Assassin's Creed, a multi-million dollar franchise that also sells incredibly well? Thankfully, this complaint of mine seems to have been more or less addressed with Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Judging from the gameplay snippet Ubisoft recently showcased, mo-capped cutscenes seem to have made a return with Assassin's Creed Shadows. Even the scripted animations look less robotic, unlike Valhalla. I do reserve my full judgment for the game's release on November 15, 2024, but from what I've seen so far, I'm quite impressed.

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Assassin's Creed Shadows goes back to the stealth-focused roots of the series

Another major issue I had with Valhalla is its stealth or lack thereof. As someone who got into the Assassin's Creed franchise due to its unique approach to stealth and open-world gameplay systems, I was left extremely disheartened by Valhalla and how it handles one of the core aspects of an "Assassin's Creed" experience, stealth.

I was extremely excited when I saw the reveal of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The reveal of the Hidden Blade after its absence in Odyssey felt like the series was once again going back to its roots. My excitement was further fueled by Ubisoft confirming the return of social stealth in Valhalla.

However, I wasn't prepared for the lackluster and tacked-on nature of social stealth in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. While yes, Valhalla technically does feature social stealth, it's as barebones as the actual "Assassin's Creed" elements in the game's main story. Had it not been there, it wouldn't have changed anything about the title.

Assassin's Creed Shadows, despite following the same role-playing game structure as Odyssey and Valhalla, seems to have a much higher emphasis on stealth, which is honestly something the last few mainline titles have been lacking.

What's even better is that there's a distinct choice this time around between the traditional RPG brawler and the classic Assassin's Creed stealth playstyles via Assassin's Creed Shadows' protagonists - Yasuke and Naoe. As someone who has been looking forward to a classic AC experience with modern improvements, Naoe is the perfect choice for me.

Assassin's Creed Shadows' Naoe plays very much like a more nimble and stealthier version of Assassin's Creed Unity's Arno Dorian. Not only does she have access to aerial, double, and cover assassinations, but Naoe can also go prone, an entirely new feature for the series and something that is primarily built to facilitate stealth.

Also, did I tell you that Naoe can also hide behind covers, a feature that has been absent in the Assassin's Creed series since Unity?

Assassin's Creed Shadows, at least judging from the trailers and marketing media, seems to be the game that I have been waiting for since 2017, a worthy successor to Assassin's Creed Origins.