Assassin’s Creed has taken its sweet time to do the Japanese setting that fans have been requesting for years, and though Shadows is now right around the corner, in the years prior, others have attempted to fill that void. Both Ghost of Tsushima and Rise of the Ronin were major AAA titles that attempted to do the Assassin’s Creed-style period setting action-adventure experience that it looked like Ubisoft just wasn’t willing to do (at the time at least)- though the two games saw very different results.
Where Ghost of Tsushima was a resounding success, Rise of the Ronin proved to be more divisive from a critical perspective- which means there are some very different lessons that Assassin’s Creed Shadows can (and, in our opinion, should) take from the two games. Here, that’s exactly what we’ll be talking about, as we discuss the lessons that we hope it take in terms of how to go about things from Ghost of Tsushima, and how not to from Rise of the Ronin.
WHAT TO LEARN FROM GHOST OF TSUSHIMA
OPEN WORLD
Ghost of Tsushima’s biggest strength was the the compelling design of its incredible open world setting, and that’s by far the most significant lesson that any game hoping to achieve similar things should take from it. Sucker Punch absolutely knocked the ball out of the park with how well-designed the Tsushima map was and how it encouraged exploration, constantly finding ways to let players organically stumble on addictive optional content, of which it had an abundance scattered throughout the vast map. In terms of both design and how it has players engaging with and exploring their surroundings, Assassin’s Creed Shadows needs to take a step up from its recent predecessors if it’s going to do justice to its long-awaited setting. Our hope is it’ll have looked to Sucker Punch’s 2020 hit for inspiration.
VISUAL DESIGN
To a great degree, this goes hand in hand with what we just talked about, because Ghost of Tsushima’s open world wouldn’t have been anywhere nearly as well-received as it was if it hadn’t been so visually arresting. The game managed to find the exact right way to portray the abundant natural beauty of its setting, and that’s what we’re hoping to see in Assassin’s Creed Shadows as well. Thankfully, this is an area where the Assassin’s Creed franchise has usually had a pretty solid track record, even with what are deemed the weaker of its entries. Based on all of the footage that has been showcased for Shadows leading so far, it looks set to follow in its predecessors’ footsteps in this area with a visually striking open world setting.
COMBAT
Assassin’s Creed’s track record with combat tends to be pretty hit or miss. 2020’s Valhalla, for instance, wasn’t without its merits in the combat department, but after the slick and addictive combat loop of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, it felt like a bit of a step down to many. Shadows has the unenviable task of making significant improvements- but so far, it seems well positioned to. Of its two protagonists, Yasuke is going to be the more combat-focused one, and his fighting style certainly seems to have taken some pages from Ghost of Tsushima’s book. Of course, as an action RPG, there will be several factors that’ll set Shadows apart from Ghost here, from significantly greater weapon variety to progression mechanics, abilities, loot, and more, but with a greater focus on more precise and slick strikes as opposed to the bruising style of Valhalla, it certainly seems to have the right idea so far.
STORYTELLING
Assassin’s Creed hasn’t always succeeded at telling compelling stories, but when it does manage to do so (like the highs of the Ezio trilogy), it does so with flying colours. Whether Shadows will be able to hit those highs is anyone’s guess, but it does still need to deliver a strong, well-told story. Ghost of Tsushima knew exactly how to do that in a manner that felt authentic to its period Japanese open world setting, so yes, Assassin’s Creed Shadows absolutely should be looking to it for inspiration. Thankfully, Shadows’ development team at Ubisoft Quebec has proven with the likes of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Odyssey that it knows how to tell good Assassin’s Creed stories with likeable protagonists. Hopefully, Shadows won’t buck that trend.
WHAT NOT TO LEARN FROM RISE OF THE RONIN
SIDE CONTENT
Though Rise of the Ronin wasn’t without its strengths in areas such as the combat and the traversal, where its open world was concerned, it left many disappointed. Chief among the reasons for that was the quality and nature of the side content the game had on offer. By-the-numbers design and cookie-cutter optional content made the entire experience feel a bit too rote, to the extent that exploration was often nowhere near as fun or captivating as it should have been on paper. Assassin’s Creed as a franchise hasn’t always had the best track record with its optional offerings, so our hope is that Shadows will try and avoid the pitfalls that Rise of the Ronin fell in.
DEAD CITIES
It wasn’t just the open countryside in Rise of the Ronin’s open world that often felt static and empty. Major cities like Kyoto, Yokohama, and Edo were highlights of the map on paper, but actually exploring their streets and alleys was a letdown. From the lackluster crowds to the atmosphere of the cities in general, there were far too many knocks against Rise of the Ronin’s urban environments for them to be anything more than superficially interesting. Yes, they did boast strong visual design, and yes, the traversal was undeniably enjoyable, but that’s far from enough for open worlds looking to convincingly deliver a strong virtual historical tourism experience (as Assassin’s Creed always does).
CLUMSY WRITING
We touched on this aspect when speaking about Ghost of Tsushima’s strengths in the storytelling department- but we want to zoom in on the writing in particular, because this was another area where Rise of the Ronin felt like a letdown. On paper, it had all the pieces in place to tell a strong story, especially given the period of Japanese history that it chose to focus on, but clumsy writing, unnatural sounding dialogue, and paper-thin characters dragged the whole experience down. Assassin’s Creed Shadows needs to not make that mistake. Writing hasn’t always been this series’ strong suit, especially in recent years. But Rise of the Ronin has shown us exactly how painfully poor writing can waste a conceptually strong setting and story. Hopefully, Shadows will have learned that lesson during development.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
Rise of the Ronin was Team Ninja’s first ever open world, so the studio definitely deserved some leeway in this area, while there’s also no denying that the game didn’t necessarily have too many major technical issues upon release. It had enough smaller ones though, from wonky animation glitches and texture pop in to lighting bugs and what have you, which all came together to make for what was a rather rough gameplay experience. That lack of technical polish also arguably weakened what was an already weak open world experience. If Assassin’s Creed Shadows is to make the strong impression right out the gate that series fans are hoping it will, and if it wants to get the most out of its undeniably promising setting, it needs to be as technically polished as possible.
