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Assassins Creedhas taken its sweet time to do the Japanese setting that fans have been requesting for years, and thoughShadowsis now right around the corner, in the years prior, others have attempted to fill that void. BothGhost of TsushimaandRise of the Roninwere major AAA titles that attempted to do theAssassins Creed-style period setting action-adventure experience that it looked like Ubisoft just wasnt willing to do (at the time at least)- though the two games saw very different results.WhereGhost of Tsushimawas a resounding success, Rise of the Roninproved to be more divisive from a critical perspective- which means there are some very different lessons thatAssassins Creed Shadowscan (and, in our opinion, should) take from the two games. Here, thats exactly what well be talking about, as we discuss the lessons that we hope it take in terms of how to go about things fromGhost of Tsushima,and hownotto fromRise of the Ronin.WHAT TO LEARN FROM GHOST OF TSUSHIMAOPEN WORLDGhost of Tsushimasbiggest strength was the the compelling design of its incredible open world setting, and thats 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,Assassins Creed Shadowsneeds to take a step up from its recent predecessors if its going to do justice to its long-awaited setting. Our hope is itll have looked to Sucker Punchs 2020 hit for inspiration.VISUAL DESIGNTo a great degree, this goes hand in hand with what we just talked about, becauseGhost of Tsushimas open world wouldnt have been anywhere nearly as well-received as it was if it hadnt been so visually arresting. The game managed to find the exact right way to portray the abundant natural beauty of its setting, and thats what were hoping to see inAssassins Creed Shadowsas well. Thankfully, thisisan area where theAssassins Creedfranchise 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 Shadowsleading so far, it looks set to follow in its predecessors footsteps in this area with a visually striking open world setting.COMBATAssassins Creedstrack record with combat tends to be pretty hit or miss.2020sValhalla,for instance, wasnt without its merits in the combat department, but after the slick and addictive combat loop ofAssassins Creed Odyssey,it felt like a bit of a step down to many.Shadowshas 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 fromGhost of Tsushimasbook. Of course, as an action RPG, there will be several factors thatll setShadowsapart fromGhosthere, 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 ofValhalla,it certainly seems to have the right idea so far.STORYTELLINGAssassins Creedhasntalwayssucceeded 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. WhetherShadowswill be able to hit those highs is anyones guess, but it does still need to deliver a strong, well-told story.Ghost of Tsushimaknew exactly how to do that in a manner that felt authentic to its period Japanese open world setting, so yes,Assassins Creed Shadowsabsolutely should be looking to it for inspiration. Thankfully, Shadowsdevelopment team at Ubisoft Quebec has proven with the likes ofAssassins Creed SyndicateandOdysseythat it knows how to tell goodAssassins Creedstories with likeable protagonists. Hopefully,Shadowswont buck that trend.WHAT NOT TO LEARN FROM RISE OF THE RONINSIDE CONTENTThoughRise of the Roninwasnt 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.Assassins Creedas a franchise hasnt always had the best track record with its optional offerings, so our hope is thatShadowswill try and avoid the pitfalls thatRise of the Roninfell in.DEAD CITIESIt wasnt just the open countryside inRise of the Roninsopen 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 againstRise of the Roninsurban 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 thats far from enough for open worlds looking to convincingly deliver a strong virtual historical tourism experience (as Assassins Creedalways does).CLUMSY WRITINGWe touched on this aspect when speaking aboutGhost of Tsushimasstrengths in the storytelling department- but we want to zoom in on the writing in particular, because this was another area whereRise of the Roninfelt 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.Assassins Creed Shadowsneeds tonotmake that mistake. Writing hasnt always been this series strong suit, especially in recent years. ButRise of the Roninhas shown us exactly how painfully poor writing can waste a conceptually strong setting and story. Hopefully,Shadowswill have learned that lesson during development.TECHNICAL ISSUESRise of the Roninwas Team Ninjas first ever open world, so the studio definitely deserved some leeway in this area, while theres also no denying that the game didnt 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 Assassins Creed Shadowsis 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.
