Simply by virtue of being Assassins Creed,any time a new game in the series releases, it stands as one of the biggest new titles of its year. There are exceptions to that, of course such as 2023sAssassins Creed Mirage,which was explicitly marketed as a smaller, cheaper, more compact sidequel to keep players occupied until the series Next Big Thing arrived. Well, guess what- that Next Big Thing is almost upon us, and appropriately enough, itislooking quite significant in its stature. Unless things go spectacularly wrong which, admittedly, has been a worryingly common occurrence with even the most major of Ubisoft releases in recent years its likely thatAssassins Creed Shadowsends the year as one of its biggest, most prominent releases.In fact, for many longtime fans of the series, this release feels more significant than many other past flagshipAssassins Creedtitles. There are several reasons for that, but chief among them has to be the fact that withShadows,werefinallygetting the feudal JapanAssassins Creedsetting that fans have been begging for for what feels like forever at this point. Since the series earliest days, Japan has been one ofAssassins Creedsmost widely requested settings, so naturally, excitement surrounding the series long-awaited visit to the region is high.There are some who, on the flipside, might argue that maybeAssassins Creedhas taken a little bit too long to make its way to Japan- or, more specifically, thatGhost of Tsushimamay have eaten its lunch by getting to it first, and doing it so well that many no longer feel the thirst for such a game that they once did. For many,anAssassins Creedgame set in Japan feels way less necessary in a post-Ghost of Tsushimaworld, while others still will argue that even if theres still enough demand for such an experience (which there obviously will be),Assassins Creed Shadowsis going to have a tough time of doing things as well asGhostdid when it launched close to five years ago.Looking at the up-and-down trajectory of theAssassins Creedfranchise, at how it has exacerbated some of its worst tendencies with bloated open world design in its action RPG era, and at the terrible vein of form that Ubisoft has been in in recent years, its hard not to see the merit in the skeptics arguments. Then again. as the eternal optimist (especially when it comes to Assassins Creed,a longtime personal favourite of mine), I cant help but look atShadowsand grow increasingly confident about how its taking shape. As the open world action RPG has approached its release, with each new info drop, trailer, and gameplay showing, it has looked progressively better, and the promises that its developers have made have been all the right ones.Take, for instance,Assassins Creed Shadowscommitment (at least according to its developers) to keep a wary eye on its size and scope to try and ensure things dont go out of hand quite the way they did with the notoriously bloated and unnecessarily massive monstrosity that wasAssassins Creed Valhalla.Time and again we have heard fromShadowsdevelopment team that in terms of map size, the game is going to be roughly comparable to 2017sAssassins Creed Origins which means its still going to be a big game no matter how you cut it, only not excessively so. As far as its runtime is concerned, meanwhile, Shadowsdevelopers have once again promised an experience closer to OriginsandOdysseythanValhalla-which, again, is still a massive game, to the extent that many might still feel like theres plenty that can be trimmed there. It is, however, a decided step back from the excessiveness of Valhalla,which is definitely a step in the right direction.But thats not all- not by a stretch. Because the changes and tweaks thatAssassins Creed Shadowsis making on a more fundamental level i.e. with things such as gameplay and design are also showing a great deal of promise. Especially if youre a longtimeAssassins Creedfan who has grown increasingly dissatisfied with how much the series has deviated from its original vision, some of the ways that the pendulum is swinging back withShadowswill sound particularly exciting. Stealth and parkour were the two things thatAssassins Creedgames were always designed around first and foremost, andShadowsis promising some potentially excellent changes.The introduction of Naoe the shinobi as one of two central mechanics will usher in a renewed focus on stealth, with the characters core moveset being focused around agile movement and espionage first and foremost. For the out-and-out combat fans, Yasuke will provide alternative options, but if youre looking to stealthily slip into an enemy base and try and get to your accomplish with as little hubbub as possible, in the manner thatold schoolAssassins Creedgames used to allow for, Naoes moveset and toolset will allow you to do just that. From being able to go prone and crawl around to having things such as chimes and smoke bombs to use to new light and shadow mechanics that will let you create dynamic new hiding spots by destroying light sources- in several ways,Assassins Creed Shadowsis putting the spotlight back on stealth, which, for longtime series fans, is quite exciting.Parkour is seeing a similar switch back to an older, more precise style of gameplay.Assassins Cred Originsintroduced a new climb anywhere mentality that the series has since then stuck with, with the exception of the aforementionedMirage.Shadows,likeMirage,is going to be more in line with the pre-Originstitles in this department. Every single surface will not be climbable, with handholds and ledges and cracks and what have you having actual importance where movement is concerned. Meanwhile, Naoe is also going to have access to a grappling hook, which also promises to spice up traversal in some interesting ways.And for those hoping to get the most out of exploring a vast, open world, feudal Japan map-Shadowsis also approaching exploration in a manner that at least on paper is checking all the right boxes. The game is promising organic exploration that will prioritize immersion and detail over density of content, a problem thatValhallafell prey to. Rather than inundating players with optional content and markers and what have you every few seconds,Shadowsworld is promising environmental diversity, gorgeously detailed locales, and a design style that will more organically take you from distraction to distraction- hopefully in a way that doesnt feel like youre crossing off a checklist. That kind of open world design is obviously quite difficult to pull off, but ifShadowscan make good on its promises, itll be quite a step up from its immediate predecessors.And that, ultimately, is the thing withAssassins Creed Shadows.Its making a lot of the right promises, which, if it can actually make good on, could easily make for one of the series best outings in years. Butwillit actually succeed there? Theres been increasing confidence in the lead up to the games release that it will, even as Ubisofts misfortunes and mistakes continue to pile one on top of another. Hopefully,Shadowswill break the company out of that rut and turn out to be the long, long wait weve had to endure forAssassins Creedsvisit to feudal Japan.Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.