Assassins Creed Shadows is looking promising for several reasons. From parkour and stealth gameplay being more like the classicAssassins Creedtitles than more recent instalments, to its promise of two protagonists with unique play styles sharing the spotlight, the action RPG is checking a lot of the right boxes. Also high on that list is, of course, its open world setting- something that is obviouslyalwayshigh on the list for any newAssassins Creedgame, but seems that much more significant withShadows.You can tie that significance to several major factors, but chief among them is obviously the fact that we are finally getting the Japan-setAssassins Creedgame weve awaited for years. So long has been the wait that not only did it look for a good while there like it may not ever actually happen, but other prominent AAA releases like Ghost of TsushimaandRise of the Ronin have also stepped in to fill the void in that time- an if you dont do it, I will kind of situation, if there ever was one. But now Assassins Creed finallyisdoing it itself, and theres every reason to be excited.Very rarely hasAssassins Creedever truly wasted its settings. From the series strongest entry (Black Flag) to what are considered by most to be its weaker ones likeAssassins Creed 3or the decidedly divisiveUnity if theres one thing that this series hasalmostalways succeeded at, its bringing its period settings to life. Every singleAssassins Creedgame releases with that implicit promise at this point, which meansanyentry failing to live up to it would be a disappointment- but youd imagine that that disappointment would be much more keenly felt if the series ended up wasting its long-awaited Japanese setting.Thankfully, based on what weve seen of the game so far, it doesnt look likeAssassins Creed Shadowsis going to let us down in that area. The abundant gameplay footage released for the action RPG in the lead up to its release has painted a promising picture of its take on late 16th century Japan, right at the tail end of the Sengoku era. Gorgeous landscapes flush with natural beauty, dense hubs of civilization like Kyoto and Osaka boasting their impressive architecture- so much of the games world that has been shown off has looked exactly as atmospheric and brimming in detail as youd want from anAssassins Creedgame.And exploring these landscapes is also likely going to be a highlight of the experience, if things pan out the way they seem they will. Far too often,Assassins Creedgames have ended up relying on gamified abstractions to drive their exploration gameplay loops, with even some radically different approaches having ended up ultimately falling into that same trap. Assassins Creed Unity, for instance, just straight up vomited an ocean of markers and pointers on the map. Valhalla, on the other hand, attempted to make discovering and engaging with optional content feel much more organic and diegetic, but then went ahead and crammed its unreasonably massive map with a stupid amount of content.So far, on paper, it seems likeAssassins Creed Shadowswill attempt to toe the line and address the issues with both styles. For starters, its developers have stressed time and again that players shouldnt expect much of a reliance on map or compass markers, with discovery of content once again happening in the games world itself, rather than in menus or through checklists. Take, for instance, how Viewpoints now work. Instead of uncovering bits and pieces of the map (which will now only clear fog of war with exploration or scouting), Viewpoints will now instead only show points of interest, objective markers, and what have you in your vicinity, which promises to ground players in their immediate surroundings a little bit more- again, on paper, at least.Meanwhile, Shadowsis also promising to be better about the density of content thanValhallawas. Rather than attempting to grab players attention with some new piece of content or side activity tugging at you every 30 seconds,Shadowsdevelopers say it will instead space its content apart so that players are actually immersing themselves in the world. Of course, taking in your surroundings wont be the extent of it- thereisstill going to be plenty of side content, its just not going to be as saturated as it was inValhalla.Just as promising from an exploration viewpoint is Shadowsfocus on gathering information about the world. Yasuke and Naoe will command their own network of scouts and spies, which, in addition with information gleaned from NPCs and by observing the world yourself, will be a big part of not only how you learn more about the world, but also how you engage with it. Back in 2018,Assassins Creed Odysseytook the first steps in this direction with its introduction of an Exploration Mode, and according to Ubisoft,Shadowsis going to bring about its next big evolution with how it ties exploration of the world with gathering information to learn more about it.Then theres the seasons system, which can potentially make exploration yet more captivating in its own unique way. Every time the season changes, players will feel the impact in the world around them. From lakes freezing over in winter to fields of grass blooming in the spring, from gorgeous landscapes glistening in summertime to everything being blanketed in thick layers of snow when it gets much colder, the changing of seasons will impact the world, what it will look like, and how you will navigate it in different ways.And of course, this being anAssassins Creedgame, the actual traversal mechanics that will take you from place to place in Sengoku era Japan will be just as crucial an aspect of the exploration loop. Eschewing the climb anywhere approach ofAssassins Creed Origins, Odyssey,andValhalla,Shadowswill go back to the more precise style of the classicAssassins Creedtitles, which means youll have to pay attention to whether or not, say, a ledge is in your reach, or if there are any handholds on a wall for you to climb on. Traversing aroundAssassins Creedsintricately crafted open world maps used to be an absolute blast back when they were designed around those limitations, so the hope is thatShadowswill be similarly successful in this area. With Ubisoft also hyping Naoe up as the most nimble and agileAssassins Creedprotagonist ever, theres reason to be optimistic about the games traversal and movement mechanics.Of course, even though world design is an area whereAssassins Creedalmost never misses the mark,exploration and the two arent always necessarily the same hasnt always been. ThatShadowswill boast a strongly designed world is something that most people will be pretty confident about, given the series track record. But will the game succeed in compelling players to explore the world and uncover all of its secrets? Thats where the doubts begin creeping in for many Valhallasort of soured the well for a fair few people in that respect but thankfully, everything weve seen ofShadowsdoes suggest that optimism might be warranted.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.