Why is Ubisoft just now telling us that Assassin’s Creed Shadows lets you “Naruto run” around the map? That should’ve been in the reveal trailer! Ubisoft stock would be through the roof, Assassin’s Creed Shadows would be pre-emptively named GOTY 2025, and all of the big games releasing in February 2025 would be delayed to escape Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ all-dominating, uh, shadow.
OK, that might be an exaggeration, but Naruto-running around feudal Japan does sound pretty frikkin’ cool. Assassin’s Creed Shadows creative director Jonathan Dumont revealed this sweet little detail in a new interview with EW.
For the uninitiated, Dumont is referring to the classic anime Naruto, whose titular hero is often seen running at full-sprint, leaning forward and with his arms facing backward.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has two protagonists who the player can switch between at any time. Yasuke is a big ol’ muscly samurai who uses brute force to get past foes, while Naoe is a nimble shinobi who prefers a more stealthy approach to avoid confrontation. Naturally, it’s Naoe that can do the Naruto run.
Dumont also said Naoe is “the fastest assassin” the Assassin’s Creed franchise has ever seen, which should be fun when jumping across rooftops. And speaking of which, Dumont teased “a run on top of buildings that has a little bit of a wink-wink to it,” seemingly referring to another reference to a different series. Mirror’s Edge maybe?
Here are all of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed games in development.