Assassin’s Creed Shadows will get an official prequel story, fittingly told by a tie-in manga series.
But rather than simply adapting the story of Ubisoft’s upcoming feudal Japan stabathon, the series will instead be set some time prior.
The manga’s first slice will be available in Japan alongside Shadows itself, when it arrives on 20th March. Elsewhere in the world, however, we’ll have to wait a little longer.
“Follow the story of a young Assassin apprentice, as she fights against the growing presence of the Templars order in Japan,” reads Ubisoft’s description of the manga series. “Available in Japan at the launch of the game and later elsewhere.”
Cover art for the first issue shows a young female Assassin wielding a sword as well as the iconic Hidden Blade. Is this Naoe, the shinobi co-protagonist of Shadows itself? I’m not sure.
For starters, the moment that Naoe obtains the Hidden Blade for the first time is actually shown early on in Assassin’s Creed Shadows itself – meaning she likely isn’t the menacing looking Assassin shown here. Beyond that, its opening sequences – which Eurogamer has now played – seem to indicate Naoe isn’t yet versed in who either of the Assassins or the Templars are.
So, this looks to be an entirely different protagonist entirely – unless Ubisoft has some other kind of time-wimey shenanigans going on.
Earlier this week, spoilers for the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows popped up online after the game’s unreleased artbook was leaked via an adult cartoon website.
“Shadows looks to be very much on track to become that feudal Japanese fantasy we’ve long been hankering for,” our Katharine wrote in Eurogamer’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows hands-on preview. “If Ubisoft can stick the landing on this one, it will be worth the extended wait.”
fbq('init', '560747571485047');
fbq('track', 'PageView'); window.facebookPixelsDone = true;
window.dispatchEvent(new Event('BrockmanFacebookPixelsEnabled')); }
window.addEventListener('BrockmanTargetingCookiesAllowed', appendFacebookPixels);