The Assassin’s Creed series has always ranged from serviceable to great in the story department, but Assassin’s Creed Shadows has upped the ante considerably, delivering a story and performances that are memorable, not just for an Assassin’s Creed game, but memorable period.
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The genuinely great narrative comes down to multiple reasons, from improved cinematography and presentation, to fantastic performances from the cast, great art direction in the world and for the characters, and some very good writing. The prologue for AC: Shadows sets a high bar, but the memorable moments don’t stop there: this game is full of them from start to finish.
This list is going to contain mild spoilers for the story of AC: Shadows. Many of the quotes have been selected from the front-half of the game to avoid spoiling things that happen toward the end, but spoilers are still going to be present for that first half of the game.
8
“The Cost Of This Statue Is Blood. I Do Not Think They Are Ready For That. Are You Ready For That?”
-Mitsumune To Naoe
The impetus for Naoe’s journey is revenge. Revenge for killing her father, and revenge for taking the one thing from her that her father told her to keep safe. It’s an understandable desire; even if not all of us understand wanting revenge to the same extent, we can empathize with the need to get back at someone who took something from you.
But Mitsumune understands the cost of something like that. Even if revenge is warranted, even if revenge might be considered justice, it doesn’t absolve Naoe from the consequences of seeking something like that out. It’s the kind of thing that marks you somewhere on the inside, somewhere meaningful, and that mark is something that would be difficult to forget.
7
“I Never Wanted Peace. Not Until We Take Back What’s Ours.”
-Kyonyo To Naoe
Kyonyo acts like a mirror for Naoe toward the beginning of the story. They have slightly different reasons for seeking what they seek, but at the end of the day, they’re two characters who are seeking revenge.
For Kyonyo, that revenge comes at a cost. A cost that he thinks he’s willing to pay: peace. In order to get what he wants, in order to right a wrong that he feels has been unjustly rendered to him, he’s willing to sacrifice peace not just for himself, but for those who follow him. Naoe sees this in him, and it begins to start her questioning exactly what she’s willing to give up, for a similar cause.
6
“There Is Still Hope. That Is What Fills The Emptiness.”
-Kyonyo To Naoe
Kyonyo is not a one-note character, and that’s displayed here. Naoe is struggling with the loss of her father, of how, right after he was killed, she could feel him. Feel him in the beauty she saw in the world, in the memories that she had of him.
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But she’s having difficulty seeing that beauty now. She’s having difficulty seeing anything in the world but the bad, partly because things are getting worse, and partly because of her only focus being on vengeance. Kyonyo reminds her that there is still good. And even if that good isn’t tangible, even if that good isn’t here yet, it’s on the horizon, and that’s what can keep you going when nothing else will.
5
“Thank You For Believing In Me.” | “I Always Have. Only Now, Can I Show You How Much.”
-Naoe And Nagato
Fresh from the first time she’s ever killed someone, Naoe is struggling with it. It’s keeping her up, haunting her. She’s always wanted to prove herself to her father, to prove that she’s strong, that she’s able to protect not just herself, but the people that she cares about. And, now that she has, she’s seeing the cost of it that Nagato was trying to spare her.
Nagato has always believed in his daughter. It wasn’t a question of skill, it was a matter of wanting to shelter his child from a difficult thing, a difficult thing that he knows all too well. But he recognizes, in helping her deal with it now, that sheltering her has been holding her back. And not only that, it was holding their love for each other back. Now, they share a deeper kind of understanding; a deeper bond.
4
“You Must Want Something.” | “I Want My Father Back.”
-The Golden Teppo And Naoe
The Golden Teppo is one of the people who contributed to the death of Nagato, Naoe’s father. She’s someone who came from nothing, and had no one to help her along the way. Someone like that, who’s obtained great power through personal effort, but has had no one to truly connect to along the way; it’s no surprise they could turn out materialistic and apathetic.
For Naoe, who cares more deeply about her bonds with others, and especially the bond with her father, who was taken from her, there’s nothing that the Golden Teppo could give her that would be worth anything. Naoe wants something unobtainable, something impossible. For her, there’s nothing that can be given; only something that can be taken.
3
“Do Not Thank Me. Only Honor Me. I Have Brought My Death Upon My Own Head.”
-Nobunaga To Yasuke
Nobunaga is a complicated figure, not a one-dimensional villain, and certainly not a hero. But for Yasuke, he was someone who gave him a chance to be all that he could be, instead of fitting him into the box that most people put Yasuke in the moment they see him.
Yasuke wants to repay that, before Nobunaga’s death. To thank him for giving him the opportunity to become what he’s become. But thanking Nobunaga for that isn’t what’s important. What’s meaningful, what can actually make a lasting impact for both Nobunaga’s rights and wrongs, is for Yasuke to honor what the man did for him, and make the most of his own life.
2
“It Is Not About Land. It Runs Deeper Than That. For Both Of Us.”
-Yasuke To An Old Warrior
Nobunaga was about to shoot the last warrior in a village that they were razing to death, but Yasuke stops him. He tells Nobunaga to let him give the old man a warrior’s death. It’s what makes Yasuke special, what elevates him from many of the people surrounding him that have lost the sense of honor that they claim to uphold.
Yasuke understands. He understands what it means to wear the armor that he wears, to wield the weapon that he wields. He understands that there’s a code to it, and it’s not a code that you can simply shrug off when it becomes too difficult. The old man understands it, too. And if not for this moment, if not for the bond that this warrior and Yasuke share, things would have turned out much differently.
1
“Showed Me Other Ways To Let That Hate Out.”
-Junjiro To Naoe
Uttered in an extremely emotional moment by the secret star of AC: Shadows, Junjiro reveals that Naoe took someone important from him, before they knew each other. Junjiro wanted to kill Naoe at first, for taking someone that he loved away. But he didn’t; instead, he forgave her. To let out the pain, the hate, that he felt because of what she did… Junjiro made things. He turned that emotion into art.
This is a moment that not only saves Yasuke’s life from Naoe, but it also saves Naoe from throwing her life away fighting for something that doesn’t truly matter. It saves her from fighting for revenge, instead of fighting to make Japan a better place. Because what she fights for is every bit as important as how she fights it. Without Junjiro, and without his heroic act, the fate of Japan would have been far, far worse.
- Released
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March 20, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language
- Developer(s)
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Ubisoft Quebec
- OpenCritic Rating
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Strong