What now? Ubisoft finally put out this new Assassin’s Creed Shadow DLC Claw of Awaji, and the saying, “safety is an illusion,” certainly followed through. The official tweet warned of ambushes in the forests, disguised enemies around towns, and the whole island being essentially a giant deathtrap: danger literally everywhere. Sounds cool if that’s your type, but not so attractive to me.
Here is the hot tea – actual player mentality remains starkly MIXED. So, first, the atmosphere and design just scare everyone with joy. Morgan the adorkable, cute, tin-sized AuRa (great name, btw) basically tweeted that Ubisoft Bordeaux nailed something really beautiful. They singled out one boss fight as AMAZING while also saying that traps, spies, and assailants really make the world feel unsafe, which is exactly what one would want from a stealth game DLC, right? They begged the studio to do a mainline game with it. We don’t get to hear those words every day.
A specific name is given to that boss fight in Nowaki by Fujibayashi Naoe as “one of the best bosses in gaming,” along with compliments about atmosphere, characters, arena, design: the complete package. One seldom hears that about DLC.
But wait… other side. Oh boy, the other side. Seems like there are a whole bunch of players dealing with serious technical issues. Is this customer-gone technical stuff, basically? Scott Hutchings straight out said, “FIX THE GAME sheesh” regarding the random crashing on Awaji that makes it so annoying to play. Another, Crimsonkiller21, said, “Bugs have mine unplayable,” which is not a good sign.
There appears to be more technical ailments being thrown around on this Twitter thread by ElsieTheDancer and Shane 👺 about their programs crashing on PS5 during certain quests, with Shane even sharing a clip of just that happening. Laura C (ElsieTheDancer) then answers with similar issues on PS5 and that they don’t have a workaround to find-they’re just waiting for a patch. That’s pretty gross when you’re hyped for new content.
Reactions of JessieLameque were rather fun, though. Tripwires and poisons just jump-scared me she said; same here. They also said that the more they played, the more enemies they found EVERYWHERE-from cops to bandits, not just normal citizens! Those ordinary folks are enemies too! And traps everywhere! They were just chilling and BAM! Honestly sounds kind of frustrating but rewarding at the same time.
Some even had very specific asks: InTheYin asked if there was an outfit without a face mask and wished they could have that and the Swift Shinobi without the mask. Nozgame asked if the Bo staff quest could be available before the end of the base game so they could use it throughout their playthrough. Just little quality of life things players actually notice.
Then BlackwindMythos shows up with the inevitable comparisons to other games. He responded to Morgan asking if it’s really that good, saying he’ll probably need to update his game and try it when he finishes Hollow Knight. Always interesting to see what games people are putting aside to try new content.
No serious Assassin’s Creed discussion without adding a few more games in the series, and WulfUlfhednar did go on a rant about overhyped Japanese crap and wanting Black Flag Remake and Assassin’s Creed Hex news instead, because he claimed he’s sick of games set in Asia that look “incredibly generic.” Which… okay then. borisskyman replied with a simple “yes yes where is that remake?” with a GIF, so definitely some players aren’t waiting for this AC content.
International comments continue. CPotter77_12 tweeted in Portuguese regarding a mission crashing the game after defeating a guy working on a boat under construction, which Google translated to, “The mission to defeat that guy who is working on a boat under construction is crashing the game after I defeat him,” so it seems technical issues could be everywhere.
Meanwhile, in spite of the bugs, expectations are sky-high. willl_smitty pretty much screamed that he just downloaded the DLC!!!!! StarfuryApollo called it a “really strong opening” and can’t wait to see where it goes. XFunkeda called it “beautifuly dangerous,” which is a fitting description.
So in its face, what kind of expression are you getting from this thing? Claws of Awaji very well might be what It had promised- a hazardous trap-laden experience that strives to keep players at alert. Worthy mention is given to environmental design and enemy placement. Hits are laid upon certain boss fights, too, calling them exceptional. But a good portion of the player base is troubled by technical issues, the crashes, and bugs turning the experiences for most or outright no-go for some! Classic game DLC situations-almost worth it when it works but really frustrating when it doesn’t. So here’s to hoping Ubisoft puts out a patch ASAP that sort of bridges that divide crashing has caused so that everyone ends up appreciating the deadly beauty of Awaji Island minus every five minutes of game-breaking. Because yeah, half the fun is traps jump-scare-you; the other half ain’t being crashed!
