The official Assassin’s Creed account’s tweet has definitely sparked a loud buzz. The tweet makes a statement along the lines: “Them: It’s just a game about stealth kills and brutal finishers… Me: Vibing in nature, petting doggos, meditating, soaking in the beauty of Feudal Japan. 🌸” and honestly?? What a beautiful feeling. But the reactions and replies to it? They run the gamut from extremely much appreciating the game to those who hate on it with fervor.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to be unpacked first. This newest installment in the timeless Assassin’s Creed franchise, concurrently set in Feudal Japan, is there for stealth kills and brutal finishers? Isn’t that practically the whole emphasis of the series? But then as the tweet very well points out, there are a bunch of other things you can do that just involve chilling-out; walk around, look at the scenery, pet some shadow dogs, or lie down and meditate. It’s not always so much stabbing.
The replies to the tweet went absolutely crazy. Some players are swooning over the game. One such player named Rob Walker says, “Assassin’s creed shadows is a beautiful game. The scenery is just stunning and it is so easy to walk around and just explore the different areas and scenes and just get lost lol.” And he’s definitely right; we get to see the game through screenshots and gameplay, and I have to admit, it indeed looks gorgeous. Another player, Danny, declared “I fucking love this game so much,” which essentially resonates with the former sentiment.
On the flip side, lots hate it. Some call this game “woke”, while others disparage Ubisoft’s “DEI agenda.” SandorReality says: “I didn’t buy it. I don’t support @Ubisoft pushing their DEI agenda into gaming. This franchise has lost me as a customer.” Like…what does that even entail? The game’s set in Feudal Japan, and you play as characters who are… Japanese? That’s not “woke”; that’s just an accurate historical setting.
On the other hand, these complaints are extended to gameplay style. MaouFUTxUTD says, “I have the game. All the finishers are mid, boring, and repetitive. This is a known issue, esp the katana finishers.” If the combat really is repetitive, then there is a criticism well-made. Jacquelin Door concurs, adding: “If only those things required input other than ‘press button’ – then a cutscene.” So, maybe the interactive elements could do with some increased engagement.
One of the positives such as many people appear to be enjoying the serene atmosphere of the game. “Me pressing F12 every 10 seconds to take screenshots ðŸ˜,” says user hmmNahbro, and honestly, that’s relatable. A game that beautiful will have you spending half your time in a photo mode capturing that beauty. Then there’s Zaynaskar Saleh relaying how his kid told him, “dad, don’t ever uninstall that Naoe game,” which is just too cute for words. So, it’s early days, but the game has made impressions on the younger generation as well.
Now we start seeing such useful nuggets of advice embedded between anecdotes in the reply section. Where Atawante manages to say, “I need to finish this can you give me the motivation to play it (I love the game),” DutchBlondeDoom fairly adroitly responds with “Play it in small bursts. So you play it one week, and in the next few weeks you play something else. Then play it again for a week.” That’s some pretty decent advice for anybody struggling through these massive open-world titles that tend to feel overwhelming.
And the weird requests keep coming. One goes for a setting far-future specially for Assassin’s Creed (truly, it’s a cool idea), another requests an in-depth statistics page to fully optimize builds, and Monric of Brazil just comes out and asks for a free copy because his pockets are dry. Mood.
The official Assassin’s Creed account even replied to one comment with “The journey is the reward,” which is… profound? I guess? Fits quite well with the entire concept of the original tweet around enjoying the quieter moments just as much as the combat.
This conversation that follows is dripping with passion, with quite a few players appreciating that immersive world where they could just exist in Feudal Japan without being engaged in combat constantly. While others, on the other hand, are harshly critical of some elements of gameplay-first element-of-gameplay-although-they-seem-blurry-about-what-the-meaning-of-the-word-“woke”-is-even-in-this-context. Yet, that is a forever-going-back-and-forth-type conversation.
An interesting fact about how from linear beginnings… the series is now gigantic open-world where you can honestly spend hours just petting dogs and snapping photos of cherry blossoms. Whether that is a good direction for the Franchise is up for debate, but it is certainly drawing varied opinions from the playing community.
So at least Assassin’s Creed Shadows manages to cater to both ends of the spectrum- for the hardcore stealthies, they’ve got their fill. Then, for vibing in nature while admiring the beauty of Feudal Japan, that is also an option. And judging by the mixed reaction, it looks like players are tackling both in the game.
