acshadows

Bet the hype inside the publisher’s HQ is just as real as with the fans, ‘cause the French giant’s been kinda slipping lately. All that waiting and delays finally paid off—Assassin’s Creed Shadows is stepping out the dark and flexing as the top dog in the series. For those looking to buy cheap PS4 games, witnessing a potentially revitalized franchise is always interesting. Japan’s wild landscapes ain’t fresh content for open-world games anymore. Ghost of Tsushima and Rise of the Ronin already covered that vibe. No game really matches Shadows’ era though, since it’s set way back in the late 1500s, when Oda Nobunaga and his crew were throwing down for control. If the history’s a blur, you can catch up and get entertained at the same time with the Shogun series.

AC SHADOWS – pure chaos vibes

Assassin’s Creed Shadows drops its story right in the thick of Japan’s late Sengoku era — think late 1500s, pure chaos vibes. The assassin lore is there, sure, but honestly the real heart of the story is watching the two mains, Naoe and Yasuke, grow as people. Way better than another deep dive into the whole Isu thing, which — be real — most of us either don’t get or just don’t care about. Even if you buy cheap PS4 games, a compelling narrative focused on character development can be very rewarding. After a short intro that lets you meet both characters, the game locks you in as Naoe for the first 12–15 hours. She’s on a revenge arc against the warlord who wrecked her home. Yeah, revenge is kinda the go-to AC plot device at this point, but Naoe’s cool enough to keep it from feeling stale until Yasuke shows up and shakes things up. What really caught me off guard was how into their bond I got — like, their friendship actually hits. And the crew they build? Solid. Junjiro especially gives total wholesome little brother energy. Their big mission is to take out this shady group called the Shinbakufu — ten masked baddies hiding behind full-on theatre mask drip. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You’re also gunning for corrupt politicians, traitors, rival shinobi, the usual AC chaos. Before long, your list of targets turns into this giant murder spreadsheet that updates every time you take someone out — or let ‘em live. Finding your targets isn’t just about fast-traveling to a glowing marker either. Most of the time, the game just drops a general area and you’ve gotta figure it out — either by poking around yourself or sending out scouts to narrow it down. I was already a fan of this system in Mirage, and it still slaps here. It’s a nice middle ground between “hold-my-hand” mode and “you’re on your own.” And if that sounds like too much, there’s a “pathfinder” option that just gives you the exact directions, so you’re not stuck guessing if that’s not your vibe.

A Focused Open World Done Right

The part of Japan you get to roam around in is massive, but not Odyssey or Valhalla levels of endless, which is honestly a relief. You’re still looking at like 80 hours of content if you really dive in, maybe 50 if you stay laser-focused on the main story — but because of how the map is leveled, you’ll need to dip into side quests here and there just to stay on par with the game’s difficulty. The good news? Shadows actually scales up early mission rewards to match your level, so going back to old areas doesn’t feel like a waste of time. There’s also this new thing called the Animus Hub where you get missions straight from the Animus itself, and they hand out rare gear or cool hideout decor if you knock ‘em out. The Hub’s supposed to be Ubisoft’s big idea for tying all the AC games together, but what that actually means is still super vague. On the main menu, you’ll see past main characters lined up in a timeline (but only from games available on newer consoles), and when you click on one, it shamelessly redirects you to the PlayStation store — like, it’s just straight-up an ad. If the games were installed, it probably would’ve booted them up too. Ubisoft says this Hub is gonna be part of every new AC game going forward and will grow with the series, but again, it’s all pretty wishy-washy right now. At the moment, it mostly just keeps track of your progress and achievements, and doubles as a mini in-game shop. Some of the quests it gives out earn you premium currency for that store, which lowkey feels like the start of some microtransaction nonsense. I didn’t really mess with it much.

AC Shadows: Two Heroes, One Killer Flow

In story mode, you’re bouncing between both mains doing their thing: Naoe’s on stealth vibes sneaking into castles and wrecking stuff, while Yasuke’s out front straight-up bodying the guards. Each part is hella tailored to who you’re playing, no surprise there. Most of the side quests and bonus missions are chill to do with whoever, or sometimes they’re locked to one of them. Swapping characters hits you with a loading screen, which is lowkey annoying but kinda expected, and you can do it pretty much whenever. So if a mission suddenly needs the other one, it’s not that deep. But yeah, you can’t switch while you’re throwing hands or if you’re in a red zone. You know the restricted zones — they’ve been part of the series since forever. Usually temples or big estates in Shadows, they’re crawling with patrols, loaded with loot, and there’s always that one cracked chest with rare gear. I got the hang of it after a bit, but these missions would seriously slap if you could switch characters on the fly. But nah, they don’t let you.

Fighting as Yasuke was lowkey easier, but it had its own drama. Yasuke can’t use Eagle Vision, so tracking down those Samurai Daisho was a whole mission. He can hide, but not slick enough, so I basically set off alarms and ended up wiping out half the castle just trying to find them. I was on the hunt for a spot to restock healing stuff. Saw a yellow dot flashing nearby, so I dipped inside. There was a samurai just chilling. If I was Naoe, I’d have knocked him out easy, but Yasuke only does that savage one-hit kill. Dude’s head popped off. Turns out the yellow dot was just some basic loot. Next room had another yellow dot, so I figured why not grab it too. Found a samurai and a random worker inside. Had to take them both out or they’d snitch on me. Killing the worker made the game hit me with a warning about taking out too many civilians or I’d desync. Kinda sus since I was the one breaking in, but whatever. Eventually, I clapped the last Samurai Daisho and got my rewards plus a Yasuke-exclusive quest item that Naoe couldn’t even get. But without Naoe’s grappling hook, I was stuck, couldn’t climb up to sync the viewpoint. Killing those boss-level warriors gets way easier once you level up and grind your skills, and now that I’m kinda used to it, the restricted zones aren’t as much of a headache. Still, they’re a whole vibe I try to dodge if I can, ‘cause it sucks that the squad can’t roll through those spots together like they do in the main missions. If you gotta swap characters, you basically have to dip outta the restricted area and drop combat mode, which kills the whole vibe. I lowkey felt like a chaotic maniac, but that’s just me—never been big on RPG stuff anyway. Back when it was Altair and Ezio, being part of that secret Assassin squad, there was at least some kinda excuse that every guard you took out was “for the greater good” against the Templar crew. That was sketchy, and it didn’t cover all the pickpocketing and looting you did, but it made you feel less trash. Now with all the RPG stuff—base building, gear upgrades, side quests for materials—you end up having to off way more people. Not trying to sound all high and mighty, but it’s kinda sus that honorable Yasuke would just wreck a whole castle full of innocent people and guards grinding their grind, just for loot. Doesn’t really sit right story-wise.

Assassin's Creed Shadows: Ubisoft's Historical Hit

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is straight up one of Ubisoft’s best recent drops. The spot-on historical vibe mixed with fun gameplay and smoother exploration makes the whole experience super satisfying. Sure, there are some glitches and voice acting slips that could use a fix, but those are minor compared to how solid the game is overall.