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In a way, it has always felt inevitable that Assassin’s Creed would one day find itself in Japan. After all, it is the home of some of the most famous assassins in history – the ninja. But fans will note that it isn’t just the stealthy ninja that they’ll be playing as in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. They’ll also get a turn at playing the more action-oriented samurai character. Why two protagonists? It was so Ubisoft could open the series up to more players by making different playstyles viable in the game.

It wasn’t a story decision to have dual protagonists in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Instead, it was to allow the developers to give players a different option than they have had in the series before. Creative director Jonathon Dumont explained that they had always wanted to have a ninja archetype in the game but they also wanted to include a samurai character. “But marrying the two on top of each other sort of diluted both fantasies,” he explained. “So we tried to make it their own. We really wanted to have the ninja fantasy – you climb everywhere, you have gadgets, you throw kunai, and you stay in the dark, you’re really spry, you have a grappling hook. But once you get in combat you can get overwhelmed.”

That is where Yasuke, the samurai character, comes in. “Samura kicks the front door in, is a super-warrior,” Dumont says, mentioning that the samurai character’s style is “the opposite” of the ninja. It marks new territory for the Assassin’s Creed series. It isn’t the first time they’ve had dual protagonists, but it is the first time they have played so intentionally differently. Not only could this open the game up to people who want to approach things from a more direct route – kicking the door in, as Dumont puts it – but it also could open the game up to multiple playthroughs to experiment with the different characters’ unique styles.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is out on March 20, 2025.

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