Do you know who sucks? Ubisoft. They nickel and dime their fans with predatorial microtransactions, such as creating bloated games that intentionally take forever to beat while offering a way for players to level up faster by purchasing level-ups with real-world money. If you ignore all of the alleged toxic culture the company has housed for years, that’s one of the grossest things a video game company can do. That said, even a leaky boat occasionally catches a fish, and Ubisoft proved this by releasing the long-awaited trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. 

For years, fans have begged for the franchise to travel East, and finally, with Assassin’s Creed Shadows, players will get the Japanese adventure they’ve always wanted. Well, most fans. There’s a group of gamers that seem to reside in the internet’s anal discharge that is loudly claiming otherwise, but we’ll ignore them for now. When a group of highly talented developers manages to release a game from within a creatively bankrupt company like Ubisoft, they deserve our praise and attention. 

Starting in the year 1579 in feudal Japan, the game centers around a time in Japan’s history when the country found itself in the midst of a civil war. I fully admit that my knowledge of Japan’s history comes from the teachings of The Last Samurai (which takes place in the 1870s), Ghost of Tsushima (1274), and the third Ninja Turtles movie (1603). While it’s a country and history I’m fascinated by, it’s one that I won’t pretend to fully understand. From my understanding, Assassin’s Creed Shadows features two main characters who find themselves on opposite sides of the war.

For the first time in franchise history, players can play as a real-life historical figure if they choose to play as Yasuke. African-born, Yasuke would eventually meet with an Italian Jesuit missionary, Alessandro Valignano, who would hire Yasuke as a bodyguard. The two would travel from India to Japan where Yasuke would eventually meet and befriend Oda Nobunaga, a man regarded as the first “Great Unifier” of Japan. It’s this friendship that would choose which side of the war Yasuke would find himself on.

I did mention two main characters, and with that, we have Naoe, the fictional daughter of Fujibayashi Nagato, the leader of the Iga Ninjas during the 16th century. As you can guess, Nagato was not a fan of Oda Nobunaga, which means that Naoe stands opposed to our other playable hero, Yasuke. 

Because it’s an Assassin’s Creed game, I’m sure the Free Masons and the Templars, or whatever happens in these games, will start showing up, and historical moments will change dramatically, which is fine. After all, our two protagonists need to become friends somehow, and a little historical remix is an easy way to make that happen. That being said, if you’re interested in learning about actual history, I got a lot of my information about Yasuke from the Smithsonian’s website, so please check out Jacquelyne Germain’s fantastic article to learn more.

Despite what some might say, we are still talking about a video game. The story can be as interesting as it wants to be, but if the game isn’t fun to play, then why are we still here? Just to suffer!? Sadly, gameplay has yet to be shown for the upcoming title, but there is some information that helps set expectations. Unlike previous Assassin’s Creed titles, where players can choose between playing as either a male or female character, the ability to switch between Yasuke and Naoe will be available throughout the entire game. While being able to approach the same mission as either ninja or samurai already offers players unique experiences, the game will also have a dynamic seasonal system. In other words, depending on when a specific mission is attempted, it might be Summer for one person and Winter for another. I can’t wait for everyone to ask me why I’m still playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows in 2026, and I have to explain that it’s because I only perform missions in the snow as a Shinobi. If I have to spend a car note to play this game, I want to look as cool as possible while playing it.

Speaking of the price, remember when I said Ubisoft is awful? I may be excited about the game, but that doesn’t mean everything is perfect. Though I might be blinded by all this shine bouncing off katanas and ninja stars, that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped thinking about how quickly Ubisoft can ruin this game for everyone. I’d love to say they’ll learn from past mistakes, but those past mistakes include something they’ve done this year. Just a couple of months ago, the company announced that their upcoming game, Star Wars Outlaws, will have a mission featuring Jabba The Hut that will only be available to players who spend $109.99 on the “Gold Edition.” While Assassin’s Creed Shadows doesn’t have any day-one content locked behind buying an overpriced season pass, a mission that involves you helping a dog get revenge on his slain master is locked behind having to preorder the game. I haven’t had to say this since 2011, when companies like Rocksteady were hiding entire sections of their game behind Online Passes, but companies, stop paywalling your single-player content. An extra cost for future story expansions, sure. But if my $70 at launch isn’t good enough to get me the cute dog mission, then it’s either not good enough to be included in the game, or Ubisoft doesn’t respect me spending my hard-earned money on their product.

Before I go, I might as well address the “controversy” surrounding the game. Didn’t I just do that, though? Nope. I’m talking about the real controversy. When the trailer dropped, every normal person who watched went, “Wow, that looks great. I sure hope it’s fun.” But as I mentioned earlier, there are those that live within the walls of the internet’s anal discharge that think otherwise. Gamers could hear their cries bouncing off of Twitter posts around the world.

“A BLACK MAN?! IN JAPAN?!”

“A WOMAN ASSASSIN?! THAT’S NOT REALISTIC?!”

“A WOMAN CAN’T BEAT A MAN IN A FIGHT!”

“WOMAN NO KILL MAN!”

What’s fun about these complaints is how they contradict themselves in real-time. “An Assassin’s Creed game should feature a Japanese main character.” Well, don’t worry. We’ve got Naoe, the daughter of a historical Japanese leader, who is all-be-it fictional, but she still represents the country where the game takes place. As for her character not being realistic, don’t worry. Ubisoft thought of that by making Yasuke a playable character.

What’s that popular streamer, Asmongold? I need to learn biology before I start claiming a woman could kill a man with a sword. First off, if you put a sword in me, I’d die just like anybody else. Secondly, Assassin’s Creed is a series that has featured magical fights with the Pope. Since when has it ever cared about sticking to reality? THIRDLY… a female assassin is ridiculous. I’ll give you guys that. I can’t believe the woke hivemind virus finally caught up to Assassin’s Creed. 

Also, shout out to the year 2012 when Assassin’s Creed could release a game that takes place in Louisiana, stars a black female assassin, and I didn’t have to listen to morons try and explain why the proper protagonist should have been Huckleberry Finn. That said, I’m not going to pretend as if 2012 was some bastion for race relations. While Ubisoft does get a soft pat on the back for such a progressive character, they did release Assassin’s Creed Liberation on the PS Vita, so no one apart from PlayStation superfan Greg Miller has probably even seen this game. 

Remember when I talked about playing as a samurai and a ninja? I was so much happier then. Gameplay for Assassin’s Creed Shadows should be revealed at Ubisoft’s Forward on June 10. I clearly have a very negative opinion of Ubisoft, but I’m also hopeful that when gameplay is finally revealed, Shadows will be one of the most talked-about games at this year’s Summer Games Fest.