Assassin’s Creed Shadowsis a return to form in many ways, with some of the best AC gameplay I’ve seen in a long time. But you’re going to have to wade through a few hours of dense narrative before you get to the actual gameplay. This isn’t the firstAssassin’s Creedinstallment with a story-heavy introduction and prologue that only lets you control the character in small ways before getting to the meat of the game.Assassin’s Creed Valhallahas a relatively long opening sequence, whileAssassin’s Creed 3’sprologuedives really deep into backstory before any gameplay really starts.
In a vacuum,Assassin’s Creed Shadowstakes a good chunk of time to get through the story elements before you actually start exploring Izumi Settsu proper. The opening sequence includes various cut scenes that set up both characters' backstories, Naoe and Yasuke, letting you control each character in minor ways before unleashing you into the full open world. The story and voice acting are very well done and keep your interest, at least the first time around. However, I’m not so sure players are going to appreciate sitting through this much preamble on repeat playthroughs.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Takes Its Time Setting The Stage
How Much Prologue Is Too Much?
To be clear, the narrative and character development forAssassin’s Creed Shadowsis incredibly well done, and the game manages to add depth to Yasuke from the very opening moments.It doesn’t shy away from the racial or cultural tensions between characters,and the prologue scenes add complexity to bothYasuke and Naoe’s character arcs. However, these scenes take quite some time, and if you’re listening with Immersive Mode enabled (recommended), you’ll be doing more reading than you probably want. Lengthy introductions aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but in the case ofAC Shadows, they might be misleading.
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I worry it might turn a subset of players off to sit through such lengthy sequences with very few meaningful interactive elements present.Not every fan of the franchise will be equally interested in the plot,and there is certainly a group of players that really just want to get into the action and start exploring the open world. And while it is possible to skip through dialogue and play on canon mode to prevent having to ponder over making the right decision,Assassin’s Creed Shadowssplices action in between cinematics, forcing you to play through somewhat mundane moments.
How AC Shadows Could Make The Beginning Less Of A Slog
Remove Tedious Interactive Scenes & Consolidate Tutorials
Assuming you don’t skip through any dialogue, the minimum time it takes from starting a new game until you see theAssassin’s Creed Shadowsstarting logo is roughly 45 minutes. This includes 5-10 different unskippable interactive scenes that are meant to serve as tutorials, but also include some completely unnecessary and even ridiculous hand-offs to the player, such aswalking through an unlocked door to take three steps forward and open a boxbefore being thrown into another cinematic.
Yakuse’s mechanics are covered thoroughly later in the game anyway, so these beginning teaser moments serve little purpose and add unnecessary time to the prologue.
In my view,AC Shadowswould’ve been fine with one tutorial-based interactive scene, the beginning Naoe quest where she tracks down the box (again).All the core gameplay mechanics are covered in this sequence in a very succinct and informative way.The previous interactive with Yasuke, on the other hand, serves more as a teaser of what to expect from his character, who you won’t be playing anytime soon. Yakuse’s mechanics are covered thoroughly later in the game anyway, so these beginning teaser moments serve little purpose and add unnecessary time to the prologue.
There’s a very dramatic moment at the very end of the opening sequence where Naoe’s father is slain by the Onyryo, and they are both left to bleed out from their wounds. As he lies there, you are actually given control of Naoe as she watches her father pass, and while this is no doubt meant to add dramatic tension and immerse you into the story in a meaningful way,being forced to simply hold forward while you move a few inchesfeels like a cheap way of asking if we’re still paying attention.
Assassin’s Creed Desperately Needs A Skip Prologue Option
Narrative Is Fascinating The First Time Around, Less So The Second
Among the multitude of settings and customizable options in the starting menu, it’s a mystery why/howAssassin’s Creed Shadowsdoesn’t offer a Prologue-skipping feature.The prologue serves a clear purpose if it’s the first time playing the game, but if you have already completed the game or want to start over entirely, you have to wade through the beginning slog of cinematics and tutorials, and it can take up to a few hours before you even get the option to pull up your Inventory.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Creative Director Explains Why You Should Play - & Switch - Between Both Protagonists
The Creative Director of Assassin’s Creed Shadows has provided further insight into the dual protagonist system and how/why Yasuke and Naoe differ.
Further, the prologue includes three separate Animus memory jumps, and two different instances of Naoe’s father becoming incapacitated, only to eventually die. From a narrative perspective,it’s a little redundant and kind of pointless to see her father near death,and in the next scene see him fully recovered and then immediately killed. There are a few extra narrative steps involved that ultimately would have the same impact no matter when he dies.
There are also way too manymoments in the prologue that present the illusion of control.I can understand giving the player control in order to teach them the mechanics of the game with tutorial-style missions. But I simply don’t see the point of including one dialogue “choice” in the conversation with Yasuke and the missionaries, or in having Naoe walk three steps to grab a box. What makes the introduction feel even slower is that it takes even more time afterward to start exploring the game with full control and autonomy.
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Assassin’s Creed Shadows is introducing a new hideout system that goes beyond anything players have seen in previous games of the series.
This is all to say that the introduction sequence and prologue do serve a purpose; it’s just buried under some very dense narrative elements that aren’t necessarily going to be interesting on repeat playthroughs. Importantly,these beginning sequences are not indicative of typical gameplay, and you’ll only run into the longer cinematic events during most main quests, while side quests are generally more consolidated. Overall,Assassin’s Creed Shadowshas some incredible cinematics and a great narrative, but it takes way too long to get to the fun parts.
