In Apparent Backpedal From Yasuke, ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Creative Director Reveals Entire Game Can Be Played Without Switching Characters: “We’re Not Imposing Players Try To Split The Time”
Contrary to how Ubisoft’s marketing has portrayed the game’s dynamic, Assassin’s Creed Shadows Creative Director Jonathan Dumont has revealed that while the upcoming series entry has been built around the concept of ‘dual protagonists’, it is possible to play through its entire story as either Yasuke or Naoe without ever needing to switch to the other character.
Dumont confirmed this gameplay dynamic while speaking to GameRant‘s Deven McClure in promotion of Shadows‘ upcoming release.
Asked by his host as to how the respective experiences of playing as either Naoe or Yasuke would differ from one another, the creative director explained, “So, we really wanted both of them in gameplay to have advantages and strengths and weaknesses, and really sort of try to be true to the archetypes as well. So that’s why Yasuke is not the best in parkour, and he’ll be limited in some capacity there. But in combat, he’s a samurai and he’s an explosive samurai.”
“And then the same, the opposite a little bit more, for Naoe, which is super speedy,” he added. “And then she can hide a little bit everywhere. She’s like a gymnast almost. She just jumps around. But if she faces multiple enemies, it’s a little bit trickier for her, right? So we try to capture that sort of balance between both.”
“In the narrative they’re very complementary, but they tell the story from two different sides so that’s a little bit… The thing that we wanted is you to discover Japan, if you don’t know too much about Japan, from somebody that’s from the farmlands or somebody that’s really in the rural side of Japan,” Dumont said. “And then Yasuke is a stranger, but that is in nobility. So you sort of see it from two sides and I think it complements them well working together. And yeah, they’re quite lovable. Both of them are quite lovable.”
To this end, McClure then pressed the Ubisoft dev on “how much [of the Shadows experience] players will miss out on” if they choose to play the entire game as only one of the protagonists, to which he admitted that, in truth, they wouldn’t be missing out on much.
“I hate that question, pick your children, all right!” joked Dumont in opening. “Okay. So I don’t think you’re missing out on things too much. I think it’s more on your preference to [say], ‘Okay, I’ll see how the game will adapt a little bit to the character if you choose one over the other.’ They get individual introductions and then they get their own questline also. So that one is, let’s say Naoe, a personal questline cannot be played by Yasuke and those are two distinct things. But the core of the game can be pick your character and the game adapts.
“So I guess you can switch for gameplay reasons, you can switch if you think that you like one of the other [protagonists] better, but I don’t think you’re missing out,” he concluded. “That’s more, all right, have fun with the game, just play it as you want. And there’s going to be a couple of choices here and there that I wonder what happened, what would happen with this character, but I don’t think you’re missing out.”
As noted above, the fact that a player can apparently experience the entirety of Shadows with only one character presents a stark contrast to how Ubisoft had portrayed the game’s identity in months prior, wherein they touted the fact that both characters’ narrative would present a unique outlook on the game’s plot, both of which were needed to understand not just 100% of the the story, but the majority of its events.
To this end, one wonders if this subtle switch in rhetoric is a result of Ubisoft’s second delay of the game, which they said was being undertaken in order to “implement” the “valuable feedback” they had received from players regarding Shadows.
Curiously, despite the fact that players are not required to engage with the character-switching mechanic, Ubisoft boasted in their recent earnings statement that Shadows‘ “dual-protagonist gameplay was particularly well received, offering two distinct playstyles that cater to different player preferences as well as both characters playing critical roles in the game’s storyline.”
Ultimately, just what specific changes have been made to the game during this period will likely only be revealed long after Assassin’s Creed Shadows releases on March 20th.
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