The latest installment in the series, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, introduced significant changes in the way characters interact with the environment, which is expected to become a new standard for the entire franchise.
Simon Lemay-Comtois, deputy director of the game, emphasizes that the duo of protagonists – Naoe and Yasuke – have extremely different physicality, which directly translates into their mobility. This diversity makes navigating 16th-century Japan a unique experience for each character, and the developers intend to use these experiences when designing future assassins.
A key element of this evolution is the departure from the pattern in which each assassin moves in an almost identical way. In Shadows, we see this clearly thanks to new tools, such as Naoe’s grappling hook, which revolutionizes vertical climbing and makes it much more dynamic – thanks to this heroine, it is easier to explore the land and collect collectibles. In turn, Yasuke, despite his powerful build, is surprisingly agile, which shows that the hero’s body weight and height should have a noticeable impact on how the character moves on the roofs or inside the fortresses of the Kansai region. It won’t get everywhere, but it will be easier to get into open areas, for example by forcing gates.
According to Ubisoft’s creators, the future of the series will be based on an even deeper connection between the character’s appearance and its physical capabilities. Lemay-Comtois suggests that each subsequent character we play – regardless of gender or size – will have a unique style of movement, adapted to its build. This means that the protagonist’s dimensions will no longer be just a visual matter, but will begin to actually define the way of exploring the world and sneaking, which will add the expected realism to the series.
Although we don’t yet know the details of the next installment after Shadows, it is clear that the foundations laid by Naoe and Yasuke will change the face of the series. Dynamic differences in the characters’ physicality are intended to become a powerful tool in the hands of players, allowing for a more diverse approach to eliminating targets and moving around the game world.
