Assassin's Creed Shadows Breaks Tradition with Dual Lead Reveal

 

Assassin's Creed Shadows introduces a significant evolution for Ubisoft's legendary franchise, blending stealth and role-playing gameplay: For the first time, the initial reveal simultaneously showcased its dual leads.

In an unprecedented move for Ubisoft's celebrated series, Assassin's Creed Shadows breaks tradition by highlighting both lead characters during its introductory preview.

Unveiled last week, Assassin's Creed Shadows' promotional footage introduced the legendary Samurai Yasuke and the cunning Shinobi Naoe, making headlines. Stephen Totilo, reporting on Twitter, highlighted that introducing both key figures in the premiere trailer of Shadows represents a departure from Ubisoft's usual strategy of focusing on a single protagonist at a time in their promotional content for games featuring two central characters.

Consider the reveal of Assassin's Creed Valhalla in 2020, for instance. The cinematic preview primarily featured only the male Eivor, even though the game allows players to choose between male and female character versions. Notably, the female Eivor would eventually receive her spotlight, but not immediately, an aspect Totilo underscored.

The pattern was similar to Assassin's Creed Odyssey in 2018, where players would choose their protagonist at the game's start. The premiere trailer introduced only the male protagonist, Alexios, entirely omitting his female counterpart, Kassandra, akin to the situation with Valhalla.

Furthermore, the reveal trailer for Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which feels like it was released an eternity ago in 2015, followed the same formula by focusing on Jacob and ignoring his co-lead, Evie. Notably, Evie is widely regarded as the more engaging character compared to her brother, making her exclusion particularly egregious.

Interestingly, in Shadows, players will navigate the story through Yasuke and Naoe, similar to how Origins and Syndicate alternated between their pairs of protagonists. This introduction of both leads in the initial trailer of Assassin's Creed Shadows signifies a refreshing change, placing equal emphasis on both characters from the outset.

Who are we following in Assassin's Creed Shadows? The captivating tale of Yasuke, history's first African Samurai, is unraveled.