After stealth, combat, and movement, Ubisoft outlined another essential aspect of Assassin’s Creed Shadows in a new blog post: Exploration. Game director Charles Benoit confirmed that the world map would only contain the names of regions and sketches hinting at locations. As you explore, more details and undiscovered points of interest will be revealed, not unlike Ghost of Tsushima.
The overall goal is to encourage more organic exploration. “We didn’t want to hold the player’s hand too much with icons and markers. We wanted to craft an open world where information was key and would become a form of reward. This made sense in the context of playing a shinobi and fighting for information,” said Benoit.
“In Shadows, information is something you need to look for and earn, whether through your spies, NPC encounters, or your own eyes. In short, we want players to discover all our cool secrets on their own terms through investigation, their spy network, or by observing the world.”
This manifests via Viewpoints, a new name for synchronization points. Rather than a large portion of the map, they now highlight points of interest nearby. With Observe, players will hover over said points and tag them accordingly (with familiar locations seeing their names appear). There’s no eagle companion like in previous action RPG entries – instead, you must physically move about and Observe things yourself.
Viewpoints allow for fast travel, though you need to be mindful – some places, like tenshu, could be right dab smack in the middle of enemies. Of course, Naoe and Yasuke have different methods to access each Viewpoint (the former has it easier, thanks to her mobility).
There are also kakurega or safehouses, which are “small extensions” of your shinobi Hideout where you can access the gear stash, view and accept contracts, refill tools and ammo, manage summoned allies, and more. No enemies appear, making them a safer option when fast traveling.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows launches on March 20th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC after facing another delay. Stay tuned for more details on the exploration shortly.
