Assassin’s Creed Shadows is out and, depending on who you ask, is good. Metacritic gives it an 81 based on 78 critical reviews, but the user score is about 5.9 based on 2,419 ratings. Steam users initially rated it “Mixed,” but that’s since risen to “Very Positive” with 81 percent of the roughly 9300 reviews giving it the thumbs-up. Between my failed attempts at a proper sleep schedule, I played a few hours and thus far enjoyed my experience, thanks in no small part to Immersive Mode.
Of course, no small amount of public opinion or peak concurrent player counts mean anything without solid sales numbers, right? Well, Shadows has seemingly performed pretty well there, crossing one million players in less than a day and two million shortly after. You’d immediately think, “Ah ha! ‘Players!’ Not ‘sales’!” However, it’s also confirmed that its launch has surpassed the likes of Assassin’s Creed Origins and Odyssey. By the way, the latter is the second-most successful title in the franchise behind Valhalla, and Shadows just beat it.
If you’re still not convinced that millions of players love it, then there’s this report by VGC, which cited sales data about how the day-one revenue is the second-highest in the series’ history. The PC version reportedly contributed to 27 percent of total “activations” (likely including Ubisoft+) with Steam serving a “significant role.”
Physically, at least in the UK, launch week sales are “well short” of Valhalla, but it’s already sold more in one week than Star Wars Outlaws did in three months, according to former GamesIndustry head Christopher Dring. If that wasn’t enough, it’s “comfortably ahead” of Monster Hunter Wilds and currently the biggest game launch in the UK this year. Which probably doesn’t mean much since it’s still March, but beating out a heavy hitter like the eight-million-selling Wilds? No easy task that.
The kicker? According to Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson (who’s very accurate with Assassin’s Creed news), Valhalla had 2.55 million players on day one. Shadows has reached 2.2 million in just two. Compare that to Odyssey, which had 430,000 on its first day and 3.4 million in its first month.
So for all intents and purposes, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a success. Is it a return to the form for the series, one that has changed gears significantly since Origins? Does anyone really care about the Animus platform (I don’t)? All of these are challenging questions to answer because, as the state of the games industry has revealed over the past two years or so, one success doesn’t mean everything is sunshine and rainbows for developers.
However, the bigger question is: Why do so many people like, even love, Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
I agree with many of the positive points of our review – that it’s a gorgeous game, even on an RTX 4060 with an 11th-generation Core-i5 on a mix of Medium and High settings. That it works outside of the proverbial box, barring all the shenanigans with Connect that some have been experiencing. That the world design, even with an open-world action RPG Assassin’s Creed’s tenets for cliched tropes, is some of the best in the series. The attention to detail is simply phenomenal, and the extensive improvements to AnvilNext make it feel more alive.
Naoe and Yasuke have been a blast to play. The former feeds into my desire for a new Tenchu game after all this time, even if it’s nowhere near as brutal or punishing. For the latter, I was endlessly concerned before launch that combat wouldn’t be as sharp as Ghost of Tsushima. And while it’s not as buttery smooth, the fact that it’s closer than not, nailing the feel of deflections, the impact of various slices, and the sheer power of kicking some fool across the field, breaking everything in his path. The executions for both are the bloody cherry on top, reinforcing the visceral nature of combat.
Maybe I’ve enjoyed Shadows because I’ve played out Ghost of Tsushima and wanted something similar yet inherently different. Granted, I’m mixed on some systems – base-building and calling in your allies to help out in some missions is fine as are the seasons, but I don’t care too much for the scouts. I also remain skeptical about the gear system, which hasn’t been a hindrance thus far, but time will tell.
But enough about my stupid opinion – what does the rest of the world think? You’ll find as many players and fans praising the title for its quality as you will those criticizing it for the same reasons as previous titles. You’ll find equal amounts of criticism and praise for the story-telling and voice-acting (though the common theme seems to be that Immersive Mode with Japanese voices is the way to go).
My favorite opinion is about how good or bad, controversy or not, most people buying video games don’t really care about that. They care about the brand, the Japanese setting, snackable open worlds that fit into their busy lives, pretty graphics, you get the idea. The hardcore’s opinion means nothing in the face of all this! And there’s plenty of truth in that as well, though I find it hard to believe that those millions of people are all newcomers who have no clue what they’re in for.
I would say that developer’s strategy worked, much more so than for Star Wars Outlaws, since that had to fight an uphill battle against franchise fatigue and disinterest. Maybe the Assassin’s Creed name is that much more potent, whether it’s a more traditional action-adventure like Mirage or another big open-world action RPG like the past several mainline entries.
The criticism of “trying to be something for everyone” has been levied, but this is probably one of the few times it worked. Ghost of Tsushima fans, Assassin’s Creed fans who want new mechanics and tools, Tenchu fans who craved a new stealth adventure in Feudal Japan, graphics hounds, open-world enthusiasts, loot grinders – Shadows caters to them in all pretty positive ways.
You can’t get everyone to like it, which rings true for all media. However, the development team has zeroed in on the aspects which it knows will resonate with audiences, polished them to incredible lengths, and ensured they’re fun. That’s an accomplishment in itself, but more importantly, it should be a message to the higher-ups to find the fun in its games instead of getting them out as soon as possible. I feel for those who hate the story or the same tropey systems or the so-called “bloat” they’re seemingly forced to engage with.
But just as there are things I don’t like about Shadows, there are ten other aspects that I enjoy. Call it overtly forgiving or killing time until Ghost of Yotei arrives, but everyone has their reason. And if they’re having fun, sometimes that’s enough.
