Assassin's Creed Shadows' samurai and shinobi combat, weapons, and enemy variety detailed

Assassins Creed Shadows

Last month, Ubisoft gave a deep dive on how Assassin's Creed Shadows aims to shake up the stealth elements that have been established in the franchise. Today, the studio dove into the combat side of things instead, offering looks at the style differences and similarities that the two protagonists offer, enemy types, different weapons, and more.

Both Naoe and Yasuke have light and heavy attacks, which are pretty self-explanatory, as well as posture attacks. That last one requires players to hold down on the input to essentially charge up the light or heavy attack to do much more damage in exchange for leaving yourself open. On the defense side, the duo can dodge, parry, and block attacks.

Of course, special attack skills can be unlocked by both characters too, which can be attack combos, special attacks that deal extra damage or takes down multiple enemies, and weapon-based offensive abilities. "Active abilities are by far the most powerful skills to acquire" says game director Charles. "They look cool, they hit hard, and they all offer additional opportunities like gap-closing, armor-breaking - even health regeneration."

The two protagonists split apart when it comes to their fighting strategy though. Naoe's shinobi training lets her take on individual or small groups of enemies effectively, even in head to head combat, but suffers in long brawls. However, Yasuke's Samurai background lets him keep taking on enemies without much issue, even gaining bonuses for long-form combos.

"Yasuke has a few unique samurai tricks up his sleeves," adds Charles. "One of them is the Sheathed Posture Attack, where he will charge-up an opening attack while his katana is still in its sheathe. On top of looking quite iconic, most enemies won't see that one coming if timed correctly."

As for weapons, Naoe can wield the Assassin's Hidden Blade, a Katana, as well as the ball-and-chain weapon the Kusarigama. Meanwhile, Yasuke has the Long Katana, as well as the Naginata and Kanabo heavy weapons. He can also use a Yumi Bow or Teppo Rifle for powerful long-ranged attacks.

The studio also detailed what sort of enemies will our duo take on during the storyline. This can range from the general goons and conscripts with light training to different levels of Samurai (Daisho or Guardians) that can utilize unique fighting styles to surprise players. Like in previous Assassin's Creed games, enemy weapons have distinct glows when using flurry or unstoppable attacks, letting players block or evade depending on their skill level or unlocked abilities.

Enemy fighting styles will also depend on if they have backup around them or not. "Generally, the more enemies are involved in a fight, the less defensive actions each of them will perform, confident that their numbers will be enough to overwhelm you," says the game director. "But in a one-on-one duel against a highly skilled warrior, defensive actions will be numerous and nearly constant, pushing you to diversify your attacks and utilize every move you learnt along the way."