Assassin's Creed Shadows' Dual Protagonists Offer The Perfect Way To Merge Both Eras Of The Franchise

Summary Two new protagonists in Assassin's Creed Shadows offer differing combat styles: one stealth-focused, the other combat-heavy.

The trailer hints at gameplay alternating between traditional Assassin's Creed stealth with RPG combat elements.

The ackgrounds of Yasuke and Naoe influence their approach to combat, blending samurai and shinobi tactics into one story.

Assassin's Creed Shadows' cinematic trailer has been revealed, introducing its two new protagonists, Yasuke and Naoe, and some of their story in Japan during the late Sengoku period. While the dual protagonist dynamic had previously been heavily rumored, the trailer and a subsequent character breakdown gave some insight into how each character will approach certain situations, and it's possible that the title could have found the perfect way to merge the gameplay of both main eras of the franchise as a result.

Originally when the Assassin's Creed series launched in 2007, it was more stealth-focused, with players blending into crowds or traversing across rooftops with parkour to get the drop on their targets. Over the course of the following games this evolved somewhat, with more gadgets and other features to add more variety to the stealth gameplay, but by the time the series got to 2015's Assassin's Creed Syndicate there had been complaints that the series had become stale, in part due to annual releases. Therefore, Ubisoft changed things up with Assassin's Creed Origins, introducing more RPG elements and a stronger focus on combat, but as this continued with Odyssey and Valhalla, fans began to complain that the series was moving too far from its roots.

Related Assassin's Creed Shadows Trailer Reveals New Protagonists & Japan Setting Assassin's Creed Shadows' cinematic trailer revealed its two new protagonists, Yasuke and Naoe, and some of their story in Feudal Japan.

Shadows Could Offer Both Types Of Assassin's Creed Gameplay

One Character Is Stealth-Focused, While The Other Is Better At Combat

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While Assassin's Creed Shadows' trailer was cinematic and featured no gameplay, it did establish very quickly how Yasuke and Naoe's combat styles would differ in contrast to the last time the series had dual protagonists in Assassin's Creed Syndicate, where the combat styles varied slightly but not substantially. Early on in the trailer, Naoe got defeated incredibly quickly trying to take on armored foes head-on in a bid to protect her home, suggesting that the approaches seen in the later RPG-era Assassin's Creed titles wouldn't be suited to her, whereas the heavily armored Yasuke is shown taking on multiple foes at once in this more direct approach.

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Naoe's abilities clearly seem to lie in the more traditional Assassin's Creed titles' stealth, with her wearing attire closer to those original titles, such as the hood and hidden blade later in the trailer. She also can be seen infiltrating a fortress using throwing objects such as Shuriken and traversal methods such as a grappling hook that were featured in Assassin's Creed Revelations - where it was combined with the hidden blade - and Assassin's Creed Syndicate, both of which used the more traditional kind of stealth gameplay.

Related All The Assassin's Creed Games, Ranked Worst To Best The Assassin’s Creed series currently has 20 games including spin-offs and handheld releases - here’s how they all stack up compared to one another.

A Follow-Up Video Briefly Covered The Protagonists' Combat Styles

And Explored Their Differing Backgrounds

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A follow-up video from Ubisoft did explain more about who Yasuke and Naoe were, and how their distinct backgrounds play a part in their story and their approach to combat, with game director Charles Benoir, stating that "samurai will be combat-heavy and the shinobi will be stealth-heavy", matching the two types of tactics from these real factions. Naoe comes from the province of Iga, the birthplace of the Shinobi, where she has been trained in their techniques, explaining how she is so adept at stealth having been trained by her father Fujibayashi Nagato, a historical Shinobi figure, since she was a child.

Meanwhile, Yasuke, who is the series' first playable character based on a real historical figure, is someone new to the land, having arrived in Japan in 1579 - the year in which Assassin's Creed Shadows' story begins - before developing a relationship with the powerful warlord Oda Nobunaga. During this time with Nobunaga, Yasuke was invited to join his army and rose to the rank of samurai, becoming part of Nobunaga's inner circle, and this seems to be where he developed the more combat-heavy samurai skillset shown in the trailer that will contrast Naoe's stealth.

With there now being two clear types of Assassin's Creed fans: those who prefer the original stealth gameplay and those who prefer the RPG-type combat, Assassin's Creed Shadows could find a way to appease both as it alternates between the different tactics. If this is the last of the RPG-type games - as has been heavily rumored - then this could also be a good way to transition back to the franchise's original gameplay after experimenting with it again in last year's Assassin's Creed Mirage.

Sources: Ubisoft/YouTube (1, 2)