Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Parkour Goes Hand in Hand with its Premise

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For more than ten years, enthusiasts have been eagerly anticipating an Assassin‘s Creed game set in Feudal Japan. Now, their wait appears to be almost over, with Assassin’s Creed Shadows scheduled for release within a month. From the promotional materials before its launch, it seems that Ubisoft is fully utilizing the long-desired setting for this game.

For the first time since “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” in 2015, “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” will feature two main characters: Naoe and Yasuke. Unlike Yasuke who relies on brute force and heavy weaponry to tackle challenges, Naoe employs stealth and a variety of Assassin tools. She is also equipped with an array of parkour abilities that aid her in reaching her highly secured targets. Notably, Naoe boasts several new parkour mechanics that underscore her shinobi background.

How Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ New Parkour Mechanics Reinforce Naoe’s Character

Naoe Will Truly Feel Like a “Parkour Master”

In contrast to all previous characters in Assassin’s Creed, Naoe from Assassin’s Creed Shadows stands out as exceptionally agile. Ubisoft refers to him as a genuine master of parkour in a recent blog post, and this expertise is apparent through the game’s innovative parkour skills, several of which are unique to Naoe.

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the ‘parkour down’ feature is back and more user-friendly than ever! All you need to do is press the dodge button (now set as “B/Circle” on controllers), and your character will swiftly descend a building. However, if they’re not at a lethal height, a combined tap of the dodge button along with a directional command will result in a graceful front-flip, ensuring a safe landing on the ground.

As per Ubisoft’s latest blog update, the character Naoe stands out as the swiftest Assassin yet, able to run faster than any previous protagonist. Notably, she possesses a unique Sprint Dodge skill. In full sprint, players can press the dodge key to execute a forward roll, dodging incoming ranged attacks and effortlessly clearing waist-high barriers that Naoe encounters. Furthermore, while sprinting, Naoe automatically performs Passover moves, enabling her to gracefully leap over obstacles even outside of combat.

Naoe gains the use of a physics-based grappling tool too, empowering players to traverse from anchor points or cling onto ledges that seem out of reach. Unlike any previous Assassin, Naoe boasts an exceptional parkour skillset, and her graceful and precise acrobatic movements underscore her profound control over the surroundings.

Yasuke can still perform parkour moves, however, his speed is reduced and he lacks some of Naoe’s special skills like the Sprint Dodge mechanism.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Is Merging Naoe’s Stealth and Parkour Mechanics

However, proficiency in parkour is just one aspect for a clever shinobi like Naoe; he possesses additional stealth skills, several of which integrate effortlessly with the protagonist’s parkour techniques.

In the world of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, scaling buildings is usually my go-to method for reaching objectives, but it’s turned into a more perilous mission this time around. Now, performing parkour moves makes noise that could potentially draw enemies towards me. Landing from a rooftop with a thud can also generate sound. Fortunately, there are ways to keep the ruckus down. I can stay low by crouching or lying prone on rooftops, and pressing the dodge button as I land after a jump triggers an Igan Recovery Roll, which helps me silently navigate the city streets.

The ability to adjust the volume of sounds that Naoe produces during parkour, found in “Assassin’s Creed Shadows”, significantly enhances the game by encouraging players to think tactically like a silent assassin. This unique feature distinguishes Naoe from previous series protagonists.

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2025-01-09 00:03