Don’t Take the Skyrim Approach in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

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In the Assassin’s Creed series, spanning from Assassin’s Creed 1 to Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the way characters navigate their game worlds has always been a key feature. While classic moves like wall climbing and rooftop parkour have stayed mostly consistent throughout the franchise’s nearly 18-year history, each game has brought unique changes to traversal. For instance, Assassin’s Creed 2 allowed players to swim, Assassin’s Creed Revelations introduced the hook blade and parachutes, and Assassin’s Creed 3 added ship sailing, among other alterations. Interestingly, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has made one aspect of traversal a bit more challenging compared to recent Assassin’s Creed games: climbing steep slopes, similar to those found in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Tricky Landscape Explained

Since “Assassin’s Creed Origins” introduced an expansive open-world design in the series, travel within each game has generally been quite unrestricted. From the start of “Origins” and “Odyssey”, players found themselves able to roam extensively across Egypt and Greece on camel or horseback, with few obstacles akin to those in “Skyrim”. When faced with cliffsides or structures, Bayek, Alexios, and Kassandra could effortlessly scale any surfaces. Evior and Basim had slightly restricted travel abilities until they completed the prologues of “Valhalla” and “Mirage”, but even so, they were still able to climb most surfaces. However, the leads in “Shadows” do not share this freedom; their climbing capabilities are more limited.

Unlike the Hidden Ones they follow, Fujibayashi Naoe and Yasuke struggle to navigate various surfaces with ease. For instance, Naoe finds it challenging to ascend traditional Japanese castles and towers without handholds or assistance from her grappling hook. Meanwhile, Yasuke navigates precariously along walls, moves slowly across rooftops, and cannot even reach high ledges that agile Naoe could leap to. In essence, their movement skills are refined but constrained, much like the older protagonists in the Assassin’s Creed series, such as Ezio Auditore from the 16th century. These main characters in Shadows also face challenges when navigating thick Japanese forests and mountains.

How to Maneuver Assassin’s Creed Forests and Mountains

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, once players take on the role of Naoe and embark on exploring central Japan, they’ll find themselves navigating through a vast, sprawling landscape. The goal is to discover every viewpoint across the region. However, traversing the forests, mountains, and other natural obstacles can be challenging. Dense foliage like trees, bushes, and bamboo might hinder swift horseback travel. Additionally, steep hills and mountains are flanked by slippery slopes that cause Naoe and Yasuke to tumble immediately, necessitating a safe path to ascend the peaks. While players may try to exploit glitches or follow mountain rivers, these methods often fail compared to the tricky horseback climbing found in Skyrim.

Should players find themselves struggling to locate a particular spot within “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate”, they can activate the pathfinder function, which will trace an illuminated line indicating the optimal route to that specific destination.

Potential Traversal Roadblocks in Assassin’s Creed: Codename Hexe

The realm in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is constructed for gamers to adhere to certain routes, while still allowing them to shape their own experience as Naoe and Yasuke. The modifications made to how the protagonists navigate this world might be seen as a means to emphasize realism or showcase significant landmarks of the Sengoku period in Japan. It’s possible that Ubisoft Quebec designed the landscapes in Shadows this way to prevent players from accessing higher-level areas prematurely or to encourage them to uncover new regions as Naoe and Yasuke advance their main storyline. Although the true reasons for these changes in movement may vary, these alterations could provide insights into how players might navigate the world of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Codename Hexe.

At the 2022 Ubisoft Forward event, alongside Assassin’s Creed Shadows, a game then known as Assassin’s Creed: Codename Red and later as Assassin’s Creed: Codename Hexe, was unveiled. This is the upcoming main installment in the series being developed by Ubisoft Montreal. Details about Codename Hexe are scarce, but Bloomberg News has reported that it will likely be set during witch trials in the Holy Roman Empire. The release date might have been affected due to delays with Shadows, but it’s speculated that the gameplay structure may resemble Shadows, much like how Odyssey shared elements with Origins. The protagonist of Hexe could face challenges similar to those encountered by Naoe and Yasuke in traversing the natural environment of the Holy Roman Empire.

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2025-03-30 16:04