Hello! Join us today ahead of Assassin's Creed Shadows' midnight launch as we answer your questions about this enormous - and very good - new entry in Ubisoft's blockbuster series, now its review embargo has lifted and we're able to chat more about it.

We'll also be highlighting other news and pieces of coverage from around the site, plus some helpful hints to get you started with Assassin's Creed Shadows as smoothly as possible. (And of course, we'll be avoiding story spoilers.)

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows review
  • Assassin's Creed Shadows tips, tricks and guides
  • Digital Foundry: Assassin's Creed Shadows impresses on PS5 and Series X
  • Digital Foundry: Assassin's Creed Shadows has one of the best PS5 Pro upgrades we've seen
  • Assassin's Creed Shadows' Animus hub is threadbare at launch, but that's fine
Assassin's Creed Shadows Review Eurogamer's Assassin's Creed Shadows review, in video form.Watch on YouTube

Our live coverage of this event has finished.

Key points
  • 17:48 pm March 19 2025 And that's a wrap!
  • 16:59 pm March 19 2025 Underwater exploration?
  • 16:35 pm March 19 2025 How does combat compare?
  • 15:15 pm March 19 2025 Yes, you can play before midnight
  • 14:53 pm March 19 2025 How satisfactory is the ending?
  • 12:56 pm March 19 2025 Are there mythological elements?
  • 12:30 pm March 19 2025 Microtransactions and gear
  • 11:39 am March 19 2025 Random encounters and transmog
  • 11:30 am March 19 2025 Level gating and grinding
  • 10:43 am March 19 2025 There are no snakes
  • 10:12 am March 19 2025 How long is the game?
  • 10:01 am March 19 2025 Assassin's Creed Shadows launches today
10:01 am UTC

Assassin's Creed Shadows launches today

After years of wait and several delays, Assassin's Creed Shadows launches tonight - at midnight UK time on consoles, if you're planning to wait up. Join us as we answer your questions about the game throughout the day.

– Tom Phillips

10:08 am UTC

StingingVelvet says: I'm only really interested in stealth. Just how often will I be forced to go all out action with the samurai guy?

As a long-term Assassin's Creed fan, stealth is my go-to as well. As a percentage of the game's full run-time, it's not often Shadows forces you to play as one character over another - and as Yasuke much less than Naoe, who gets the game's lengthy prologue pretty much to herself.

– Tom Phillips

10:12 am UTC

How long is the game?

themightyant says: - New Eurogamer feature? - How long did it take you to finish the game? and did you do much of the side quests? - Did you find side quests and exploration worthwhile?

New Eurogamer feature/old Assassin's Creed fan - hello :)

It took me 55 hours to hit the credits, completing the main story, all companion sidequests and the epilogue quests for both Naoe and Yasuke. That's the real meat of it all, though of course completionists have more to do. (Hello again.)

Exploration is a big part of the fun of the game. I found it far more rewarding, not least because Shadows' world is so visually stunning. Anything to do with Naoe/Yasuke's personal stories are great and very worth doing. Companion characters are a mixed bag, and not essential.

– Tom Phillips

10:17 am UTC

Rogueywon says: Do we know what PC performance is like yet? I saw the Nvidia game ready driver for it drop last night. I also note this is, I think, the first PC game where the 4090 has appeared anywhere on the recommended specs sheet (I think Indy had the 4080 on its).

I spent some of my review time playing via GeForce Now, but wouldn't want to base any firm technical opinions on that (I had no complaints, though!). Digital Foundry has a detailed look at Shadows' PC performance coming.

– Tom Phillips

10:39 am UTC

Gordon Hawking says: Is there an option to keep your helmet on even in cutscenes or is it like previous AC games?

You can turn your helmet on/off for regular gameplay, and some dialogue plays out without switching to an in-game cutscene. When it does switch to an in-game cutscene, it's helmets off all round.

– Tom Phillips

10:43 am UTC

There are no snakes

Mark says: Are there any legless reptiles in the game? AC:Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla all had me less-than-enthusiastic about playing those games due to a particular animal.

I'm guessing you mean snakes! (Could be slow worms.) I can confirm Shadows' total snake count is: zero.

For my fellow vegetarians, one small thing I liked about Shadows is it never forces you to hunt/kill animals. The game's world is teeming with life - but it's there to be observed and painted!

– Tom Phillips

11:04 am UTC

Sheikah says: As a long time AC fan myself, where does this game rank for you? For me, AC Brotherhood is still the best in the series with AC2 and Black Flag not far behind. I'd probably put Odyssey after that.

My favourite question so far :) Here's my personal top five - Shadows ranks very highly.

  • AC Odyssey
  • AC2
  • AC Shadows
  • AC Brotherhood
  • AC Black Flag

– Tom Phillips

11:24 am UTC

mcmahonman says: Any word of a day one patch? Amazon delivered my copy yesterday but I only managed to get an hour into it. It looks absolutely stunning so far but I'm sure there will be patches to sort somethings out.

My understanding is there will be a launch update to fix some minor bugs (ones I haven't really seen - it's already very smooth). Currently the game is on version 1.0.0 for me.

– Tom Phillips

11:30 am UTC

Level gating and grinding

Raziel says: How level-gated is the main game? Did you find yourself having to do side-quests (or grind even) to reach that level or does it pace well with the story?

Several folk asked about this yesterday too - thanks for your questions November02, eze2g and MrZappa.

After the game's prologue, the map opens out and you can travel anywhere. Enemies have a base difficulty in each region which then syncs with yours as you level up, so you're never going anywhere that's a cakewalk. You can generally tackle areas and equip gear about five levels higher than yours.

There's definitely a structure to the game - you'll discover/be encouraged to go after some of the main targets before others. But there's not a strict order within that, and I never found myself having to grind in order to move on, or because I was unable to do anything else before being a higher level.

– Tom Phillips

11:32 am UTC

Lurker86 says: Are there any enemies who you can't stealth kill because their level is too high? That was a big turn off in Odyssey for me.

By default yes, but there's setting you can turn on in the game's options if you'd prefer insta-kills from the start (and you also unlock this naturally late game).

– Tom Phillips

11:39 am UTC

Random encounters and transmog

Good Ol' Auto says: This is a bit silly of a question, but are there random events as you explore? How interactable is the settlement you're given? And most importantly, how is the fashion game? Is transmog as good as it was in Odyssey, or is it more like Valhalla's restrictive take on it? And do we get similar customization to the latter in the game letting us change Naoe's and Yasuke's hairstyles?

Good questions all! Yes, there are often random events by the side of the road - people with small stories to share, problems to quickly solve, or bandits lying in wait. You're rewarded for interacting with these by gaining intel on a nearby activity/merchant/treasure you're yet to find, or with an extra scout to send out that season. Useful!

The settlement is fairly interactive. Every time I go back, several people want to say hello - and this definitely helps flesh out your companion characters, who otherwise only get a couple of missions of screentime. I'd encourage going back as often as you can of your own accord - the game does not force you back there after every story arc like Valhalla.

Transmog is the Odyssey system. It's a lot of fun, and lets you junk your old gear fast. There's some great armour options, but no hairstyles/beard styles... yet.

– Tom Phillips

11:42 am UTC

Lurker86 says: Hold up - are yous saying that there's no enforced animal killing in the game at all? That would be incredible, the whaling in Black Flag made me nauseous.

In 60 hours, I have not killed a single animal in Shadows and never been asked to do so.

(I'd forgotten about Black Flag's whaling - yes, very different vibes here.)

– Tom Phillips

12:18 pm UTC

UsefulIdiot says: Launch day liveblog? For an Assassin‘s Creed game? Honest question with no offense or intended, but is this sponsored by Ubisoft?

I was waiting for this one! No, I just thought it'd be useful and fun.

– Tom Phillips

12:20 pm UTC

H1ppyDave says: Also - this, Rise of the Ronin, Ghost of Tsushima, Like a Dragon Ishin!, Nioh, Sekiro - how does this stack in a recent wealth of games set in Feudal Japan? How does it stand out?

I was waiting for this question too - and I'm sorry I haven't played more of that list to make a proper judgement! Comparing it to how other Assassin's Creed games have treated their own time periods/source material, this is probably the most grounded/sensible take yet, while never seeming dry. And I think it's more of a looker than Tsushima.

– Tom Phillips

12:30 pm UTC

Microtransactions and gear

Czekolada says: What about microtransactions? Given how valhalla had more paid equipment sets in their in-game store than you could get within base game itself (+expacs!) I expect shadows to be as bad in this regard. Especially now,that the gear seems to have it's own stats instead of just perks (which was asinine for ubisoft to do in valhalla anyway)

There are four armour sets in the premium shop at launch - none of which are tempting to me in any way, cosmetically or for their perks. (I have bought the occaisonal thing in an Assassin's Creed game before, but typically just mounts.) It is very ignorable.

Valhalla definitely had a gear problem. Getting rid of being able to dismantle gear meant that game scaled the amount of gear too far back. Shadows uses the Odyssey system, where you're swapping better gear pretty regularly then dismantling older stuff for resources, which you can put towards upgrading the Legendary gear sets you keep and upgrade. And as mentioned below, transmog works like Odyssey too.

– Tom Phillips

12:53 pm UTC

Boooo_urns says: Was this game developed by Ubisoft Montreal? I ask because those guys developed Odyssey and we got the fantastic story creator for that game. Not sure if you guys would know, but any indication of the story creator making a return?

This is Ubisoft Quebec, which previously led development on Syndicate and Odyssey. (Montreal, for reference, led Origins and Valhalla.) No sign of the story creator coming back yet, but it is early days, and that was a very late addition to Odyssey.

– Tom Phillips

12:56 pm UTC

Are there mythological elements?

Ares42 says: Are there mythical sequences like the Valhalla stuff in Valhalla and the Minotaur and Medusa in Odyssey in Shadows ?

Shadows' version of Japan is comparatively grounded, and also - as mentioned below - does not have you fighting creatures. None of its story threads focus on mythological elements.

More as Easter eggs, there are a couple of mythical animals you can spot and paint pictures of.

– Tom Phillips

13:01 pm UTC

Used_Fuzzbox says: Similar question to others, does it ever lean into any mythology or supernatural stuff, like some other entries? Will we be fighting any Oni for instance?

Oni are certainly referenced, but they're treated more as folklore - or people exploiting fears/superstitions for nefarious means.

– Tom Phillips

13:06 pm UTC

Good Ol' Auto says: This is also regarding cosmetics, but it's more curiosity about the purely aesthetic more than anything important: how "restricted" are the looks of the characters so far when it comes to the gear they can get? Does Naoe get something more armored-looking or is she limited to ninja-like attire? Same for Yasuke (but not as much, because he's already quite armored up and it's mostly having the characters clad in armor that I'm curious/hopeful about. Having Naoe in some Tomoe Gozen-like attire would be cool, even if not necessarily a gamebreaker).

I don't recall any big armour for Naoe - it doesn't reflect her movement or her nimbleness in battle. Her gear is mostly shinobi-themed, with some battle-ready kosodes, as well as some cool Assassin robes. Headgear includes hoods and headbands. I discovered a great Noh mask the other night, but it's a bit creepy for general wear.

Yasuke has some slightly-less chunky gear - there's a Japanese pirate set for him - but he's supposed to be dressed like a tank. All of that said, you can hide all their gear and have both of them fighting in their undies if you'd prefer.

– Tom Phillips

14:42 pm UTC

Lalaland says: Just to expand on Lurker86 question about insta-kills, you mentioned this is a setting or late game upgrade. In the OG AC series there were specific large NPCs who shrugged off stealth kills until late game upgrades, is this the system in Shadows or is it that any enemy is invulnerable to insta kills unless you are within n levels of them until you get the late game upgrade?

You can tell if you'll get an insta-kill or if you're going to take off health and go into combat instead - the prompt to assassinate glows gold and shows you how much of their health bar you'll take off. Alternatively, it will show red if an enemy is facing you - without a perk in your skill tree, you can't saunter up and assassinate from the front.

Nine times out of ten, it's pretty obvious if you'll get the insta-kill or not. More granually, instant assassination depends on your level, your enemy's level, whether they are heavy enemy or regular, and how much you've upgraded Naoe's assassination skill tree. Or you can override it with that option in your settings menu.

– Tom Phillips

14:44 pm UTC

If you're yet to check it out, here are Eurogamer's 19 tips we wish we'd known before we started Assassin's Creed Shadows - my favourite being that you should pet animals in the open world to unlock them as pets. By the end of the game, you can acquire a huge menagerie.

– Tom Phillips

14:53 pm UTC

How satisfactory is the ending?

HelloNo says: How satisfactory is the ending? Don't want any spoilers, of course. But Valhalla ended on a bit of a damp squib.

Shadows has a few endings - it felt a bit like Return of the King at times. I was satisfied with where Naoe and Yasuke's own individual stories ended up - you get some rather overdue answers to questions that I'd had since the beginning of the game. (It also doesn't take as long to get to these as it does to see Eivor's chat with King Alfred.)

You also do get a tease for what both characters will do next, which I suspect we may see in a future expansion.

Overall, it probably benefits from being a more straightforward story than Valhalla, focused more on the personal background of the two leads - rather than any wider mythological/Isu/modern day shenanigans.

– Tom Phillips

14:56 pm UTC

xXlive4eatingXx says: Does Shadows continue the present day storyline started at the end of Valhalla?

It does not. This is a clean break from what's come before.

If you finished Valhalla and have questions about what Loki did next, you are not alone, but you will not find out here. It's possible this will be something touched on in future Animus Hub text logs, I suppose.

– Tom Phillips

15:02 pm UTC

Paul Whelan says: Given how positive your review is , are you surprised how polarizing the game reviews across the board are. I have seen everything from "same old sh*t" to "best AC in years" and everything in between

I'm not surprised people have strong opinions about the game - regardless of whether they've played it yet or not. Assassin's Creed is a very high-profile series that attracts a lot of attention, and Shadows more than most.

The overall review score consensus feels right to me, and about what I'd expected.

– Tom Phillips

15:11 pm UTC

ScoobyHugh says: Did you have a chance to try out the 'Immersive Mode' with Japanese and Portuguese VO? I'm wondering how that compares to the English VO. Thanks!

If you want to make a Shogun-esque game even more Shogun-esque, it's a great option. I'm aware that the Japanese version has a lot of well-known/talented VO artists too.

I've seen a slightly more mixed response to the English VO, but I spent the large majority of the game with them and found them absolutely fine (I don't mind subtitles, but I was playing the game until 4am most nights and hearing English was just easier).

– Tom Phillips

15:15 pm UTC

Yes, you can play before midnight

Alistair says: Isn't the PC Ubiconect release time 10pm in the UK? Consoles are midnight.

This is a good time to flag Eurogamer's Assassin's Creed Shadows global launch time guide, which lists out all of the consoles/PC store release times.

Yes, you can play earlier on Ubisoft Connect - several hours earlier than Steam. Xbox consoles in the New Zealand region can also join earlier - do with this information what you will.

– Tom Phillips

16:27 pm UTC

matomatic says: What difficulty setting do you recommend playing on? Any other tweaks to the default options you think are worthwhile?

I played default difficulty and got along fine. Naoe isn't the strongest in combat, but that's the point - you really are best keeping to the Shadows.

– Tom Phillips

16:31 pm UTC

Christopher Miller says: While this is a clean break away from past modern-day story threads, does it have a modern day component at all? Did you you find it engaging, if so?

Via the Animus Hub, you get near-future text logs on a mission that begins in Marrakech - though it's unclear if/how this storyline relates to Shadows. These logs are essentially time-gated, so it'll be a little while before we know more.

In-game, Shadows begins with an introduction video to your new Animus software that you see being hacked to show the 'true' version of history where the Assassins were around. Who/what hacked your Animus is a thing that eventually gets revealed and... I honestly have no idea where that is headed. It's pretty brief, and I wouldn't say particularly engaging.

– Tom Phillips

16:34 pm UTC

Asylum Demon says: How do the filler quests feel? I got sick to death of them in Valhalla, but it felt like the best way to level up enough to finish the story :(

If you mean like the contracts you can take on for extra XP/resources, they're still present - the "go here, kill X" stuff. If you mean the actual side-missions for your companion characters, those are fine.

More importantly, I never felt my progress through the main storyline was gated behind having to grind stuff I didn't want to be doing.

– Tom Phillips

16:35 pm UTC

How does combat compare?

Mo A. says: How do you like the combat compared to Odyssey?

Thanks to Daigohji for their question on combat also. While it's less flashy than Odyssey's powers, this is definitely the best Assassin's Creed combat has ever felt. Its grounded, tactical, bloody. You need to pay attention most of the time. And you can still boot people off of cliffs.

– Tom Phillips

16:38 pm UTC

xXlive4eatingXx says: Thanks for the answer regarding the present day story Tom! Bit of a bummer that it’s not continued in Shadows. But, that's kind of a AC tradition by now. The modern day Syndicate ending was also extremely weird and exciting but got sidelined in Origins. It was later resolved in a comic, but that didn’t feel right. Hopefully, we get some kind of continuation in the future because the modern day events at the end of Valhalla could be the start of a very cool story.

If you're a fan of the modern day story, I'd recommend checking out the interview I did with Assassin's Creed boss Marc-Alexis Coté back in 2023, where we discuss plans for the Animus Hub going forwards. While the Hub is threadbare for now, as expected, I was encouraged by Coté acknowledging his team needed to be better custodians of the lore to avoid things such as what you reference - Juno being this big antagonist, then disappearing.

– Tom Phillips

16:40 pm UTC

HelderCH says: Can you sprint and jump whenever you want to, or is it like Odyssey?

You can sprint (R3) whenever you want to. You can also roll (B) or dive and roll (B while sprinting).

– Tom Phillips

16:46 pm UTC

Phishfood says: How are the busy work quests compared to previous games? It has always been a sore point for me that I couldn't just explore the map and find things to do. Often I would have to fast travel to a hub, pick up a quest, go back to that interesting location I found before and now there's something to do. The constant fast travelling and map inspection has always felt at odds with an open world game.

Exploration has gotten a big upgrade, and you'll find a lot to do just by travelling round Japan. The game's targets all exist in the open world, and you'll often stumble across people who were targets who maybe you hadn't expected to meet yet. This then offers a different way into that quest, with clues on how to progress further, than perhaps if you'd met them conventionally.

You'll still spend a bit of time looking at your map screen, if only to send out scouts to pin down your next objective, but what you have open to explore next is organised far better via your expansive target/mission board.

– Tom Phillips

16:59 pm UTC

Underwater exploration?

Good Ol' Auto says: I just remembered something that was big in Odyssey but didn't really make a return in Valhalla: is there underwater diving? Seeing how Japan is not just a big island, but the ocean has always been a big part of the nation's culture and economy (compared to, say, Valhalla's Norway and England), it'd make sense - and it'd be neat - if you could explore the underwater areas of the map.

You can certainly swim underwater - and Naoe has a fun perk where you can breathe through a hollow reed - but sub-marine locations are not a huge focus. There are a couple of fun missions aboard large galleons, though, and you'll need to swim or pinch a rowboat to get out to these.

– Tom Phillips

17:48 pm UTC

And that's a wrap!

We're wrapping up our Assassin's Creed launch day liveblog for today, thank you to all who joined and submitted questions!

There's plenty more on Assassin's Creed Shadows to come this week, and as a reminder, you can find out when your copy of the game unlocks on each platform via our Assassin's Creed Shadows release times guide.

– Tom Phillips

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