It seems the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to push the boundaries of Open World Gameplay in unexpected ways that are not just new to the long running franchise but also to Videogames on a much wider scale. In a recently released Gameplay Overview, Ubisoft has unveiled several gameplay mechanics’ related to the Open World exploration which is going to be a key feature of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and all of it sound uniquely fascinating and do have the potential to be groundbreaking in a lot of ways.
For example, Charles Benoit, the director of Assassin’s Creed Shadows has revealed that the game will adapt a different approach related to it’s Open World exploration than what we’ve come to see from most games and will offer significantly less hand holding mechanisms, which encourages players to actually set out to explore and discover new areas and locations in the game World, ensuing a far more satisfying and immersive experience.
“We didn’t want to hold the player’s hand too much with icons and markers. We wanted to craft an open world where information was key and would become a form of reward. This made sense in the context of playing a shinobi and fighting for information. In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, information is something you need to look for and earn, whether through your spies, NPC encounters, or through your own eyes. In short, we want players to discover all our cool secrets on their own terms through investigation, their spy network, or by observing the world. When exploring the world, you should look out for undiscovered locations (i.e. “?” icons), because there are so many interesting places to seek out, whether in a destroyed camp or a hidden shrine, we want you to always feel a sense of discovery.“
There will also be Scouts, Viewpoints and a new Pathfinder feature which will offer new and exciting ways of explorations in Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ gorgeous Open World. The game will also have the traditional fast travel points as well, though with some modifications this time around.
Overall, the Open World gameplay in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is definitely looking to utilize the game’s colorful and vibrant World in ways that make for a far more organic and engaging experience. Also, the visual detail of the World deserves praise as well cause it’s definitely refreshing to see a game World that’s imbued with a real sense of beauty and artistry, more than just visual realism.
Also both Yasuke and Naoe, the two protagonists in the upcoming game, will have character-specific side activities that they can choose to engage in, outside of the main missions and other quests. These activities in turn will unlock rewarding new mechanisms or story elements specific to both characters such as additional special attacks and abilities for Yasuke and further backstory reveals for Naoe.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to arrive on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on March 20.
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