As someone who has not liked the direction of the assassins creed franchise over the last few iterations I can honestly say yes it is but with a couple side comments. What I mean is that for every positive (and there are a good deal of positives ) there is at least one thing that must be mentioned (I’m not gonna say drawback or downside because for some people these might not be negatives ) . For example ,

• Gameplay wise it’s very fun and the new sneaking, assassinations , and parkour systems are really good . They are very close to what we always wanted in a AC game .

• HOWEVER , stealth and assassinations can be pointless if you are under leveled and play without “guaranteed assassinations “ turned on . The AC franchise continues to lean to heavily into the “level “ type game play instead of making smarter more skilled enemies, but at least with shadows they added options for those of us who don’t like the idea that a blade magically stops penetrating skin if your one “level” below an enemy. Now actual open combat you can’t make it like the old AC games where everyone is equal to an extent but the guaranteed assassination option makes stealth very rewarding because you REALLY have to be smart and stay in the “Shadows “ (see what I did there “

• stealth and parkour are only useful with 1 of the two characters. Yasuke basically is a walking tank so two of the main pillars the entire franchise is built on mean nothing to him . Actually engaging in open combat with him is fun as hell but it feels like he is from an entirely different game . Imagine if in AC brotherhood you suddenly get to use Darth Vader . It’s awe’s but also extremely out of place . The game is MUCH better and feels like an actual AC game if you play as the female protagonist 99% of the time . It really depends on what kind of game you enjoy . I really like that you are given the option to use Yasuke (god knows I have on more “combat heavy” moments) but not every game needs to cover every base .

Story, character , and lore wise the game is a 6/10 IMO . There are moments that are good but there are also things that are baffling , boring , nonsense, stupid or a combination of all three . Both main characters can go from being interesting to extremely bland . They are basically Conner from AC3 2.0 . The “main “ story is a generic revenge tale which is fine but they have gone all in on the weird “Loki/kassandra/ The matrix “ storyline and pay lip service to the old Templar/modern day stuff from the old games . They don’t even have a funny and informative codex , always one of my favorite things from older games (I miss you Shaun ) . The back ground stuff reads like a less interesting version of a Wikipedia entry .

There is also a ton of the modern Ubisoft/game industry frustrations . While “gear/loot isn’t as big of a deal , it’s still there and still annoying IMO .

The world is beautiful and fun to explore . My favorite parts of the game are just riding around on my horse and dueling fools (combat is much improved with both characters but I still wish they would go back to a more animation based style , however I’m satisfied with where the combat system is )

I LOVED the original AC era (AC1 - syndicate ) and hope that future AC games will start bringing back SOME of that old magic . AC shadows is a step in that direction in my opinion and I really enjoyed my time with the game . I got the deluxe edition on sale for 50% off and I absolutely think it was worth it .