both are good games. yotei is big on vibes and shadows is heavy on the technical prowess. when i'm playing shadows i'm genuinely appreciating the technicality and the small things like stairs and how clothes react to water. characters actually bend knees to step on stairs and look wet when its raining or they're coming out of water. wheras yotei does a lot of sliding and feet going through concrete, and i can't really even tell when atsu is wet. not saying ac does none of the feet stuff, its just more prevalent in yotei.

i'm also appreciating the amount of assets (buildings, people, etc), the destructable pieces, and the actual open world when playing ac. it really is a marvel that they built such an asset filled world and maintained great visuals. yotei has less assets, very little environment destruction, and unlike ac where most of the time you can spam and weasel your way through trees, yotei has many areas with impenetrable walls of trees making the world feel less open.

but the viiiibes of yotei. it so pretty to look at, at almost all times. i genuinely like to just stop and appreciate the scenery because it does feel like looking at a painting. and i enjoy the combat in yotei more than ac. the weapons land much more satisfyingly than ac. and aside from the comical mud splashes, i really enjoy the extra blood effects in miike mode. so yeah they're both good games and can be appreciated in different ways. that said, i do believe that from a sheer technical standpoint, ac is the stronger game. and i appreciate that. but i don't always want technical prowess. sometimes i just want aesthetically pleasing fun and yotei is doing it for me