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Where and when does Assassin’s Creed Shadows take place?
The game is set in late-Sengoku Japan, a period Ubisoft characterizes by political turmoil, warfare, and major social change. Its world includes castle towns, ports, shrines, and rural landscapes. The setting shapes both protagonists’ stories: Naoe is drawn into conflict through the conquest of her homeland, while Yasuke enters a world of shifting loyalties and power.
Ubisoft describes the pair as discovering a shared destiny as they help usher in a new era for Japan. Their connection is the story’s central thread, rather than a single protagonist’s account of the period.
Who is Naoe?
Naoe is a 17-year-old shinobi from Iga and the daughter of Fujibayashi Nagato, according to Ubisoft Québec’s character profile. The destruction caused by Nobunaga’s conquest of Iga shapes her commitment to helping her people. Ubisoft’s game page frames her personal journey as a quest for revenge and to fulfill an impossible promise.
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- Only at Amazon Limited Edition Content includes the base game and Sekiryu Character Pack
- Explore the captivating open world of feudal Japan, from spectacular castle towns and bustling ports to peaceful shrines and war-ravaged landscapes. Adventure through unpredictable weather, changing seasons, and reactive environments.
- Become Naoe, a shinobi Assassin, and Yasuke, a legendary samurai, as you experience their riveting stories and master their complementary playstyles.
- Make information your weapon as you explore the world, and build your own network of spies to be your eyes and ears across locations to hunt down your next target. Along the way, recruit new allies with unique abilities to help accomplish your missions.
- Create a fully customizable hideout for your growing shinobi league as you train your crew, craft new gear, interact with key characters, and choose your base’s layout, decorations, and accessories.
Her approach is built around stealth and movement. She uses light and noise to manage visibility and distractions, and can rely on tools such as kunai, shuriken, smoke bombs, a grappling hook, and the hidden blade. In the story’s conflicts, she is the more covert and agile of the two leads.
Who is Yasuke, and is he a real person?
Yasuke was a historical figure; Assassin’s Creed Shadows adapts him into its fictional world. Ubisoft describes him as an African samurai and says the game establishes his historical story before developing and expanding it within the series’ fiction. The game’s character arc presents him as confronting his past and finding a new purpose.
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- ENTER FEUDAL JAPAN - Explore the captivating open world of feudal Japan, from spectacular castle towns and bustling ports to peaceful shrines and war-ravaged landscapes. Adventure through unpredictable weather, changing seasons, and reactive environments.
- MASTER COMPLEMENTARY PLAYSTYLES - Become Naoe, a shinobi Assassin, and Yasuke, a legendary samurai, as you experience their riveting stories and master their complementary playstyles. As Naoe, use stealth to avoid detection and agility to confound your enemies. As Yasuke, strike your foes with lethal precision and power. Unlock new skills, gear, and progression independently for each character.
- MAKE INFORMATION YOUR WEAPON - Travel the world and build your own network of spies to be your eyes and ears across locations to hunt down your next target. Along the way, recruit new allies with unique abilities to help accomplish your missions
- BUILD A PLACE TO CALL HOME - Create a fully customizable hideout for your growing shinobi league as you train your crew, craft new gear, interact with key characters, and choose your base’s buildings layout, decorations, and accessories.
In play, Yasuke favors direct combat rather than Naoe’s stealth. His weapons include a katana, kanabo, bow, and naginata, and his armor helps distinguish his forceful fighting style. The game’s invented events and character arc should not be treated as a factual account of the historical Yasuke.
How are Naoe and Yasuke’s stories connected?
Naoe and Yasuke start from different backgrounds and have distinct personal motivations, but their paths intersect in the same political upheaval. Ubisoft describes their perspectives as overlapping: they experience a transformative moment in Japan from different positions and come to pursue a shared purpose.
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- Only at Amazon Limited Edition Content includes the base game and Sekiryu Character Pack
- Explore the captivating open world of feudal Japan, from spectacular castle towns and bustling ports to peaceful shrines and war-ravaged landscapes. Adventure through unpredictable weather, changing seasons, and reactive environments.
- Become Naoe, a shinobi Assassin, and Yasuke, a legendary samurai, as you experience their riveting stories and master their complementary playstyles.
- Make information your weapon as you explore the world, and build your own network of spies to be your eyes and ears across locations to hunt down your next target. Along the way, recruit new allies with unique abilities to help accomplish your missions.
- Create a fully customizable hideout for your growing shinobi league as you train your crew, craft new gear, interact with key characters, and choose your base’s layout, decorations, and accessories.
The dual-protagonist structure also affects how players approach the story. Ubisoft says players can choose either character for quests, while each has separate progression, stats, skills, and gear. Naoe’s stealth toolkit and Yasuke’s combat strengths offer different ways to face the game’s conflicts, not two unrelated campaigns.
| Character | Role and motivation | Approach | Examples of tools or weapons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naoe | Shinobi from Iga; seeks revenge and wants to fulfill an impossible promise | Stealth, agility, and movement | Hidden blade, kunai, shuriken, smoke bombs, grappling hook |
| Yasuke | Historical figure adapted as a samurai; confronts his past and finds a new purpose | Direct combat | Katana, kanabo, bow, naginata, armor |
What happens in the post-launch story content?
Claws of Awaji and Black Tides continue the protagonists’ adventures after the main campaign; they are not the premise of the main story.
Claws of Awaji
In this expansion, Naoe and Yasuke travel to Awaji Island to investigate rumors of a hidden-blade-wielding shinobi and a long-lost relic, while facing the Sanzoku Ippa. Ubisoft’s September 2025 release notes say access requires completing the main story arcs and the “Out of the Shadows” quest. Ubisoft’s release notes provide the setup and requirements.
Black Tides
Spoilers for the post-launch story: Ubisoft’s June 16, 2026 final-update article describes Black Tides as a free story capper of about two hours, in which Naoe and Yasuke face elite Templars called the Black Cross. Access requires the main story and the “A Critical Encounter” and “A Puzzlement” quests; Claws of Awaji is not required. Ubisoft associate game director Simon said, “I know these characters and the Japanese setting have much more left in the tank and I’ll always advocate for doing more with them, but for now, this is the end of their story.” See Ubisoft News’ final-update article for the announcement.
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Where to read Ubisoft’s character and game descriptions
- Ubisoft’s official game page summarizes the premise, protagonists, and gameplay contrast.
- Ubisoft Québec’s Naoe and Yasuke profile gives character and setting context.
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