Assassin’s Creed Shadows is worth a look in 2026, a year on and with Claws of Awaji already out, which is an odd thing to hear from someone whose home turf is the tactical grind, where one mistake sends you back to the menu with empty pockets. I am usually deeply suspicious of map markers and icon soup, so when I tell you the stealth sandbox is the reason to open it, understand that the plot is not why I stayed. I would buy it for Naoe, and I would not buy it for the script, because the story is the weak link and the evening itself is comfort food rather than a survival test.
I reach for it on a day off from the grind, the same way I framed the best open-world games to play solo, something pretty to disappear into when I do not want to be punished for existing. If you came for stakes and dread you will feel the gap straight away, while feudal Japan rendered beautifully, and a stealth sandbox that actually respects you, is the reason I would still tell you to keep going. That is the honest shape of it, a pretty map I trust on a quiet day, and a game I would not send you to if you wanted the tension I usually bang on about.
Naoe is the game, and Yasuke is the door you kick
The single best reason to play is Naoe, because Shadows ships with two leads who are not cosmetic swaps, Naoe the shinobi and Yasuke the samurai, and only one of them is the game I would actually recommend. Naoe is low to the ground and fast across rooftops, armed with the proper assassin tool kit, so you crouch in tall grass, pick a guard off a watchtower, and vanish before anyone finds the body. This is the most genuinely satisfying stealth the series has put out in years, and it is the version of the fantasy people have been asking for since the early games stopped being about hiding.
Yasuke is the brute-force button, and that is fine when you are tired of patience, because you switch to the big man and walk through the front door swinging a kanabo, the combat is meaty, and the power fantasy lands. It is the answer to a different question, though, and if you play the whole game as Yasuke you have essentially bought a third-person hack-and-slash with extra steps. The stealth is the point, and the muscle is the relief valve, which is why most of the map is better when you stay with Naoe and only call the samurai in once the hiding has stopped being fun.
The plot that moves, and never quite grabs
The story is the weak link, and I will not pretend otherwise, because there is a revenge plot and a conspiracy of masked targets to hunt, and it all moves competently without ever gripping you. The two leads are likeable enough and the historical backdrop is genuinely interesting, but the narrative is the scaffolding the sandbox hangs on rather than a reason to play in its own right. The critics and the crowd never quite agreed on this game either, since review scores landed respectably on the Metacritic page while the user score sat distinctly cooler, which is roughly where I land, a good game arguing with a mediocre script.
Commercially it was no flop, for what a chart is worth, because Ubisoft reported Shadows as the second-highest day-one sales revenue in franchise history, behind only Valhalla, per PC Gamer’s write-up. I do not buy games on charts, but it does mean the lights stayed on and the support kept coming, which is how we got to the expansion people keep asking me about as if it were a missing ending. The sales figure does not improve the script, and I am only mentioning it so you know the game was looked after rather than abandoned.
Awaji, and whether her mother is the ending
You do not need the Claws of Awaji DLC to feel like you finished, because the base game has a proper ending and you can walk away satisfied, while the expansion is a bonus chapter rather than a withheld final act. Claws of Awaji, which released on 16 September 2025 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, is an expansion of roughly 10-plus hours set on Awaji Island. It hands Naoe a new weapon, the Bo staff, an agile thing built for stringing combos and flinging enemies into each other, and, more importantly, it follows up on Naoe’s mother, Tsuyu, which is why the question is sneakier than a simple yes or no.
If Naoe’s family thread was the part of the story you actually cared about, then Awaji is the real epilogue and you will feel slightly short-changed without it, so buy it second, after you know the base game clicked. If you were here for the stealth sandbox and the plot was just texture, you can skip it and lose nothing, and I would treat the DLC as a bonus chapter with a good new toy rather than homework you owe the ending. That last part about Tsuyu is the only reason I would nudge anyone back to the store, and even then only after they have already decided the shinobi was worth their time.
What the three and a half is actually doing
Assassin’s Creed Shadows in 2026 is a 3.5 from me, and that number is doing specific work, because it is a four-star stealth sandbox dragged down by a two-and-a-half-star story. Buy it if you want a beautiful solo open world to switch your brain off in, commit to playing Naoe, and grab Claws of Awaji only if her arc grabbed you. I would not buy it expecting the tension or consequence I usually bang on about, since that lives on a different shelf entirely, and you already know where I keep it.
If you want the wider picture before you commit, the open-world solo roundup and the Assassin’s Creed hub are the next stops, and both of them will tell you quicker than I can whether this comfort-food evening is the one you were actually looking for.
FAQ
Is Assassin's Creed Shadows worth it in 2026?
Yes, if you want a gorgeous solo open-world stealth game and you play Naoe rather than brute-forcing it as Yasuke, because the stealth is the best the series has shipped in years. The story is the weak link, so I would buy it for the sandbox rather than the plot, and a year on that split has not moved.
Do you need the Claws of Awaji DLC to finish Assassin's Creed Shadows?
No, the base game has a complete ending, and Claws of Awaji, released 16 September 2025, is a roughly 10-hour epilogue that ties up Naoe's mother's storyline and adds the Bo staff. It is a satisfying extra rather than a missing final act, so you can walk away from the base game without feeling a last chapter was held back.
Should you play Naoe or Yasuke in Assassin's Creed Shadows?
Naoe is the shinobi and the reason to play, with proper stealth, parkour and a tool kit that rewards patience, while Yasuke is the samurai brute-force option for when you want to stop hiding and start a fight. Most of the game is better as Naoe, and playing the whole thing as Yasuke turns it into a third-person hack-and-slash with extra steps.
How good is the stealth in Assassin's Creed Shadows?
It is the most genuinely satisfying stealth the series has put out in years, and the single best reason to play, because as Naoe you crouch in tall grass, pick a guard off a watchtower and vanish before anyone finds the body. It is the version of the fantasy people have wanted since the early games, and it is the part that still earns the evening when the script does not.
Is the story in Assassin's Creed Shadows any good?
It is the weak link, since there is a revenge plot and a conspiracy of masked targets to hunt, and it moves competently without ever gripping you. The narrative is scaffolding the sandbox hangs on rather than a reason to play in its own right, which is why I would not buy the game for the plot.
Did Assassin's Creed Shadows sell well?
Yes, Ubisoft reported it as the second-highest day-one sales revenue in franchise history, behind only Valhalla, which does not make the script any better. It does mean the support kept coming, and that is the only reason the chart is worth mentioning at all.
Sources (4)
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