Assassin's Creed Shadows Limited Edition (Exclusive to Amazon.uk) (PS5)

The setting makes this game interesting straight out of the gates. With great scenery, cultural differences handled sympatheticly and a proper engine for this generation. This is a much better creed game than Valhalla. With the promise of future DLC it will be interesting to see if it tops Odyssey.The adventure is packed full of quests and there seems more variety this time around. The little animation touches and differences when you are playing either one of the two main characters is beautiful.I've had a lot of pleasure out of building up my hideout. This brings the joy of the AC Unity base enhancement back. Valhalla never really hit the mark for me with it's attempt.It's collection of weapons and armour are good and gives player choice but they sometimes feel a jumble. Once you find you look and fight style the rest quickly become trash or mon (in game currency). Talking of in game currency, there seems to be a confusion of helix points, mon and resources all admittedly serving different purposes but it gets a bit messy.It's a rock solid game with beautiful visuals and the variety to match. Can't wait to see what the DLCs bring.

Pre-ordered this when I first heard about it being developed in June last year. Release was delayed a couple of times but that's not unusual these days. It didn't take too long to install out of the box unlike some games I've had recently that depend on downloading most of the data. Immersive storyline, beautiful graphics - and the changing seasons are a nice touch. I appreciate little things like not being able to sprint through snow and skidding on ice. The last AC game of this level was Valhalla (I've played them all). This has only one map/world, no animals to fight off or kill to upgrade weapons/armour, and it is frustrating when trying to climb things previously scalable in previous games but in this one you just slide down and are forced to go all the way around a mountain trial to get to a view point. There is also not an option of auto-travelling despite there being a trail in front to follow. Not sure why this isn't there as some areas are remote and take ages to get to. However, the diversity between characters - one is slow but strong and uses brute force whilst the other is quick, athletic, stealthy, but not the best when surrounded - so you can choose between them depending on the task/mission. Armour and weapons are beautifuly designed and they've clearly done their research for the samurai era. It'll definitely get a lot of play time and if you enjoyed valhalla I'm certain you'll enjoy this too.

As a long-time Assassin’s Creed fan since 2007, I was excited to see the series venture into new territory and this game did not disappoint! It's the first time the franchise is set in Japan, offering a fresh cultural backdrop compared to the usual Middle Eastern and European settings. I truly appreciate this bold and unique direction.The graphics are absolutely stunning, beautifully capturing the atmosphere and details of feudal Japan. On top of that, the gameplay controls feel incredibly smooth, responsive, and fast paced, making each moment enjoyable and immersive.Overall, this game delivers a fantastic and refreshing Assassin’s Creed experience. Highly recommended for both fans of the series and newcomers alike!

Haven't finished the game yet but here's my opinion so far:🟢 Beautiful game. Environments are stunning, and the season changes are very pretty.🟢 I like being able to swap between characters from the menu so easily🟢 Weapon customising is very nice, I appreciate being able to change each individual piece - however my katana keeps resetting for no reason? Hopefully that will be fixed.🟢 Combat is pretty good, no enemies waiting patiently for their turn to attack you.🟢 More involved dialogue - I can choose to be friendly or mean in a lot of conversations - this is a nice option to have🟢 Once you've been spotted, enemies will look for you for aaaages. This is great for realism as there doesn't seem to be any "must've been the wind". From my experience they will stay alert and keep an eye out for you. I messed up an assassination and hid on a roof and they felt relentless in searching for me.🟢 I enjoy the parkour routes dotted around with loot at the end.🟢 Naoe's grapple is useful and fun to use. Much better than the OP one we had in AC Syndicate.🟢 Can auto follow NPCs🟡 Customisable home base is great - however the framerate TANKS here - why!? I haven't even really added any decor to cause this. It was <30fps here before I customised anything! {*Frame rate was fixed in a later patch}🟡 No auto ride to destination on horseback {*This was added in a later patch}🟡 I'm already getting bored of the typical Ubisoft open world scattered areas/collectibles to complete - I'm trying to fully reveal a new area when the story takes me that way.🟡 Season changes for me happen too often. I've almost completed a full 2nd cycle and I don't feel like I've played that long. It usually plays a cutscene on fast travel, to show progression through the season. You can change the season manually in the menu to advance it to the next stage. I wish you could use this to pick a season to change to.🔴 No torch in this game. Those Kofuns are dark! I can't see anything! Especially with HDR on... I'm navigating parts of them in eagle vision to try and see better... Even just wondering around at night I've found it frustrating that I can't see.🔴 The orange markers for Yasuke to learn a "kata" are so boring. QTE that has no rhythm or reason to it. Just press the buttons for... Reasons? Feels like I achieved nothing completing these. Naoe's version of these are rhythmic and less boring.🔴 The music that plays during larger fights or boss battles feels out of place to me personally. It doesn't fit. It's too modern sounding.