Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Free Updates Bring New Game Plus and Story Expansion

Alright, so here’s the thing about Ubisoft and this whole Assassin’s Creed Shadows spiel. They’re hyping up a storm — think updates galore, more than you could shake anything at, really. Free stuff, new this, new that, story expansions, you name it. They dropped this bomb on Wednesday, causing quite the stir.

So, first up, we’ve got this Claws of Awaji thing coming. Not a made-up name, promise. It’s supposed to pop up later this year. Awaji Island is where all the action’s at — somewhere in Japan, basically floating around the Inland Sea. You can kinda see it west of Sakai if you squint or something, but now, it’s actually playable with this update. Magical, huh?

And these two characters — Naoe and Yasuke — they’re back. The expansion tacks on another 10 hours or so of gameplay, which is a lot of sitting around if you ask me. Naoe gets a bo, which isn’t a typo, it’s some martial arts stick. Fun, right? If you pre-ordered, you’re golden; if not, fork out more cash. Oh joy.

Then we have these Story Drops. Just imagine surprise packages filled with story bits. Starting May, something about Luis Frois — a Portuguese guy hanging out in Japan, as one does. By June, another recruit for the League of the Hidden Blade. All these backstories supposedly shaking up the game forever. Ubisoft loves keeping us on our toes, huh?

Now, quality-of-life stuff — kinda like the basic band-aids you put on things. They did something for the horse, adding an auto-follow. I mean, who doesn’t love a horse doing its own thing? More parkour moves for Naoe and Yasuke, hopefully making them look less like flailing noodles. There was a multi-sell feature, but it bugged out. Classic.

Some other fixes lined up too, like finally leaping from a standstill to a ledge. They’re also adding the very crucial ability to wear headgear during cutscenes. People apparently care about that. And hey, they’re throwing in more features down the pipeline — new game plus mode, difficulty settings ratcheted up to make stealth and combat even more nightmarish. What a time to be alive.