Genki got to attend Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows event in Kyoto, and has some details to share thanks to a new interview.
Genki spoke to creative director Jonathan Dumont, for some insights in the game’s development. While the Assassin’s Creed franchise very clearly started off with the world of the real life Order of Assassins, a Nizari order who resided in Alamut Castle, Iran, many fans, and Ubisoft developers themselves, wanted for years to see the story of their fictional Assassins set in Japan.
As Dumont explained, they decided they could finally make the Assassin’s Creed game set in Japan after earning what he says was “the technical abilities as a well as a good story to put together the right ingredients to make this game.”
That may seem like vague industry jargon, but any gamer who has been following the industry for some time will have some understanding that many developers have held off on their game ideas because the technology did not exist.
This was what Yoshio Sakamoto said when he revisited Metroid Dread, and also what Todd Howard said about the gap between when he first envisioned and finally produced Starfield. We ourselves would argue that FromSoftware and its director Hidetaka Miyazaki would not be recognized for their creative vision until the technology could catch up to help them realize it with the Dark Souls games.
Dumont went on to namedrop their inspirations from Japanese samurai movies, from Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins, the Zatoichi franchise, Masato Harada’s Sekigahara, and of course, the Akira Kurosawa films.
Genki also got to ask Dumont about some of the refined, some would say elegant, game mechanics. For example, you can go prone for your stealth, but you can also use light and shadow to use stealth effectively.
There is an observe mechanic, so you can scout enemies around you, and the grappling hook. Interestingly, there is a spy network you can create yourself, which certainly sounds like a bit of a spoiler (but only if you’re in deep with Assassin’s Creed lore).
Dumont emphasized the dynamic nature of Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ vast open world. Beyond day and night systems, the game will have seasons, and smaller climate changes. As it seems, we haven’t really seen a lot of that system quite yet.
Genki’s video also went into what Ubisoft prepared for their Kyoto event, which was held in the historic Minamiza Kabuki Theatre. Ubisoft held an art exhibit, featured a special Assassin’s Creed sake, and even commissioned a small kabuki performance. Ubisoft’s developers went out with a message, that they hoped the Japanese gamers would enjoy the game.
You can watch Genki’s video about the event below.
