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(Image credit: Ubisoft) Assassin's Creed made the jump from sneaky action sandboxes to full-fledged RPGs a long time ago, and at first the novelty of all the loot, skill trees, dialogue choices and quests were enough to make it seem like Ubisoft had been successful in its pivot. But the more of these RPGs it makes, the more the gaps become obvious. Assassin's Creed Shadows is chock-full of RPG systems—possibly more than any other Assassin's Creed—but their lack of depth reveals a fundamental problem that, at this point, I doubt the series will ever overcome: Assassin's Creed is an action series cosplaying an RPG. (Image credit: Ubisoft) It goes through the checklist of RPG traits, furiously ticking away: an absurd array of weapons and outfits, extensive skill trees for both protagonists, frequent dialogue choices, romantic relationships and more quests than any reasonable person has time for. How could this be anything other than an RPG? You may like Assassin's Creed Shadows review I played 6 hours of Assassin's Creed Shadows, and folks, I think this one was worth the wait And OK, some of this is legit. The power progression of Naoe and Yasuke tickles my RPG-loving brain in just the right way, and while the skill trees don't really lend themselves to buildcrafting and experimentation, there's plenty of fancy bits of gear that allow you to go down different routes—at least when it comes to how you kill your targets. It doesn't hold a candle to the more pure action-RPGs, whether it's Path of Exile or Elden Ring, but that's not what it's aiming for. This ain't a dungeon romp. It's a story-driven RPG, full of cutscenes and dialogue and character development. It's a shame, then, that Shadows is downright awful at all this stuff. Temp agency (Image credit: Ubisoft) The phony agency it's trying to sell players on is perhaps the best example of Shadows' failing as an RPG, and the most egregious instance of RPG cosplaying. Throughout the meaty game, we're given a thinnest illusion of choice, specifically through dialogue options. They are meaningless. You are not the author of this story; you're barely an active participant. Often you'll simply get choices that don't matter—with nothing really changing based on what line you pick. The most frustrating moments, though, are when you pick one of two dialogue options, and after Naoe or Yasuke repeats the line you picked, they then immediately repeat the one you didn't. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Ubisoft created an utterly bizarre canon mode that makes all the 'canon' choices for you, which really tells you everything you need to know about its priorities. Forget choices, you are just along for the ride. Your agency doesn't matter, and this isn't your story. It doesn't even give you the illusion of choice. The explanation for this mode is, frankly, utterly bonkers. Apparently some imaginary players can't stomach the idea of not knowing what choices in this entirely fictional story are canon, so this mode is for them. (Image credit: Ubisoft) Canon mode comes across as Ubi trying to fix a problem that isn't really there. Where other RPGs have settled on canon story beats, they usually only matter for adaptations, like Dragon Age's many novels and comics. They don't intersect with the games, leaving it up to the players to determine their own canon. Embarking upon any of Shadows' quests reveals the same hollowness, largely amounting to either speaking to someone or killing someone—sometimes both. There's not enough here to even call it bad quest design. There is no quest design. On the rare occasion a quest offers something a bit different—like preparing for and then participating in a tea ceremony—the novelty is undermined by the lack of meaningful choices, engaging conversations, or consequences. It's particularly hard to put up with these days when there are so many strong contenders to compare Shadows to. Across the last decade there's been a big push to elevate RPG quests—the gripping writing and deliciously varied subject matter of CD Projekt Red quests, Disco Elysium's unhinged, character-focused mysteries, Baldur's Gate 3's absurd level of agency and reactivity—but none of this is evident here. Knights vs Samurai (Image credit: Ubisoft) Finally finishing the behemoth that is Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 right before Shadows was a big mistake. With Henry's misadventures fresh in my mind, the next RPG I played was going to have a lot to live up to, and Shadows doesn't come close. I keep coming back to a completely incidental KCD2 quest that I'd been avoiding for countless hours. The wife of a blacksmith needed horseshoes to deliver to a military camp, and her husband refused to make them. It seemed like busywork, but I ended up needing some cash, and Henry is a blacksmith after all, so I got stuck in. After making the horseshoes, this seemingly boring quest took a turn. A blood-soaked room, a missing woman, plenty of suspects, an undercover operation, a fight with knights, a love story gone awry. If this quest had been in Shadows, the blacksmith's wife would have simply told me to kill her husband for being a layabout and that would have been that. (Image credit: Ubisoft) What's frustrating about Shadows' approach is that it shows Ubisoft clearly understands what makes a good RPG. You can't cosplay as a proper RPG if you don't know what a good RPG looks like. Ubisoft has included all the systems and features that you'd expect, but they're thinner than shoji paper. This also suggests that Ubisoft simply isn't interested in committing. It's had plenty of opportunities, and it has the knowledge, so there's nothing holding it back aside from Ubisoft itself. There's a lot to like about Shadows regardless—the series has never had better stealth or combat, and Japan is a striking location for a spot of digital tourism—but if you're in the market for a new RPG, this ain't it. Fraser Brown Social Links Navigation Online Editor Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Assassin's Creed Shadows review I played 6 hours of Assassin's Creed Shadows, and folks, I think this one was worth the wait Assassin's Creed Shadows started with a single Ghost of Tsushima-like protagonist, but 'it's not representing what the samurai and shinobi are if it's the same character' Don't expect to unlock Yasuke for a while in Assassin's Creed Shadows Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feels like a French Persona, with an impressive combat system that I should love, but which I actually hate I don't care about being able to kill everybody and steal the Mayor's pants in an RPG like Avowed, and I'm tired of pretending it's mandatory Latest in Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed Shadows has convinced me that Ubisoft will never make a good RPG All Assassin's Creed Shadows Twitch Drops and how to get them Assassin’s Creed Shadows sneakily tones down the mess players can make across Japan’s religious sites in its day one patch Grab this ridiculously overpowered Yasuke armor as soon as possible in Assassin's Creed Shadows Best skills in Assassin's Creed Shadows Assassin's Creed Shadows unlock times for each region Latest in Features Assassin's Creed Shadows has convinced me that Ubisoft will never make a good RPG Inzoi's attempt to do everything has left it a shallow imitation of The Sims, and I'm not sure it understands what makes those games so special in the first place People expecting Inzoi to be some sort of Sims killer are going to be very disappointed Don't expect to unlock Yasuke for a while in Assassin's Creed Shadows Help, I can't move forward in this chill crafting RPG because I'm too wrapped up in building bases and making sick tools Five new Steam games you probably missed (March 17, 2025) More about assassins creed All Assassin's Creed Shadows Twitch Drops and how to get them Assassin’s Creed Shadows sneakily tones down the mess players can make across Japan’s religious sites in its day one patch Sugar 1 is a shape-shifting handheld with two screens and rotatable controllers that make it look like a legally distinct transformable robot See more latest Most Popular Inzoi's attempt to do everything has left it a shallow imitation of The Sims, and I'm not sure it understands what makes those games so special in the first place People expecting Inzoi to be some sort of Sims killer are going to be very disappointed Assassin's Creed: Shadows PC performance analysis: Ray tracing, upscaling, and frame generation are all optional, but only two of them are worth using, though not the ones you might think Don't expect to unlock Yasuke for a while in Assassin's Creed Shadows Help, I can't move forward in this chill crafting RPG because I'm too wrapped up in building bases and making sick tools Five new Steam games you probably missed (March 17, 2025) Wyrdsong, the RPG from ex-Bethesda talent, isn't dead—but it's no longer an open world: 'We're down to a skeleton crew' 2011 was an amazing comeback year for PC gaming My new most anticipated RPG let me be a kleptomaniac gourmand set loose in a noir city on a quest to make 'the perfect sandwich' I played the notoriously ratings-board-ravaged Manhunt 2 and was quite glad for the censorship actually HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Best graphics card for laptops in 2025: the mobile GPUs I'd want in my next gaming laptop Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most Best 14-inch gaming laptop in 2025: The top compact gaming laptops I've held in these hands Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I've tested Samsung 9100 Pro 2 TB SSD review Expelled! review Assassin's Creed Shadows review Endorfy Fortis 5 Dual Fan review Cataclismo review PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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