Assassin's Creed Shadows' open-world exploration is 'much more free form' to allow for a more 'rewarding' experience

Assassin's Creed Shadows won't hold your hand the entire time

23 Jan 2025, 17:00 · TechRadar

News By Demi Williams published 23 January 2025

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Assassin's Creed Shadows will allow for more player freedom
Associated game director Simon Lemay-Comtois says exploration is "much more free form"
The development team wanted to find "the right balance of discovery and wonder"

Ubisoft Quebec has reworked exploration in Assassin's Creed Shadows to allow for more player freedom in its open world.

That's according to Simon Lemay-Comtois, associated game director for Assassin's Creed Shadows, who told TechRadar Gaming during a special preview event that the team decided on a more guided experience for the upcoming game compared to previous entries in the series.

"It used to be 'point exactly where, right we want players to go', and that has shifted across the entire industry," Lemay-Comtois said. "For us, we already started this with Odyssey a while back where we had a default mode, which is [the] classic 'go here' and then we had, I think we called it exploration mode if I recall, and it was less guided.

"Now for Shadows, this is what we start from. The default mode is much more free form and you have to piece it together."

Lemay-Comtois also noted that if players wanted to, they can turn default mode back on if they wish, which will offer a more direct experience that will help you with where you need to go.

"It feels better to use information that you find and objectives that you piece together," he added. "Is it some form of reward? I think that's what the industry has been showing us these last five, six years, is that finding things by yourself, it's rewarding, so therefore, why don't we just put that in the forefront of exploration?"

The game director also explained how the team tried to make Shadows' setting of Japan a less overwhelming location to explore, compared to games such as Valhalla and Odyssey.

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