Assassin’s Creed Shadows reimagines beloved system from fan-favorite Ezio games

While the Assassin’s Creed franchise has largely moved away from its early entries and paved a new direction, Shadows is bringing back an iconic system from the Ezio era of the series, albeit with a new and exciting twist.

In an exclusive interview with Level Design Director Luc Plante, the game dev detailed how Shadows is “following in the footsteps” of previous games but also ensuring everything feels authentic to its feudal Japan setting.

In particular, there’s the fan-favorite Ezio games which allowed players to form a league of Assassins to aid in combat and gather intel along the way. Now, this system is on the way back having been revamped and reimagined in Shadows.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has an ally system like the Ezio games

When Assassin’s Creed Origins released back in 2017, Ubisoft shattered expectations by creating a fully open-world experience, one that introduced a revamped combat system, RPG elements, and much more.

Since then, almost every entry in the franchise has followed this formula, distancing themselves from the early foundations of the series. While Shadows similarly follows suit as another massive experience, it also harkens back to some key features from the past.

In both Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Revelations, a central gameplay mechanic focused on Ezio building his alliance of Assassin recruits.

Players were tasked with creating Faction buildings, leveling up their novitiates, and customizing their appearance. What’s more, they could then be called upon during combat to either sneakily take out enemies or lend their swords when things took a turn.

Shadows elevates this mechanic to new heights

During our interview, Plante highlighted that the system in Shadows wasn’t included just as a “homage” to Ezio’s games but rather, as a full-fledged “mechanic that will be fun but support the experience.”

“With Shadows, we learned when we did our research that there were a lot of leagues that were created and we wanted to play with that.”

“To let players grow their league of ninjas and spies…this mechanic of allies, that yes, is reminiscent of Revelations, but is also serving the purpose of this fantasy.”

Despite reminiscent of Ezio’s League of Assassins, Shadows forges its own path with this gameplay feature. You’re able to use your spies to help track down key people of interest during quests and these ninjas you recruit are more than just generic faces. Each has their distinct backstory, purpose, and reasoning for joining Naoe and Yasuke throughout their journey.

Expanding on the concept of a League of Assassins even more so, players are given the ability to design a Homestead that serves as a base of operations while also unlocking hideouts throughout the map that serve as additional support for your legion of allies and spies.

Plante further explained how a big focus for the dev team was giving players “a toolset to create their agency with exploration,” the reimplementation of allies with a fresh and evolved twist a clever way to bring back the legacy of Ezio while also once again reinventing the franchise.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released on March 20, 2025.