At this moment in time, I have spent well over a hundred hours exploring Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft’s gorgeous virtual imagining of feudal Japan. Thousands of samurai have fallen beneath my blade, hundreds of doors have felt Yasuke’s shoulder-barging wrath, and every single NPC who can be bedded, has been bedded, by my amorous avatars.
From a historical perspective, Ubisoft has delivered everything I could have asked for, providing a rich, textured, and unbelievably beautiful Japan to lose yourself within. This being Playing With History, I just had to know more about the work that Ubisoft put into crafting this historical marvel. That’s where Dr. Stéphanie-Anne Ruatta, the World and Historical Director for Assassin’s Creed Shadows came in. Ruatta is a historian with a PhD in ancient languages and literature, and is currently the onboard historian at Ubisoft Quebec, having worked on Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, and now, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows. She took the time to sieve through my waffle and blathering to figure out if there was an actual coherent history question in there.
“Feudal Japan was one of the settings the team was the most excited to do and one that had been requested by fans for a long time” explained Ruatta, though turning those same dreams into reality would be no small undertaking. “Recreating the Azuchi-Momoyama period in Assassin’s Creed Shadows came with a unique set of challenges. One of the biggest was the natural landscape – Japan’s terrain, dense forests, mountainous regions, and varied elevation required us to rethink how we approached scale and traversal. Striking a balance between realism and gameplay meant adjusting the scale ratio to feel authentic without overwhelming the player, especially in areas with heavy vegetation or steep geography.”
As many an Assassin’s Creed Shadows player can attest, this is an almighty achievement. The game’s rendition of Japan just feels right, presenting a world map that condenses great swathes of landmass in a way that’s quick to navigate but still evokes a great sense of scale. Maybe we should ask Ubisoft to take a look at sorting out the M6 for us? It’d be great if traversing that roadwork-infested, pothole-ridden monstrosity took minutes and not days. Whilst I pondered the UK’s inadequate road network infrastructure, Ruatta ignored my glassy-eyed and vacant demeanour and continued.
“Another major challenge was the depth of research needed. From architecture and clothing to social customs and regional dialects, every detail had to be carefully considered to ensure credibility. Finally, making the world feel dynamic and alive across seasons added another layer of complexity. Implementing seasonal changes — like shifting foliage, weather patterns, and how NPCs behave — meant building systems that could adapt the environment in meaningful ways, both visually and mechanically. It was a technical and artistic challenge, but one that adds a lot of depth to the player’s experience.”
It certainly does. Of the many hours I’ve spent with Assassin’s Creed Shadows, a scary amount of time has been sunk into simply admiring the weather effects, agog at the sweep and sway of blossom petals as they descend from a living forest of trees.
So, that’s the world-building, what about the player characters? I’d made it my mission to avoid any and all gameplay previews prior to Shadows’ release – after all I didn’t want any dirty rotten spoilers. As such, I made the rather silly assumption that the player character would probably be Hattori Hanzō. Hattori is likely the most famous “ninja” from this era of Japanese history. Born in 1557 AD, during the Sengoku Era, he experienced his first battle at the tender age of 15. That’s right, whilst most of us were sat on bins outside newsagents trying to look cool, slurping on cans of coke and pretending lollipops were cigarettes, Hanzō was clambering over the battlements of Uto Castle during a night-time raid. Considering Hanzō is the archetypal assassin, I wanted to know, was he ever considered as a playable protagonist for Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
“We did consider making [him] playable in a flashback mission early in development, but ultimately found that approach a bit confusing in terms of narrative flow. Instead, we chose to focus on his deeper connection to the Assassin Brotherhood and Naoe’s past. Hanzo plays a very important role in the story. He’s not just a legendary figure, but a key character who helps anchor the game’s lore. His presence adds weight to the Brotherhood’s legacy in Japan and provides meaningful context for Naoe’s journey.”
He also looks completely badass, like a Shinobi Clint Eastwood, but even gruffer. Still, Naoe and Yasuke were a more than acceptable substitute. Indeed, I found myself far more drawn to Yasuke during my playthrough. Probably because I find stealth a little annoying, so the samurai’s approach of steamrolling into a fort and hacking off heads for fun was far more my play-style. Yasuke is an inspired player character choice: as a relative newcomer to Japan, he can see its culture through the eyes of the player, learning and discovering the world as his adventure continues. Though, the inclusion of Yasuke must not have been without its own challenges, as so little is known about his real-life historical counterpart. Did the development team face difficulties in researching this historically enigmatic figure?
“Yasuke is indeed a fascinating figure,” considered Ruatta, “and part of what makes him so compelling is how little we actually know about him. That scarcity of concrete historical detail posed a challenge, of course, but it also opened up a unique narrative space for us. Rather than being constrained by a rigid historical record, we had the opportunity to explore who Yasuke could have been, while still grounding him in the cultural and political realities of the time. We approached his character with a great deal of care, consulting with historians and cultural experts to ensure that our interpretation was respectful and informed. But ultimately, the gaps in the historical record allowed us to craft a story that feels both authentic and imaginative, something that fits naturally within the Assassin’s Creed universe.”
One of those imaginings is to present Yasuke as a cross between Batman and the Doom Slayer, hewing hordes of foes with effortless – but oh so violent and gory – ease. Amidst this bloodshed, I wondered how the developers approached the game’s arsenal of weapons with the same level of care and authenticity.
“We definitely aimed for credibility. Many of the weapons and techniques are based on real historical sources, and we worked with experts to get the feel right. But we also had to make some tweaks to keep the combat fun and cinematic. It’s all about finding that sweet spot between realism and gameplay.”
As our interview began to wrap up, I wanted to highlight gaming’s slight obsession with the Japan’s Sengoku period, from Samurai Warriors and Shogun: Total War to Nioh and Onimusha. Was there ever a desire amongst the team at Ubisoft Quebec to defy expectations and set Shadows in a completely different period of Japanese history, similar to Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima?
“The development team explored several fascinating periods in Japanese history before settling on the Sengoku era for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Japan’s rich tapestry of historical epochs — from the Heian period’s courtly intrigue to the Edo period’s rigid social order — offered a wealth of narrative and aesthetic possibilities. However, it was the Azuchi-Momoyama period, the final phase of the Sengoku era, that ultimately felt like the perfect fit for the Assassin’s Creed universe. Its volatile mix of war, shifting alliances, and larger-than-life figures created the ideal backdrop for the franchise’s signature blend of stealth, action, and political intrigue, making it a natural choice for the game’s setting.”
That has been a big part of the appeal of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, certainly during my time writing this Playing With History series. After all, what better way is there to learn about history than by directly interacting with it yourself? I’m not sure there is one. Not unless you prefer thumbing through thick academic tomes, or trying to survive a dense documentary without reaching for your smartphone. In recent AC titles, Ubisoft has even included a mode called “Discovery Tour”, stripping out gameplay elements and simply allowing players to explore their virtual worlds with a focus on education. Can we expect this innovative feature to return in Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
“We don’t have anything to share on that front at the moment”, confirmed Ruatta, “but in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we’ve continued the series’ tradition of bringing players closer to history through a feature called “Cultural Discovery”. Integrated into the in-game Codex, this section offers curated, encyclopaedic entries on the history, art, and culture of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Written in collaboration with historians and enriched with imagery from museums and cultural institutions, it serves as a thoughtful and accessible resource for players who want to dive deeper into the world they’re exploring.”
It certainly does. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a treasure trove of historical facts and information, one that will surely encourage additional research outside of the game for many players. That being said, the details of some historical events are shrouded in too much mystery for us to definitively say what really happened – were there any such moments in Shadows?
“I think that the death of Oda Nobunaga at the hand of his vassal Akechi Mitsuhide is one of the most mysterious moments in history that still puzzles historians and specialists today. Why did it happen? There are many theories about this event, which makes it an interesting playground for our historical fiction.”
We’d like to thank Dr. Stéphanie-Anne Ruatta and team at Ubisoft Quebec for taking time to conduct this interview.
In case you missed it, Playing With History, a new book based on TSA’s ongoing feature series, has officially launched its crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.
From cinematic samurai epics to world-conquering strategy games, Ade and Jim explore a wide spectrum of titles, including AAA blockbusters, indie gems, and everything in between. Playing With History is set to feature over 200 pages of deep dives and interviews and will be available both physically and digitally with optional premium upgrades as well as a backer-exclusive early bird discount.
For anyone who has read PWH in the past or wants to learn more about how history inspires your favourite video games, we’d love your support.
