The agonizingly slow passage of time is never more present than inAssassin’s Creed Shadows. It is frustrating to wait through the day-night cycle because it seems like the time-skip mechanic was removed out of nowhere. While Ubisoft has its reasoning, it falls short under quick scrutiny, and it’s hopefully something a future update will address.
This is a game where the player takes on the role of a ninja, andninjas seem to like going around at night to complete their missions. It wouldn’t be uncommon to think that one of thebest skills inAssassin’s Creed Shadowsto unlock would be meditation, but Ubisoft had other plans. Unfortunately, there’s no way to skip time - and the gameplay suffers because of this.
It’s A 24-Minute Wait For Nightfall In AC Shadows
You’re Going To Have To Wait A While
Assassin’s Creed Shadowsremoved the ability to manually change from day to night and vice versa. Instead, players must wait out the cycle for their preferred time. Anin-game day is approximately 48 real-time minutes, significantly impacting pacing and player agency. It forces those of us who want to play the game as a ninja at night to passively wait instead of having continued active engagement.
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This design choice really hampers stealth-focused missions. Nighttime significantly increases the effectiveness of stealth due to the reduced visibility and enemy patrols. However, if a player starts a mission during the day,they will have to wait for 24 real-life minutes before continuingunless they want to go ahead through elevated visibility. This hurts the flow of gameplay and makes little sense, as waiting the 24 minutes is just another way to get past the day-night cycle.
Removing a meditate feature helps show how big thedifferences between Yasuke and Naoeare.
Instead of rewarding players for thinking ahead and being strategic,Shadowsis punishing them with a long wait. All this tells players is that ninjas went in regardless of the conditions and time to do whatever was needed. Removing this feature is a step back in the series, and one that needs to be undone.
The Meditate Button Has Been Around Since AC Origins
This Series Staple Just Left With AC Shadows
Assassin’s Creed Originsintroduced the “meditate” button that allowed players to fast-forward through time. A short animation would play as the character sat to meditate, and then the time would change from day to night or the other way around.This meditate function added to the strategy to the gamesthat players could use when accomplishing their goals. Assassins likely waited for the perfect opportunity to strike, and this helps push that idea.
Can You Change The Time Of Day In Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
The day-night cycle is important in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, so do you still have the option to skip ahead to night like in previous games?
WhileOdysseyandValhalladidn’t need to have this meditate button because the characters were more focused on strength and combat,Shadowsdid. Naoe is the character that players stick to for hours before being introduced to Yasuke. Yasuke plays so differently from Naoe and fights like a samurai. The game makes Naoe’s stealth attacks less effective over time, andremoving the fast-forward feature gives players less reason to use Naoe.
The meditate button was not a downside of the series at all. Some players didn’t use it, and that’s because the game gave the option for other kinds of gameplay. However, Naoe is not as good of a fighter as Yasuke, soit matters a lot if you’re more visible to enemies. Naoe just doesn’t feel as helpful later on as Yasuke does.
Ninjas Were Likely Most Active At Night
It Is Historically Accurate To Keep The Meditate Button
Precise historical records regarding ninja operations are scarce, but it doesn’t take a history degree to know ninjas were most likely active at night.Assassin’s Creed Shadowsgives players the optimal setting for ninjas but omits a useful tool in their arsenal: patience. If a ninja knew that waiting until nightfall would make the chances of eliminating a target more likely,there’s no reason why they would not wait for night.
Altair in the originalAssassin’s Creedhad to find the best opportunity to take out targets before being allowed to pursue them. It shows how much time and effort went into taking a target down by an assassin. Naoe was a shinobi that grew up learning the methods, soit doesn’t make sense that she wouldn’t use the strategic advantage of reduced visibilitywhenever she could. It doesn’t take long to learn that when there are fewer people around, and they can’t see you, you are more efficient at getting to your target.
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The developers are trying to force players into uncomfortable situations as a way to create difficulty, but that doesn’t make sense historically. No group dedicated to the assassination of targets would survive long enough to be remembered if they went into situations without thinking or planning to have an advantage.This is as lazy as making enemies bullet spongesto artificially increase difficulty. It shows that Ubisoft is willing to sacrifice historical accuracy and immersion for little payoff.
Ubisoft had a great mechanic for shinobi already built into previous games; it’s weird that the company would remove it without players asking for it. The choice to omit this feature from a feudal Japan-themed game is disappointing. Itmisses the opportunity to create an authentic experience by limiting player choiceand failing to integrate the core tenants of stealth and historical context of the ninja.
Stop Making Ninjas Attack In The Daytime
Ghost of TsushimaandAssassin’s Creed Shadowshave similar themes of stealthbut are both missing this mechanic. What’s interesting is that both play on the idea of having ninjas. WhileGhost of Tsushimatakes place a few hundred years before ninjas became a huge force, the idea is clear. Jin is trailblazing a new method where stealth is better to beat an overwhelming enemy than straight action.Attacking at night would be a smart idea for the protagonists of these games,but the option doesn’t exist.
Shadowsmay not be aGhost of Tsushimareskin, but both games hold players to the natural progression of the day-night cycle. The decision not to include any time manipulation in both games seems to speak to immersion, but I’d argue against that. It is not more immersive for the player to not plan ahead for something like the time of day. It ismore immersive if the characters who value stealth the most are able to waituntil the conditions benefit them the most to attack.
Ubisoft chose to take this out in a time period where it would fit the most, and it should be added in an update. This isn’t the kind of thing players want to see in future games from any series that is supposedly historically accurate.Assassin’s Creed Shadowsneeds to bring this back because most assassins are likely clever enough to wait for nightfall to strike. When the point is to avoid detection, it’s hard to argue that the characters trained for stealth wouldn’t just wait until nightfall.
