The exploration gameplay in "Assassin's Creed: Shadow" is very rich. First of all, it is the world map, which is the pillar of exploration. At the beginning of the game, only the area name and pictures that hint at the potential of key locations will be displayed on the map. As you move around the world, things with larger radius around the character will slowly show you the larger radius of things around the character, and as you move, you will find more and more details.
What is the gameplay of Assassin's Creed Shadow Exploration?
World Map
The world map is the backbone of exploration.
When the game starts, only the area name and pictures that hint at the potential of key locations will be displayed on the map. As you move around the world, things with larger radius around the character will slowly show you the larger radius of things around the character, and as you move, you will find more and more details. Coming to each new area, sub-region, and local landmarks will deepen the clarity and richness of the map: in short, the more you explore, the more information the map provides.
When browsing in the menu, the world map provides different zoom levels, each level toggles a different set of information. From the province name when it shrinks to the farthest to the local landmarks and related signs that are enlarged to nearby. This map will be the cornerstone of your journey and is the best ally to choose your next adventure location or location where your mission target is.
"When exploring the world, you can keep an eye on undiscovered places (i.e. the "?" icon on the map)," Charles said. "Because there are so many interesting places to explore, whether it's a destroyed camp or a hidden shrine, we want you to always experience a sense of exploration."
Before we get into more details about the new features of the map, let's take a quick look at other features to better understand the entire exploration loop.
Observation point
The observation point (i.e., the synchronization point) reappears in Shadow, but works slightly differently than previous works in the series. Climbing Observation Points no longer displays icons for most areas of the world map and all of its opportunities, but as you observe your surroundings from the highest point, nearby points of interest are displayed: city areas, temples, shrines, castles - most of which are related to the tasks or activities you want to participate in.
By using the observation mechanism (for the first time in our stealth gameplay article), you can manually move the shot 360 degrees to consider these points of interest and mark the locations you want to add to the compass. If you have visited these locations before, their names will appear. If you haven't visited before, they will be listed as "undiscovered places" which you can tag for later exploration. Our goal to improve how the observation point works is to allow players to look for their next adventure in a more purposeful and positive way.
For our old fans of the series, you will be very happy because in addition to the new manual lens movement feature, the iconic synchronous lens movement will also return. This will give you full view of the stunning surroundings.
Although each observation point unlocks a quick travel point, players must use them with caution, as some of them are located at the center of enemy-controlled territory, such as the top of the Tianshou Pavilion (the largest and tallest tower in the castle), and it can be challenging to get out of it.
Most observation points are available to both characters, but their approach may vary. In some cases, Naoe can easily climb out of the building using her grapple hook, while Yasuke may have to take the stairs and pass through the guards to reach the top.
Observation
Once you start pursuing an undiscovered location or task, it’s time to plan your next move on a more microscopic level. In "Shadow", there are no more falcon buddies to help you; now, you are the eagle. You need to find a nice vantage point in the area and observe the surrounding area. Using free aiming to look around will allow you to see valuable items, mark enemies, and more.
Observation is essential to help you find any clues about a task item, target, or a location, especially when you investigate the area identified by the spy (see more information about the spy below).
Safe House
Explore each area and discover a safe house called "Hidden House" that players can enter. These Hidden Houses become small extensions of hiding places (i.e., a fully customizable central base) and offer practical features such as supplementing meals/tools/ammunition, accessing equipment storage, managing and accepting contracts, supplementing spies, and managing which allies can be summoned to help. These locations are the perfect place to take some time to plan your next move.
Discovery House also unlocks fast travel points that can be considered "safe" because they are located outside the enemy's controlled area.
Player Comfort Tool: Wayfinding
Japan has many steep mountains that cannot be climbed, making its landscape one of the most unique in the series. Sometimes it's better to follow the road from one place to another, avoiding the increase in travelError shortcuts to time. When you get lost, road finding is a very good optional tool to guide the world and increase your comfort.
When the mission is tracked and the spy successfully discovers its location (or when you manually place markers on the world map), you can turn on the wayfinding while riding a horse. This will draw a white line directly on the ground, highlighting the best path to that target and/or marker. Please note that it can be turned on and off at any time.
Target Panel
At the heart of Shadow is the Target Panel: This is our improved mission log where you can find your mission goals and monitor your progress in many Japanese stories—from Naoe and Yasuke’s local conflicts and personal backstory to a wider narrative journey that unites our two protagonists to hunt down specific goals.
When you meet new characters and face new challenges, new panels appear, each panel takes you to a new location and presents a unique storyline.
The Target Panel will be the key to finding and investigating your goals. Zoom in each target panel to a specific target or NPC will find opportunities - task steps that can be selected and tracked individually.
You will be informed of clues about each opportunity location, and you must infer where you should investigate or go next by linking the clues to the map. This is a further evolution of the exploration mode we created for the first time in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, and our goal is to give players a better grasp of the rhythm of exploring the unknown.
For players who prefer to follow clear mission signs, deploying spies in the rough area of these clues will make the whole thing easier.
Note that the Boot option will also be provided as an accessibility feature to facilitate tracking of task objectives.
Spy
As the game progresses, more and more people will join your alliance and become "spy". The more spies you have, the better your situation will be; spies can help you find mission goals, collect resources to upgrade your hiding place, and even cover up your trail by resetting provincial alerts.
They are the core of exploration and play an important role in information warfare, which is an important aspect of the player's journey in Shadow.
Investigate the World Map
When uncertain about the location of your opportunity or target, check out your world map and deploy spies to scout ahead and reveal more precise mission target locations. The more spies you deploy at a time, the larger the reconnaissance radius will be, increasing your chances of successfully finding the items you need. Using more spies is especially useful when all the clues have not been collected to reveal your goals, as they can help make up for the knowledge you lack.
Dismiss the area alarm When the alarm sounds, the entire area will be on high alert due to your actions and you will be wanted and pursued by the deadly enemy: the guardian. You can wait for the season to change, which will happen dynamically over time, and you can switch the protagonist or deploy some spies to eliminate the area alerts. This will eliminate the offensive attitude of the military patrols in it and reduce the combat readiness level of military zone guards.
Private Sales
Wealthy families tend to store resources in heavily guarded areas, which provides additional opportunities for your alliance. These resources are too large to plunder one person—even Miyasu can’t do it. Instead, they need to be marked with a flag and then smuggled out by your spies over time. During season changes, all marked inventory will be redeemed for funds so that you can upgrade your hiding place. Note that a resource reserve will take up a spy's entire quarterly time.
Spy Supplement
Once deployed, the spy will return at the end of the season and can be deployed again. However, you can always spend game currency in kakurega to speed up their return and prepare for the next deployment. Managing spies wisely makes a huge difference and you will find how powerful it is to always have allies that can serve you.
A world full of opportunities
There is a lot to explore in the open world of Assassin's Creed Shadow, from temples to castles, from hidden parkour trails to training grounds, and other secrets.
While most of the things you find can be done by Naoe or Yasuke, each character will also have its own unique activities. Naoe, for example, has a unique Nine-word Mantra meditation activity that helps her focus and reveal more about her life and backstory, while Yasuke will meet people in the world who can teach him new weapon stunts - you can unlock special tricks by performing a series of combat moves in a specific order and at the right time. Yasuke can also show his skills in various riding and shooting competitions.
For players who like to be calm, Naoe and Yasuke can participate in Japanese wildlife paintings to showcase the diversity and majesty of their ecosystems.
Of course, we want to keep some surprises to make sure your exploration of the world is memorable.
