Assassin's Creed Shadows
アサシン クリード シャドウズ
An action RPG by Ubisoft released in 2025, set in Sengoku-period Japan. Players control the historical Black samurai Yasuke and a female shinobi named Naoe, with katana-based combat at the heart of the experience.
Description
Overview
Assassin's Creed Shadows is an open-world action RPG by Ubisoft released in 2025, the first mainline entry in the series set in Japan. It is set in the late Sengoku period (1570s–1580s) during the era of Oda Nobunaga and features two playable protagonists: the historical Black samurai Yasuke, and a fictional female shinobi named Naoe.
Katana Combat System
Yasuke's combat is designed around authentic sword concepts — iaijutsu draws, heavy overhead cuts, defensive stances, and the post-strike zanshin pause. Multiple weapon classes (tachi, uchigatana, naginata) each have distinct reach, weight, and moveset, asking players to adapt their approach. It represents the series' most serious engagement with Japanese sword mechanics.
Historical Recreation
The game world meticulously recreates Sengoku-period architecture, castle towns, tea houses, and rural Japan. The art team's research into period-correct buildings, clothing, and material culture was widely praised. The game also renewed debate about the historical interpretation of Yasuke's samurai status.
Cultural Impact
Shipment numbers for Shadows broke series records in several markets. The game has been credited with sparking new international interest in Japanese swords, iaido, and Sengoku history, making it one of the most impactful recent examples of game-driven cultural transmission.
Real Swords Featured
Tenshō-Era Uchigatana (Mino Tradition)
During the Tenshō era depicted in Shadows, the uchigatana worn edge-up at the waist had become universal samurai equipment. The Mino school of swordsmiths (Gifu Prefecture), known for practical, mass-producible blades with excellent cutting geometry, supplied much of the Sengoku military demand. Their work represents the transition from individual artisanal sword production to the high-volume military procurement that defined the era.
Heshikiri Hasebe (National Treasure, Nobunaga's Sword)
Among Oda Nobunaga's famous swords, Heshikiri Hasebe — forged by Muromachi-period smith Hasebe Kunishige — is the most celebrated. Its name derives from a story of Nobunaga cutting down a man hiding under a stove. Now a National Treasure at Fukuoka City Museum, it is the defining material link between Yasuke's master Nobunaga and the world of Japanese swords that Assassin's Creed Shadows inhabits.
See authentic Japanese swords
Related Content
This page is intended to introduce Japanese sword culture and is not affiliated with any of the works mentioned.