The more I play Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the more I enjoy the nuanced relationship between Yasuke, the Samurai, and Naoe, the Shinobi. They’re such well-established characters that I don’t think the game is steering them toward a romantic relationship, but honestly, I want to ship them.
(Spoiler Warning for the game's first few hours.)
Both characters are fascinating in their own ways. Naoe is still grieving her father’s death and is on a relentless path of vengeance. Yasuke, on the other hand, owes much of his life to Oda Nobunaga. Their story truly unfolds after the end of Act 1, where an unlikely bond begins to form between them.
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+ 3As a foreign Samurai in Japan, Yasuke is an outlier in the annals of history. He was the first of his kind to attain Samurai status, and being with Naoe and her band of pseudo-Hidden Ones gives him a sense of belonging. Just a group of outsiders trying to make sense of Japan’s endless warring back then. Despite their differing worldviews, they feel like equals, united against a common foe.
There are moments in the game, particularly in the Hideout, where Naoe and Yasuke interact through bite-sized side missions that let them talk and breathe. In one scene, they drink sake together and wake up hungover—Naoe stuck on the roof, Yasuke passed out in a wheelbarrow.
click to enlarge + 3Moments like these make me appreciate Assassin’s Creed Shadows even more. The two characters complement each other perfectly.
The duo is inseparable throughout the game’s lengthy campaign (I’m currently at the 25-hour mark). Every main and side quest features both characters together, regardless of which one you choose to play as. Their differing perspectives are evident in cutscenes, yet they always find common ground in their fight against the game’s antagonists, the Shinbakufu.
click to enlarge + 3I’m curious to see where their relationship will go next. According to history, Yasuke will eventually be captured in his quest for revenge after Nobunaga’s assassination. Naoe, on the other hand, is a blank slate—technically fictional—which makes me hopeful that both characters will find a way to reunite after these events.
I’m still far from Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ credits (which reportedly run for two hours), but their on-screen relationship is by far the best thing Ubisoft has ever done in a dual-protagonist story. It surpasses what they attempted with Syndicate’s Evie and Jacob Frye—and is undoubtedly better than Kassandra and Alexios.
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