Playing Assassin's Creed in Japan has been a request from fans of the series for a long time. And this time it's the right game, as Assassin's Creed Shadows plunges us into the heart of feudal Japan in the 16th century. With this interesting deck, it's time to take stock of everything we know about the Assassin's Creed Shadows map.
How big is the Assassin's Creed Shadows map?
Ubisoft has confirmed that the Assassin's Creed Shadows map will be different from the Valhalla and Odyssey episodes, which provided huge maps. Simon Lemay-Comtois, associate game director, confirmed that the Assassin's Creed Origins map will not follow this trend and will instead be close to Assassin's Creed Origins in size.
The goal is to create a map that is less gigantic, but more diverse and fun to navigate, a true immersion into feudal Japan. While the map size of Assassin's Creed Shadows should be around 80 square kilometers while we were around 142 square kilometers in Assassin's Creed Valhalla and more than 200 square kilometers in Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
The size of Assassin's Creed maps is a topic that comes up with the release of each new part of the series, and many fans are demanding that the maps be smaller, but more interesting to navigate. With Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft is returning to something more targeted.
Pictures of the full Assassin's Creed Shadows map
Ubisoft has officially revealed images of the map within the Collector's Edition of Assassin's Creed Shadows, which is sold with a map of the world, its nine regions, and points of interest such as castles, waterfalls, and other traditional Sumi villages.
The full map was revealed by user ACV_R on Reddit and shows the extent of the game, which appears to extend from Takeda Castle in the west to Nabari in the east.
What areas to explore in Assassin's Creed Shadows?
The Assassin's Creed Shadows map is divided into nine regions based on the real historical prefectures of Japan. This includes Iga (home of the shinobi), Arima (site of a major battle), and Omi (agricultural area).
Overall, the game's map revolves around Kansai Prefecture, a region steeped in history and cultural significance that was once home to powerful feudal daimyō. Here is a list of the nine areas in Assassin's Creed Shadows.
- Harima
- Ega
- Kiy
- Omi
- Setsu
- Tampa
- Yamashiro
- Yamato
- Wakasa
The large body of water in the middle of the map is Lake Biwa, located northeast of the former imperial capital of Kyoto. It is the largest freshwater lake in Japan and the third oldest lake in the world after Lake Baikal (Russia) and Lake Tanganyika (Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia).
Since the game will travel to Kansai, this means that the two most famous cities at the time were Kyoto and Osaka. Fukuchiyama has already been revealed in several stages of gameplay. Also note that in the map image there are two eastern regions that are not very clear and not detailed, Ise and Shima. Ubisoft could make it available in one of two future expansions planned for the game.
What are the biomes of the Assassin's Creed Shadows map?
The Assassin's Creed Shadows map will be large and diverse enough to offer a range of different environments. Since the game is set in a prosperous era, it allows for a wide range of locations such as towns, trading posts, farmlands and massive castles to be depicted at a scale approaching 1:1.
But of course, Japan is also a land where nature takes up a lot of space. Thus, the ring of shadows will give pride of place to the country's southern mountains and dense forests. It will also be possible to discover the beaches in the north and all of this will be interspersed with monuments, temples and other small villages.
Weather will also play an important role in Ubisoft's new game as it will not only change the landscape, but will also affect gameplay. The winter plains will give way to flowers and plants in the spring, which will allow, for example, to hide in shrubs and tall grass. The water also freezes in winter, allowing swimming pools and ponds to enter. Icicles form on the edges of roofs and can fall, which may reveal the location.
As a reminder, Assassin's Creed Shadows takes place in the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japanese history with the story beginning in 1579 and continuing until the early 1580s. The game will allow you to play as one of two heroes with the ability to switch from each other during the campaign.
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