UNVEILING THE SHADOWS: THE DAWN OF A NEW ASSASSIN'S CREED ERA

For the gaming world, one of the most immersive and thrilling games that time has brought through years is the Assassin’s Creed series. With every new addition, it brings back old stories that introduced fans to exotic epochs, walked them through cities that have stood the test of time and wove a new-age tapestry out of a blend of history and fiction. And on the cusp of the next generation of gaming, out of this tapestry is birth ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ – a collection of untold tales and unmapped lands. Everything we know till now about what could prove to be the turning point in the Assassin’s Creed saga is here.

WHAT IS ASSASSIN'S CREED SHADOWS?

Latest in a long-running franchise of open-world RPGs, but the first foray in Japan, Assassin’s Creed Shadows takes players to the most rife and entrenched mystery in human folklore, where the archetype for the ninja was born. Set for release on 15 November 2024 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, it will embolden the frontiers of the widely known series under the influence of current-gen consoles.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE SHADOWS: THE TRAILERS

‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’, which was announced at the end of December 2014, has since released two trailers. In these cinematic pieces, spectators are introduced to the dual protagonists Naoe and Yasuke, and are given hints at the visual and theme direction of the game.

THE HEART OF FEUDAL JAPAN: STORY AND SETTING

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, roleplayers assume the personas of Naoe, a shinobi Assassin, and Yasuke – a historical African samurai and bodyguard to Japan’s ninth shogun, Oda Nobunaga – during Sengoku (Warring States) Japan, the late 1500s. The period provides a fertile historical backdrop to the story and a visually stunning film noir-style setting for the player to navigate.

EVOLVING GAMEPLAY IN THE SHADOWS

Beyond the specifics of gameplay, Ubisoft has openly embraced the continuing development of open-world RPG elements: ‘Everything’s reactive to you. There are new ways of interacting with the world.’ Given that an important tenet of the series is its stealth, it shouldn’t be surprising that it serves as a guiding principle to which every other element adapts: ‘We are really focusing on stealth … We don’t want to forget about tradition, but at the same time we want to propose something new.’

THE CRAFTSMEN BEHIND THE SHADOWS

With Ubisoft Quebec at the helm, which has worked on several of the Assassin’s Creed games, Assassin’s Creed Shadows stands to set studio standards for the series, as it’s an open-world RPG that, with so much ways to weave both story and gameplay, is set to push the series in new directions.

LOOKING TOWARDS THE HORIZON: WHAT’S NEXT?

The future of open-world RPGs has never looked brighter than it does right now, with Assassin’s Creed Shadows, not only reveals new depths to the franchise but it sets the stage for a new standard for what players can expect from the genre. With each passing day and with every scrap of news that leaks out from the shadows, the game still gets more and more exciting to look forward to.

DIVING DEEPER INTO OPEN

In the parlance of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, ‘open’ simply refers to the scale of the game world, to the invitation it offers to get lost. ‘Adventure, entertainment, fun,’ laughs Pavlou, half-defending the genre’s most absurd conceits. ‘It’s a playground, a world you can explore because it’s all been created for you. It’s a place where you can leave a mark, where you have a footprint. You can stand on a rooftop in 12th-century Masyaf and breathe in the air of authenticity. You can listen to the assassin in the shadows. You can pull out your hidden blades and pretend.’ ‘Ezio: Land of Opportunity’ opens with our hero, Ezio Auditore, surviving an attack from a mysterious band of automatons Following Code Liberation, Assassin’s Creed ‘branched out’ into several different experiments with openness, with varying results, from the respectable (Assassin’s Creed: Chinese History Project) to the unremarkable (Assassin’s Creed: Discovery). But Shadows claims to go further still, by presenting players with unfettered openness through a mushrooming web of choice-laden ‘events’. According to Pavlou, the question was: ‘Can you give each player a different experience? Can you make every choice they make such that every assassin’s adventure in Assassin’s Creed feels incredibly meaningful?’

FAQs ABOUT SELLING OPEN WITH GIZMOGO

What is Gizmogo, and how can it help with "Assassin's Creed Shadows"?

Simply put, as long as you have an old computer, mobile or tablet you no longer use, you can use gizmogo – as a marketplace that allows users to put their old electronics on sale or recycle them. It won’t help you get over “Assassin’s Creed Shadows”, but it can help you get ready for the future (which involves orbital drops of suburban cities) by upgrading your setup and allowing you to play at the highest level possible with your latest gaming console.

How do I know if my device is eligible for sale on Gizmogo?

Gizmogo takes a broad variety of electronics. You can see if your device is accepted by going to their website and checking by browsing or by typing in your device model.

Can selling old electronics with Gizmogo help fund my "Assassin's Creed Shadows" purchase?

Definitely. When you sell your used or old electronics, you can make some extra cash for a new copy of Assassin’s Creed Shadows – or a new console to play it on.

Is the process of selling electronics with Gizmogo quick and efficient?

With Gizmogo, of course, one of the big benefits is that there’s absolutely no need to delay; we’re all about speed and convenience. After your gadget is inspected, you’ll be offered a price, then payment will be remitted pronto.

How can Gizmogo guarantee that the devices for sale on its website are in good […]

Gizmogo takes data privacy extremely seriously ­– before any sold phones are reprocessed, they are ensured to be data wiped, which gives you and me an assurance that our personal data is kept secure.

On the eve of the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we find ourselves at an intersection, at the intersection between a sense of anticipation, novelty, and the rich tradition of narrativisation embodied by Assassin’s Creed since its beginning. We find ourselves, that is, in a place that marks the culmination and the prelude, where brand legacy takes a back seat to experiences unmoored from the limits of history and the imagination.