We first got wind of a potential Assassin's Creed Shadows Nintendo Switch 2 port back in April, when the PEGI rating for the game included the console as a supported platform. Everyone pretty much knew it was sealed after that, but Ubisoft refused to comment - until now. The gaming company announced recently that Assassin's Creed Shadows will officially arrive on Nintendo Switch 2 on December 2, giving it a nice pre-holiday launch date. Given how well Ghost of Yotei has been doing on PC, it comes at a good time for both Ubisoft and Nintendo to boost sales in the stealth RPG genre.
This instalment in the hugely popular Assassin's Creed series was released in March on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, to generally good reviews. In the game, you control female shinobi Fujibayashi Naoe, and, in a new feature for the series, you can later switch between her and Yasuke, a character based on a real person, who was largely rumored to be the first black Samurai warrior. Though the more annoying gamers out there have picked fights with Ubisoft over the decision to make both protagonists people of color, as well as one being a woman, it's really nice to see some different stories finally being told in this franchise.
Naoe and Yasuke each have their strengths - because Naoe is a ninja, she excels at climbing walls and can often prove useful in the stealth aspects of the game, while Yasuke's large form and increased health help you out in a battle. This way of marrying the action and stealth aspects of the game mirrors the genre shift we've seen in the AC games since Assassin's Creed: Origins.
Aside from the switching protagonists, there are a number of other new gameplay features, with crawling, breathing in shallow water, and 'observe' mode, a toggle that allows you to gain information quickly. Additionally, as the game name might hint at, shadows are important - Naoe is completely invisible to enemies if she hides in one. Each of the characters has their own selection of weapons, with three available to Naoe and five to Yasuke.
And of course, there are still aspects lifted from the modern AC format you've come to know and love. Naoe has 'Eagle Vision' just like the protagonists of the previous AC games, and Shadows boasts a similarly sized open-world map to Origins. The map size mercifully cuts the bloating we began to see that culminated in the slight disaster that was AC: Valhalla's five whole separate maps.
Provided all is well with performance, Assassin's Creed: Shadows is a great port to see out of Nintendo and Ubisoft as they look to fight back against the Ghost of Yotei hype, though PC gamers still generally prefer the latter. However, here at Pocket Tactics, it's the handheld gamers we care about, and it's a really great development for us, as we're seeing the Switch 2 consistently deliver us more ambitious titles as time goes on. Maybe the 'Ghost of' series will eventually make its way to Switch 2 as well.
For more Switch gaming, check out our guides to the best Switch games. And, if you're looking for a similar game while you wait for AC: Shadows, the list of best RPGs and the best games like Skyrim can help you to scratch your open-world itch.