Assassin's Creed Shadows is far from being the only entry in the series to offer multiple playable characters, but the differences between the characters have never been as big as they are in Shadows. Naoe and Yasuke are very different characters who excel at very different things, and their unique abilities determine how you should approach the many challenges the game offers.
In many ways, Naoe embodies the traditional Assassin's Creed series playstyle. Extremely agile, the shinobi from Iga is the fastest playable character, can climb on buildings and mountains with ease thanks to the grappling hook only she can use, and has every tool you may need to infiltrate enemy strongholds and remain in the shadows undetected, such as kunai for long range kills, and smoke bombs to conceal her presence. If it comes to a fight, Naoe can hold her own reasonably well but requires perfect play due to her low health, which makes her almost always a few steps away from death, especially at Expert difficulty.
On the other hand, the second Assassin's Creed Shadows protagonist, Yasuke, is extremely good in combat. Not only does he have tons of health that allow you to make some mistakes and still survive, but he also has a lot of great combat options with amazing weapon variety - three melee and two ranged options - and plenty of Adrenaline right from the get-go that makes it easier for him to use skills. By advancing on the dedicated skill tree of each weapon type, Yasuke can become a killing machine that can even fight multiple enemies at once with extreme ease, especially with a naginata equipped. All this combat power, however, comes at a cost. Yasuke is not only much slower than Naoe but is also far less agile, meaning that using parkour is almost always not an option for him. He is meant to face enemies head-on, fully embodying the direct combat playstyle that was much the focus in Asssassin's Creed Valhalla, although he can still be stealthy by taking enemies from afar with the bow.
With the two Assassin's Creed Shadows main characters featuring very different playstyles, which of the two is the better character to play the vast majority of the time? The answer to this question depends on how you want to approach the game. Playing as Naoe will allow you to play the game as if it were any of the classic Assassin's Creed games which placed great emphasis on stealth gameplay and killing enemies undetected. The vast majority of main quest missions have been designed to allow you to take full advantage of Naoe's superior parkour, making a stealth approach extremely satisfying most of the time. At the same time, given Naoe's low health, you will be forced to play slowly to avoid making mistakes, getting discovered, and then forced into an all-out battle which Naoe may have trouble surviving. Yasuke, on the other hand, can literally barge into enemy strongholds from the front entrance, take on every enemy that confronts him, and easily survive the vast majority of fights. This approach is also the fastest to clear enemy camps and strongholds, which also means you will be able to get your hands on powerful Legendary equipment more quickly using him.
No matter who you choose, every quest in Assassin's Creed Shadows can be completed without too much trouble at the normal difficulty settings, so don't agonize too much over which character is the best to use. Get acquainted with both of them and pick the one you have the most fun with, with the knowledge that, at times, you will be forced to use the other in specific quests.
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