Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Claws of Awaji Review – An Unremarkable Expansion

Assassin's Creed Shadows is hardly going to be remembered as the finest entry in the series or the best open-world game set in Feudal Japan, but the good the game does definitely outweighs the bad, making for an enjoyable experience whose real fault lies in the series' now trademark content bloat and the by-the-book open-world ARPG experience rather than in the bad execution of any of its features.

Coming only a few months after the base game, no one should have expected the Assassin's Creed Shadows: Claws of Awaji expansion to address any of the issues of the base game, and it doesn't, indeed. If anything, it makes abundantly clear how the quantity over quality approach behind the series is what is holding it back the most, as the good the expansion does is heavily diluted by quest and world design aimed at expanding the total playtime without actually offering anything interesting.

Assassin's Creed Shadows: Claws of Awaji is an endgame expansion and, as such, can only be accessed after the main story and the personal quests of Naoe, Yasuke and Junjiro have been completed. There's a story justification for this, as the expansion is centered around the recovery of the last regalia on Awaji Island and a brief war against Kimura Yukari, the daughter of the Templar Kimura Kei whom Yasuke already dealt with. After a short first quest that does an excellent job introducing the current state of Awaji Island in a believable Japanese way, Naoe and Yasuke travel to the island to save Naoe's mother, Tsuyu, recover the regalia, and put an end to yet another Templar in Japan.

Being around 5 hours long, the Assassin's Creed Shadows: Claws of Awaji story isn't particularly deep, but it's entertaining enough with some high points at the beginning and the end. The new characters around which the main quest is centered aren't well developed and fall in line with everything seen in the base game. Some are despicable individuals, no matter the angle; others fall more into a grey moral area where they are duty and honor-bound to serve the Templar lady, but none of their motivations are fully explored, making them nothing more than a device to move the story toward its conclusion. To be honest, no character or event in the expansion is bad to the point of being offensive, but they are so unremarkable that I would be surprised if anyone remembered much a few hours after completing the story.

In my opinion, unremarkable is also the most apt description of Awaji Island and everything in it. Thanks to the technical improvements introduced in the Anvil Engine, Assassin's Creed Shadows stands as one beautiful open-world game with some standout locations, but the new island is definitely not going to be among them, as there is nothing in it that truly stands apart, as the entire new map, which is also rather small, seems to be some sort of rearranging of visual elements lifted from the base game. The actual design of the map also leaves something to be desired, as it is very predictable and features some areas in different parts that are almost identical. Also, at launch, Awaji Island is not as polished as the base game was, as I have encountered a good number of visual glitches that were hard to miss, including a glitch in the wind system which made leaves on the ground scatter as if there was an explosion beneath them. Nothing truly gamebreaking, but their frequency was definitely immersion breaking.

With an unremarkable story and map, it should be no surprise that Assassin's Creed Shadows: Claws of Awaji disappoints even in terms of content. This is where it's clear how going for quality over quantity may have helped a lot, as the best additions to the experience are really well done, such as the new Bo weapon for Naoe. This versatile weapon comes with tons of pretty useful skills, including one that can heal her with timed button presses, and a stance system that makes Naoe much better at fighting enemies head-on with options to push back, stagger, and knock down enemies. Yasuke, on the other hand, doesn't get any new weapon, but new skills for all of his weapon types that work quite well against a group of enemies, making them a welcome addition. Though not a gameplay addition, the entire questline focused on Nowaki, one of the central figures in the Sanzoku Ippa faction that dominates the island, is the highlight of the expansion, ending with a stealth-focused boss battle that reminded me of the boss fight against The End in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Unfortunately, the above are the only highlights of the Assassin's Creed Shadows: Claws of Awaji expansion. The rest of the content is recycled from the base game, with a mix of stealth and combat-focused quests that do nothing different. In some instances, this recycled content is even worse than the base game's content due to design decisions clearly motivated by the intent to extend playtime. Many quests, for example, begin at one of the ends of the island and continue to the opposite end. Without a fast travel point, the journey can take a few minutes which are as unremarkable as most of the time in the expansion, as the island's design is nothing to write home about, as already mentioned, the side activities are either the same seen in the base game, like drawing Sumi-e for Junjiro and the Kuji-kiri meditation points or strongholds and camps to clear, or slightly altered versions that don't add much. The decision to make the Sanzoku Ippa a very aggressive faction that is constantly on the hunt for Naoe and Yasuke is a nice touch that adds a bit of tension to potentially dull traversal, but at times, they are so aggressive that constantly getting sniped by a rifleman hidden in a bush, or falling into traps, becomes old fast, considering it is still very easy to get away from the assaulters with no consequences.

The hunt for Tomeji's most trusted companions is another great example of the content bloat in the expansion. Although it is optional, going after these men is somewhat required to make the fight against Kimura Yukari's strongest warrior more manageable, but doing so doesn't add much to the experience, as, with some exceptions, they are regular enemies with more health and armor. When you spend more time looking for these targets rather than actually fighting them, it's clear that there's an issue.

Ultimately, the Assassin's Creed Shadows: Claws of Awaji isn't a bad expansion, and those who loved the base game will probably find plenty to like in it if they are not tired of the formula. The main issue is that almost everything, from story and characters to map design, quest design, and optional content, is unremarkable and doesn't add anything new to the experience, with the exception of the new Bo weapon and the Nowaki questline, which are great, high-quality additions that definitely deserved better to shine even more.

PC version tested. Review code provided by the publisher.

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