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Assassin’s Creed Shadows DLC Claws of Awaji, which launches today, kicks off with a surprise side-scrolling intro sequence that’s reminiscent of Ubisoft’s classic Prince of Persia series, themed around a Japanese puppet show.
During a hands-on gameplay session, developers who worked on Claws of Awaji at Ubisoft Bordeaux told IGN that the idea began life as a cool concept put together by a small team while the studio was between major projects, following its work on Assassin’s Creed Mirage.
When Bordeaux officially started work on Claws of Awaji, the idea resurfaced as a method to introduce the new story’s setting and characters, and was built out using inspiration from Prince of Persia, the spin-off Assassin’s Creed Chronicles series, as well as non-Ubisoft side-scrollers such as Playdead’s Inside.
While relatively basic, the side-scroller provides a smart way to quickly get players up to speed on Awaji itself, which is an island separate from the main Japanese map and only accessible with Shadows’ first major add-on. Awaji is overseen by Kimura Yukari, the DLC’s main antagonist, and it quickly becomes apparent that you are playing through a propaganda-fuelled puppet show meant to celebrate her rule.
Not only does the introduction showcase Yukari, it also provides players with their first hints at the fate of a mysterious Assassin who looks to be Naoe’s long-lost mother. Except, of course, you’re hearing about her from Yukari’s point of view — and it’s safe to say the two don’t get along. Overall, it’s a clever framing device that tells players pretty much everything they need to know about the state of Awaji before Naoe’s boots touch its shore.
Gameplay-wise, you’ll mostly be navigating simple stealth and platforming sections, as well as brief moments of combat that see Shadows’ usual systems flattened down onto a 2.5D plane. It’s a fun experiment, and I particularly liked how the sidescroller’s narration reacted to what I was doing — such as when I was spotted by enemies, or performed particularly well during combat. There are a couple of areas with branching paths, too — although the overall end-point is the same.
While much about Claws of Awaji will likely end up feeling familiar to fans who have already ploughed 100 hours into the main Assassin’s Creed Shadows game, the DLC does provide a series of stand-out original moments to keep things fresh. Another of these is its fun stealth boss fight, which IGN has all the details of. Players looking for closure on the base game’s storylines — such as the fate of Naoe’s mother and the location of that final mystery box — should also come away satisfied, Ubisoft has said.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
