PSA: You don’t desire Assassin’s Creed lore recordsdata to play Shadows

Assassin’s Creed Shadows serves as a highly commendable standalone installment in Ubisoft’s extensive franchise, presenting fewer connections to the past than any other game in recent recollection.

If it has been a while since your last Assassin’s Creed experience and you’re simply looking to explore feudal Japan for a while, you should encounter no difficulties here.

Initially, I intended to craft a lore guide for those diving into Shadows without prior knowledge of the rest of the franchise—but ultimately found there was little to actually write. Instead, let this serve as a public service announcement on how minimal knowledge of the approximately two dozen Assassin’s Creed titles currently available is needed, not to mention their related novels and the Michael Fassbender film.

If your last visit to the Assassin’s Creed world was during the era of Ezio and you’ve missed everything since, you’ll fit right in here. Shadows is set shortly after that period—it kicks off in 1579, roughly 60 years after Ezio was adventuring through Renaissance Europe.

Once again, your journey back in time is facilitated by the technology of the Animus, which delves into people’s DNA to uncover the lives of their ancestors and the paths they once traversed. In Shadows, unlike earlier titles in the series, the Animus functions merely as an app, rather than a high-tech recliner.

If you remember a contemporary character named Desmond who aimed to save the world, I’m afraid to inform you that he’s long gone. (No spoilers; that happened over a decade ago.) The more recent trilogy of Assassin’s Creed Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla featured a similar character, Layla. You won’t need to know anything about her either. The Isu? No prior knowledge required there as well. (And if you’re unaware of what an Isu is, rest assured that Shadows is still for you.)

Truly, the essential information needed for Assassin’s Creed Shadows is that the Assassins were a clandestine group that existed during this period in Europe and beyond, who harbored a strong dislike for the Templars.

While the Assassins advocate for the complex yet human value of free will, the Templars, supported by the Catholic Church, prefer to impose order upon humanity by placing someone, such as the Pope, in charge.

And that pretty much sums it up! Shadows’ main narrative revolves around the political conflicts within Japan.