Assassin’s Creed Shadows Took Syndicate’s Most Wasted Feature, Made It 100X Better

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Assassin’s Creed Shadows Took Syndicate’s Most Wasted Feature, Made It 100X Better

Dual protagonists in video games like Assassin’s Creed are like pineapple on pizza, a bold choice that can either be surprisingly brilliant or leave a strange taste in your mouth. The series has always been built around the idea of becoming one specific type of character: hooded, stealthy, stabby.

Splitting that identity between two people is a risky business. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate gave it a shot with the Frye twins, and while their banter and British flair were fun, their gameplay wasn’t distinct enough to justify the dual setup.

But now, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has taken that same feature, thrown it in a feudal Japanese blender, and come out with something totally fresh. And somehow, it works better than it has any right to.

Why Assassin’s Creed Shadows succeeded where Syndicate stumbled

Ubisoft has flirted with the idea of dual protagonists before, but Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the first time the idea feels fully realized. It took the idea and gave it meaning, depth, and gameplay that demands you pay attention to who you’re controlling.

It’s not just about switching characters, it’s switching your mindset. Back in Syndicate, Jacob and Evie Frye were a likable duo. But gameplay-wise, they were essentially copy-paste assassins with a few minor tweaks.

Jacob leaned a bit more into brawling, Evie into stealth, but you could still approach most missions the same way with either. The biggest difference? Dialogue and personality, not playstyle. However, Shadows‘ Yasuke and Naoe couldn’t be more different.

Yasuke is a walking earthquake. A former African samurai wielding heavy weapons and covered in full armor, he’s built for raw, head-on combat. Forget hiding in bushes, he walks through the front door and takes on five guards at once. He’s a force of nature, a power fantasy in motion.

Then there’s Naoe, the polar opposite. A lithe, quick-moving shinobi trained in the art of stealth, deception, and precision. She has all the classic ninja tools you could ask for: grappling hook, shuriken, and silent takedowns. She’s a ghost, a shadow on the rooftop, the embodiment of the series’ original roots.

Where Syndicate gave you two characters to choose from, Shadows gives you two distinct genres. One plays like an action-RPG tank—the other, like a stealth-focused infiltration sim.

The game doesn’t just let you switch between them; it encourages you to adapt your entire strategy depending on who you’re playing. That depth? That’s what Syndicate was missing.

Shadows didn’t just use two protagonists; it gave them purpose

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Shadows, you switch game modes. | Image Credit: Ubisoft

What Syndicate started, Shadows perfected it. While Syndicate wasn’t bad, it suffered from a fundamental flaw: the dual protagonists felt too similar. Sure, you could choose your favorite twin and stick with them, but it never mattered who you picked. Missions didn’t shift based on their strengths.

The game didn’t push you to rethink your approach. It was a narrative gimmick, not a gameplay revolution. Assassin’s Creed Shadows, on the other hand, doesn’t just learn from that mistake; it completely rewrites the playbook.

Yasuke and Naoe aren’t two skins on the same gameplay; they’re two fully realized playstyles that force you to think differently. One moment you’re mowing through guards like a wrecking ball; the next, you’re calculating guard patterns and leaping silently across rooftops.

What makes this even more impressive is how naturally it all fits together. The narrative supports the difference; these characters have separate backgrounds, goals, and combat philosophies, but it’s the gameplay that sells it.

For a franchise built on blending in, Shadows stands out by doing something bold, making dual protagonists actually matter. This isn’t just a glow-up. It’s a full-blown redemption arc for the idea of dual leads in Assassin’s Creed.

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