Romance Is Returning to Assassin's Creed With Shadows

A developer on Assassin's Creed Shadows has confirmed that the next entry to the gaming series will feature romance options for its dual protagonists - Naoe and Yasuke - returning love to the air after romances were absent from the franchise's most recent game, Assassin's Creed Mirage. In an interview with YouTuber JorRaptor, Shadows' associate narrative developer Brook Davies shares that the romance mechanic will make its return, as well as revealing some light details regarding what this mechanic will look like in this particular Assassin's Creed iteration.

"I think something that's unique in Shadows is we're going to have some more developed relationships," Davies states in the interview. "A chance to really get close to people, get to know people, all sorts of different relationships for Naoe and Yasuke to explore. So it's not like a dating simulator. We do have really more serious relationships, a long-term relationship, to develop."

While the relationships are said to be more serious, that doesn't mean they have to be heavy one hundred percent of the time. Davies also notes in the interview that Shadows will have some "lighter romances as well," which may indicate some short-lived connections for its protagonists, so players may be able to safely anticipate a fling/one night stand or two in the game. Davies continues to state that players "get to know some of these people quite well and pursue something," which makes it sound likely that we'll see these relationships develop through quest lines and branching arcs. JorRaptor accurately compares the details Davies shared to Assassin's Creed Odyssey's romances, noting that the game contained relationships that Alexios or Kassandra could progress a romantic opportunity with Kyra over multiple quests and branching storylines.

Outside of the romantic aspects in Shadows , it sounds like the game will also allow players to get to know side characters a bit more in-depth than previous Assassin's Creed entries, giving them the chance to fully appreciate the world in which the game's narrative will unfold, as they will be able to connect with NPCs in what seems to be more meaningful ways than previous games in the series.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is set to release November 15th on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Ubisoft +, Amazon Luna, iPad, Macs with Apple Silicon, as well as Windows PC through the Ubisoft Store and the Epic Games Store and is available for pre-order now.