Assassin’s Creed is a series that I’ve always deemed…fine. Throughout its copious installments over the years, I’ve enjoyed a few. Black Flag and Odyssey were the standouts for me, but five years ago when the sprawling, overstuffed Valhalla came out, I had to throw in the towel, thinking this just wasn’t for me anymore.

Enter Shadows. I wasn’t even sure I was going to play this game, given my distaste for Valhalla, but I booted it up to see how the ninja/samurai Assassin’s Creed game 15+ years in the making would finally work in practice.

It works extremely well. Despite a size that very much seems like it’s going to be on par with Valhalla, I cannot stop playing, and this is a game that so far has done nearly everything right. I think you could make the case it’s a top 3 entry in the series, and honestly, it could make it to the peak by the end.

I’m 35 hours in and the Assassins versus Templar stuff is entirely on the back burner, taking up probably 15 minutes so far, which I really don’t mind. Rather, this is just a game where you play as a ninja and a samurai and murder people inside what I’ve found is a surprisingly poignant and compelling storyline so far.

I have not been a fan of Assassin’s Creed’s desire to constantly rely on dual protagonists and I felt that here near the start when you first unlock Yasuke. But even though he’s an odd puzzle piece in a series (that at least used to be) about stealth, the more I play with him, the more I’m having a blast.

Naoe you’ll use for almost all map traversal, and thievery or single-target assassinations. But there’s nothing quite like crashing through the front gate of a castle and murdering three dozen enemies to hunt down five samurai leaders as Yasuke, who has the most brutal finishers in the game and a ragdoll straight kick that is genuinely hilarious in terms of how it makes enemies fly off edges or smash into walls. Similarly, Naoe’s set of weapons, including the ability to wrap enemies up in a chain and yank them around, is almost as fun, and getting into open combat with her is a needed challenge when Yasuke can sometimes be easy mode.

This is a beautiful game. I am constantly reminded of the sweeping landscapes of Ghost of Tsushima (this game in general is hugely reminiscent of that one, of course, and that was my GOTY back then). One of the most impressive aspects is a mix of its seasonal and weather systems, with spring buds, fall colors and blanketing snow, mixed with high winds and rainstorms pattering drops on my DualSense controller.

The story is excellent so far. Naoe and Yasuke are a fantastic narrative contrast with Naoe bloodthirsty after the death of her father, and Yasuke the more measured companion, at least when he’s not cutting people in half. Yasuke being in the game rather than just some other giant samurai is genuinely important to the story, as him being a black outsider in the land makes his story unique and compelling, and it’s something the narrative embraces rather than ignores. There are so few black lead protagonists in gaming period, and Yasuke here is instantly elevated to be one of the best I’ve ever seen.

Yasuke does present challenges, given that anything except open brawling is better left to Naoe, which results in area design issues that constantly plague his style. I’m also not a huge fan of the base-building aspect of Shadows which seems entirely superfluous, though my main issue with it is not its existence, but the horrible framerate within the zone that makes me never want to go there at all.

This is not a full review, as even 35 hours in (with tons of exploration and sidequesting) I feel like I’m probably only a half or a third of the way done. But unlike Valhalla, I can’t wait to play more and the size here is a positive not a detriment given how good the core of the game is. I cannot imagine attempting to review Shadows on a timed embargo, as that would be miserable. It’s totally made for taking your time and enjoying the ride. So far, I’d highly recommend it, even to Assassin’s Creed skeptics like I had become.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.