Highlights

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows, set in 1579 Japan, is set to offer fans a deep dive into a crucial time in the country's history.
  • However, the legacy of Ezio Auditore should also be honored in Shadows, with references and tributes to the iconic Assassin.
  • The game's spot in the timeline means that Ezio's entire journey will have come to an end, and collectibles that reference his teachings as well as statues or other tributes in the Assassin hideout should be included.

Assassin's Creed Shadows rocked the franchise's community with its worldwide reveal on May 15, letting fans know exactly what they are in for when the game launches on November 15. Under its working title of Assassin's Creed Red, it was known that the project would be set at some point during Feudal Japan, but the reveal shed light on exactly where the title will fit in the franchise's long-spanning timeline.

The reveal confirmed that Assassin's Creed Shadows will be set in the year 1579, during a time of intense political challenge and conflict within Japan. While this will offer a fascinating insight into the people, locations, and traditions of such a defining moment in Japan's history, the setting will hopefully allow Shadows to make references to past releases from the franchise. In particular, the legendary assassin Ezio Auditore will have already been considered as a defining figure of the Brotherhood during this time, and Shadows should pay a massive tribute to the iconic figure.

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Assassin's Creed Shadows Will Directly Carry On the Legacy of Ezio Auditore

It is clear why Assassin's Creed Shadows has chosen 1579 as its timeline setting, with the late Sengoku period marking some of the most influential cultural and political events of the country's history. This time period was typified by civil war in Japan and a forced attempt at complete political unification, making for a shady landscape of power and influence that is often at the center of Assassin's Creed narratives.

The setting of Assassin's Creed Shadows is only 21 years prior to the events of FX's recent successful show, Shogun, showing just how influential this era of Japan's history is on different forms of media to this day. While this will allow Shadows to tell its own solitary story, the title cannot overlook just how important its setting is when placed in the wider timeline of Assassin's Creed as a whole.

Ezio Auditore is arguably the most iconic and recognizable character in all of Assassin's Creed, being the core protagonist of three of the franchise's most well-received games. Fans followed the story of Ezio from the moment of his birth to his rapid rise through the Assassin Brotherhood and, eventually, his death. As portrayed in the short animated film Assassin's Creed Embers, Ezio passed away through old age in the year 1524.

This means that Assassin's Creed Shadows takes place only 55 years after Ezio's death, and the enormous impact that he had on the Assassin Brotherhood around the globe should be clearly stated in the upcoming Shadows. It is true that Japan was a fairly isolated nation on the global stage in the 1500s, only making real external European contact with Portugal, but Shadows makes it clear that the creed of the Assassin Brotherhood is already firmly entrenched in the country during this time.

It is only logical to assume that the feats and teachings of Ezio as a Master Assassin would have been at the forefront of the Assassins around the globe in this era, and Shadows should frequently name-drop the famous face at the very least to reinforce this. Collectibles and ability discoveries relating to Ezio could also make appearances in Assassin's Creed Shadows, serving as a great callback to older fans while showing just how influential Ezio was to newcomers to the IP. While it is important that Assassin's Creed Shadows tells its own story above all else, the game is in a unique position to carry forward the legacy of Ezio after so many years, with tributes to the assassin seeming like the most logical way to go about this.