Highlights

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows takes players to feudal Japan's late Sengoku era, a time of political chaos and unrest.
  • Shadows closely mirrors FX's Shogun, featuring events and narratives that are referenced in the TV Show.
  • AC Shadows' Yasuke and Shogun's John Blackthorne are also comparable.

Assassin's Creed Shadows finally got a full reveal on May 15, with fans now having a fairly solid overview of what they can expect from the title. The early promotional material for the game, along with its original codename of Assassin's Creed Red, made it clear that the project was going to be set in Japan, but fans now have an exact idea of what era of Japan's history will be at the forefront of its narrative.

The recent reveal for Assassin's Creed Shadows confirmed that the release will be set within the late Sengoku era of feudal Japan, with this being a time of great political change and nationwide unrest for the country. Interestingly, this time setting is a very close match to the events of another piece of Japan-related media, with FX's massively popular TV show Shogun covering a lot of the same historical events that will be relevant to the upcoming Shadows.

Assassin's Creed Shadows' Naoe standing in front of a hideout
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Assassin's Creed Shadows Shares Many Similarities with FX's Shogun

The recent reveal of Assassin's Creed Shadows made sure to feature a lot of details concerning the setting of the game, making it clear to players what the political landscape of Japan looked like during the events of the title. It was confirmed that Shadows is set in the year 1579, which was a time of intense civil war in which a new ruling class attempted to unify Japan through force and brutality.

Much of this conflict revolved around the question of who should be seated as the shogun of Japan, which was a title reserved for a militaristic ruler with great power during the Sengoku period in which Shadows is set. As the name suggests, this is also a major driving force in the narrative of FX's Shogun, which is based off of James Clavell's 1975 historical novel of the same name.

Shogun is set in the year 1600, 21 years after the events of Shadows, and the show deals with the political fallout that was caused by the collapse of the unification that occurred during the events of Assassin's Creed Shadows. This extremely close timeline overlap between Shogun and Shadows shows how conducive this era of Japanese history is to compelling narratives, and the similarities between both mediums are clear to see.

Shogun and Assassin's Creed Shadows' Settings and Protagonists Are in the Same Boat

For example, the reveal for Shadows showed the influence of Portuguese traders and missionaries within Japan at the time, with the Portuguese being the first Europeans to make diplomatic relations with Japan. While this led to a lot of religious and cultural clashes, as shown in Shogun, the Portuguese introduced weaponry like long guns and cannons which are also present in both franchises.

Of course, Shogun and Shadows both feature foreign characters based off of real life figures in their protagonist roles, with Shogun's John Blackthorne and Shadows' Yasuke both gaining Japanese titles from their respective lords. The similarities between Shogun and Shadows are already very apparent, and the massive success of the FX show bodes well for the narrative and setting of Assassin's Creed's upcoming release.