I'm done with Assassin's Creed Shadows.. | Asmongold TV

Asmongold is done with Assassin's Creed Shadows, but not because he thinks it's a disaster. After hours of playtime, he lands on a score of six or seven out of ten—a "lukewarm game" that is neither amazing nor awful. His central argument is that the game invests heavily in things that don't ultimately matter to the player experience—gorgeous graphics, detailed world-building, and ambient NPC behavior—while its core gameplay loop remains flat and repetitive from the first hour to the last.

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Asmongold begins by establishing an important caveat: he has never played an Assassin's Creed game before. This makes his perspective that of a casual newcomer, not a franchise veteran with nostalgia or fatigue. He argues that if even he—someone who just likes playing video games to relax—finds the experience "mid," then hardcore fans are likely to rate it even lower.

The game's strengths, he concedes, are real but superficial. "I think it does a very good job with the graphics and the level design," he says, calling the visuals "state of the art." He also praises the world-building, noting that NPCs in towns roam around and have conversations, making the setting feel alive. But this, he says, is the game being excellent at "things that don't matter very well."

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