Ubisoft’s last big free update for Assassin’s Creed Shadows is out now and gives the game a better ending, adds some new connective tissue to the larger franchise, and even includes some nods toward what’s next. While I’m sad to say goodbye to Naoe and Yasuke, I’m happy they got to go out with a proper farewell.
On June 16, Ubisoft released Assassin’s Creed Shadows update 1.1.11, aka Black Tides, which the company says is the game’s last update and which adds a whole new epilogue questline for the game’s two protagonists involving Templars, Assassins, Isu artifacts, and even a connection to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and the upcoming Black Flag Resynced. I played through the new questline, which took about three hours, and had a blast. As a big Assassin’s Creed fan who loves the sci-fi elements of the series and the Templar vs Assassins conflict, the new ending added to Black Tides feels like the real ending that Shadows always deserved.
No major spoilers below, as I think Assassin’s Creed sickos are going to want to experience Naoe and Yasuke’s new epilogue without having all the secrets spilled, but I’ll confirm what Ubisoft already has publicly: Black Tides introduces two new Templar characters who are part of the Black Cross, an elite division within the shadowy group that has only been referenced in the books and comics. Having the Black Cross show up here reinforces how much Naoe and Yasuke have screwed up the Templars’ plans and also teases that perhaps something very important resides in Japan. Something the Templars want. And if you are a big fan of Black Flag, you might recognize an item that appears during the questline…
It was nice to have the Templars back in a big way. Yes, Shadows already featured some Templar characters and connections to the group’s role in the larger franchise, a part that has been mostly ignored in most of the recent games, but here in Black Tides, the group is given a proper amount of screen time. And it rocks. It turns out that having dastardly villains who are both ruthless and one step ahead helps give a story stakes and makes everything more interesting. Who could have guessed?!
Once you wrap up Dark Tides, you can tinker around with a new Modern Day Rift added to Shadows, and it connects directly to Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, which launches in July. I liked this passing of the torch. The update does a good job of connecting these two very different games using the metanarrative structure of the series and the Animus. But once you’re done, a pop-up appears explaining that the Rift you just experienced featured Edward Kennway, and if you want to learn more about him, well, good news folks: You can pre-order Black Flag Resynced right now. Bleh. A sour note to end such a cool bit of fan service on.
Ignoring the pop-up ad, Black Tides provides Naoe and Yasuke with a fantastic and very Assassin’s Creed-y ending. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the original ending. But this one really shows how much the two care for each other and how far they are willing to go to protect Japan, and it includes some silly Assassin’s Creed sci-fi nonsense, too. I can’t ask for more.
