Ubisoft Details New Overhaul To Assassin's Creed Shadows Parkour System In Developer Post

We're just over a month until the global release of the next entry in the Assassin's Creed series as developer and publisher Ubisoft is gearing up for the launch of launch of the action RPG Assassin's Creed Shadows. This next entry transports players to feudal Japan during the "late Sengoku period" as they explore the stunning new location and the "intertwined stories" of dual protagonists Naoe and Yasuke.

Ahead of its multiplatform release, Ubisoft recently published a Developer Post, which revealed new changes made to the game's parkour system as detailed by Associate Director Simon Lemay-Comtois. These new changes and improvements are aimed at enhancing the parkour system, which includes "new animations, prone movement, and a physics-based grappling hook," while some refinements to present mechanics were also discussed.

One of the new "refinements" made to existing parkour mechanics is tweaks to the control scheme, which saw "the crouch and the dodge button" trading positions. "In Shadows, dodge has been merged with parkour down mechanics, which unlocks a whole bunch of new parkour moves," which he further elaborated that this slight yet important change "also disconnects stance-switch (e.g., standing, crouching, prone) from parkour, ensuring you can use any stances without accidentally going down a rooftop when you don't want to."

Lemay-Comtois then briefly discussed the "parkour essentials" for Shadows as now "holding the parkour up button while moving" allows either Naoe or Yasuke to move upwards to summit "the highest / furthest point" either by running upwards, jumping or leaping across platforms and beams. It's important to note that Naoe or Yasuke have distinct parkour movements, which players should remember to better strategize in specific scenarios.

If "holding the parkour up button while moving" lets players move up to reach the highest point, holding the dodge or "parkour the down button" triggers a recovery roll to make a safe landing "from great heights" for Naoe. For Yasuke, this button lets them "transition into parkour down traversal" for more "heavier drops," producing less noise for a more stealth-like approach.

Similarly, holding the "parkour down button" when in close proximity to a ledge without pressing a directional button will allow their character to "climb down and hold that ledge in a climbing position." However, a directional input near the ledge lets them perform "a variety of acrobatic transitions," which is a more "flashier way" to parkour their way downwards.

There were also changes to the sprinting mechanics detailed in the aforementioned post, including performing a sprint dodge as Naoe when holding the dodge button while in a sprinting action, which can trigger "an extended dive-roll" to clear any obstructions. Naoe and Yasuke can also perform unique movements called Automated Passovers, which allows Naoe to clear smaller obstructions without inputs while Yasuke can "shoulder bash" through destructible objects.

In addition to these changes, both characters can transition between stances while sprinting, which transitioning into a crouching stance will perform a knee slide back to a crouching stance. Likewise, moving into a prone position while sprinting lets these characters perform a diving action while prone, but be aware that sprinting may force them out of "crouch and prone into a standing stance."

The Grappling Hook will also benefit from these new changes, which see improvements made for vertical ascent and hook swing while using this weapon to wall run when a hook is attached to a ledge. Lastly, some improvements for advanced parkour moves, including directional dodging while in a stance, performing a wall run eject while climbing, a backward dodge when "tapping the parkour down" button and hanging off ledges, and tweaks to "unclimbable surfaces."