Assassin’s Creed Shadows Will Finally Wrap Up 2 Key Storylines in its Claws of Awaji Expansion, Even if Yasuke is Now Taking on a ‘Support Role’

No one can accuse Assassin’s Creed Shadows of being a short game, or lacking more reasons to stick around after its main campaign wraps up. Ubisoft itself recommends you set aside 60 hours to reach its end credits, which eventually roll after you complete missions meant to cap off the personal journeys of its dual protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke. Six months after launch, my save file is now north of 100 hours, as I continue to explore further untouched corners of its map.

All of that said, Shadows’ story still feels incomplete. When those credits eventually do roll, several key story threads remain unresolved, such as the location and true status of Naoe’s monther, as well as the last of three mysterious boxes — the hunt for which drives much of the game’s plot. Yasuke, meanwhile, declares his mission to hunt down Templars is only just beginning.

It’s something of an odd note for a finale — but then, with the 10-hour Claws of Awaji expansion set to continue the story (and release free for those who pre-ordered Shadows, as an apology for the game’s delay), it’s clear that Shadows’ end wasn’t really the finale of its story at all. Assassin’s Creed games have long had DLC to continue the adventures of its heroes, but never before has an expansion been so closely tied to the story of its base game, something which should make Claws of Awaji feel more essential, while also upping the pressure on its makers to ensure it delivers.

Claws of Awaji is the work of Ubisoft Bordeaux, the team behind the enjoyable but inessential Assassin’s Creed Valhalla DLC Curse of the Druids that went on to lead the well-received Assassin’s Creed Mirage. In a recent visit to the studio, I sat down with Claws of Awaji content director Simon Arsenault to find out how his team worked closely with Shadows’ lead studio Ubisoft Quebec to continue Naoe’s story and deliver “proper closure” to fans awaiting answers at last.

“When we started, we pitched a couple of ideas,” Arsenault said. “Eventually we met with Quebec. They had thought of stuff before because they’ve been working on the project like two or three years before we jumped in. But that doesn’t mean that they wanted to realize it — it was just an idea. Everyone can have ideas — that’s kind of the easy part. You come up with an idea and then you trash it. That’s easy. But trying to kind of act on it and figure out every detail of it, that’s where the real craftsmanship is. So they had thought of stuff, but they weren’t necessarily attached to everything.

“[Ubisoft Quebec] already had some backstories prepared for Naoe’s mother and how she and [Naoe’s father Fujibayashi] Nagato had met, for example. So it was kind of easy to grapple those ideas and say ‘Okay, how can we make it? Well, she was the first Japanese-born Assassin. Cool. How does that translate in their relationship?'”

Without spoiling too much of Shadow’s introduction, it’s safe to say that Naoe heads to the game’s new island of Awaji after being given strong reason to believe her mother Tsuyu is being held captive there. Upon arrival, Naoe then uncovers the truth about Tsyu’s status — and hears word of that final mystery box — which sets her off on the expansion’s main adventure.

“The main game didn’t have as much personal relationship,” Arsenault says, discussing the scenes scattered throughout Claws of Awaji where Naoe learns more about her family. “[There’s] a lot at the beginning with Nagato, a little bit with Tomiko, with Junjiro for sure. But the ending, we couldn’t necessarily have a relationship. The mother is still not there.

“So [we said] ‘let’s bring in something personal to that character’ — and it was also helpful to have it [set] after,” Aresnault continued, referencing the fact that Claws of Awaji is chronologically set firmly as a coda to the main game, and cannot be played until after the credits have rolled. “And for Yasuke as well — if we had done it somewhere else in the story, well, Yasuke wouldn’t have finished his own storyline, so he had not even talked to Naoe about his own mother.”

Still, Bordeaux wasn’t necessarily always set to make this story, Arsenault revealed. Claws of Awaji’s focus on the mysteries of Naoe’s mother, and that third box, were both part of the discussions the studio had with Quebec as development began. For example, Bordeaux knew the expansion would introduce a new weapon to the game, but which it would be was not set in stone. (It’s the Bo Staff, which all players will receive free whether they own Claws of Awaji or not.) As for Naoe’s mother, did Bordeaux “have to make an expansion about her specifically?” Arsenault questioned. “Maybe not.”

It also sounds like there was some flux within Shadows’ main storyline as development on it, and Claws of Awaji, both progressed. Fans have long wondered about Shadow’s main macguffins, the three boxes ultimately said to contain the Japanese Imperial Regalia. Was it always the case that only two would be found in the main game, with a third left for the expansion?

“It happened very fast,” Aresnault replied. “It happened very fast, as soon as we started talking. If I remember correctly, because the game was still moving at that time, there was only one box total in the game, so we didn’t know if there would be a second box or a third box or all the boxes. So they were still competing their own game. That’s when we started talking about closing a little bit, the arc of the Regalia, that’s when we started [saying], ‘okay, well maybe we can bring in another box.'”

It was at this point that Bordeaux also decided to feature the returning character of Hattori Hanzo in Claws of Awaji as well, Arsenault continued. “That’s when Hanzo came in, so yeah, it’s a back and forth. Since the expansion is released kind of close to the release of the main game, both of them have to be produced at the same time in the timeline. Otherwise you don’t ship this amount of content with this amount of quality.”

Amid all this talk about Naoe’s personal story, I was curious how Claws of Awaji would feature Yasuke. “So we focus his story more on — he still has a Templar hunt ongoing,” Arsenault said, “but he’s more in as a support role to Naoe emotionally at this point. He’s kind of helping her go through what she’s living.” Where Naoe and Yasuke often had their own journeys in Shadows, they are “on one path together” in Claws of Awaji, Arsenault continued.

With a story so closely tied into that of the base game, Claws of Awaji is being positioned as an experience that Assassin’s Creed fans will want to return for. And after that — once my save file has reached at least 110 hours — will Bordeaux’s expansion now provide a final finale? Or has it been tasked with passing Shadows’ story baton on to yet anoher team?

“We’re trying to make a closure for now, give Naoe a closure for her personal story,” Arsenault concluded. “You can always reopen things, we’ve seen TV shows do it, we’ve seen movies do it. It’s easy to do. So there’s nothing closing the door completely. But we can expect at least to have proper closure to Naoe’s story.”

For more on the expansion, check out IGN’s report on Claws of Awaji’s Metal Gear Solid-inspired stealth boss fight, and Arsenault’s thoughts on keeping players entertained with fresh ideas, even 100 hours of gameplay later.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social