Ghost of Yotei and Assassin’s Creed Shadows Suffer From Being “Twin Games” (But One Is Better)

Ghost of Yotei and Assassin’s Creed Shadows are shockingly similar, but one manages to be significantly better than the other. Since Ghost of Yotei‘s reveal last fall, many have made the not-so-unique observation that it is ironic for it to be releasing so close to Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In many ways, this was almost bound to happen to a degree. Fans begged Ubisoft to make a Japanese Assassin’s Creed game for over a decade, but for some reason, neglected to actually do it. This eventually paved the way for Sucker Punch to steal Assassin’s Creed’s thunder with Ghost of Tsushima which ironically partially prompted Ubisoft to finally pull the trigger on a ninja-based Assassin’s Creed game.

Now, here we are in 2025, both games are finally out and the similarities between the two don’t just start and stop at being stealth-action games set hundreds of years ago in Japan. It goes much deeper than that and in my opinion, there’s a very clear winner. I reviewed both Ghost of Yotei and Assassin’s Creed Shadows, meaning I spent a great deal of time examining these games on a deep level.

Ghost of Yotei and Assassin’s Creed Shadows Are “Twin Games”

There’s a term in the movie industry known as “twin films.” This is in reference to when two films that are extremely similar in concept are released around the same time, sometimes even just months apart. Some prime examples of this are White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen in 2013, Armageddon and Deep Impact in 1998, and even two Steve Jobs biopics released in quick succession. This does happen in games sometimes, though more predictably with games like Call of Duty and Battlefield often releasing around the same time, resulting in direct competition.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Ghost of Yotei are a more unique example of this, though, as they have very similar storylines. In Shadows, a young woman named Naoe is attacked and left for dead by a clan of masked swordsmen known as the Shinbakufu. Unfortunately, her father is also killed in the process, motivating her to take revenge against these killers. The story is also told non-linearly with flashbacks to Naoe’s past, but also the ability to take down the game’s main antagonists in an undefined order.

Ghost of Yotei is about a woman named Atsu who watched her family get slaughtered in front of her at a young age before being pinned to a burning tree by a group of masked samurai. After recovering from her wounds and entering a self-imposed exile from where she grew up, she returns to her homeland to take revenge against those who wronged her. Once again, the player can largely take her foes out in a non-linear fashion. All of these threads also have flashbacks that help piece together exactly what happened to Atsu when she was younger.

Of course, both games also share a lot of gameplay similarities as well, such as the ability to quietly assassinate targets, but also engage in head-on, tense swordplay. Both protagonists are well-equipped with a variety of tools such as throwables and customizable armor, allowing them to feel handcrafted by the player. You can also explore these two worlds by horseback or parkour, allowing you to reach high vistas where you can spot distant locations and mark them on your map.

Like most twin films, they share nearly identical premises, but the actual stories unfold in very different ways. Shadows notably has Yasuke, a secondary protagonist who is more of a brute than a silent avenger, and continues the ongoing saga between Templars and Assassins. However, in some ways, both games are slightly crippled by each other’s very existence.

When I booted up Ghost of Yotei for the first time, I felt a sense of deja vu. This was very familiar, and for a while, it hindered my interest in the story. In the case of Shadows, it’s also far less appealing as an Assassin’s Creed game, even though it’s the kind of game people have been wanting for years. It’s no longer a novel concept and it has been totally trumped by a completely different series.

Ghost of Yotei Is Much Better Than Assassin’s Creed Shadows

From a purely narrative standpoint, I think Ghost of Yotei takes the shared premise in a much better direction. For starters, I find Atsu to be a far more compelling character with a strong performance backing it. There’s no self-loathing and a minimal interest in being some kind of heroic force. She’s a vengeful spirit and nothing more. Of course, there is still very much an arc for her where she grows and develops, but Atsu stays pretty rooted in who she is.

Naoe lacked depth and nuance in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, ultimately becoming overshadowed by the much more layered Yasuke later on in the story. However, that is also part of the problem. The story of Shadows doesn’t feel focused, it is tackling so many things at once and doesn’t weave it together in a cohesive enough fashion to be enjoyed as a whole. It’s a very long, bloated story that has rocky pacing that is partially the result of its non-linear story.

While I did have some issues with the non-linear elements of Ghost of Yotei, I found it to be implemented more smoothly. Each member of the Yotei Six comes with a defined arc for Atsu that enriches the story in a major way, even if those individual arcs don’t collide until much later in the story. Of course, Yotei also benefits from that cinematic, prestigious flair of being a PlayStation game as well, which gives it a greater level of polish to its production values.

Ultimately, I enjoyed both games, but Ghost of Yotei beat Ubisoft at its own game, unfortunately. Even though Shadows was released sooner, Yotei has the depth necessary to be more memorable and engaging. However, may be some folks who disagree with me and got more mileage out of Assassin’s Creed’s take on a Japanese revenge story. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

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