How is the accessibility of Assassin's Creed Shadows?

Assassin's Creed Shadows is the newest game in the famous Ubisoft franchise, known for combining history, action, stealth, and exploration in open worlds. This time, the adventure takes place in feudal Japan, where we control two characters: Naoe , an agile and stealthy shinobi, and Yasuke , a strong and direct samurai in combat. In fact, this is the reason for the delay in this review: I wanted to finish the game and explore almost everything before doing this analysis, facing some difficulties because of my low vision. Now, let's get straight to the point. 

Assassin's Creed Shadows is packed with accessibility features, including some that are new to the franchise. Ubisoft is increasingly investing in this area, as became even clearer in the interview I did with David Tisserand in the 4th edition of the MGN Magazine, the company's accessibility director. You can tell that the concern for accessibility is real and growing within the studio. 

If you are still unsure whether it's worth buying the game (especially with the high prices), I recommend reading the full analysis. It may help you decide more confidently. 

As always, I will divide it into sections to make it easier to read and help those who want to get straight to the point. 

Visual 

One of the first challenges I faced in the game was the darkness of the scenes. It was really hard to see the darker environments. But my friend Victor Branco, who is also an accessibility expert in games, saved me with some valuable tips. The main one was to set the brightness to 10 and the contrast to 8 . My God, what a difference! For those who have difficulty seeing dark environments, this changes everything. Make this adjustment and then tell me if it improved. 

The game offers a screen reader and audio description , but both are only available in English, on both PC and consoles. To activate the screen reader, just change the interface language to English. The audio description only works if the audio language is also in English. The screen reader reads the interface texts, including map and compass icons. The audio description only describes the cutscenes of the main story. 


Image 1 - Screen reader 

"Oh, but Belle, is Ubisoft going to update these features for other languages?" Look... being realistic: probably not . To this day, the only Ubisoft game that had a screen reader in Portuguese was Watch Dogs: Legion . Games like Far Cry 6 and Star Wars Outlaws , for example, still lack language updates for these features. 

So, being honest: I find it unlikely to have an update. But what if Aunt Ubi makes me eat my words, right? 

"Oh, so the game has a screen reader, does that mean it's accessible to blind people..." 
Hold on. The game does offer a screen reader, but that does not mean that the gameplay is completely accessible to blind people. 

There is no navigation support during the game. There is a sound glossary that alerts actions such as using rappel, where there are obstacles, and when there are chests nearby — but the sounds of the chests only play when you are very close . To compare, in Assassin's Creed Unity , the chests had sounds that were much easier to identify from a distance, just by audio. 

Only the screen reader and the game sounds are not enough to make the gameplay accessible for those with no visual residue. Vision is still required all the time. An example is the guiding line on the ground, which indicates the path, but is purely visual, white, thin, and without any sound feedback. In some roads, you can use the horse in automatic mode to reach the destination, but this does not work in areas without a road or in missions that require leaving the main route.

These features can indeed work for people with low vision, even in more severe cases, but they are not sufficient to ensure a good experience for those who are completely blind. A clear example of this is that when playing with Naoe, the guiding line always leads to the main road, which is not a stealthy path. For me, with low vision, this line was crucial to avoid getting stuck between mountains. When I approached the destination, I manually searched for a hidden place. With Yasuke, the experience is different: you can follow the line and face enemies directly. Speaking of him, Yasuke is great for facing larger groups, but he gets stuck a lot in the scenario and hardly climbs anything. Therefore, for me, with low vision, it was easier to play with Naoe. 


Image 2 - Guiding line 

The game offers high contrast in the interface and compass, which already helps a lot. But the map does not follow this feature, which makes it very difficult for those with low vision. The light background with clear icons also hinders visualization. During gameplay, there is no high contrast mode available except for an ability of Naoe, which turns the environment into shades of gray and highlights enemies, hiding areas, and items. The problem is that this feature is only available when playing with her, greatly limiting visual access for those who need this kind of support all the time. 


Image 3 - Naoe's eagle vision 

For colorblind people, the game follows Ubisoft's standard and brings a feature for the three main types of color blindness: Deuteranopia , Protanopia , and Tritanopia. These features apply color schemes with adapted contrast , helping to better highlight visual elements according to the type of color blindness, only in the interface. In addition, the game allows you to adjust the font size . In the interface, you can choose between normal, medium, and large sizes. It is a simple feature, but it already makes a difference. There is a puzzle that requires vision and pressing the button at the right time, which can be a barrier for some people. But the good news is that it can be deactivated. 

Auditory 

The game has subtitles that highlight the name of the character speaking, as well as an arrow indicating the voice direction. Information about the tone of speech is also included if the character is nervous, happy, optimistic, or scared. In cutscenes, there are hidden subtitles describing sounds and sound effects. 


Image 4 - Subtitles 

During gameplay, some environmental sounds appear, but very subtly. Compared to other Ubisoft titles, like Far Cry 6, the descriptive subtitles of environmental sounds were quite lacking. On the other hand, the game allows individual adjustment of audio tracks, which is a positive point for accessibility. 

Visually, the game uses effects, like a visual wheel that indicates the direction of enemies. However, this wheel only works to indicate the direction of sounds before the enemy notices the player. After being sighted, there is no clear visual indication of the direction of sounds, except at the exact moment the enemy perceives you or when you are hidden. This ends up greatly limiting gameplay for deaf people. 


Image 5 - Wheel 

Motor 

The game offers good motor accessibility options. It is possible to completely remap the buttons on both the keyboard and the controller, as well as having a specific mode for left-handed people, which facilitates adaptation. It is also possible to disable controller vibration, which helps those with tactile sensitivity or who prefer a smoother experience. 


Image 6 - Remap 

There is also an automatic walking function, which makes the character move forward by itself, and the player only needs to adjust the direction with the analog stick or mouse. In puzzles that require pressing repeatedly or at the right time, this mechanic can be disabled in the settings. 

In combat, there are options to simplify combos, reducing the number of buttons that need to be pressed, making the experience more accessible for people with reduced mobility. 

Cognitive and mental 

For people with cognitive or mental barriers, some options also help. The guiding line, for example, can be useful for those with ADHD and difficulty following maps. It is possible to adjust the volumes for softer sounds or even the focus mode that highlights only the necessary sounds. As mentioned before, vibration can be disabled, benefiting people with sensory hypersensitivity. In addition, the game allows disabling more intense visual effects, such as blood and dismemberment, making the experience more comfortable. Subtitles indicating the emotional tone of speech can also support those who have difficulty recognizing emotions by voice. 

Conclusion 

Assassin's Creed Shadows brings new accessibility features to the franchise. For the first time, the game includes a screen reader, something already present in other Ubisoft titles, such as Far Cry 6 and Watch Dogs: Legion. However, both the screen reader and audio description are only available in English.

One of the highlights is the guiding line, which greatly facilitates navigation, especially for people with low vision or ADHD. Despite the advancements, the game does not have a section dedicated exclusively to accessibility, as in other Ubisoft titles, which makes it difficult to locate the resources scattered among the audio, subtitles, and interface menus.