How Long Is Assassin’s Creed Shadows?

You could easily spend hundreds of hours on a single playthrough for the past few RPG-oriented titles in the Assassin’s Creed series, those being Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. It’s been a a bit too much for those with too little free time to invest in such a sprawling storyline with dozens of objectives and other side content. But old-school AC titles, and even the more recent Assassin’s Creed Mirage were shorter and more manageable. How about the latest entry? How long does it take to beat Assassin’s Creed Shadows? It’s a mixed bag, but it primarily depends on your playstyle and how you’d like to immerse yourself in the expansive world of feudal Japan. Let’s break it all down.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ main story is divided into five chapters, two of which lasting an hour or less. Rise of the Shinobi is your opportunity to play as Naoe, the Shinobi, more extensively. It’s where you’ll learn the ropes before smashing through paper-thin doors as Yasuke!

Here’s a quick overview of the five chapters in the game:

• Prologue: 1 Hour
• Rise of the Shinobi: 8 to 12 Hours
• A New League: 40 Hours
• Fall of the Shinbakufu: 1 Hour
• Epilogue: 8 Hours

By those numbers, it will take a grand total of 62 hours to finish the core of Assassin’s Creed Shadows in its entirety. However, the most significant chapter, A New League, is the open-world portion of the game, and it’s where players can and will spend the most time tackling side content, unlocking waypoints, upgrading weapons, customizing gear, and building up the hideout. You can easily spend the full estimated 40 extra hours in the open world portion, but it’s not required.

How to spend your time in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

If you do wish to extend your time in the game, there’s an ample amount of side content to tackle, from the occasional quest helping villagers deal with bandits in a region, to following a dog in search of lost treasure, to collecting resources and unlocking all of the fast-travel points in the game.

• Upon unlocking Kakurega—Shinobi safe houses—in the game’s major cities, you’ll also unlock contracts that range from eliminating a specific high-value target to freeing up cargo for your personal use. Each one you complete pays Mon and valuable resources to customize your hideout.
• Customizing your hideout is an integral part of the game. You can build up various structures within the confines of your land—acquired early in the storyline—including a blacksmith, scout network, stables, and more. You can customize the area with sakura trees, statues, and unique liveries.
• Completing side content allows you to increase your Mastery and Knowledge Ranks, enabling you to invest skill points in unique abilities and stat buffs and make quick work of most enemies. Yes, even the Onryo!

No matter how long you spend playing as Naoe and Yasuke, you’ll find Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a genuinely fun and rewarding experience with satisfying combat, exploration, and probably the best transmog system I’ve experienced. The action-adventure game is out now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PCs.

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