When Can You Explore the Open World in Assassin’s Creed Shadows? Answered

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has a massive open world to explore in a Feudal Japan setting. However, players won’t get let off the leash to run free in it until after the prologue. Here’s when can you explore the Open World in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

How Long is the Assassin’s Creed Shadows Prologue? Answered

While Ubisoft has been known for granting players access to dense open worlds for over a decade and a half, they’re also a bit infamous for long intros before these worlds open up. Thankfully, Assassin’s Creed Shadows won’t have players waiting quite as long as other entries before they can explore Japan.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows opens with a prologue which sets the stage for the game’s world and where its dual-protagonists fit in it. This section introduces players to the Samauai and Shinobi, from the perspectives of Yasuke and Naoe respectively. It also familiarizes players with Iga, Naoe’s homeland, and sets her on her own journey out of the region to other parts of Japan. This section, filled with epic set pieces and expository dialogue alike, will likely take players about an hour and a half to complete.

Once players complete the “From Spark to Flame” Quest and build their Kakurega (Hideout) at Tomiko’s Homestead, they’ll be able to more freely explore the open world.

Can You Go Anywhere in Assassin’s Creed Shadows Right Away? Answered

Once players are able to explore the open world of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, they’ll find themselves in Izumi Settsu. This is one of the nine named regions available for exploration in the game at launch. Quests and side activities will revolve around the Izumi Settsu region for some time, before spreading north to the Yamashiro province.

While certain story beats and Quests lock Naoe and Yasuke to a specific location, often times you can often head to other provinces. This is, at least, in theory. While you can physically head to the other provinces, there are two main factors that might prevent you from actually doing so.

The first is just the lack of quests and activities. Since the quests for regions unlock throughout the story, you may not find much value in going to them early. Since Assassin’s Creed Shadows features some of the franchises RPG elements, players also need to be a certain level before they’re effective in combat in these provinces. These level requirements can be viewed by opening up the map. Regions with a number in a red diamond warn players that they are far below the recommended level for that region. This suggests that you will have an incredibly difficult time surviving in this area before hitting that suggested level, and some enemies can just about insta kill you here.

So in short, while you can technically rush to regions meant for a higher level often, doing so is not recommended and may result in an unpleasant experience.