- Ubisoft revamps parkour with new “Parkour Highways” and gameplay mechanics
- Naoe focuses on stealth, while Yasuke brings powerful combat abilities
- New grappling hook and advanced parkour moves enhance fluid gameplay
Ubisoft has made changes to Parkour in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, launching on February 14, 2025. In the game’s world parkour isn’t just about moving— it’s an art form. This time it will be a bit different as compared to in the past.
New Parkour Changes
With two protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke, Shadows is all set to take players into the thrilling historic period. Naoe is more stealth focused and great at sneaking and climbing, while Yasuke has got distinct taste; being a samurai, his is more into fights than climbing.
Now speaking of changes, in previous games players could climb any wall available, but now there is a restriction— “Parkour Highways” that are particular designed for the ascending, while with the right approach other surfaces can also be used for same purpose.
Assassins can now jump and flip off ledges, making the action smoother. Moreover, with the new prone position, one can dive while running or slide to stay out of sight.
PARKOUR ESSENTIALS
Parkour Up
- To ascend the high walls or cover large gaps, hold the “parkour up.” Naoe is better when it comes to jumping and climbing, but it is noisy, so it can be risky in sneaky environments.
Recovery Roll
- To avoid the noise while making the high jump and to reduce the landing intensity, press the dodge button.
Parkour Down
- The dodge feature is now part of the parkour system; if the player is near the ledge, then to move down safely, press the dodge/parkour down button. Both protagonists will do it in their own way, as Ubisoft mentioned, “Naoe’s signature acrobatic descents or Yasuke’s heavier drops.” It’s quieter and good for stealth.
Drop vs Climb Down
- There are two mechanisms to climb down: press the parkour down when one is near the ledge, and the character will hang and move down carefully. For landing without alerting the surroundings and perform cool acrobatic, use directional dodge.
SPRINT MECHANICS
Sprinting
- In the case of sprinting, undoubtedly Naoe is on the top and fastest still despite being slower; Yasuke’s sprinting is powerful enough to run while smashing obstacles coming in his way.
- Naoe has ability to roll while sprinting to prevent damage dealing and can automatically leaps over the minor barrier. During sprint mode, both characters can crouch or prone, but the point to be noted here is that sprinting brings them back into the original standing position.
THE GRAPPLING HOOK
- The grappling hook assists in moving up, swinging, or reaching high places and also can help in extending the reach while running up the walls. Players can use it to cover the gaps and by tapping the grappling hook button they can switch between two modes— climbing and swinging. For the hook, the developer said in the blog post,
“Any proper shinobi game needs its grappling hook.” says Simon. “We worked hard to ensure that the physics of our grappling hook make it a natural part extension of Naoe’s overall parkour flow, allowing her to climb and swing with grace and ease.”
ADVANCED MOVES
Stance Dodges
- Both characters can dodge while crouching, but Naoe has additional ability to roll in prone position.
Wall Run Eject
- With this move, while climbing the high wall or runs, Naoe can jump off the walls
Backward Dodge
- At an edge, Naoe can roll backward and land softly.
Unclimbable Surfaces
- Not every surface in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is climbable unless they have something to grab on. In the blog post Simon mentioned in the last that,
“This is a pretty big deal for us. “This means we had to be more thoughtful about creating interesting parkour highways and afforded us more control about where Naoe can go, and where Yasuke can’t, making our two playstyles even more contrasted.”
