Ever spent twenty minutes meticulously stalking a high-level target in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla only to plunge your hidden blade into their neck and see... a tiny sliver of health disappear? It’s frustrating. Honestly, it’s immersion-breaking. That specific gameplay loop—where an assassination isn't actually an assassination—is exactly why the Assassin’s Creed Shadows guaranteed assassinations debate has set the community on fire lately.
Ubisoft is heading to feudal Japan. Finally. But with the introduction of dual protagonists Naoe and Yasuke, the developers are forced to reckon with two very different philosophies of play. On one hand, you have the shinobi fantasy where a knife to the jugular should mean "game over." On the other, you have the modern RPG-heavy framework where numbers, stats, and gear levels dictate who lives and who dies.
It's a mess of expectations.
The Friction Between RPG Stats and Stealth Realism
For years, the franchise has been leaning into "massive." Massive maps, massive skill trees, and massive health bars. This shift started in Origins, peaked in Odyssey, and got a bit more manageable in Mirage. But the core conflict remains. If you are playing as Naoe, a trained killer from the Iga Province, and you sneak past ten guards to reach a target, the game shouldn't tell you that your "math" wasn't good enough to kill them.
The Assassin’s Creed Shadows guaranteed assassinations debate basically boils down to whether player skill should trump character stats. In the "old" games, if you got close enough to press the button, the target died. Period. In the "new" games, if your Hidden Blade isn't upgraded to Level 4, that same button press just initiates a clumsy combat encounter you weren't prepared for.
Ubisoft’s Associate Game Director Simon Lemay-Comtois has been vocal about how they are balancing this. The solution they’ve landed on is a toggle. A simple menu option. You can choose to have "Guaranteed Assassinations" turned on, meaning Naoe (and potentially Yasuke, though his style is more "wrecking ball") will always kill from stealth.
But there’s a catch. Turning this on usually disables certain achievement progress or messes with the intended "challenge" of the RPG progression. It’s a compromise that satisfies nobody perfectly. If the game is designed around needing better gear, but you bypass that gear requirement with a menu setting, does the rest of the game's economy fall apart? That’s what the hardcore fans are arguing about in the forums.
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Naoe vs. Yasuke: Two Different Games in One
We have to talk about the protagonists because they are the catalyst for this whole argument. Naoe is your classic Hidden Blade user. She’s light, she uses the environment, and she feels like a throwback to Ezio or Arno. For her, the Assassin’s Creed Shadows guaranteed assassinations debate is vital. If she can't kill in one hit, she loses her identity as a shinobi.
Then there’s Yasuke.
He’s a tank. He wears heavy armor. He uses a kanabo—a giant spiked club—to turn enemies into paste. Does a "guaranteed assassination" even make sense for him? Probably not. If Yasuke sneaks up on a guy (which is hard to do when you're wearing 40 pounds of plated steel), he’s likely going to initiate a high-damage heavy attack rather than a surgical strike.
This duality is actually a clever way for Ubisoft to dodge the bullet. By giving us two characters, they can please both crowds. You want the old-school stealth experience where one hit equals one kill? Play Naoe and turn on the guaranteed assassination toggle. You want the Valhalla-style "bruiser" gameplay where you have to chip away at a boss's health bar? Stick with Yasuke.
What the Fans are Saying
I’ve been lurking on the Assassin’s Creed subreddit and various Discord servers. The community is split right down the middle. One group, let’s call them the "Purists," believes that the very concept of a "toggle" is proof that the RPG system is flawed. They argue that if the game were designed correctly, stealth would be its own reward, and a successful approach would always result in a kill.
The other group, the "RPG Enthusiasts," likes the grind. They enjoy the feeling of going back to an area they were previously underleveled for and finally being strong enough to take down the commander. To them, "Guaranteed Assassination" feels like a cheat code.
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The Technical Reality of "Guaranteed" Kills
There is a technical layer to this that most people miss. When you enable guaranteed assassinations, you aren't just changing a damage variable. You are potentially breaking the AI's encounter design.
Think about it.
If a boss is designed to have three phases and a specific dialogue trigger at 50% health, but you drop from a roof and "instantly kill" them, the game's script has to account for that. In Mirage, Ubisoft handled this by making "major" targets susceptible to unique assassination cinematic sequences, while "minor" elites were the ones affected by the health bar math. Shadows seems to be taking this further by making the world more reactive.
The weather system in Shadows—dynamic seasons that change how you hide—actually makes the assassination debate even more complex. In winter, you might be easier to spot because there's no tall grass. If you manage to get close despite the lack of cover, shouldn't you be rewarded with a guaranteed kill? The difficulty should come from the getting there, not the pressing the button.
Why This Matters for the Future of the Franchise
This isn't just about one game. It's about what Assassin’s Creed is in 2026. If Ubisoft sticks with the toggle, they are essentially admitting that they can’t find a way to make stealth and RPG mechanics live together in harmony. It’s a band-aid.
Honestly, the best version of this game is one where the "Guaranteed Assassination" isn't a menu toggle but a result of player mastery. If I use the environment, timing, and specific tools correctly, let me have the kill. Don't make me go into a menu to "fix" the gameplay.
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Specifics matter here. We know that Naoe has a grapple hook. We know she can go prone. We know she can extinguish lights. These are all high-level stealth tools. If the game gives me all these ways to be a ghost, but then forces me into a five-minute sword fight because I didn't find a "Legendary Katana" with +10% stealth damage, the game has failed its own premise.
The Historical Context
Let's look at real history for a second. Shinobi weren't known for fair fights. They were known for ending fights before they started. By incorporating the Assassin’s Creed Shadows guaranteed assassinations debate into the heart of the game's marketing, Ubisoft is acknowledging that the "superhero" feel of Odyssey might have gone too far for some. They are trying to bring back the "Assasin" in Assassin's Creed.
It’s a tough tightrope to walk.
You have to satisfy the people who spent 200 hours in Valhalla looting every chest, and the people who haven't liked the series since Unity. The toggle is the "peace treaty" between these two factions. It's not elegant, but it's functional.
Actionable Takeaways for Players
If you’re planning on picking up Shadows at launch, you should decide early how you want to experience the story. The toggle can be changed at any time, but it fundamentally shifts how you approach the skill tree.
- Focus on Naoe if you value the "One-Hit-Kill" fantasy. Her skill tree is heavily slanted toward tools and agility that complement a guaranteed assassination playstyle.
- Keep the toggle OFF initially. Try the game the way the developers "balanced" it first. If you find yourself repeatedly stabbing enemies only for them to turn around and scream for help, then flip the switch.
- Invest in "Stealth Damage" perks early. Even if you don't use the guaranteed kill toggle, stacking stealth damage in the RPG menu is the "organic" way to achieve the same result.
- Watch the weather. Don't forget that your ability to get close enough for an assassination changes with the seasons. Spring rain muffles footsteps; autumn wind creates noise that masks your movements.
The Assassin’s Creed Shadows guaranteed assassinations debate isn't going away anytime soon. It’s a symptom of a franchise trying to be everything to everyone. Whether you think it's a necessary evolution or a step backward, the fact remains: for the first time in years, the choice of how to kill is actually back in the player's hands. That, in itself, is a win.
Go into the settings. Find what feels right. Play the shinobi game you’ve been waiting for since the early 2000s, even if you have to tweak a menu to make it happen. Be the ghost in the leaves or the demon on the battlefield. Just don't let a health bar tell you how to be an assassin.