Assassin’s Creed: Shadows
/As the fourteenth major instalment of the franchise, Ubisoft is no stranger to the Assassin’s Creed series—as sturdy a franchise in video gaming as they come. For this go around, the studio has opted for the setting of 16th-century Japan, towards the end of Sengoku period.
After an atmospheric opening, at 0:30 the nigh-requisite use of the Japanese koto emerges alongside some expository dialogue and some gentler visual scenes. At 0:39 we get a minor audio-visual synch point with the two characters clapping—it’s not quite in perfect rhythm with the soundtrack, but it feels more than coincidental.
The soundtrack pivots back to soundscapes at 0:49 as violence re-enters the frame. At 0:54 we hear another emphatic change in the soundtrack, now focusing on epic percussion to accompany battle scenes. This segues by 1:15 to another expository section, back to the koto and other strings. However, the spoken words “Greed,” “Power,” and “Vengeance” receive fitting musical accompaniment.
At 2:10, the harmony resolves on a hopeful note with the promise of collaboration and the soundtrack transitions to a bustling marketplace with a meandering and pastoral flute line. At 2:30 it becomes apparent that there’s some electric guitar with a tremolo effect in the arrangement—evidently, though Ubisoft uses historically and geographically apt instruments here, they also aren’t beholden to them at all, instead using these elements as part of a modern whole.
The next set piece occurs at 2:42 with a rollicking beat, carrying on a similar instrumentation as before—Japanese flute, electric guitar—now in an action context and with voice. The track here is “Meikyu” by Canadian indie band TEKE::TEKE; released in 2021, it blends Japanese rock and surf rock influences to psychedelic effect. (Incidentally, seeing as Ubisoft is based in Canada, it’s more than a fair choice.) Paired with all the on-screen violence, it’s very reminiscent of any one of Quentin Tarantino’s films from the last twenty years or so. And seeing as it’s been nearly six years from the last release, that style of stark audiovisual counterpoint between the fun music and ultra violence on screen feels, by equal turns, fresh and nostalgic.
The koto-led epic music returns at 3:20 to lead us out, with a bit of drama to bookend the trailer’s beginning.
As a whole, Ubisoft is apparently seeking to balance Assassin’s Creed as a dramatic experience with a side that lifts suspension of disbelief a bit. As a video game, it’s arguably supposed to be fun above all else—for which the TEKE::TEKE song serves an admirable purpose.
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows hits consoles March 20th, 2025.
— Curtis Perry