Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Claws Of Awaji review – a DLC masterclass

Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Claws Of Awaji – a whole new island to explore (Ubisoft)

The first major expansion for the samurai and ninja themed Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an impressive slice of DLC, especially if you got it free.

When you play a game with the size and scope of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, spending 100 hours or more bringing bladed justice to Ancient Japan, its moves, combat, and systems become second nature. Spotting loot and bad guys with Eagle Vision, using stealth to eliminate whole castles full of enemies, and selecting the right set of special moves to take down a boss are tasks you undertake swiftly and naturally.

Six months later it’s all gone, and the game that was practically an extension of your mind has become unfamiliar, its button combinations displaced by the games you’ve played since. It’s incredible how few titles acknowledge this, despite it being a universal experience. So it’s a pleasure to report that Claws Of Awaji, the first, but not last, piece of downloadable content for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, is one that does.

It begins with an invitation to an interactive puppet show, which you play as a 2D side-scrolling beat ‘em-up, that uses the game’s standard fighting and traversal mechanics. As well as telling you the story that introduces the new plot and setting it also reintroduces the moves you’ll need to play it. It’s subtle, clever, and blends seamlessly with the content of the update.

Before you can start Claws Of Awaji though, you’ll need to complete every quest in Shadows’ campaign, and the personal storylines of heroes Naoe and Yasuke – as well as those for Junjiro, their junior protégé. If you left the game incomplete the last time you played, there may be quite a bit to do before you can head off to the island of Awaji.

However, even if you haven’t got that far in the game, the latest update includes new weapon the bō stick, which is available on the mainland even without the DLC. Although it doesn’t have any sharp edges, it’s inspiringly powerful once you’ve dropped some mastery points into its skill tree (think Donatello from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). The bō’s three stances prove surprisingly intuitive, while the weapon itself is devastating, although it’s only usable by Naoe.

The level cap for both characters has now been extended from 60 to 100, giving a significant new opportunity to enhance your skills. There are also new upgrades available for your hideout. That may not sound all that exciting on the face of it, but improving its study gives you access to more scouts, who are useful in gathering supplies and pinpointing mission objectives; plus, upgrading the forge provides two new levels of gear enhancement above legendary.

Along with New Game+, which was added earlier in the year, the DLC does a lot to extend the longevity of the base game, which was already no slouch in the value for money department. Despite its hefty asking price, for those that pre-ordered Shadows, Claws Of Awaji is a free update. It’s set on an island that’s approximately the size of one of the existing regions of the game’s map.

There’s plenty to do there that will feel familiar. There are viewpoints to climb, shrines to pray at, precarious trails to follow, katas for Yasuke to learn, and temples to tick off. There’s also much that has been reinvented. Outposts, which you’ll need to take on as assassin’s contracts have been redesigned with more stealth options, so that Naoe’s almost as handy at taking them down as Yasuke.

You’ll also need to be careful of booby traps. These comprise ropes stretched across trails or open windows, that either explode or release a cloud of poison gas. You’ll also be ambushed by teams of shinobi, quite often in combination with one of those traps. The ninja attack using many of the same moves as Naoe, deploying smoke bombs and acrobatic leaps to get out of the way of your sword strikes.

There are also new enemy types, all of whom can exceed the old level 60 cap, along with a slew of bosses. In your quest to unseat Awaji’s brutal ruler, you’ll need to take out her trusted captains, who in turn need to be defeated by killing their chief henchmen one by one. It’s a gameplay mechanic road tested in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon and works just as well in a historical context.

Using scouts to find your next objective now comes with its own risks. Enemy spies notice where scouting parties search and increase their own presence in those areas, meaning you’ll face tougher local resistance. It gives you added incentive to tough it out, exploring locations for yourself, using clues and a bit of good old-fashioned wandering.

Without spoiling anything, the new plot builds on that of the main game, extending the responsibilities of its two protagonists and giving them a revenge mission as motivation. It’s an excellent foil to the new mechanics and level cap, giving you something to fight for along with the means to do it. The game’s tougher enemies give even beefy Yasuke a run for his money, until you’ve done some extra levelling.

Along with the rugged new island landscape, with its rocky shores and mountainous interior, there are a lot of memorable new locations. The ruin of Iwaya Castle is one: it may be partially collapsed in multiple places, but you’ll find a full garrison of troops, along with four daishō samurai, and a world of traps to take care of along with all its loot.

It’s a pleasure to return to Shadows after a lengthy break. It’s the best Assassin’s Creed game in a long while and exploring an extended portion of it is a good reminder of how well machined its systems are – especially its flexible and polished combat. It’s great getting to know both protagonists again, enjoying Naoe’s stealthiness and nimble fighting style and the brutal juggernaut that is Yasuke, who somehow manages to be lightning fast as well as savagely powerful.

With its upgraded systems, extended level cap, fresh enemies, the potent bō weapon – plus a whole extra landmass to explore – it breathes new life into an already refined game, in one of the best pieces of downloadable content this year.

Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £20.99*
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Quebec
Release Date: 20th March 2025
Age Rating: 18

*free with pre-orders of the base game

It’s just a stick but it hurts (Ubisoft)

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