DLC REVIEW: “Claws Of Awaji” Finishes The ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Story With A Bang

Claws of Awaji is a worthy conclusion of the Assassin’s Creed Shadows story. The end of Assassin’s Creed Shadows was a tad disappointing. Chiefly, because the game didn’t really have an ending. After defeating all of Naoe and Yasuke’s enemies in the Shinbakufu, a greater Templar threat made itself apparent. In a bit of a rush, these new enemies were dispatched, but their defeat felt inconclusive.

The final credits rolled, and there was no satisfying conclusion. The Templars were still at large, the regalia that Naoe’s Assassin parents were sworn to protect were not all recovered, and news arrived that Naoa’s mother, Tsuyu, may actually still be alive. This is where Claws of Awaji comes in.

Hattori Hanzo, enemy-turned-ally of Naoe and Yauke’s ikki, has heard rumors that the Assassin leader Tsuyu may still be alive somewhere. But before Naoe can even act on it, she, and in turn, Yasuke and Hanzo too, are lured to the island of Awaji, where a Templar plot is brewing.

Tsuyu has, in fact, been languishing in captivity for years. As Naoe and Yasuke fight to free her and the piece of regalia she has been protecting all these years, the Templar Kimura Yukari, ruler of Awaji, sets her own powerful Sansoku Ippa and three taisho against the Assassins.

Claws of Awaji introduces a host of great new characters.

There’s a deep tension between Naoe and Tsuyu. Naoe hasn’t seen her mother since she was a child. She’s thought her dead for most of her life. Tsuyu was raised to lead the Assassins and protect their artifacts. All she knows is being a leader. But her lack of strength after years in captivity and inability to see Naoe as anything more than her young daughter keep the two from fully reforming a connection.

The central portion of Claws of Awaji is built around hunting Yukari’s three taisho. One requires killing a large number of powerful foes to strengthen his defenses, and the other two task you with discovering clues about their whereabouts and identities to draw them out. Two of the three quest arcs culminate in some of the game’s most intense fights.

One in particular tasks you with hunting a highly elusive enemy in a swampy arena. There are traps set everywhere, a new element added in the DLC, where if you trip the wires, you’ll be poisoned and alert your query. You have to use the sound of their voice to figure out what direction it’s coming from and then identify the real target against a landscape full of body decoys. 

Naoe’s new bo weapon is unique amongst the Assassin’s Creed Shadows arsenal.

The concept is novel. It’s one of the most unique boss fights in Assassin’s Creed history. But it’s a clunky fight. There’s too much time between the opportunities to check where the target is, it takes too long to move across the arena and find them, and it takes too many hits to finally end the fight. It’s a fun idea that Assassin’s Creed games should absolutely continue to experiment with in the future, however.

In addition to poison traps, the biggest new element Claws of Awaji DLC introduces is the bo. This new weapon for Naoe is unique in the series. It has three different stances: high, mid, and low. Mid attacks push enemies back, high attacks deal more power, and low attacks can trip enemies and knock them to the ground. The bo you are given during the main quest sequence also comes with great engravings. It’s a lot of fun to fight with.

While Naoe gets the better end of the upgrades, Yasuke also receives a new attack skill for each of his three weapons and additional upgrade options for several other passive skills. While the emotional bulk of the story revolves around Naoe and her mother, it remains endearing to watch Yasuke and Naoe work together and explore their bond. The dialogue doesn’t always lend itself to directly confronting major themes and questions, but it always leaves interesting philosophical ideas open to interpretation.

Awaji is a nice new location to explore as you finally tie up the base game’s loose plot ends.

Outside of the main quest, there are a few side quests and post-main quest arcs to pursue on Awaji. New allies can be recruited, beautiful new areas can be explored, and plenty of new weapons and armor can be obtained. It’s a relatively small island, and the game only takes about ten hours to play, but it’s a satisfying ten hours. Especially if you already enjoyed the base game and are excited to see the story’s loose ends tied up.

It’s disappointing that some of Assassin’s Creed Shadow’s biggest questions had to be answered in DLC, but it’s great that at least they have been answered now to satisfaction. The very end is slightly underwhelming, but it completes the arcs you hope it will.

Claws of Awaji is a much more difficult set of quests than Assassin’s Creed Shadows has offered yet. The power levels of your enemies are high, and several of the bosses are quite hard to kill, for better and worse. But overall, the DLC offers a solid new location to explore, a fun new weapon for Naoe, and a good conclusion to the game’s story after having felt initially incomplete.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows and its Claws of Awaji DLC are available now on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Mac, and PC.