Hi everyone!
Assassin's Creed Shadows is coming on March 20th and we're excited to give you more insight through another gameplay overview article. So far, we've broken down stealth, combat, parkour, exploration and progression; we're now wrapping up this series with an extended look at the Hideout - your home and base of operations in the game. The Hideout is a fully customizable sandbox - a first for the series - that empowers Naoe and Yasuke throughout their journey and allows you to build and decorate to your heart's content.
For additional insights, we'll be joined by Dany, Shadows' systems associate director. Let's take a deeper look!
All footage is from a work-in-progress build. Please note that some of the videos in this article may be compressed, which could affect their quality. Make sure to watch in 4K for the best quality. HUD settings may vary depending on the capture to showcase examples of customizable options.
The Secret Valley of Izumi Settsu
The Hideout is set in a secluded valley tucked away in the Izumi Settsu province. Surrounded by steep hills on all sides and accessible only through a narrow path in the rocks, its location is either unknown or has been forgotten by most, making it an ideal staging ground and base of operations for your burgeoning league.
Early in the story, you will get acquainted with its caretaker, Miss Tomiko - a friend and ally of Iga. Resourceful and hard-working, Tomiko has done her best to keep things running, and now with Naoe and Yasuke's help - and with the cornucopia of resources they'll smuggle back during their adventures - this secret valley can finally become the coolest, most intricate Hideout in the history of the Brotherhood.
"It's pretty ambitious," says Dany. "After fortresses, villas, homesteads, pirate coves, café-theatres, moving trains, ships, settlements, assassin bureaus... We knew that if we wanted to make anything new on that front, we had to take a bold step forward. That meant giving players the option to build their homebase with complete freedom."
An Acre of Land
With some infrastructure already in place, Tomiko's valley offers a little over one acre of fully customizable land on which players are able to place buildings, pavilions, pathways, bushes, trees, ponds, mossy rocks, local flora & fauna, and countless other Japanese cosmetic elements found or acquired throughout their journey.
"We really want players to make the Hideout their own" says Dany. "Throughout your adventure, most of the content for customization keeps unlocking as you progress, so your customization options will truly reflect your journey." The building tools are simple enough for everyone to draw up a quick and easy layout, but there's enough depth to sink hours into crafting your vision."
The Hideout will be available for players upon completing the prologue and meeting Tomiko and will then become crucial to your journey across Japan. It will be a place to meet and interact with allies, show off your rewards, and support your progression.
Building your Hideout will not only let you make the most of your creativity; each building & upgrade will also have a direct impact on gameplay.
Getting Started
To start adding new buildings and pavilions to their Hideouts, players will need to gather three different resources that can be found throughout Japan: wood, minerals, and crops. Each new building or upgrade has a set cost of these resources, as well as cost in in-game currency (called "mons").
As highlighted in the Exploration article, players will find small resource bundles that can be directly looted in the Open World, as well as large resource stockpiles they can "tag" for their scouts to smuggle out over the course of a season.
"It was important for us that players would feel the passage of time with seasons" says Dany. "Linking smuggling with seasons was a natural choice: it gives players a rhythm to return to the Hideout, review all they gathered and catch up with the inhabitants."
Customisation Basics
Various decorative elements can be obtained as rewards for completing quests, contracts, or activities. Other elements can be purchased in local merchants' stalls or directly looted while skulking the halls of enemy territory. There is also a wide range of animals you can bring to your Hideout by performing the sumi-e painting activity in the world.
Exterior Elements
Exterior elements - that is, objects that can only be placed outside buildings - are organized in sub-categories like Paths, Light sources, Fences, and more. Each object or building comes with a specific tile footprint, which can be placed and rotated anywhere on the grid - as long as tiles are free.
"There are many cosmetics to find" says Dany. "From humble garden rocks to large and complex set pieces. Seeing these pop up always gets me wondering how I'll use them in my next visit - you never know what might inspire your next renovation."
All elements placed by players can be moved and/or removed. At any point in time, it is possible to completely overhaul the Hideout layout to better fit a particular vibe, or just to try some things out.
There are many types of rooms that can be built and placed in the Hideout. Each of these room types come with additional functions that facilitate Naoe & Yasuke's progression, and most can be upgraded over time for even better efficiency.
Main Rooms
Tomiko's Hiroma
Tomiko's main house and gathering hall is already built when players first get their hands on the Hideout. This building is the cornerstone of the Hideout, granting quick access to most of the important functions of the Hideout. It can be changed cosmetically, but the Hiroma cannot be moved or removed.
Stables
An important pillar of your Hideout, the stables unlock the ability to use your scouts for smuggling stockpiles in enemy camps or castles; doing this will allow you to receive extra resources at the end of a season.
Forge
The Forge unlocks the ability to upgrade your weapons and gear to higher tiers, which is crucial for staying strong as you level up. It also allows you to dismantle unwanted armor and weapons into raw materials, engrave new perks on existing gear, and unlock the transmog feature for customizing your look and weapons, accessible in the inventory menu.
Kakurega
This unlocks the ability to purchase and claim safehouses around Japan. These safehouses extend the Hideout's functions to distant areas, as well as unlock safe fast travel points well outside enemy territory. Some features, like the regional contract boards, can be accessed from here as well. As mentioned in our exploration article, kakurega are also great to refill your tools, replenish your scouts, or manage the allies you want to bring on your next missions.
Study
The Study increases the maximum number of scouts and refines the search zone when scouts locate an objective on the World Map, optimizing objective investigations.
Dojo
The Dojo unlocks the ability to train Naoe and Yasuke's allies that can be recruited and called in combat, elevating their ranks and increasing the power of each of their unique skills.
Themed Rooms
Other than offering a degree of flair and personalization, themed rooms augment a few important systems and statistics players won't want to miss out on:
Tera
Adding a Tera (altar) in the Hideout boosts the amount of XP players can gain while venturing out in the world, effectively acting as a 10% XP booster.
Jinja
Shinto shrines around the world allow players to pray and earn a small stat boost - called a boon - for a few minutes. The Jinja's presence in the Hideout magnifies the effects of any shrine's boon encountered in Japan.
Nando
The Nando - a kind of barracks for sleeping and storing personal items - makes recalling scouts that have been used less costly - a function that extends to all Kakurega safehouses.
Zashiki
Apart from the cool factor of owning your very own sake room, the Zashiki increases ration efficiency (health restoration) for both Naoe and Yasuke.
Tea Room
This Tea Room also increases ration efficiency - an effect that can be compounded with the Zashiki bonus.
Gallery
A place where players can display armor sets and weapons they've acquired, which unlocks the possibility of creating equipment loadouts.
Generic Rooms
Players have access to a variety of rooms with varied layouts for showing off their earned cosmetics such as outfits, wall art and more.
Joining Rooms Together
Various rooms and pavilions can be joined together directly by placing them next to one another, others, like the dojo, can also be connected by constructing covered pathways. Players are free to join or separate rooms creating inner courtyards or complex compounds of any shape / length / width they want.
"The time period's architecture made it possible for buildings to be joined in this way," says Dany. "This brings a lot more possibilities in layout diversity as we can use the space more efficiently and make groupings that better suit our tastes."
Interior Customization
When it comes to interior decorating, players can pick between a few architectural styles for each individual room and can dive deeper and choose the types of floor and walls they want. They can also display elements they have earned or collected, such as pieces of armor or paintings. These tools allow for intricate and personal stylings of each individual room.
Populating with Memorable Companions
Petting various breeds of cats and dogs around Japan will unlock the ability to place these domesticated animals within the Hideout - kittens and puppies included!
For a wider selection of animals, the Sumi-e painting activity outlined in the Exploration article will grant players the ability to place certain wild animals in the Hideout as well, like baby shika deer, tanukis, and foxes, to name a few. And players can pet most of them as well!
"We had all these endearing critters all over the world already," says Dany, "and everyone's instant reaction is to drop everything they're doing and stare at them for a minute. It made sense for us to make them available inside of the Hideout."
A League of Your Own
The Hideout houses a very limited number of inhabitants at first, but this will rapidly change as the story unfolds and players explore more of the open world. Scouts, blacksmiths, duelists, and other folks from all walks of life can join Naoe and Yasuke's cause, each with their own unique backstories and personal hurdles to overcome.
Life In The Hideout
Once recruited, allies will spend a significant amount of their time in the Hideout, working, resting, training, and otherwise occupying themselves during their down time. Building new rooms will diversify the actions that they can perform there - allies with an inclination for martial training might spend more time in the Dojo, while others with a taste for sake might enjoy spending time in the Zashiki.
Adding and expanding the Hideout's infrastructures creates more opportunities for conversations between allies. These conversations and little life moments in the Hideout are a lot of fun and truly tie the whole experience together. Altogether, the Hideout provides a safe space for both Naoe and Yasuke to unwind between chapters of this grand adventure.
"Having our allies in one place creates opportunities for character development," says Dany. "We gathered the writers (from 4 different studios all over the world) in a meeting and had them create interactions inspired by questions like, 'What would happen if these two characters suddenly became roommates?' I really love all the cool little moments they came up with. It makes the Hideout feel like the beating heart of the league".
And that about sums up the Hideout!
We hope you enjoyed our various deep dives through the pillars and features of Assassin's Creed Shadows. We want to extend our thanks and love to all you readers and hidden-blade enthusiasts, and we can't wait to read, watch, and hear about your adventures in feudal Japan!
- Assassin's Creed Shadows's senior design team,
Charles, Simon, Julien, & Dany
