Assassin's Creed Shadows is the latest in Ubisoft's line of historical-fiction action games. It, like its predecessors, takes inspiration from a real time and place to create a fantastical playground for us to slit throats in. But this time around, there won't be an educational Discovery Tour.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Origins, and Odyssey all had Discover Tours. These are separate digital downloads that you can get as a standalone product or play within their respective games.
Their aim is to shed more light on the settings of the games, like an interactive history lesson. They're a great way to integrate video games into the classroom and help kids take an interest in history.
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They're also not the only way the series has tried to give back. When the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris burned down, Ubisoft gave away copies of Assassin's Creed Unity so people could see what it looked like in its former glory, and apparently scans the developers took were used to help restore the old building.
In a recent Reddit AMA, one player asked if Shadows, set in Japan's Sengoku period, would have a Discovery Tour. An Ubisoft account replied, "On Shadows, we have decided to integrate the Historical Codex directly in the main game so it's available to everyone.
"So compared to games like Odyssey or Valhalla, all players can access that historical information directly in the main game. But to get to the core of your question, we do not currently have a 'Japan Discovery Tour' like we had for 'Viking Age' in the works."
Sorry, teachers, I guess that means you're going to have to play the game itself and try not to let the kids see you spilling any blood if you want to use Shadows to teach them about Japan.
While you're here, check out our ranking of the best Assassin's Creed games. I completely disagree with the ranking, personally, but I just prefer the series before it went all RPG-heavy.
