It's looking like Assassin's Creed Shadows might actually make its way to the Nintendo Switch 2, and while that's mostly an exciting prospect, it might also be an unusually underwhelming way to play the game. The lineup revealed in the Switch 2 Direct focused on plenty of impressive third-party ports, but Ubisoft's big reveal was Star Wars Outlaws rather than the newest Assassin's Creed title. It might just be a matter of time, however, and Assassin's Creed coming to Switch 2 would make a lot of sense.

Historically, Ubisoft's been perfectly willing to port Assassin's Creed games to underpowered Nintendo consoles. While nothing showed up on the original Wii, both Assassin's Creed 3 and Black Flag had Wii U releases. The Switch, meanwhile, received remasters of both these titles, along with the Ezio trilogy and Rogue. None of the gigantic open-world titles have yet appeared on Nintendo systems, however, which would make Shadows a big leap forward to the present status of the series.

Assassin's Creed Shadows Might Be Coming To Switch 2

PEGI's Website Lists Some Surprising Information

The big indication of a potential Assassin's Creed Shadows Switch 2 release comes courtesy of VGC, which reported on a change found on the PEGI game ratings website. As of the time of writing, the homepage highlights Assassin's Creed Shadows as a heavily searched title and lists the available platforms as PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and, most notably, Nintendo Switch 2.

The individual game rating page for Assassin's Creed Shadows doesn't share this mention of Switch 2, and it's entirely possible that it's simply a mistake. It's also common for ports, remasters, and more to first show up on ratings websites, however, so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for a Switch 2 release to leak in this particular way.

AC Shadows Could Be Great On The Go

Wasting Time Is Better When It's Filling In Gaps

Although the vast open worlds of modern Assassin's Creed presumably made ports to the original Switch too daunting to consider, this design shift is exactly what could make Assassin's Creed Shadows a perfect Switch 2 title. The most common complaint surrounding the modern games tends to be the sense of bloat, with plenty of repetitive content falling between the most exciting challenges and narrative beats. Taking a game on the go can make that structure much more attractive, as it's easy to spend brief snippets of idle time on frivolous tasks without committing to intensive endeavors.

While I wouldn't particularly want to watch a major cutscene or assassinate a high-profile target on a not-quite-eight-inch screen, I'd be perfectly content to pick up lost pages, clear out a roadside enemy encampment, or work on the perfect design for my hideout. The relatively non-linear structure of the game's quests would make it easy to quickly swap from these tasks to main story content when docking the Switch 2 at home.

The Graphics Matter In Assassin's Creed Shadows

It's All About The Environments

The big caveat, as I see it, is that the side content of Assassin's Creed Shadows is unusually reliant on the game's gorgeous visuals. With a painstaking recreation of Japanese landscapes and an impressive weather system that spans eight different seasons, Shadows backs up its idle pleasures by marrying technical acumen and vibrant art design. This symbiosis goes beyond the typical Assassin's Creed standards, and filler tasks like kuji-kiri take on a more meditative approach where the surrounding beauty is the primary appeal.

Despite its step up in power, there's no way that the Switch 2 could handle Shadows without some significant visual compromises. Even on stronger hardware, turning off ray-tracing leaves Shadows with frequently flat lighting, as the baked-in backup system pales in comparison to, say, Cyberpunk 2077's standard lighting options. The Switch 2 would likely end up with flat lighting, underwhelming weather effects, and an inadequate resolution that leans on scaling solutions, robbing the game of its most natural pleasures.

While the right balance depends heavily on hardware and personal preference, tweaking settings for Assassin's Creed Shadows on PC to manage ray-tracing on mid-range hardware can be worth it.

Graphics aren't everything, of course, and games like Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey showed how beautiful something could be even on original Switch hardware. Assassin's Creed Shadows is fundamentally designed for powerful hardware, however, and stripping it down will probably result in a game struggling to fulfill its own artistic vision. Even that might be fine, but in this particular case, the prettiness serves an unusually important role in the game's appeal.

Assassin's Creed Shadows coming to the Switch 2 would ultimately still be a good thing. More platforms mean more people get to play the game, and if completing shinobi missions in a waiting room gives someone joy, then graphical limitations certainly aren't going to ruin everything. It's just an early example of the classic Switch problem re-emerging on the Switch 2. While games like Mario Kart World can provide definitive experiences on the system, Assassin's Creed Shadows would be a salient reminder that the choice between portability and performance isn't truly going away.

Sources: VGC, PEGI