Great gusts funnel between the surrounding ridges, picking up orange-red leaves that tumble and swirl.
There are good reasons why Ubisoft would make the latest entry in its tentpole franchise so windswept.
But the breezes of Shadows are more than mere environmental gimmick for the longstanding open-world franchise.
“My whole life, I have been caught on a wind,” says former slave Yasuke.
“Blown across the world.
Clinging to whatever I could.”
“Wow, this is real,” he said somewhat breathlessly.
“This is what the [wind] system is giving us.”
Wind in Sucker Punch’s samurai epic was obscenely pretty (who can forget thosepampas fields!)
while also serving a practical function, guiding the player in elegantly diegetic style towards their next objective.
These typhoon-like triple-A conditions were kickstarted in 2015 withThe Witcher 3.
“If you’ve been planning something special, tonight might be the night.”
you’re free to’t see the wind - only its swaying, gusting effects on shrubbery and particles.
It also teases an answer about why exactly there is so much stuff hovering in the air.
Shadows is, to date, the windiest of all triple-A’s blustery offerings.
Yet this makes its moments of stillness all the more potent.
Sometimes she is able to paint wildlife like a heron quietly grazing in shallow water.
But the wind is also the messenger for a metaphor of unadorned, haiku-esque elegance.
“As long as we are breathing, there is always hope,” Naoe muses.
