Assassin’s Creed Shadows Claws Of Awaji DLC Review: Fresh Mechanics That Falter in Storytelling

Although Assassin’s Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji DLC concludes Tsuyu’s story, our review explains why it falls short on other core aspects.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows ended the main story with a rather odd cliffhanger. You get to know about Tsuyu, the progenitor of the Assassins in Japan and also Naoe’s mother. On the other hand, her status remained largely ambiguous. Claws of Awaji DLC was supposed to expand the story and I had hoped that there would be some grand Templar plot, possibly relating Tsuyu to it. I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed with how things turned out.

Awaji itself is portrayed as a far harsher and more unforgiving land than the base game’s regions. Enemies here are not only tougher but are also unpredictable, and their appearance can depend on your actions as well. This hostile environment raises the stakes, giving the DLC an edge in challenge even if its narrative doesn’t always match the intensity of its setting.

AC Shadows Claws of Awaji DLC seems to be a conclusion to the story, one of reunion and acceptance. If I were to replace the Templars in Awaji with some new faction, there would be zero difference in how the entirety plays out. That, among some other reasons, is why Assassin’s Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji DLC falls short of greatness, and I will explain more in my review below.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji Shines With Innovation, But Falls Short in Storytelling

Awaji’s introduction is a gem, and I thoroughly loved it. A solid 20 minutes of 3D platforming, disguised as a puzzle show which tells you everything you need to know about the island was a truly unique introduction. On the other hand, it does tell you quite literally everything about Awaji as well. A mere puppet show that slanders Tsuyu was the perfect bait to get Naoe to visit Awaji and find out about her mother.

This was one of the most unique opening acts to an expansion that I have played in a really long time. More than the gameplay, I was excited to learn about Tsuyu, who I was confident was in some sort of war with the Templars. After all, why else would she stay away from her daughter and family for so many years. With these expectations, I set out to explore what Claws of Awaji had grasped exactly, and I did not find my gem here at least.

A Hollow Templar Conflict

The story setup in Claws of Awaji is serviceable at best, but incredibly underwhelming when stacked against the legacy of the Assassin – Templar conflict. Templars do exist here, but that’s about it. The primary antagonist, Kimura Yukari, is driven purely by ambition. The third and final Regalia, which serves as a key artifact in this arc is the primary cause of conflict. On the one hand, Tsuyu seeks to protect and Yukari wishes to use to rise to the top spot. Other than this singular goal, Yukari does not care for any larger templar vision.

Even more disappointing, Yukari doesn’t even wear the Templar insignia. Ironically, her bodyguard Tomeji comes across as more of a true templar than Yukari herself. Wearing the recognizable Templar necklace, Tomeji embodies loyalty – first to Kimura Kei (whom Yasuke killed in the base game) and now to Yukari, but out of oath only. His unwavering devotion is closer to the Templar order’s ideals than Yukari’s shallow hunger for power.

To top it off, Tsuyu’s task of recovering the Regalia feels hollow as well. I had hoped that these Regalia would somehow relate to Pieces of Eden or the Ancient Artifacts of the First Civilizatio. Alas, they are really only pieces of Japanese history, ones powerful enough to unite the country. Considering Shadows falls right after the Ezio trilogy where Pieces of Eden played a major role, Claws of Awaji’s narrative establishes Assassin’s Creed Shadows as a disconnected entry to the franchise. As a fan of the series, I find no relativity factor at all, especially given the very close timeline.

The Changing Faces of Characters in Claws of Awaji

In the base AC Shadows narrative, Tsuyu’s portrayal is of a fierce warrior and a loving wife. Here, she is nearly unrecognizable: bitter, weakened, and broken by years of captivity and torture (hinted at by the spymaster Yasuhira). She fails to inspire any sympathy, hiding the recovered Regalia and even prioritizing that over the people of Awaji whom Yukari has oppressed.

It’s only during the very last moments of the game, when Naoe intervenes in battle, that I saw Tsuyu’s hardened edge shatter. While Naoe and Yasuke wrap up things in the final battle, Tsuyu planned to flee with the Regalia. Even at this point, she seemed to put her mission before everything else, leaving even her own daughter Naoe behind. Tsuyu was ambushed and her weakened state could not keep up. After Naoe arrives and saves her, Tsuyu finally acknowledges her own flaws – her weakness as a warrior and her shortcomings as a mother. It’s here, and only here, that we glimpse a character arc where she vows to rebuild her relationship with Naoe.

On the other hand, Yasuke is stripped of depth. From the base game, I enjoyed using Yasuke in all-out skirmishes, and the game seems to have solidified that position for him even more. Yasuke is used mostly as a blunt-force assassin ally with no narrative growth. His one moment of individuality comes during Yukari’s climactic boss fight when she questions his loyalty to the Assassins. His reply, that his own life was saved by an Assassin and that he carries this debt, is powerful, yet brief. I feel this makes Yasuke feel more ideologically tied to the Brotherhood than Naoe, despite his non-stealth physique.

Yukari herself is portrayed as selfish and scheming, with no loyalty even to her own allies. Her “rise and rule” attitude vaguely mirrors the Templar themes of domination, but Tomeji himself calls her out for her lack of loyalty in his own clash against Yasuke. It’s a telling sign when a side character represents Templar ideology more accurately than the main villain.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji Gameplay: A Lot of Innovation

Traps And World Hostility

Where the story falters, Claws of Awaji introduces some genuinely fun gameplay twists that help keep players engaged. While Yasuhira, Yukari’s spymaster, is alive, the world feels significantly more hostile. Citizens in the city can suddenly reveal themselves as undercover spies, forcing you into a fight-or-flight situation without warning. Using scouts while he remains alive also comes with consequences. Scouted zones light up red on the map, signifying heightened vigilance.

As someone who relied a lot on the Scout mechanic, this did make the game somewhat difficult for me. On the other hand, I also found a neat workaround, which might have been something that the developers intended. Rooftops seem much more connected in Awaji, which is a blind spot for most enemies. Even if the area had heightened vigilance, I could find my way around by staying off the ground at all times. Once I defeated Yasuhira, these “counter-scout” mechanics disappear, adding a rewarding layer of strategy to mission planning.

The trap mechanics further deepen this tension. Once again, this is tied to another of Yukari’s foremen – Nowaki – a shinobi who plays in poison. Nowaki’s motley crew makes exploration treacherous by planting various rope traps. These can trigger poison clouds, small explosives, or throwable attacks. Every time I fell for one of these – which was more often than I’d like to admit – I was surrounded by shinobis. Fighting all of them is not necessary, and I ran way from them quite frequently.

After I took down Nowaki, I noticed that the frequency of traps and shinobi ambushes both decreased greatly. If you want to spend more time exploring the wilderness of Awaji, Nowaki needs to be high up your target priority list. One of the other highlight additions in this DLC is the ability to change the time of the day. This has significantly aided my gameplay, and I could easily meditate till 6 PM and wait a few more for the light to die and allow Naoe to infiltrate fromt he shadows.

New Weapons

Naoe’s new Bo Staff easily stands out as one of the main highlights of the Assassin’s Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji DLC. It has a defined stance system, that can range from stunning enemies to sweeping them to the ground. Although it is not a sharp-edged weapon of bloodshed, it is one of the most versatile options in AC Shadows. It replaced the Katana for me instantly, since I prefer playing with the Tanto which makes Naoe’s wield dual hidden-blades essentially.

Yasuke, meanwhile, receives some flashy tools as well, such as the flamethrower-equipped teppo and the kanabo throw. While both bring creative flair, they are less practical than his tried-and-true long katana and kanabo, which remained my consistent choice for all battles.

Graphics and Sound: Familiar Yet Slightly Flawed

Claws of Awaji DLC retains the stunning visual world-building of Assassin’s Creed Shadowws. Awaji looks gorgeous, atmospheric, and filled with detail, from coastal towns to the more densely populated areas. Audio, however, has some unusual bugs – transitions tied to musical cues such as leveling up or unlocking a viewpoint. I found these to sometimes mute all surrounding sounds, and I had to restart the game to fix them. Outside of these glitches, the audio-visual presentation remains on par with the base game – rich and very cinematic.

In Conclusion

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji is a DLC that shines in gameplay innovation but falters where it matters most – expanding the Assassin-Templar mythos. The opening puppet-show introduction is one of the most creative sequences I have come across in the series. The hostile world design with ambushes, traps, and unpredictable encounters adds a fresh strategic challenge. Naoe’s Bo Staff is a definite highlight, one that has even found a spot in my main build. On this front, Awaji offers a rewarding experience that pushes players to adapt strategically on all aspects.

Narratively, however, Claws of Awaji feels hollow. Tsuyu’s arc, stripped of her strength, reduces her to a frail shadow of the legend. Yukari also fails to embody the essence of a true Templar leader. With Yasuke sidelined into a one-note role and Naoe surprisingly underdeveloped, the emotional payoff is thin despite the DLC’s ending theme of reunion and acceptance. Ultimately, Claws of Awaji is a tale of contrasts: a mechanically rich, inventive expansion weighed down by a story that misses the chance to tie Japan’s Assassins into the grander Assassin’s Creed saga.

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We provide the latest news and create guides for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Meanwhile, you can check out the following AC Shadows articles or catch us playing games on Twitch and YouTube:

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• Who Are the Assassin’s Creed Shadows Protagonists? Everything We Know About Yasuke and Naoe
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