How to Unlock and Play as Yasuke in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ dual protagonist system is an intriguing one. While Yasuke and Naoe are both the main characters, this isn’t initially the case. You don’t have immediate access to both characters and to be able to switch between them at first. Find out how to unlock and play as Yasuke in Assassin’s Creed Shadows below.

How to Unlock Yasuke in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Slight spoiler alert, but Yasuke is the first protagonist that you play as in this game. The intro starts with him coming to Japan and introducing his character, but then you move away from him soon after the tutorial. From there, the perspective switches to Naoe and it can be quite a long time until you see Yasuke again.

If you just focus on the main story, you can unlock Yasuke through it in about five hours or so. But if you do some side content like me, it is possible to go 10 or more hours without seeing and playing as Yasuke again. If your goal is to play as Yasuke, you will want to streamline the main story until he comes back into the limelight.

How to Play as Yasuke

Yasuke plays vastly differently in Assassin’s Creed Shadows than his fellow playable ally in Naoe. He is like the Spartan-style, action RPG protagonist we have seen in the last couple of games. As a samurai, Yasuke is beefy and loud. Your main goal with him is to charge in there and use all of your abilities to take out foes in a slow but aggressive playstyle.

It is, technically, possible for Yasuke to assassinate, but it isn’t viable in the slightest and you have to unlock it in the Mastery skill trees. In addition, his climbing quite frankly sucks compared to Naoe. But he has the most versatile weapons, so it is worth experimenting to find what works for you among the katana, naginata, bow, gun, and even more.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is available right now for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.