Shadows is Ubisoft's most successful game in the franchise by a Japanese country mile, ranking high in both sales and player counts.

I used to be the sentimental type in video games. For instance, if a certain character offered you a weapon—a keepsake—I would hang on to that weapon for as long as possible. Something like Naoe’s starting katana would be the kind of thing that I’d stubbornly hold onto for far too long.

The latest Ubisoft release set in feudal Japan had a lot of pressure on it to perform, but it can't fill in the hole Ubisoft dug for itself.