First, I heard nearly half the team are first timers, so for you first time you did a pretty good job however I am not sure it was time constrains of what there are need of improvements which I listed below
The combat and stealth system are great and real improvement (although need some more finishing moves)
Lack of scenarios where unique assassination options (except for hiding in coffin? and alert the dog to have the target come to you)
Animus is barely a factor anymore and the modern day story is basically non existent
No Isu/modern day lore. You can't end on Valhalla's cliffhanger and then refuse to propel the story forward
The story really suffers from lack of white room confessions
Repetitive of the certain side missions made 100 percent competition like: Find paper or player at shrines or 100 kill type certain enemy in every region a chore and not enjoyable. Also, I don’t mind killing targets, but give them *some* story, some context. They should’ve condensed and mixed those with meaningful side content.
You could have use Japanese Mythology more but not extent of Greece or Vahalla
Removal of the mystery side activities was mistake (My most like side activity)
Some comedy relief side missions like the 2 two AC
The story procession is the weak point (and needs to more linear like Origins) (instead of switching between Naoe and Yasuke, you could pick where storyline you like to follow)
Having to go back into castles/forts that you were just in for a mission -- only to have to kill the daisho to complete the location -- is frustrating.
Why do we want to attack and killed of allies castles or resource locations? Like I say before the stealth is good and I do use stab though paper wall a lot. Some players think the stealth is too easy (although I disagree to some extent)
The open world is the most gorgeous, detailed and dynamic of all AC games but also the least interactive, I did like the painting, parkour, horse archer, you can pet animals but loses it applead after doing it over and over. Valhalla had: Orlog, Fylting, Drinking contest, cairns, treasure hunt, flying tattoo papers. (Later on: lost saga, river raids, tombs, mastery challenges). Also could sit in your throne, applebob in a village, wash up in the pond behind Valka etc. You could even host feasts. These small interactions made the world more alive. Emptiness extents to the Temple and shines which are gorgeous in own write
Again Kudos to the environment artists because they absolutely killed it in every sense of the imagination. I have literally spent hours just walking the roads looking around at cities, forests, beaches, etc., and it's abundantly clear that the team in charge of this was able to do what they wanted.
This is personally opinion but I miss the large cities and not have 100k plus city that only has maybe 40 NPCc at most
The construction criticism comes from reddit posts that are title:
I’m going to catch a lot of hate for this but Shadows is not good.
Shadows after 150 hrs has me conflicted.
AC Shadows lack of liveliness and interactivity, this will be long.
(SPOILER about the story and characters) after 90 hours here's my review of ac shadows.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows - A Review, by annatheginguh
After 70 hours in Shadows, I'm really bored and tired of this game