While he didn’t do anything truly huge like, say, murder your father and leave the two of you for dead, Ise Sadaoki is an industrial grade dickhead from the second you lay eyes on him—and he earns extra dickpoints when you find out how dirty he did his brother Sadatame.
But it’s fine, he’s not long for this world now that Naoe and her new bestie Yasuke decided it’s time for his yearly katana colonoscopy. Unfortunately for them, there’s a big ass castle in their way. But as it turns out, there’s not a whole lot of problems in Assassin’s Creed Shadows that katanas can’t solve. Let’s get you in there so you can do your job.
Preparation
Seeing as this is likely your first go around with two heroes chasing down the same lead, there’s not a whole lot of extra precautions you need to take before walking through the front door. That said, making a pitstop home to upgrade your gear at the Forge is always a good idea, and if you haven’t already, getting the Double Assassination skill is going to make life a hell of a lot easier/bloodier this mission, and for the rest of the game.
The mission (Lost Honor)
Step one involves Yasuke killing a whole buncha folks, starting with the guards right out front. It’s pretty straightforward combat for a bit here, though the sheer numbers can pose a problem if they catch you lacking. Still, it’s nothing you can’t handle at this point. Oh, and just because the obstacles might confuse you at first, when the first batch of dudes is dead, take the door left of the main entrance.
Naoe’s part is the tricky one since it involves running up that road, and running up that hill, except there’s nothing but problems between you and the castle gate. When you get control, look straight ahead for a hole in the wall you can climb through. Crouch behind and then assassinate the first dude in front of the boxes when you’re on the other side, and do the same to his buddy when he comes looking. There’s a bit of loot in the little shack to your left but nothing to write home about.
Climb that shack, and look down into the clearing so you can tag the meditating guard and the one who’s getting some late night kata on. They’re both pretty oblivious, and they’re both too far from the guards on the stairs to the right to trigger anything else. Waste ‘em both. There’s another hole in the wall if you look up and ahead. Head on through, and use the bushes here to take down the three guards in the immediate area. Double Assassination helps—toldja. Facing towards the objective marker on your compass, hug the left side, right up against the Animus glitch wall, and climb up.
Once you’re over the next roof, you’ll be looking over a bridge. If you have Double Assassination, wait till the patrolling guard starts chatting to his friend under the doorway, and take ‘em both down. Stab the guard on the right side balcony too if you’re feeling sassy.
Move to the other end of the bridge, kill the next pair of baddies. You’re at the gate. Take down the three soldiers wandering around here however you see fit–it’s an open space, you’ve got plenty of options–and when you’re done, open the gate.
You’ll get a cutscene where Ise Sadatame runs off to talk to his brother solo. Sadatame tries “begging”. It’s not very effective, and he’s saved only by the grace of Gennojo, who you met back in the Bamboo Forest. When you get control again, you’ll have the option to tackle the big boss battle as Naoe or Yasuke. The Naoe version of this is a major loinpunch of a stealth section, so if you’d like to not bite your controller in half out of pure white-hot rage, please pick Yasuke. Now, it’s just a nice straightforward swordfight, where your only big concern is that Sadaoki has a pretty long combo string you’ll need to endure if you want to make him vulnerable. Otherwise, no sweat. Take the low level henchmen out first, then handle Sadaoki.
Watch the cutscene, have a chat with Gennojo. Choose “You might be right” for the dialogue choice with him here if you’re planning on Naoe tapping that later. Send Sadatame home, and you can officially scratch one more scumbag off the census, and get the Steel Blossom katana for your trouble.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PCs.