Assassin's Creed Shadows: Attack on Titan Collab 'Beyond the Walls' (2025) - Video Game Mission Review

From the very first instalment, I have been a huge fan of the Assassin's Creed series of video games. I have played through all the mainlines, and a chunk of side games, and each time a new one comes out I eagerly lap it up. For those not in the know, each game takes place in a different historical time period, they have been everywhere, from Greece, to Italy, to England, France and more. This year was Assassin's Creed Shadows, which takes place in feudal Japan in the 16th Century. I have currently sunk around 76 hours, but it hasn't been one of my favourites, with an unfocussed main storyline that frequently has me forgetting what I'm meant to be doing.
All that preamble is to say, unexpectedly, there was a collaboration with anime Attack on Titan. This might seem like an odd fit, but it isn't the first time a strange collab has occurred, just look at the Stranger Things/Far Cry 6 crossover from 2022. The crossover was sadly limited time, and realising that I only had a day left to try it before it was removed from the game, last night (at time of typing), I quickly headed on to check the crossover mission out.

The mission is called 'Beyond the Walls', and the game draws attention to it by highlighting it on the map the first time you go on post addition. It begins with you finding the corpse of an Attack on Titan Survey Corps member, on the body are orders that reveal the Survey Corps were on a mission to capture a defector named Gautwin, and that they had located him at a nearby castle. Heading to the castle, you rescue another Corps member, and together you head into the basement where she reveals the defector has the power to change into a 'Titan'. Naoe and Yasuke assume this power is being exaggerated when told it literally changes a person into a giant monster. Separated from Yasuke and the Survey Corps member, Naoe heads on her own deeper into the cave system.

The first part of the mission proper sees Naoe heading through a series of dark caverns. These were not much different from cave levels in the rest of the game, unexciting, but I do love the more tightly focussed levels in Assassin's Creed games. Aside from overheard conversations from guards, the game doesn't properly crossover until Naoe arrives at the giant crystal pillar cave. This area is similar to the one in the show, a cavernous room full of hundreds of crystal pillars rising up from the void. The section here is mainly parkour based, enemies positioned in ways that meant you always got the (sometimes literal) jump on them. I enjoyed this, and it always felt obvious where the bonus chests were located. The actual rewards were a bit dull. The trailer for the crossover was all about the armour sets for the characters, but it turns out all the cool stuff has to be paid for. Instead, you get a bunch of different flags, and a Titan statue for use back in your home base.

The second half of the mission has you play as Yasuke, and is much shorter. The first part has him fighting a boss and his minions, while the second half has him fleeing from a Titan. That sounds cooler than it actually is, as you only hear the monster, I couldn't actually see it chasing me unfortunately. With that done its all over, with one last choice to decide how the mission ends.

I'm glad I wasn't expecting too much as this was merely adequate. It was a fun and silly crossover, and I did enjoy how it was integrated into the more realistic main game, but the actual mission was a bit underwhelming. I loved Naoe's section, the crystal caves were a lot of fun to get through. Yasuke's was more of a let down, it would have been cool to actually get to fight a Titan, rather than only have it appear on screen during a single cutscene. The rewards were fine, I'm not going to complain about free stuff, and you do get a unique weapon for both characters as a mission reward, but it felt a bit misleading that the armour sets were so front and centre in the trailer when these are only available to buy from the shop. For how attractive the rest of the game is, this mission was a bit bland looking.
The mission was free, and a cool little bonus. While it sucks it is only there for a limited time, I'm glad I got to try it, even if it was a little underwhelming.

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