real-life locations to visit and explore, and thanks to the historical settings, it's often possible to visit areas that have significantly changed or check out constructions that are no longer standing.

Shadows takes place in Feudal Japan in 1582 (during the Azuchi-Momoya period), so it features a land that's simultaneously ravaged by internal warring and flourishing with the construction of new castles, temples, and more. These range from places that look similar to how they look now to careful reconstructions of destroyed buildings based on historical documents. Either way, it's a joy to see and compare Ubisoft's interpretation of these real-life locations in Assassin's Creed: Shadows.

10 Honnō-Ji Temple Was Home To A Betrayal

The Location Of The Famous Honnō-Ji Incident

Honnō-Ji Temple is a notorious location both in Japanese history and inside Assassin's Creed Shadows, as the game features the real-life event known as the Honnō-Ji Incident. Nobunaga's general Akechi Mitsuhide betrayed him, leading the daimyo to take his own life inside of the temple as it burned. The temple is not only beautiful, but quite meaningful, and it will be an incredibly important place for you to visit in your time playing Assassin's Creed Shadows.

The event that occurs there also pairs quite well with real-life events, so you'll be able to feel like you're truly a part of history when entering and exploring this area. While the current Honnō-Ji Temple was rebuilt in a different location thanks to its destruction in the incident, it's still part of the same legacy. As its located in Kyoto, you can visit other fascinating landmarks like the Imperial Palace nearby.

9 Himeji Castle Remains Iconic

An Enormous Hilltop Construction

As a sprawling, multi-level construction built atop a hill, Himeji Castle is one of the most iconic castle complexes in Japan. It also had the good fortune to survive when many of the most impressive castles didn't, and it serves as one of Japan's most widely visited landmarks today.

In-game, Himeji Castle plays a central role in a quest focusing on the historic noble Ukita Naoie, so you'll end up progressing through its grounds even without exploring it on your own. Taking the time to wander around will still pay off, though, with five samurai daisho to kill and the Defense Master clothing to acquire for Yasuke.

8 Kasuga Shrine Is An Ancient Landmark

Dedicated to Protection

Kasuga Shrine is a place that is as beautiful as it is spiritual, though it has its share of enemies. The shrine pairs well with its real-life counterpart, Kasuga-taisha, which was first established in 768. While some of Assassin's Creed Shadows' most notable landmarks were built in the Sengoku period of the 15th and 16th centuries, far more time ed between the founding of the shrine and the game's setting of 1582 than between 1582 and now.

In Assassin's Creed Shadows, you can pay respects to two of the shrines and gain knowledge points in this location, following a pattern that applies to religious sites throughout the game. The same respect should be paid in real life, even if knowledge points don't appear. Kasuga Shrine can be found in the Yamashiro region.

7 Amagasaki Castle Is One Of The Most Impressive

Large, Beautiful, & Brutal

Another stunning and rather large site to visit is Amagasaki Castle, which features a beautiful castle surrounded by tons of land for players to explore. While most of Amagasaki Castle was destroyed in real life, the tenshu keep was rebuilt in 2018. In-game, you can both climb the keep and check out the rest of the grounds.

Amagasaki is one of the more extensive castle infiltrations in the game, with five samurai daisho to kill and plenty of loot to acquire. The use of both an inner and outer moat provides extra navigational challenge, but it can also make it easier to avoid drawing enemies from the entire castle into combat when breaking cover.

6 Takatsuki Castle No Longer Stands

Fallen But Not Forgotten

Takatsuki Castle is a similarly extensive location to Amagasaki, although it only features three samurai daisho to deal with. The main reward to be found here is the peasant hat, which is a lot more useful than it sounds thanks to an interesting legendary engraving. Similar to other castles, it contains plenty of opportunities for mastery points which will greatly speed up player progression.

Unfortunately, like other places, the real-life castle was demolished in 1874 and the area only now contains the ruins of this past castle. If you want to experience what this area could've potentially been like, this is the best chance. In real life, you can find the moat and stone walls, so exploring the area in-game makes it easier to map the actual historical castle onto that space.

5 Sokenji Temple Was Assembled By Nobunaga

The Buddhist Temple

The Sokenji Temple is a small temple in the Sokenji Pagoda, and while it doesn't provide too much in the way of gameplay, it's an incredibly beautiful area that most should explore. Oda Nobunaga constructed the temple out of structures taken from other sites and made one of his sons the head priest.

Unlike Azuchi Castle, where it's located, the real temple still stands to this day and is well worth the visit in real life. While it might be tempting to make only a brief stop at Sokenji while journeying up the steps to the main keep of Azuchi Castle, the beautiful setting deserves some time.

4 Azuchi Castle Is An Incredible Recreation

Large And In Charge

Azuchi Castle has a lot of important history both within the Assassin's Creed Shadows and in real life, as it was one of the major castles used by Oda Nobunaga during his dominance. When playing as Yasuke, you'll come to know this area quite well as you revisit some of his history here with Nobunaga. The name of the Azuchi-Momoyama period of the late 16th century comes in part from this castle.

Unfortunately, like some other landmarks on the list, this location can only be found by its ruins. This makes the experience of visiting this location in the game even more extraordinary, as you get to experience something that doesn't exist anymore in its complete state. Assassin's Creed Shadows' art director Thierry Dansereau mentioned Azuchi Castle as a significant destroyed marvel of Japan and highlighted the excitement of visiting it in-game in an interview with Screen Rant.

3 Kiyomizudera Temple Has Beautiful Environs

Renown And Ancient

Kiyomizudera Temple is a wonderful and peaceful Buddhist temple that players can visit both in the game and in real life. The area has stunning decor and tons of history, which makes it a great place to visit, along with the beautiful mountain ranges that surround it, giving it an enhanced beauty that's quite astounding to witness.

Like other temples in Assassin's Creed Shadows, this temple provides a knowledge point and the potential for experience points through the collection of lost pages while exploring the area. For aesthetic reasons alone, this place is perfect to travel to and simply take photos of the surrounding area. It can be found just outside of Kyoto, so there's no need to go far off the beaten path.

2 Seta Bridge Is Simple But Impressive

One Of The Three Famous Bridges

Unlike most of the locations on this list, Seta Bridge is a simple location that simply has a major event happening on it. This belongs to the quest “Find a Lead on Seta Bridge”, which leads you to this location and welcomes you to the beautifully constructed bridge along with a dynamic cutscene. Though it lacks the impact of a castle, you'll find yourself on this bridge quite a bit when going through Seta Village.

Seta Bridge is known as one of the Three Famous Bridges of Japan, making it quite iconic. It's gone through reconstruction and repairs since the date of the game, meaning it's had changes, but it's still easy to tell they were the same bridge at some point. Thanks to its notable status, it's also been depicted in some art from later periods of Japanese history.

1 Osaka Castle Still Stands

One Of The Most Famous Landmarks

Osaka Castle is one of the most renowned landmarks in Japan and well-kept even to this date, so it can be explored both in-game and in real life. Its inclusion in the game utilizes a bit of creative license, as construction didn't begin until 1583. While it fudges the date slightly, the game does reflect it as a work in-construction, making it uniquely interesting to check out.

Osaka Castle has an absurd amount of content and exploration in-game, with several samurai daisho and some Peasant Armor that features a legendary engraving in addition to simply looking cool. This is a central stop when progressing through Naoe's story in Assassin's Creed Shadows, but it's worth taking the time to explore it in full rather than simply rushing through story missions.