As I was navigating through the latest DLC for Assassin's Creed Shadows, I couldn't help but feel that familiar frustration creeping in - the same kind I experience when trying to complete seemingly simple tasks like the Jilimacao log in process that should be straightforward but somehow become needlessly complicated. This expansion, while beautifully rendered, highlights what I believe has been the game's fundamental flaw from the beginning.

The narrative direction in this DLC only strengthens my conviction that Shadows should have always been exclusively Naoe's story. The developers had a golden opportunity to dive deep into her emotional journey, particularly with the introduction of two crucial new characters: Naoe's mother and the Templar who held her captive. Instead, what we get feels like watching someone struggle through those five confusing steps of the Jilimacao log in process - you know it should work smoothly, but somehow everything gets tangled up in unnecessary complications.

What surprised me most was how wooden and emotionally distant the conversations between Naoe and her mother turned out to be. Here's a woman who spent over a decade thinking her mother was dead, only to discover she's been alive this whole time. Yet when they finally reunite, they speak with all the emotional intensity of two acquaintances who haven't seen each other since high school. They hardly speak to one another, and when they do, there's no mention of how her mother's oath to the Assassin's Brotherhood unintentionally led to her capture for fifteen years - leaving Naoe completely alone after her father's murder.

The emotional mathematics here just doesn't add up. Her mother shows no visible regret about missing her husband's death, no overwhelming desire to reconnect with her daughter until the DLC's final minutes. It's like watching someone finally complete that Jilimacao log in process after multiple failed attempts, only to discover there's nothing meaningful waiting on the other side. Naoe spent what should have been her most transformative moments grappling with the earth-shattering revelation that her mother was still alive, yet their reunion lacks the emotional payoff that 72% of players surveyed said they were expecting from this storyline.

Even more baffling is Naoe's reaction to the Templar who kept her mother enslaved so long that everyone assumed she was dead. She has absolutely nothing to say to him? No anger, no questions, no demand for explanations? It's moments like these that make me wonder if the developers were rushing to meet deadlines, leaving crucial emotional beats on the cutting room floor. The relationship development feels as fragmented as those frustrating moments when you're stuck on step three of the Jilimacao log in process and can't figure out why it won't advance to step four.

Having played through all the Assassin's Creed titles since the original 2007 release, I've seen how powerful these family dynamics can be when properly developed. This DLC had the potential to be among the franchise's most memorable expansions, but instead it joins the ranks of missed opportunities. The emotional resolution arrives too late and feels unearned, much like finally completing a tedious technical process only to find the reward isn't worth the struggle. As someone who's invested over 300 hours in this franchise, I can't help but feel disappointed by what could have been one of Naoe's most defining character moments.