Assassin’s Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji: Painting Memories Walkthrough

Ubisoft Bordeaux’s Claws of Awaji DLC for Assassin’s Creed Shadows introduced several new gameplay mechanics and features to Ubisoft Quebec’s standout Sengoku period game.

For one, Naoe was granted the ability to use the new bo staff weapon to thwart her enemies in a less lethal way, while Yasuke received new abilities for each of his weapons, such as the powerful long katana Wind Slash ability.

The Claws of Awaji DLC additionally introduced a brief snippet of 2.5 side-scrolling gameplay to illustrate the past of Awaji and Naoe’s mother Tsuyu, similar to the gameplay seen in 2024’s Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

However, one new hard-to-find gameplay mechanic brilliantly shows off Awaji’s new beautiful environments and contributes to completing the DLC’s Breathtaking! Achievement/Trophy: Landscape Sumi-e.

How Landscape Sumi-e Works

According to PlayStation data at the time of writing, only about 0.7% of Shadows players have earned the Breathtaking! Achievement/Trophy, which is understandable as the Landscape Sumi-e activities are a bit out of the way from Awaji’s main questline.

Unlike the regular and Legendary Sumi-e found in Shadows‘ base game, the Landscape Sumi-e are not directly tied to animals or locked to certain seasons.

Instead, Landscape Sumi-e are tied to, as the name suggests, specific locations found on Awaji and a few areas found on the Kansai mainland that illustrate Sengoku period Japan’s diverse and wondrous environments.

This means that players no longer have to crawl cautiously towards the Sumi-e in fear that they may disturb their subject and come back at a later time for the subject to respawn.

How to Find the Landscape Sumi-e

While most of the Claws of Awaji DLC is set on the titular island, there are a few new side quests and activities the DLC introduces that take place on the mainland.

For instance, some Landscape Sumi-e can be found on the mainland, such as one found during the “Go With the Bo” quest with Bo Master Meiran that will reward players with a painting of Teratsutsuki Den.

However, only the Landscape Sumi-e from Awaji are required to complete the Breathtaking! Achievement/Trophy which can be found near the Izanagi Shrine near the center of the island, near the southwestern edge of the island, and near the northeastern edge of the island.

The Izanagi Shrine Lanscape Sumi-e is the easiest one to find as it’s just near a large tree near the shrine, but the other two Sumi-e will force players to traverse parkour trails similar to the Hidden Trails found on the mainland.

In the northeast is the Trail of Eshima, which will lead players to paint a rocky Eshima island, while the southwestern Trail of the Naruto will lead players to paint the world-famous Naruto whirlpools.

With how difficult it can be to climb these trails, I recommend players seek out these Sumi-e as Naoe instead of Yasuke, since there are many areas on the trail the bulky samurai simply cannot traverse.

Rewards of Landscape Sumi-e

Once all three Awaji Landscape Sumi-e are painted, players will finally earn the Breathtaking! Achievement/Trophy and become one step closer to earning every Achievement/Trophy the DLC has to offer.

Painting all three Awaji Landscape Sumi-e will additionally cause Naoe or Yasuke to verbally discuss bringing them back to Junjiro on the mainland to complete the Painting Memories quest.

Upon traveling back to the Izumi Settsu Hideout, players can talk with Junjiro and gift him the three Landscape Sumi-e, and he will gift Naoe or Yasuke a Sumi-e painting of his own he made while the warriors were at Awaji, depicting three figures basking in the joy of found family.

Players could then use Junjiro’s Painting and the Landscape Sumi-e to decorate their Hideout alongside any other Sumi-e they have gathered over their time playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows.