Assassin's Creed Shadows - Kumano Hongu Taisha

Kumano Hongu Taisha is the main shrine of the Kumano Sanzan trio of shrines,and part of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route . The entire Kumano region is a designated World Heritage site. This shrine is dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu.
I was tasked with recreating the shrine complex and area around it - layout, terrain work, level art propping - which was quite the challenge, because modern day Kumano Hongu is located elsewhere. During 16th century, it was actually situated on a sandbar of the Kumano River.

In 1889, due to the extreme flooding of the Kumano river, the shrine was moved and reassembled on a top of a hill, where it stands majestic to this day.Since our game takes place in late 16 century, i looked at some old drawings to get an idea where this shrine complex was originally located and how it looked ( since the year 2000 , a massive Torii gate marks the shrine's original location ) . That meant recreating the small post town located back then near Kumano Hongu , the two places conected via a bridge .

Art & Level design collaborators:
Art Lead - Iana Pencheva https://pencheva.artstation.com/
Art Director - Nikola Stoyanov https://niko_stoyanov.artstation.com/
Level Designers - Velizar Livorov
Historical accuracy advice - Emi Takeshita https://emmyemmy.artstation.com/
Shinto-themed architectural assets - made by Kevin Kok https://oranji.artstation.com/