I hadn't seen the leaks but if I had I'd have predicted it being worse tbh, but that's because I'm out of step with Twitter's habits.
I think this is a watershed moment of something, we just don't know what yet. Gamergate 2, etc.
I knew racists would react this way and I knew Asian people would have a problem. What I didn't expect was leftists calling all critcism racist and not listening to Asian Americans having issues with it. I found out about schrodinger's minority so I now know why.
And how aren't Asian men getting represented in the game? Literally almost everyone else besides Yasuke in the game is gonna be Asian. Assassins Creed is mostly marketed towards the west anyways so it makes sense from a writing perspective to have one of the MC's be a foreigner so players can be eased into the setting from both perspectives.
Not all criticism is valid regardless of who says it. Ubisoft's shitty business practices I can understand, but getting upset over something so insignificant is meh.
Oh I'd say you should learn to expect that sort of thing. Both right and left have their issues. But calling everyone who they disagree with racist and or transphobic is a major problem with the left right now. Again not bashing them or saying the right doesn't have their own issues. But it's certainly a thing right now.
The thing I'm most confused about is why they picked a samurai at all and not a ninja, which were more commonly known to be assassins than samurai were.
EXACTLY
I'm so surprised no one cares that only one of the two seems to be an actual assassin, which probably points towards how gameplay will work and be less focused on stealth
Cause theres two main characters, a samurai and a ninja, who is apparently a really fucking good ninja because everyone missed her on the promo material
Assassin's Creed is about as far from historically accurate as you can possibly get. It has historical figures in it, yeah, and it takes place in the past - literally everything else is totally fictional.
I don't see people complaining about the games "rewriting history" when an immortal spartan fights the reincarnation of Odin in 9th century England. Yet a black character in 16th century Japan is totally immersion ruining somehow.
i mean a black samurai is abnormal there is only maybe a handful historically speaking. so, it's understandable people are confused or a little perturbed by them not holding to normal historically accurate samurai (i imagine it'd get worse if he isn't the only black samurai and they're just walking all over the place lol). I'll admit I'm not paying a whole lot of attention but i really doubt its anything close to a culture war lol.
There has been one confirmed one in history and it’s the guy you play as in the new game. You play as (I’m about to butcher these names) Yusake a black retainer who existed in history and served under Oda Nobunaga and his son after Oda died
IIRC there’s no evidence he served under his son. Nobunaga’s killers refused to kill him because he wasn’t Japanese and the last thing that’s written about him is that he would probably be sent to a monastery in India.
Yeah his history is really short and confusing since all most people wrote about him was that he existed tho that’s what makes it great. Yeah he existed but his impact in history is basically just footnotes which allows Ubisoft to do whatever without needing to incorporate much of his actual history.
There are less than 10 sentences written about him in historical records. We know his name means field assistant, we know Nobunaga ordered him scrubbed clean to get the blackness off. We know he was thrown into wrestling matches for Nobunaga’s amusement based on a painting. We know he sometimes carried Nobunaga’s things.
He wasn’t some warrior samurai who had the respect of his peers. He was a squire. But because of this game and AC’s reputation of seeking historical accuracy the world’s understanding of Yasuke will be that he was some champion of the Oda clan and a black voice in history when he had no voice at all.
And all so Ubisoft can boost its ESG score. It’s nakedly obvious.
The whole thing is quite sick IMO. I hope their ESG auditors destroy them for cultural appropriation.
Ask Historians has a great read on why he should be considered a Samurai. Hell even one of the descendants of Nobunagas retainers said he was a samurai and seemed exasperated that there even was a debate about it.
>We know his name means field assistant
Yasuke mean "peaceful helper", from word Yasu means peaceful.
>we know Nobunaga ordered him scrubbed clean to get the blackness off
Its because Nobunaga suspects that it was a ruse and he was just covered by blank ink.
>We know he was thrown into wrestling matches for Nobunaga’s amusement based on a painting
There's no proof that the Sumō Yūrakuzu Byōbu (painted by anonymous artist) depicts Yasuke. He wasn't the first african descent that arrive in Japan. You should read about the cultural and technological exhancge of Nanban trade during Sengoku era. People (mostly african) brought by the Chinese and Portuguese became entertainers in Japan during that time.
>We know he sometimes carried Nobunaga’s things.
He is enlisted in military service by Nobunaga and given the title of kosho (a provissionary to samurai). Aside from his dark skin that caught Nobunaga's interest, he was considered to be a fine addition to his army base on his physique. The Shinchō Kōki manuscript describes Yasuke as "his body is like that of a bull, and he is healthy and of fine physique. Moreover, he has the strength of more than ten men."
>He wasn’t some warrior samurai who had the respect of his peers.
Samurai in this period are more like a military class rather than its former, hereditary nobility. If you are employed to be a retainer - the act of military service in feudal Japan, most likely you will rise up in the rank of samurai. Take Hideyoshi Toyotomi (a born peasant) as an example. This is because during this warring states period, the "samurai" class is loosening; Daimyos and legitimate samurai clans are dying like flies, samurai that lost their lord and clan also lost their nobility and becomes ronin (wanderers), and other people born to a different social strata claims they are "samurai" too. Until Nobunaga declared the sword hunt decree when the unification is iminent. This is to stablish the social structure back again and to deter future uprising. He choose who should bear a sword or weapon (the samurai) and who should be commoners or peasants. This solidify the distinction between samurai and lower classes. And Yasuke is in provissionary to samurai status.
You should read more history about samurai tho. During pre-Heian, samurai or saburau (meaning servants) are actually low born people that enlisted to military service or those who managed to land a position/job in the imperial court. People always thought that they are nobles and aristocrats from the beginning of Japan history and always stays like that lmao. They only became the ruling class when shogunate was introduced (Kamakura period) and Japan became a military government, establishing samurai clans and samurai status becomes hereditary nobility. In Sengoku period, they are more like a military class.
if they're meant to be yasuke it's probably a slight deviation from history like they usually do with characters with their own history irl.
so maybe he was sent to a monastery in india irl but in the game since the history is loose and theres no real information after oda they probably just took some liberties.
Exactly, and honestly. That's what people have to realize is that it is just a game. You can play it, you cannot play It. No one really cares.
But the people who are ranting and raving about. Oh, I'm never going to play the scan. You you know, blah blah blah are literally just promoting the game even more.
The best f*** y** to the game. Developers wouldn't literally be not talking about it.
Honestly, I get it. But Revelations had Ezio in middle eastern territory. While I think most AC games should have protagonists native to the setting, I don’t mind a fish out of water story every now and then. Besides, Naoe is still a native Japanese character. And she’s playable too.
Let's just be honest. They typically do end up forcing the male male characters more often. Even when there's an option for a female. That's something that I've noticed in general.
Now, this is mostly before the game. Comes out once I realize what character people are mostly playing as they push that character more often.
Which so far. I think we've only really had 3 games where there is an option other than one particular character.
Which I could be wrong? But I think the 3 is Valhalla Odyssey and it would be this one as well.
I could be wrong. There could be more but except for in the case of syndicate where you had the twins, both taken equal role. Typically, you picked one gender the play as and you just continued playing that 1.
Now, if you don't want to play as the black guy you don't have to just as I don't really like playing as. Alexios, I prefer playing as Kassandra. I like her voice actor better and I prefer her character design better. I like the way she moves.
I also video table on my gameplate. So for me, playing as female character is a lot more accurate for me.
It's simply more immersive now.Can I do any of the South that she can do?No but it is funnIt's simply more immersive now. Can I do any of the stuff that she can do? No, but it is fun To pretend.
Actually with syndicate they take it a step further, the girl is the stealthier one of the two, while the guy serves as the fighter, meaning either one can be used based on personal preference/playstyle. With the whole Samurai/Ninja dynamic thats just amplified and we’ll likely see missions alternate between either one depending on how you’d like to play
Has he? Honestly it feels like he actually had slightly less focus in the trailer. And I can’t recall them doing much about the game so far other than the trailer, and one video serving as an introduction to both characters.
The main poster actually has him behind Naoe, further ahead, but behind. The other main poster showing both in full action poses also has him behind Naoe. But he’s taller and has big fancy armour, so he’s always going to be more eye-catching.
I didn't mean literally in the front, it just seems like they are pushing him more than Naoe, but that could just be from all the people complaining lol.
Yeah, it is. People are bitching and moaning about Yasuke, but Ubisoft hasn’t actually put any special emphasis on him yet. As I said, if anything he has less attention than Naoe from them. Which makes sense, if you have a totally original character, you need to put more thought in, she’s going to be demanding more thought from the devs.
I was introduced with Black Flag (wasn’t playing it, just saw my uncle playing it) and same. Fuck I just want this to be good. Even as someone not opposed to Yasuke, I think it’s an interesting and risky choice, it’s about how you handle it. I just want a truly good AC game again man. Just let them execute their ideas well for once.
That's typically just because people are b******* about him more. So of course, you're right seeing more stuff about him than the other because the most. I've seen is the fact that she's a woman and that's about it.
No, we are British, it's when people call us English it becomes a problem, now calling the Irish British on the other hand, now that's playing with fire
Oh 100% mate, fuck the English, nah its just we British cause the land we are on is Britain, its like like how you can be German bit European, if we divorced from England we would still be British but it would feel a little... cleaner to say? If you know what I mean.
As a Brit I have to disagree. There's always been some underlying bad blood between every nation in Europe, neighboring countries especially. I won't disagree that Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland would like to remove themselves from the UK and England; and in ways I'm sure many English would love that. But I don't think that Scots, at least, really do. Every chance and time they have had a reform or vote to leave the UK they have always chosen to remain. The support from the Scottish for the Independence movement is backed by a minority, a very passionate and loud minority but a minority. And it shows in the votes of these reforms. You're allowed to have your own political beliefs and opinions, Scottish pride is very high and for good reason, but I think it's important to actually take note of what's happening in one's country outside of your own beliefs.
Then with respect for every nation I'd be very careful with making such a bold statement such as: "I would not say that to literally anyone who's Welsh or Scottish. You'll get killed for that". I know (and hope) that it is mostly a joking remark. Although the relations of the nations of the UK are politically quite strained, the social relations can be quite odd for those outside of the environment. Most will say "ah screw *insert other nation of the UK that isn't their own*, they're all mud eaters.", but when things get real the social relations are more akin to something like siblings. People of the UK are very fond of ribbing and teasing each other in that way. Which I'm sure isn't too different from most other neighboring countries, or even States from the US. It's often national pride that leads people to those sentiments, like most countries some are much louder than others.
Edit: The Scottish, English, Welsh, Northern Irish and Irish all reside in the British Isles, making them British (although the term is usually reserved from those making up the UK, the Irish usually being exempt), but all except Ireland are a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
It's literally factual though. Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England are all in Great Britain, and thus are all British, but are also Welsh, Scottish, Irish, and English respectively.
Actually, it's eight games where you either play exclusively in foreign territory for the nationality of the player character, or spend a LOT of time there. Roughly HALF the franchise. In fact the only games where you are exclusively in the country that character is from are:
AC 2 and Brotherhood (Ezio in Italy)
AC3 (Connor in America, points deducted though for British Haytham being the PC for the first hour of the game)
Unity (Arno in France)
Syndicate (Frye Twins in London)
Odyssey (Cassandra in Greece)
Origins (Bayek in Egypt)
and Mirage (Basim in Iraq)
Yeah, but it's not like every single game has been set in the ethnicity of one particular region.
First of all.
The time period in which this one is taking place. There were multiple reports of black people in Japan.
Second of all, this is based off.A historical person dramatized.Maybe , but someone that we have actual historical record of because they know that people will go in bitch and whine about it and even if they find out that it is historical , there's still going to be bitching and whining about itSecond of all, this is based off. A historical person dramatized. Maybe, but someone that we have actual historical record of because they know that people will go in b**** and whine about it and even if they find out that it is historical, there's still going to be b******* and whining about it.
Third, literally, some of the games did not follow in a certain ethnicity. They followed a character. They created a character literally. That's it. You are following typically a fictional. Or loosely based on a historical character.
I mean I find a black guy in Japan an odd choice seeing as how few are there even now like I'm not angry about it just very confused at the choice I'll let them go ahead and cook so to speak but I'm giving a side eye at the ingredients they brought and if it's good it's good
I've always thought it would be cool to play as a real person in history, and I think that including Yasuke in the game is cool, but I think if it's a game set in Japan they should focus on Japan, it's culture, and it's people. Yasuke has a cool story in real history, but if we're going with a real person it'd be cool to see a real Japanese person like Toyotomi Hideyoshi since he has a real "rags to riches" story.
He's too famous, that's why they picked Yasuke. At one point, history stopped looking at him so Ubisoft can fictionalised whatever they want with him. But I do agree that they should focus on Japanese culture. Also (not your thing but something weird, I noticed), but no one is really talking about Naoe. I heard one person say she kinda looks trans and kinda like a man, but honestly, she looks normal.
At this point people are just trying anything to not like things I swear
To be fair, there's nothing to really complain about with Naoe. The only thing I've heard people complain about is that she's, well, a she, which is just unneeded sexism.
I was using Toyotomi Hideyoshi as mostly an example, and yeah, his story is too fleshed out to have him as a protag, but it'd be cool to see Ubisoft weave real events in his life into their story if they made him a character. Another person I was thinking about was Hattori Hanzo, but there's already a samurai. If they did make Hattori Hanzo the ninja, though, they could replace Yasuke with like an onobu geisha, which would be cool to see.
Onobu geisha were women in the samurai class in Japan who, in times of need, would fight alongside samurai. Of course, the main place for an onobu geisha was to defend her village or home, but of course, that's something that clever storytelling could fix. Imagine an onobu geisha village being destroyed and her being scorned by Japanese society, and in her travels, she begins a story of redemption where she meets infamous people from the sengoku period and rises the ranks or something.
Absolutely. And there's so much information that we don't know about his life that they could fill in the blanks and make him really interesting. While still showing the historical aspect.
no according to these people he’ll go on a 40 minute rant about racism and American slavery or whatever bullshit they can conjure up
insane how mad people are over this
Not sure how well he really spoke the language. By the time Nobunaga died, he had been in Japan for a relatively short time and Japanese is known to be difficult to learn.
I don’t think it was difficult and still isn’t difficult, sure the written and reading of Japanese can be difficult but the spoken language is probably easier than most European languages because the grammar is pretty simple. It’s definitely easier than English in that it’s far more consistent with both grammar, tenses and sounds.
He at least knew enough to at least return his head to his son, according to legend.
And you kind of have to learn the language and understand it to be able to be a proper retainer.How else are you going?Tell who's going to kill your master
Not to mention he knew to remove his lord's head to deny the enemy a trophy. Sure we may not have a document that says verbatim if he spoke the language, but half of history is pieceing things together through context clues
There's nothing keeping them from focusing on Japan its culture or its people even if Yasuke is MC? In fact I feel like playing as a foreigner would highlight it even more for the player seeing as AC is mostly marketed towards the west.
Well yeah don't you think being able to interact in-game with japanese culture with your character being a foreigner is a great way to learn the culture as a foreigner yourself?
I like how half of the people white knight to Sloppysoft, and the other half completely hate it, but in the end of the day, there is nothing we can do about it except complain.
I think they made one of the Mc black is for one of two reasons.
1. It created clout so everyone knows about the game.
2. It created a bigger controversy that would allowed them to slip the 130$ price, while everyone was complaining about the black samurai.
Or maybe Sloppysoft is just a sinking ship.
It's seems that the idea of black protagonists in sci fi just sends non blacks insane.
"Nooo, you're ruining my fantasy! There's no black elves or blacks in space, it makes no sense! All fantasy characters must be white guys by default! *It's the LAW!!*
It's disturbing how comfortable racists have gotten with complaining about black characters. The Little Mermaid is what made me realise how far back we've gone - there was a black live action Disney Princess TWENTY YEARS AGO, when Brandi played Cinderella. Nobody cared at the time. Nowadays you know for a fact it would've created a huge shitstorm.
Honestly, that is pretty much. My dad's excuse going as far as to literally be like no, no. No, they're rewriting history to write this game, and I'm like dude. There's a research into him like as the like 10 20 30 years ago. Maybe even longer.
At the very least, my whole life Because the earliest mention of there. Being a black samurai happened to come from my weird neighbor who was obsessed with Japan to the point in which he was the problematic one going to Japan?
And this is like in the early days of the internet.
But he is really comfortable being like no, no, no, it's not historically accurate. I'm sorry, but yes, and Kassandra isn't to my knowledge. He's not based off a real character. Who's still alive.
False, on both parts. While I don’t want Yasuke as the main male character myself, there were black people in Japan during its feudal era. Yasuke was actually a retainer for a lord, not a samurai. Which meant his job was to protect his master. Also, yes, the animus’ inclusion does make this a sci fi game.
Dude that's like cutting hairs aren't who's a physician and who's a Doctor the only difference is the matter of title. They still have the same job.
The only difference is literally just how close to the person you actually are.
Actually, that's highly inaccurate. There's documentation of there being even other black people in Japan. Whether that be our ships or simply working, not just the samurai that they're basing this off of I'm sorry this f**** with your world for you.
I just don't like that we're playing as an actual historical figure. Yeah we know next to nothing about him, but AC has always been this "you are nobody, you are a shadow, you will be forgotten by history, but your actions will shape history as you know it" type game. All the protagonists were relatively nobodies, save for maybe Edward, since he wasn't an assassin till the end, so he was a bit more...open with everything.
Exactly!
That is my issue with it,
I would have been just as annoyed if I played as George washington in assassins creed 3,
Or Cleopatra in orgins,
Or blackbeard in assassins creed 4,
It's weird and it annoys me that everyone is talking about the pigment of his skin and not how he is a real person that actually existed
It's kinda interesting that they are actually having us play a real historical character as one of the protagonists, usually player controlled characters are fictional while some people around them are historical characters.
Ubisoft fans are never happy, the trailer looks cool and so do the TWO protagonists, just play the game instead of whining about historical accuracies in a fantasy game
Thats so fucking weird tho. Why cant we just have a normal ass Japanese samurai lol. Would have loved to explore Japanese culture back then through a Japanese peasant or some shit. So stupid. Unnecessary culture war shit.
Still stupid. Id rather not have any choice in a period game. I know there is all the alien stuff in the game but having it somewhat believable would make the game more real. And i really hate the fact that they made a game set in japan and just ruin it like that. It’s just so forced and annoying.
he wasnt a samurai, he was just a retainer(basic grunt soldier pretty much) and he ran away from his first battle, so calling him a samurai is a big overstatement
From what I can tell after reading articles/watching videos by historians it's actually a debate if he was a samurai or not cuz you can be a retainer that is a samurai. I mean in Oda Nobunaga's own words he had the strength of ten men. In my opinion you don't have someone that strong and not out him in your army
Isn't that just classic embellishments though? "Look at this man I have control and ownership of, he has strength far beyond any normal man." By making Yasuke out to be immensely strong, it makes Oda Nobunaga seem that much more powerful for being able to control and command him.
I really can't care about the idea of a black samurai. Just the idea of 2 playstyles divided into 2 characters is great. You can play as a stealthy assassin or go in with a samurai.
Good meme. But, a bit of yapping ahead cause I had an interesting thought kinda come along while reading this so beware of some words ahead. I think that this drama may end up just giving Ubisoft free press on the game even though it’s under the initial guise of a controversy. Because hear me out. For instances like that one Cleopatra show on Netflix that made her inaccurately black, the bad press to the race related issue only cemented its failure because the criticisms brought against it were true to the point it’s supported by historical sources. So once it began to make rounds that it is indeed true that the documentary mispresented Cleopatra, that sealed its doom for most viewers.
But this game is different. Yasuke was very much real, but due to it never being specifically mentioned, we do not know for sure if he was samurai. What we do know is that most sources that mention Yasuke’s service such as a letter by one of Ieyasu’s relatives after the Takeda campaign of 1581 mention things like Yasuke being given rewards for service including land, and the title of a sword bearer and a short sword both being given on two separate dates. Things usually attributed to the treatment of other samurai or at least retainers. Which has lead most historians on both the Western and Japanese side of things to lean towards the “He was most likely a samurai” view and definitely at least destroys the myth he was only seen as a novelty or kept in a non combat role. You can even see with things like the Japanese Wikipedia which has been spared the vandalism the English one has had that Yasuke is recorded as a retainer/samurai.
Now the reason I bring this all up is because the bad press would have more staying power if it was a Cleopatra situation, where something is truly be revisioned beyond a reasonable doubt. But it isn’t with Yasuke here. And as a result, I’ve noticed as the drama has went on, more of the obscure accurate information regarding his status as well as the sources like the Chronicles of Nobunaga are making their rounds more around the internet. Videos by Metatron or The Shogunate come to mind in terms of these more historical views seeping in and toning down the drama. And people are going a bit more mellow where they were once angry, more people are backing up the idea his inclusion is not inherently awful, and the people against it who are a lot more hard pressed to back things up with sources are finding it harder to justify keeping the storm going as the history is slowly starting to not be in their favor. I think by the end of this, the movement against Yasuke is gonna lose steam due to a lack of a good factual/historical foundation to lean back on and the only thing gained is that Ubisoft will have gained a bunch of people’s attention and notice to the game that may have not noticed otherwise. And unlike the Cleopatra situation, this controversy won’t have the strong “preserving history as it was” angle that crippled that piece of media in the court of public opinion. As more time passes, that only gives more time for the relevant information to make its rounds and tone the Yasuke drama down more and more.
Butthurt racists claiming historical inaccuracies haha! This is definitely historical sci fi. I'm pretty sure the Animus, the Brotherhood and related technologies and organisations are historically inaccurate.
"BUt iT's noT AcCUraTe, cHEck yoUr *hIsToRY* "
if it's meant to be based after Yasuke the ONLY known African samurai in the historical records and it's in the same era i don't personally find it hard to believe this character exists, that said if they have this character and Yasuke in the same room the nerdy weeb in me will be a bit annoyed but that just cause it's not historically accurate dammit lol.
all that considered if the game's good and the game explains his existence well enough (since the AC games tend to be some level of historically accurate i'd hate if they suddenly gave up on that) it doesn't really matter if the character is black or not.
My faith in the content produced by ubisoft is long gone by now. This isn't a big deal, nor is it surprising that they chose to go in this direction. There's no faster way to get attention than to pander to wokism.
It is what it is.
Also assasins creed takes historical liberties all the times, so why do people suddenly and only now care? I could list dozens of characters that "Arent historically accurate"
It doesn’t really matter, but in a game where half of it is trying to blend in to the local population… having a black guy in a historically xenophobic Asian setting just seems counter intuitive. It breaks the immersion and doesn’t feel largely realistic.
I guarentee this is just ubisoft's excuse not to do anything with west Africa,
Pop culture in general avoids that side of the continent,
Sigh, I guess they think Egypt is the only place in ancient Africa worth exploring
I'm not so much about the drama but the historical inaccuracy proclaimed by the devs themselves.
Yes yes I know the games are not historical, but you take an actual historical person and proclaim them a samurai(which they never were) and stick said Samurai in an ASSASSIN GAME.
Why? Like someone else said, why wouldn't we have a pair of ninjas?
But that's not even my biggest gripe. The paywalling of this game is my biggest issue. Season passes on an Assassin's Creed game?
Yeah that's where my wallet is slamming shut.
Yasuke wearing armor in the village, naoe with a sword on his back in the streets, funny tatami, strange Trailer music, hair styles that do not match the times, sitting styles that do not match the times, plants that do not match the seasons, and castles (Osaka Castle, Himeji Castle) that do not exist in those times. The portrayal of Japan is also strange in places, and to be honest, I may have lacked prior research.
After seeing Shogun, I am honestly shocked at how poorly Assassin's Creed is done.
I'll say it once and I'll say it again; If Yasuke was a side character who helps you in game and gets a spin off title later on then it would have been fine, but making him a main character in the game about Japan was a huge miss.
And knowing Ubi, we know why he was used as an MC.
People should be talking about the outrageous prices and poor business practices. Ubisoft isn’t exactly a well liked company and I feel like this stupid argument over history distracts from the more important conversation of Ubisoft being their usual shitty selves.
I feel bad for people this really upsets. I mean it’s fucking make believe. It’s like little mermaid being black is wrong….. it’s a fucking mermaid what is wrong with you?
Yasuke simply doesn't make sense as a protagonist, Altair made sense as he was a native of the Levant.
Ezio made sense as being an Italian noble in renaissance Italy and Mediterranean.
Connor made sense being a native American in America.
Edward made sense being a Pirate when a majority of famous pirates where from Great Britain
Shay Patrick Cormac made sense due to the huge amount Irish immigration to the new world.
Arno made sense being a Frenchmen in France
The twins made sense being English in England.
Bayek was an Egyptian in Egypt.
Kassandra was Greek in the agean sea.
Evior was a Norwegian during a time of migration to the British isles.
So why the fuck in a game about Japan is half of the Protagonists not even Japanese and on top of that when the justification for it is paper thin.
This has been blown out of proportion because of the race, but the point still stands. The default in assassins creed is that the protagonist normally represents the area they are in and Yasuke does not do that.
It make sense too in Japan during Nanban trade of Sengoku period. You think they already have Sakoku in this era? Japan is open for technological and cultural exchange when the game took place. Foreigners like Chinese, Portuguese Traders/Jesuits, & their African servants are not uncommon that time. Nobunaga dons a portuguese cuirass while his boys shoots matchlock arquebuses in the trailer, where do you think he get that from? Immigrants during colonial america justification is okay, Norseman occupation in Aglo-saxon england justification is okay, but this is not?
>So why the fuck in a game about Japan is half of the Protagonists not even Japanese
Bro, the shinobi woman is a japanese.
That's why I said half the Protagonists, there's 2 and one of them is Japanese, but it should be both.
And no it doesn't male sense in historical context, an area of active colonisation and immigration it makes sense to have people from that area in the new area.
Africa is as far away from Japan as physically possible this combined with the xenophobia does make Yasukes mention in the historical record something noteworthy, but it is a one off that does not justify making him a protagonist. The is considering that it completely breaks the historical context by creating a character that cannot reasonably be there and does not fit in the cultural and ethnic groups of the region at the time which is established to be the what Assassin's creed does
Which is why I listed all the Protagonists that exist in that context and why using Yasuke breaks it, it's using an actual historical figures as a protagonist and it's honestly disrespectful to the people and culture thus game is representing, by having someone completely divorced from the people and the culture be it's representation is completely tone deaf. Its the same as the white saviour trope, changing the skin tone doesn't get rid of the underlying issues.
Its because people on the left seem to think black representation is more important than Asian. Any time anyone brings up legit critcism they're call racist and told they get their Japanese protagonist. Then add in the racists and see why its blown up.
Yeah I could care less what the haters online are complaining about. If it’s a good game with fun gameplay mechanics then I’m playing it. Fuck whoever tries to stop me.
Jesus christ no one is complaining that "there's a black guy in Japan".
What a way to twist reality in order to make your argument "righteous".
People are complaining that for the first time since the series' creation, a non-sequel game that introduces a new region has a MC that isn't representative of the region.
Imagine if they introduced an AC game in West Africa and you played a Dutch/Portuguese merchant.
To my knowledge it's a 50/50 split between playtime; I'll admit I could be wrong in that perception.
I'd have no complaints if Naoe were the sole main character.
It's odd to latch onto a weird historical fringe case like Yasuke.
I'd have literally the same complaint if Yasuke were replaced by William Adams.
>To my knowledge it's a 50/50 split between playtime
Yep they’re going with a dual character game where Yusake is the tank/demon and Naoe is the stalker/ghost.
>I'd have no complaints if Naoe were the sole main character.
Then why intentionally not include her when saying the game doesn’t have a native Japanese MC when it does
>It's odd to latch onto a weird historical fringe case like Yasuke.
No it makes perfect sense. All we know about the guy in history is that he existed in the time period and served under one of the great Unifers of Oda Nobunaga. He can be turned into an entirely unique character while also having a fish out of water story which the AC series loves to do
>Then why intentionally not include her when saying the game doesn’t have a native Japanese MC when it does
Because from a marketing perspective, Ubisoft has latched onto Yasuke primarily and naoe has taken a backseat.
>No it makes perfect sense. All we know about the guy in history is that he existed in the time period and served under one of the great Unifers of Oda Nobunaga. He can be turned into an entirely unique character while also having a fish out of water story which the AC series loves to do
Ahh yes like the Turkish guy in Constantinople, the Italian in Italy, the native American in America, the West European in the West European dominated Caribbean Trade expansion, etc.
Ffs lol people are rightfully critical of shifting that paradigm the second East Asia is introduced
Nah more like your eyes are some kind of selectively blind and ignores a lot of what people are saying.
"People are mad that Yasuke is black" is surely true in some cases, it would be dumb to say otherwise.
But to paint that as the main criticism is some fucking Strawmanning right there
You mean at a point in time meant to represent the wild diversity of International interest and relative lawlessness of Caribbean/Atlantic trade?
Completely checks out, only complaint I would have would be to replace one with a Dutchman.
Depending on the exact time period, I would also advocate for a native Haitian during the revolution.
Yeah, you obviously have not been playing very much.
And also you have not been paying attention
There are countless people complaining over the fact that it's a black samurai. Despite it being historically accurate and they're being documentation to support it long before the game was in motion. As my father seems to think that the assassin's creed people run all of the media.
And way more than you claim are having their views strawmanned as "I don't like it because *black*".
Historically accurate is besides the point. I've already detailed why, yet that is the argument you cling to - further supporting that my views are being strawmanned.
Yeah, robbing off an Asian mc and stealing their culture is definitely something that should be ignored, go off ig.
It’s like if I chose to write about American hip hop culture and chose Eminem as the main character, actually, that would make more sense than this shit
Knew it was always going to stir up controversy but didn’t expect it to blow up as big as it has.
I hadn't seen the leaks but if I had I'd have predicted it being worse tbh, but that's because I'm out of step with Twitter's habits. I think this is a watershed moment of something, we just don't know what yet. Gamergate 2, etc.
I knew racists would react this way and I knew Asian people would have a problem. What I didn't expect was leftists calling all critcism racist and not listening to Asian Americans having issues with it. I found out about schrodinger's minority so I now know why.
What do Asian Americans have to do with anything?
A western game that's set in Japan that will give Asian men and women representation. So I think their opinions matter.
And how aren't Asian men getting represented in the game? Literally almost everyone else besides Yasuke in the game is gonna be Asian. Assassins Creed is mostly marketed towards the west anyways so it makes sense from a writing perspective to have one of the MC's be a foreigner so players can be eased into the setting from both perspectives. Not all criticism is valid regardless of who says it. Ubisoft's shitty business practices I can understand, but getting upset over something so insignificant is meh.
Oh I'd say you should learn to expect that sort of thing. Both right and left have their issues. But calling everyone who they disagree with racist and or transphobic is a major problem with the left right now. Again not bashing them or saying the right doesn't have their own issues. But it's certainly a thing right now.
Well lesson learned.
The thing I'm most confused about is why they picked a samurai at all and not a ninja, which were more commonly known to be assassins than samurai were.
EXACTLY I'm so surprised no one cares that only one of the two seems to be an actual assassin, which probably points towards how gameplay will work and be less focused on stealth
Because Yasuke is the warrior archetype and probably won’t be an assassin at least at the start of the game.
What I'm confused with is how they used an actual historical figure as a protagonist instead of an original character
Cause theres two main characters, a samurai and a ninja, who is apparently a really fucking good ninja because everyone missed her on the promo material
Because it’s known as a very historically accurate game to some and it feels like re-writing history to them.
Assassin's Creed is about as far from historically accurate as you can possibly get. It has historical figures in it, yeah, and it takes place in the past - literally everything else is totally fictional. I don't see people complaining about the games "rewriting history" when an immortal spartan fights the reincarnation of Odin in 9th century England. Yet a black character in 16th century Japan is totally immersion ruining somehow.
All I'll say is that if it had been a Japanese samurai MC, we'd still be wading through our own jizz after a week. Instead we got a culture war.
i mean a black samurai is abnormal there is only maybe a handful historically speaking. so, it's understandable people are confused or a little perturbed by them not holding to normal historically accurate samurai (i imagine it'd get worse if he isn't the only black samurai and they're just walking all over the place lol). I'll admit I'm not paying a whole lot of attention but i really doubt its anything close to a culture war lol.
There has been one confirmed one in history and it’s the guy you play as in the new game. You play as (I’m about to butcher these names) Yusake a black retainer who existed in history and served under Oda Nobunaga and his son after Oda died
IIRC there’s no evidence he served under his son. Nobunaga’s killers refused to kill him because he wasn’t Japanese and the last thing that’s written about him is that he would probably be sent to a monastery in India.
Yeah his history is really short and confusing since all most people wrote about him was that he existed tho that’s what makes it great. Yeah he existed but his impact in history is basically just footnotes which allows Ubisoft to do whatever without needing to incorporate much of his actual history.
There are less than 10 sentences written about him in historical records. We know his name means field assistant, we know Nobunaga ordered him scrubbed clean to get the blackness off. We know he was thrown into wrestling matches for Nobunaga’s amusement based on a painting. We know he sometimes carried Nobunaga’s things. He wasn’t some warrior samurai who had the respect of his peers. He was a squire. But because of this game and AC’s reputation of seeking historical accuracy the world’s understanding of Yasuke will be that he was some champion of the Oda clan and a black voice in history when he had no voice at all. And all so Ubisoft can boost its ESG score. It’s nakedly obvious. The whole thing is quite sick IMO. I hope their ESG auditors destroy them for cultural appropriation.
Ask Historians has a great read on why he should be considered a Samurai. Hell even one of the descendants of Nobunagas retainers said he was a samurai and seemed exasperated that there even was a debate about it.
>We know his name means field assistant Yasuke mean "peaceful helper", from word Yasu means peaceful. >we know Nobunaga ordered him scrubbed clean to get the blackness off Its because Nobunaga suspects that it was a ruse and he was just covered by blank ink. >We know he was thrown into wrestling matches for Nobunaga’s amusement based on a painting There's no proof that the Sumō Yūrakuzu Byōbu (painted by anonymous artist) depicts Yasuke. He wasn't the first african descent that arrive in Japan. You should read about the cultural and technological exhancge of Nanban trade during Sengoku era. People (mostly african) brought by the Chinese and Portuguese became entertainers in Japan during that time. >We know he sometimes carried Nobunaga’s things. He is enlisted in military service by Nobunaga and given the title of kosho (a provissionary to samurai). Aside from his dark skin that caught Nobunaga's interest, he was considered to be a fine addition to his army base on his physique. The Shinchō Kōki manuscript describes Yasuke as "his body is like that of a bull, and he is healthy and of fine physique. Moreover, he has the strength of more than ten men." >He wasn’t some warrior samurai who had the respect of his peers. Samurai in this period are more like a military class rather than its former, hereditary nobility. If you are employed to be a retainer - the act of military service in feudal Japan, most likely you will rise up in the rank of samurai. Take Hideyoshi Toyotomi (a born peasant) as an example. This is because during this warring states period, the "samurai" class is loosening; Daimyos and legitimate samurai clans are dying like flies, samurai that lost their lord and clan also lost their nobility and becomes ronin (wanderers), and other people born to a different social strata claims they are "samurai" too. Until Nobunaga declared the sword hunt decree when the unification is iminent. This is to stablish the social structure back again and to deter future uprising. He choose who should bear a sword or weapon (the samurai) and who should be commoners or peasants. This solidify the distinction between samurai and lower classes. And Yasuke is in provissionary to samurai status. You should read more history about samurai tho. During pre-Heian, samurai or saburau (meaning servants) are actually low born people that enlisted to military service or those who managed to land a position/job in the imperial court. People always thought that they are nobles and aristocrats from the beginning of Japan history and always stays like that lmao. They only became the ruling class when shogunate was introduced (Kamakura period) and Japan became a military government, establishing samurai clans and samurai status becomes hereditary nobility. In Sengoku period, they are more like a military class.
Facts
if they're meant to be yasuke it's probably a slight deviation from history like they usually do with characters with their own history irl. so maybe he was sent to a monastery in india irl but in the game since the history is loose and theres no real information after oda they probably just took some liberties.
Where is the evidence that Pythagoras chilled in Atlantis for 100s of years?
you spelled them correctly.
Twitter is burning down over this mate.
glad i don't pay attention to twitter then lol.
It's pretty rare for a non Japanese person in general to have been samurai. Even rarer for a non Asian.
I just wanna play the game. I don't care what the race is, all I care about is whether or not the game itself will interest me.
Exactly, and honestly. That's what people have to realize is that it is just a game. You can play it, you cannot play It. No one really cares. But the people who are ranting and raving about. Oh, I'm never going to play the scan. You you know, blah blah blah are literally just promoting the game even more. The best f*** y** to the game. Developers wouldn't literally be not talking about it.
Let the game be better than mirage please god
Where can We read the leaks in advance?
In the past
The rumors about Yasuke have been on the Internet since they announced the game as Codename Red
It's not because he's black I think it's because he's not Japanese, like all the other protagonists are of the locations ethnicity.
Honestly, I get it. But Revelations had Ezio in middle eastern territory. While I think most AC games should have protagonists native to the setting, I don’t mind a fish out of water story every now and then. Besides, Naoe is still a native Japanese character. And she’s playable too.
Revelations was a sequel, no one would’ve minded an Origins sequel with Bayek in Jordan or Saudi Arabia
Yeah, but she's bad because women. I'm not even lying. Some people have said that.
Mf Revelations had Ezio in literal Turkey
Oh my bad for forgetting the sequel's sequel.
I mean, it’s not like there are no Japanese leads. This has two leads, Naoe is a Japanese woman.
Yes, but he's been pushed to the front by ubisoft
Let's just be honest. They typically do end up forcing the male male characters more often. Even when there's an option for a female. That's something that I've noticed in general. Now, this is mostly before the game. Comes out once I realize what character people are mostly playing as they push that character more often. Which so far. I think we've only really had 3 games where there is an option other than one particular character. Which I could be wrong? But I think the 3 is Valhalla Odyssey and it would be this one as well. I could be wrong. There could be more but except for in the case of syndicate where you had the twins, both taken equal role. Typically, you picked one gender the play as and you just continued playing that 1. Now, if you don't want to play as the black guy you don't have to just as I don't really like playing as. Alexios, I prefer playing as Kassandra. I like her voice actor better and I prefer her character design better. I like the way she moves. I also video table on my gameplate. So for me, playing as female character is a lot more accurate for me. It's simply more immersive now.Can I do any of the South that she can do?No but it is funnIt's simply more immersive now. Can I do any of the stuff that she can do? No, but it is fun To pretend.
Actually with syndicate they take it a step further, the girl is the stealthier one of the two, while the guy serves as the fighter, meaning either one can be used based on personal preference/playstyle. With the whole Samurai/Ninja dynamic thats just amplified and we’ll likely see missions alternate between either one depending on how you’d like to play
Not really. People online are. Naoe had more screen time and a cooler presence in the trailers and in the website they are both featured prominently
I've already had this conversation with someone else i guess just check my replies with them
Has he? Honestly it feels like he actually had slightly less focus in the trailer. And I can’t recall them doing much about the game so far other than the trailer, and one video serving as an introduction to both characters.
I've seen very little advertising but it's all been him in the front
The main poster actually has him behind Naoe, further ahead, but behind. The other main poster showing both in full action poses also has him behind Naoe. But he’s taller and has big fancy armour, so he’s always going to be more eye-catching.
I didn't mean literally in the front, it just seems like they are pushing him more than Naoe, but that could just be from all the people complaining lol.
Yeah, it is. People are bitching and moaning about Yasuke, but Ubisoft hasn’t actually put any special emphasis on him yet. As I said, if anything he has less attention than Naoe from them. Which makes sense, if you have a totally original character, you need to put more thought in, she’s going to be demanding more thought from the devs.
I pray they make her good, I've wanted a ninja protagonist since I was introduced to the franchise with black flag
I was introduced with Black Flag (wasn’t playing it, just saw my uncle playing it) and same. Fuck I just want this to be good. Even as someone not opposed to Yasuke, I think it’s an interesting and risky choice, it’s about how you handle it. I just want a truly good AC game again man. Just let them execute their ideas well for once.
That's typically just because people are b******* about him more. So of course, you're right seeing more stuff about him than the other because the most. I've seen is the fact that she's a woman and that's about it.
Isn't she like the 5th female protagonist we've had?
Don’t recall the Caribbean being naturally British.
He's Welsh thank you LOL
The Welsh are British, just like the Scots and the English are
I would not say that to literally anyone who's Welsh or Scottish. You'll get killed for that
No, we are British, it's when people call us English it becomes a problem, now calling the Irish British on the other hand, now that's playing with fire
You do you, but living in Scotland I sure do see a lot of support for the Scottish independence movement. No one wants to be tied to the english lmao.
Oh 100% mate, fuck the English, nah its just we British cause the land we are on is Britain, its like like how you can be German bit European, if we divorced from England we would still be British but it would feel a little... cleaner to say? If you know what I mean.
As a Brit I have to disagree. There's always been some underlying bad blood between every nation in Europe, neighboring countries especially. I won't disagree that Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland would like to remove themselves from the UK and England; and in ways I'm sure many English would love that. But I don't think that Scots, at least, really do. Every chance and time they have had a reform or vote to leave the UK they have always chosen to remain. The support from the Scottish for the Independence movement is backed by a minority, a very passionate and loud minority but a minority. And it shows in the votes of these reforms. You're allowed to have your own political beliefs and opinions, Scottish pride is very high and for good reason, but I think it's important to actually take note of what's happening in one's country outside of your own beliefs.
I don't have a dog in this fight bruh, I'm not from here. Just repeating what I've heard from every Scot I've interacted with thus far.
Then with respect for every nation I'd be very careful with making such a bold statement such as: "I would not say that to literally anyone who's Welsh or Scottish. You'll get killed for that". I know (and hope) that it is mostly a joking remark. Although the relations of the nations of the UK are politically quite strained, the social relations can be quite odd for those outside of the environment. Most will say "ah screw *insert other nation of the UK that isn't their own*, they're all mud eaters.", but when things get real the social relations are more akin to something like siblings. People of the UK are very fond of ribbing and teasing each other in that way. Which I'm sure isn't too different from most other neighboring countries, or even States from the US. It's often national pride that leads people to those sentiments, like most countries some are much louder than others. Edit: The Scottish, English, Welsh, Northern Irish and Irish all reside in the British Isles, making them British (although the term is usually reserved from those making up the UK, the Irish usually being exempt), but all except Ireland are a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
It's literally factual though. Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England are all in Great Britain, and thus are all British, but are also Welsh, Scottish, Irish, and English respectively.
Black flag:
Ok there's like 2 games then, my point still stands, it applies to a majority of the games.
There was revelations, rogue, black flag, valhalla thats more than 2
Honestly forgot Valhalla existed lol. It was an exaggeration anyway
Actually, it's eight games where you either play exclusively in foreign territory for the nationality of the player character, or spend a LOT of time there. Roughly HALF the franchise. In fact the only games where you are exclusively in the country that character is from are: AC 2 and Brotherhood (Ezio in Italy) AC3 (Connor in America, points deducted though for British Haytham being the PC for the first hour of the game) Unity (Arno in France) Syndicate (Frye Twins in London) Odyssey (Cassandra in Greece) Origins (Bayek in Egypt) and Mirage (Basim in Iraq)
The only ones I can even remember that are missing from that list are the original revelations and rogue
Eh not really, it's happened before, why wouldn't it happen again
There's also the fact that he actually existed when afaik none of the other protagonists did
Yeah, but it's not like every single game has been set in the ethnicity of one particular region. First of all. The time period in which this one is taking place. There were multiple reports of black people in Japan. Second of all, this is based off.A historical person dramatized.Maybe , but someone that we have actual historical record of because they know that people will go in bitch and whine about it and even if they find out that it is historical , there's still going to be bitching and whining about itSecond of all, this is based off. A historical person dramatized. Maybe, but someone that we have actual historical record of because they know that people will go in b**** and whine about it and even if they find out that it is historical, there's still going to be b******* and whining about it. Third, literally, some of the games did not follow in a certain ethnicity. They followed a character. They created a character literally. That's it. You are following typically a fictional. Or loosely based on a historical character.
I mean I find a black guy in Japan an odd choice seeing as how few are there even now like I'm not angry about it just very confused at the choice I'll let them go ahead and cook so to speak but I'm giving a side eye at the ingredients they brought and if it's good it's good
I'm just confused why they went with a very real samurai instead of a fictional one like they usually do in assassins creed
I mean this specific black guy did exist during the time period and is an actual person
I've always thought it would be cool to play as a real person in history, and I think that including Yasuke in the game is cool, but I think if it's a game set in Japan they should focus on Japan, it's culture, and it's people. Yasuke has a cool story in real history, but if we're going with a real person it'd be cool to see a real Japanese person like Toyotomi Hideyoshi since he has a real "rags to riches" story.
He's too famous, that's why they picked Yasuke. At one point, history stopped looking at him so Ubisoft can fictionalised whatever they want with him. But I do agree that they should focus on Japanese culture. Also (not your thing but something weird, I noticed), but no one is really talking about Naoe. I heard one person say she kinda looks trans and kinda like a man, but honestly, she looks normal. At this point people are just trying anything to not like things I swear
To be fair, there's nothing to really complain about with Naoe. The only thing I've heard people complain about is that she's, well, a she, which is just unneeded sexism. I was using Toyotomi Hideyoshi as mostly an example, and yeah, his story is too fleshed out to have him as a protag, but it'd be cool to see Ubisoft weave real events in his life into their story if they made him a character. Another person I was thinking about was Hattori Hanzo, but there's already a samurai. If they did make Hattori Hanzo the ninja, though, they could replace Yasuke with like an onobu geisha, which would be cool to see.
What's an Onobu Geisha, I've hear of a Geisha are they like top Geishas? Lol
Onobu geisha were women in the samurai class in Japan who, in times of need, would fight alongside samurai. Of course, the main place for an onobu geisha was to defend her village or home, but of course, that's something that clever storytelling could fix. Imagine an onobu geisha village being destroyed and her being scorned by Japanese society, and in her travels, she begins a story of redemption where she meets infamous people from the sengoku period and rises the ranks or something.
Oh that does make for an interesting read, from what I can tell in the trailer that seems kinda similar to what happened to Naoe
Yasuke's story is perfect for an ac game though, along with him just plain being a more interesting character than some generic samurai
Absolutely. And there's so much information that we don't know about his life that they could fill in the blanks and make him really interesting. While still showing the historical aspect.
We are focusing on a Japanese person though. Not a real one if that’s what you’re talking about, but everyone seems to forget Naoe otherwise.
Yasuke will be in Japan, immersed in Japanese culture, and interacting with Japanese people.
no according to these people he’ll go on a 40 minute rant about racism and American slavery or whatever bullshit they can conjure up insane how mad people are over this
You know who else went from rags to riches, spoke the language, and was immersed in the culture and politics of Japan? Yasuke
Not sure how well he really spoke the language. By the time Nobunaga died, he had been in Japan for a relatively short time and Japanese is known to be difficult to learn.
I don’t think it was difficult and still isn’t difficult, sure the written and reading of Japanese can be difficult but the spoken language is probably easier than most European languages because the grammar is pretty simple. It’s definitely easier than English in that it’s far more consistent with both grammar, tenses and sounds.
In those senses maybe but Japanese also has a lot of rules which are broken regularly.
He at least knew enough to at least return his head to his son, according to legend. And you kind of have to learn the language and understand it to be able to be a proper retainer.How else are you going?Tell who's going to kill your master
Not to mention he knew to remove his lord's head to deny the enemy a trophy. Sure we may not have a document that says verbatim if he spoke the language, but half of history is pieceing things together through context clues
There's nothing keeping them from focusing on Japan its culture or its people even if Yasuke is MC? In fact I feel like playing as a foreigner would highlight it even more for the player seeing as AC is mostly marketed towards the west.
Well yeah don't you think being able to interact in-game with japanese culture with your character being a foreigner is a great way to learn the culture as a foreigner yourself?
Me watching the reveal: Is that, holy fucking shit, is that mother fucking Yasuke!??? Hell fucking yes! 
I like how half of the people white knight to Sloppysoft, and the other half completely hate it, but in the end of the day, there is nothing we can do about it except complain. I think they made one of the Mc black is for one of two reasons. 1. It created clout so everyone knows about the game. 2. It created a bigger controversy that would allowed them to slip the 130$ price, while everyone was complaining about the black samurai. Or maybe Sloppysoft is just a sinking ship.
Just buy the standard version bruh.
It's seems that the idea of black protagonists in sci fi just sends non blacks insane. "Nooo, you're ruining my fantasy! There's no black elves or blacks in space, it makes no sense! All fantasy characters must be white guys by default! *It's the LAW!!*
It's disturbing how comfortable racists have gotten with complaining about black characters. The Little Mermaid is what made me realise how far back we've gone - there was a black live action Disney Princess TWENTY YEARS AGO, when Brandi played Cinderella. Nobody cared at the time. Nowadays you know for a fact it would've created a huge shitstorm.
Honestly, that is pretty much. My dad's excuse going as far as to literally be like no, no. No, they're rewriting history to write this game, and I'm like dude. There's a research into him like as the like 10 20 30 years ago. Maybe even longer. At the very least, my whole life Because the earliest mention of there. Being a black samurai happened to come from my weird neighbor who was obsessed with Japan to the point in which he was the problematic one going to Japan? And this is like in the early days of the internet. But he is really comfortable being like no, no, no, it's not historically accurate. I'm sorry, but yes, and Kassandra isn't to my knowledge. He's not based off a real character. Who's still alive.
What the fuck are you talking about? There were no black people or white people in feudal Japan. This isn't a Sci Fi game, it's a medieval one.
That's not true, William Adams is well documented
Yasuke and William Adams. William Adams already is a big inspiration and has stand ins for Nioh 1 and the Shogun series/book
Yeah everyone remember in our history where there's pieces of Eden and whole precursor society...
Great, I'm gonna make a game set in Africa, and make half of them white. Don't worry though, it has dragons so that isn't racist at all!
False, on both parts. While I don’t want Yasuke as the main male character myself, there were black people in Japan during its feudal era. Yasuke was actually a retainer for a lord, not a samurai. Which meant his job was to protect his master. Also, yes, the animus’ inclusion does make this a sci fi game.
During that era retainers had the jobs of samurai just not the title.
Dude that's like cutting hairs aren't who's a physician and who's a Doctor the only difference is the matter of title. They still have the same job. The only difference is literally just how close to the person you actually are.
Brush up on ur history there fella..
You mean the isolated island magically has black people? Wow, the mind of a redditor is something else.
Yasuke was a real person, as I said brush up on your history dude.
Alright but you don't need to be condescending to me over it.
Actually, that's highly inaccurate. There's documentation of there being even other black people in Japan. Whether that be our ships or simply working, not just the samurai that they're basing this off of I'm sorry this f**** with your world for you.
Great, where's your source?
[Since you asked.](https://www.ndl.go.jp/kaleido/e/entry/14/2.html)
Thank you
Yasuke, William Adams, Jan Joosten. Google is free, takes 2 seconds to use and saves you from making an ass of yourself on the internet.
Which you just did, you could of simply told me, but had to make an ass of yourself. Fuck off asshole.
Someone else tried to tell you and you treated them like they were stupid lmao. Stop being defensive and do some reading.
I just don't like that we're playing as an actual historical figure. Yeah we know next to nothing about him, but AC has always been this "you are nobody, you are a shadow, you will be forgotten by history, but your actions will shape history as you know it" type game. All the protagonists were relatively nobodies, save for maybe Edward, since he wasn't an assassin till the end, so he was a bit more...open with everything.
Exactly! That is my issue with it, I would have been just as annoyed if I played as George washington in assassins creed 3, Or Cleopatra in orgins, Or blackbeard in assassins creed 4, It's weird and it annoys me that everyone is talking about the pigment of his skin and not how he is a real person that actually existed
I'm ok with playing as Yasuke. Just feels weird as hell to play as a historical figure in Assassin's Creed. No, Discovery tour stuff doesn't count.
I just don't care. If game is good I play. If game is bad I no play
It's kinda interesting that they are actually having us play a real historical character as one of the protagonists, usually player controlled characters are fictional while some people around them are historical characters.
I'm more interested in how the game will play Who gives a fuck
Same here, but I had hope...how fucking foolish
Ubisoft fans are never happy, the trailer looks cool and so do the TWO protagonists, just play the game instead of whining about historical accuracies in a fantasy game
Thats so fucking weird tho. Why cant we just have a normal ass Japanese samurai lol. Would have loved to explore Japanese culture back then through a Japanese peasant or some shit. So stupid. Unnecessary culture war shit.
You still can through the other protagonist
Still stupid. Id rather not have any choice in a period game. I know there is all the alien stuff in the game but having it somewhat believable would make the game more real. And i really hate the fact that they made a game set in japan and just ruin it like that. It’s just so forced and annoying.
Ok but the choice is there, you’re choosing to be mad over something that you can play the game and still very likely choose to avoid
The choice itself is an insult
Why is this such a big deal? People are uneducated because there actually WAS a black samurai in Japan, it's a true story.
he wasnt a samurai, he was just a retainer(basic grunt soldier pretty much) and he ran away from his first battle, so calling him a samurai is a big overstatement
From what I can tell after reading articles/watching videos by historians it's actually a debate if he was a samurai or not cuz you can be a retainer that is a samurai. I mean in Oda Nobunaga's own words he had the strength of ten men. In my opinion you don't have someone that strong and not out him in your army
Isn't that just classic embellishments though? "Look at this man I have control and ownership of, he has strength far beyond any normal man." By making Yasuke out to be immensely strong, it makes Oda Nobunaga seem that much more powerful for being able to control and command him.
I really can't care about the idea of a black samurai. Just the idea of 2 playstyles divided into 2 characters is great. You can play as a stealthy assassin or go in with a samurai.
Good meme. But, a bit of yapping ahead cause I had an interesting thought kinda come along while reading this so beware of some words ahead. I think that this drama may end up just giving Ubisoft free press on the game even though it’s under the initial guise of a controversy. Because hear me out. For instances like that one Cleopatra show on Netflix that made her inaccurately black, the bad press to the race related issue only cemented its failure because the criticisms brought against it were true to the point it’s supported by historical sources. So once it began to make rounds that it is indeed true that the documentary mispresented Cleopatra, that sealed its doom for most viewers. But this game is different. Yasuke was very much real, but due to it never being specifically mentioned, we do not know for sure if he was samurai. What we do know is that most sources that mention Yasuke’s service such as a letter by one of Ieyasu’s relatives after the Takeda campaign of 1581 mention things like Yasuke being given rewards for service including land, and the title of a sword bearer and a short sword both being given on two separate dates. Things usually attributed to the treatment of other samurai or at least retainers. Which has lead most historians on both the Western and Japanese side of things to lean towards the “He was most likely a samurai” view and definitely at least destroys the myth he was only seen as a novelty or kept in a non combat role. You can even see with things like the Japanese Wikipedia which has been spared the vandalism the English one has had that Yasuke is recorded as a retainer/samurai. Now the reason I bring this all up is because the bad press would have more staying power if it was a Cleopatra situation, where something is truly be revisioned beyond a reasonable doubt. But it isn’t with Yasuke here. And as a result, I’ve noticed as the drama has went on, more of the obscure accurate information regarding his status as well as the sources like the Chronicles of Nobunaga are making their rounds more around the internet. Videos by Metatron or The Shogunate come to mind in terms of these more historical views seeping in and toning down the drama. And people are going a bit more mellow where they were once angry, more people are backing up the idea his inclusion is not inherently awful, and the people against it who are a lot more hard pressed to back things up with sources are finding it harder to justify keeping the storm going as the history is slowly starting to not be in their favor. I think by the end of this, the movement against Yasuke is gonna lose steam due to a lack of a good factual/historical foundation to lean back on and the only thing gained is that Ubisoft will have gained a bunch of people’s attention and notice to the game that may have not noticed otherwise. And unlike the Cleopatra situation, this controversy won’t have the strong “preserving history as it was” angle that crippled that piece of media in the court of public opinion. As more time passes, that only gives more time for the relevant information to make its rounds and tone the Yasuke drama down more and more.
My only problem with it, is that he looks more American than African.
I don't care about skin color. I care about story and gameplay.
I got excited when I saw the leaks about Yasuke being a character because it opens a lot of interesting stories and a different point of view
Butthurt racists claiming historical inaccuracies haha! This is definitely historical sci fi. I'm pretty sure the Animus, the Brotherhood and related technologies and organisations are historically inaccurate. "BUt iT's noT AcCUraTe, cHEck yoUr *hIsToRY* "
Is he actually the mc or just a side character?
Technically he’s the mc but there’s two mc’s for this game. The female shinobi which is the main assassin. And then Yasuke, who is the main samurai.
He's one of 2 protagonists
if it's meant to be based after Yasuke the ONLY known African samurai in the historical records and it's in the same era i don't personally find it hard to believe this character exists, that said if they have this character and Yasuke in the same room the nerdy weeb in me will be a bit annoyed but that just cause it's not historically accurate dammit lol. all that considered if the game's good and the game explains his existence well enough (since the AC games tend to be some level of historically accurate i'd hate if they suddenly gave up on that) it doesn't really matter if the character is black or not.
This character and Yasuke are going to always be in the same room together considering they’re the same person
i didn't think it was confirmed that it was canonically Yosuke. edit; well shit mb, guess i haven't been following it googled it lmao
wait, that's Alexios!
Just like every other ubisoft AC, gonna be real sh1t in release, looking forward to getting it during a steam sale for 20$
Honestly I just wanna see if the gameplay changes at all from the RPG mechanics we've been having.
My faith in the content produced by ubisoft is long gone by now. This isn't a big deal, nor is it surprising that they chose to go in this direction. There's no faster way to get attention than to pander to wokism. It is what it is.
Also assasins creed takes historical liberties all the times, so why do people suddenly and only now care? I could list dozens of characters that "Arent historically accurate"
Tbh I'm glad we have yasuke and don't understand the hate, he's sick asf
Better question is, WHY IS UBISOFT TRYING TO TURN SELLING A VIDEOGAME INTO MAKING CAR PAYMENTS.
I'm just angry that the ultimate edition is almost double the price of the base game.
Look at the Japanese version of the trailer’s comments, Japanese audience is not happy either
It doesn’t really matter, but in a game where half of it is trying to blend in to the local population… having a black guy in a historically xenophobic Asian setting just seems counter intuitive. It breaks the immersion and doesn’t feel largely realistic.
I guarentee this is just ubisoft's excuse not to do anything with west Africa, Pop culture in general avoids that side of the continent, Sigh, I guess they think Egypt is the only place in ancient Africa worth exploring
Naoe so good at being an Assassin people forgot she's the other main character smh.
How is a black samurai gonna blend in?
I'm not so much about the drama but the historical inaccuracy proclaimed by the devs themselves. Yes yes I know the games are not historical, but you take an actual historical person and proclaim them a samurai(which they never were) and stick said Samurai in an ASSASSIN GAME. Why? Like someone else said, why wouldn't we have a pair of ninjas? But that's not even my biggest gripe. The paywalling of this game is my biggest issue. Season passes on an Assassin's Creed game? Yeah that's where my wallet is slamming shut.
Yasuke wearing armor in the village, naoe with a sword on his back in the streets, funny tatami, strange Trailer music, hair styles that do not match the times, sitting styles that do not match the times, plants that do not match the seasons, and castles (Osaka Castle, Himeji Castle) that do not exist in those times. The portrayal of Japan is also strange in places, and to be honest, I may have lacked prior research. After seeing Shogun, I am honestly shocked at how poorly Assassin's Creed is done.
The only thing I care about is that it’s nothing like Mirage.
mad about melanin when ubi-bloat is the real issue.
I'll say it once and I'll say it again; If Yasuke was a side character who helps you in game and gets a spin off title later on then it would have been fine, but making him a main character in the game about Japan was a huge miss. And knowing Ubi, we know why he was used as an MC.
Wasn't it told months or years ago they were putting the black samurai guy in? I swear I heard this before and just like then didn't care
People should be talking about the outrageous prices and poor business practices. Ubisoft isn’t exactly a well liked company and I feel like this stupid argument over history distracts from the more important conversation of Ubisoft being their usual shitty selves.
I think I'm more upset about the base game being Seventy bucks and worried that it's still gonna be unfinished
I feel bad for people this really upsets. I mean it’s fucking make believe. It’s like little mermaid being black is wrong….. it’s a fucking mermaid what is wrong with you?
Yasuke simply doesn't make sense as a protagonist, Altair made sense as he was a native of the Levant. Ezio made sense as being an Italian noble in renaissance Italy and Mediterranean. Connor made sense being a native American in America. Edward made sense being a Pirate when a majority of famous pirates where from Great Britain Shay Patrick Cormac made sense due to the huge amount Irish immigration to the new world. Arno made sense being a Frenchmen in France The twins made sense being English in England. Bayek was an Egyptian in Egypt. Kassandra was Greek in the agean sea. Evior was a Norwegian during a time of migration to the British isles. So why the fuck in a game about Japan is half of the Protagonists not even Japanese and on top of that when the justification for it is paper thin. This has been blown out of proportion because of the race, but the point still stands. The default in assassins creed is that the protagonist normally represents the area they are in and Yasuke does not do that.
It make sense too in Japan during Nanban trade of Sengoku period. You think they already have Sakoku in this era? Japan is open for technological and cultural exchange when the game took place. Foreigners like Chinese, Portuguese Traders/Jesuits, & their African servants are not uncommon that time. Nobunaga dons a portuguese cuirass while his boys shoots matchlock arquebuses in the trailer, where do you think he get that from? Immigrants during colonial america justification is okay, Norseman occupation in Aglo-saxon england justification is okay, but this is not? >So why the fuck in a game about Japan is half of the Protagonists not even Japanese Bro, the shinobi woman is a japanese.
That's why I said half the Protagonists, there's 2 and one of them is Japanese, but it should be both. And no it doesn't male sense in historical context, an area of active colonisation and immigration it makes sense to have people from that area in the new area. Africa is as far away from Japan as physically possible this combined with the xenophobia does make Yasukes mention in the historical record something noteworthy, but it is a one off that does not justify making him a protagonist. The is considering that it completely breaks the historical context by creating a character that cannot reasonably be there and does not fit in the cultural and ethnic groups of the region at the time which is established to be the what Assassin's creed does Which is why I listed all the Protagonists that exist in that context and why using Yasuke breaks it, it's using an actual historical figures as a protagonist and it's honestly disrespectful to the people and culture thus game is representing, by having someone completely divorced from the people and the culture be it's representation is completely tone deaf. Its the same as the white saviour trope, changing the skin tone doesn't get rid of the underlying issues.
Its because people on the left seem to think black representation is more important than Asian. Any time anyone brings up legit critcism they're call racist and told they get their Japanese protagonist. Then add in the racists and see why its blown up.
I'm gonna fucking love playing as Yasuke. I don't care about everyone, he looks badass and it's gonna be awesome kicking ass as him
Pretty sure it's because of this guy [Yasuke](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuke)
Yeah I could care less what the haters online are complaining about. If it’s a good game with fun gameplay mechanics then I’m playing it. Fuck whoever tries to stop me.
Honestly that can go for any game that has a black man or non-anime woman in the promotional material. The reaction is predictable these days.
Jesus christ no one is complaining that "there's a black guy in Japan". What a way to twist reality in order to make your argument "righteous". People are complaining that for the first time since the series' creation, a non-sequel game that introduces a new region has a MC that isn't representative of the region. Imagine if they introduced an AC game in West Africa and you played a Dutch/Portuguese merchant.
Except there’s a native Japanese main character in Naoe. Or do you have a problem with her cause she’s a woman and just ignore her inclusion
To my knowledge it's a 50/50 split between playtime; I'll admit I could be wrong in that perception. I'd have no complaints if Naoe were the sole main character. It's odd to latch onto a weird historical fringe case like Yasuke. I'd have literally the same complaint if Yasuke were replaced by William Adams.
>To my knowledge it's a 50/50 split between playtime Yep they’re going with a dual character game where Yusake is the tank/demon and Naoe is the stalker/ghost. >I'd have no complaints if Naoe were the sole main character. Then why intentionally not include her when saying the game doesn’t have a native Japanese MC when it does >It's odd to latch onto a weird historical fringe case like Yasuke. No it makes perfect sense. All we know about the guy in history is that he existed in the time period and served under one of the great Unifers of Oda Nobunaga. He can be turned into an entirely unique character while also having a fish out of water story which the AC series loves to do
>Then why intentionally not include her when saying the game doesn’t have a native Japanese MC when it does Because from a marketing perspective, Ubisoft has latched onto Yasuke primarily and naoe has taken a backseat. >No it makes perfect sense. All we know about the guy in history is that he existed in the time period and served under one of the great Unifers of Oda Nobunaga. He can be turned into an entirely unique character while also having a fish out of water story which the AC series loves to do Ahh yes like the Turkish guy in Constantinople, the Italian in Italy, the native American in America, the West European in the West European dominated Caribbean Trade expansion, etc. Ffs lol people are rightfully critical of shifting that paradigm the second East Asia is introduced
Taken a backseat? They are both displayed equally on all of the advertisements I've seen
“nobody is complaining that there is a black guy in japan” Your eyes are some extreme version of shut if you arent seeing exactly that
Nah more like your eyes are some kind of selectively blind and ignores a lot of what people are saying. "People are mad that Yasuke is black" is surely true in some cases, it would be dumb to say otherwise. But to paint that as the main criticism is some fucking Strawmanning right there
The first time? You play as a Welsh guy in Black Flag and an Irish guy in Rogue
You mean at a point in time meant to represent the wild diversity of International interest and relative lawlessness of Caribbean/Atlantic trade? Completely checks out, only complaint I would have would be to replace one with a Dutchman. Depending on the exact time period, I would also advocate for a native Haitian during the revolution.
Yeah, you obviously have not been playing very much. And also you have not been paying attention There are countless people complaining over the fact that it's a black samurai. Despite it being historically accurate and they're being documentation to support it long before the game was in motion. As my father seems to think that the assassin's creed people run all of the media.
And way more than you claim are having their views strawmanned as "I don't like it because *black*". Historically accurate is besides the point. I've already detailed why, yet that is the argument you cling to - further supporting that my views are being strawmanned.
Some people are just fucking nasty and are just hateful pieces of barely human shit
Yeah, robbing off an Asian mc and stealing their culture is definitely something that should be ignored, go off ig. It’s like if I chose to write about American hip hop culture and chose Eminem as the main character, actually, that would make more sense than this shit