The new trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows has dropped and this time it’s set in feudal Japan, but some Japanese gamers are puzzled that it includes Yasuke.
Yasuke was an actual historical figure that lived in Japan during the 16th century and was most likely of African origin. He would have also been around during the time period that this game is set. However, almost nothing is really known about Yasuke, which in part means he’s a great narrative blank slate to work with but that isn’t also without its pitfalls.
You see, gamers have been waiting for Assassin’s Creed to come to Japan for years now. It’s the land of ninjas, the epitome of stealth. So it has always been a perfect fit for a gaming series built around stealthy assassinations in an interesting historical context.
Now, one of the protagonists in Shadows is indeed a ninja from Iga. This is a very famous and important region in Japan and in many ways is the birthplace of the ninja. I actually used to live in Mie-ken and going to Ueno Castle was a lot of fun, not least because you had all these great exhibitions about the history of the ninja. So Iga is a big part of what the ninjas are in Japan.
Anyway, why Ubisoft didn’t just stop with making Shadows about ninjas, in a series where you are meant to stealthily assassinate people, is somewhat beyond me. However, the issues start with the fact that the other protagonist is Yasuke and he’s now a samurai.
Yasuke has been portrayed in a bunch of different ways over the years, in anime such as Afro Samurai and the more recent Yasuke on Netflix. In these works, it was clear this was meant as entirely fictional “what if” scenario and they are all great. Having Yasuke depicted as a cool samurai was entirely fine, as it was clear there was a great deal of artistic license involved.
The issue here, and one that Japanese gamers are pointing out in the trailer for the game and elsewhere online (shown above and below), is that Assassin’s Creed is a series about retaining a degree of fidelity to historical events. That in other games in the series, people of that locale and period were consistent with history and their varying host cultures.
So changing it here is odd and not in keeping with the other Assassin’s Creed games, which is what Japanese fans are mostly pointing out online
In addition, a massive edit war has erupted over on Wikipedia about Yasuke himself, which isn’t exactly helpful either. It also shows that this is clearly a contentious issue and one that people aren’t happy about in terms of history being “rewritten”.
Personally, I’m not all that bothered by all this, but I get why it’s confusing people, especially in Japan. Again, I don’t know why Ubisoft just didn’t focus on making the game about ninjas and they could have avoided all of this nonsense. I will likely play the game when it comes out this November, but for now gamers in Japan are mostly puzzled by all of this.
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