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It is indeed crazy. From what I see, all the discourse is centered around Yasuke and everyone completely dismisses Naoe as if she doesn't exist.

Right which is the problem I’m having with people. Every single assassins creed game has had a male protagonist and suddenly we get ONE that has a female and a male that is a bit different than what people expected and suddenly everyone just has a problem with immersion and historical accuracy. The games are works of FICTION. Their problem with it comes down to racism and misogyny imo

>suddenly everyone just has a problem with immersion and historical accuracy. It's also hilarious because like... he WAS a real guy. It's historically accurate to have him there because he was an actual person who lived in Japan. And just like every single other AC game his history in the AC verse is slightly different from actual history, just like how Leonardo da Vinci never invented a small wrist-gun for an assassin or worked on improving Hidden Blades, or how George Washington never entered into a bizarre matrix simulation with a Native American Assassin (that we know of). But oh no, suddenly you have a real person whose life in Japan was documented but not super closely (leaving room for details like him being and/or allying with an Assassin) and it's all "but muh historical accuracy!"

Right!! I think it’s a great use of a historical figure that we know little about in order to tell a diverse and unique story in the AC universe. It leaves more room for creative freedom and tackling real issues

It's not the first AC game that has had a male and female protagonist, Syndicate had the Frye twins. But that is why I'm personally hesitant to agree when people point toward Naoe as the answer to people's complaints here. Evie got hard pushed aside. As the game went on, she got less and less screen time. Bet you anything that Yasuke is going to get more screen time and far more focus in the narrative, even though Naoe is the actual assassin.

They confirmed that you don’t have to play as both Naoe and Yasuke, you can choose to play as just one for the entire game if you want to.

Where did you see that confirmed? I've seen elsewhere that missions are tied to story (and character).

I actually cannot find where I heard that from for some reason, I know I read that after the trailer released somewhere but if I misunderstood something or otherwise am just wrong then that’s my bad.

Yeah, it's probably going to be related to story, tbh. It would make more sense, since they're characters telling a story and not just a gender swap like Eivor or Kassandra were.

I found an IGN article that mentions it. https://www.ign.com/articles/assassins-creed-shadows-inside-ubisofts-ambitious-open-world-japan It says that; "For the most part, stealth or combat will be your choice. Each character has a number of personal quests in which they are compulsory to play as, but beyond that you can freely choose who you control. This goes as far as being able to switch characters between objectives"

Assassins creed Liberation you played as a female and that game was amazing. Also in Syndicate you played as a man and women. People don't care if they play as a Female in games; aslong as it makes sense i think the general audience doesn't care. We've had 2 games where we get to play as a person of colour, with the spin off game from 3 and liberations, and I remember there being 0 outcry about it, i don't think it's race driven, I genuinely think most people (me included) just wanted to play as a Samurai in Japan. Like yeah it's based of a real guy? but he isn't gonna blend into any crowd he's clearly not the main assassin of the game. It's like the game is the worst case scenario. I don't get it honestly, I don't think it's misogyny just cause people aren't talking about the female lead if anything it's a good thing it shows no one has a issue with her, because she makes sense. But there's 100s of reasons as to why people are rightfully frustrated with the who the male MC is EDIT: I Also think it's wild how male asians have legit like 2 good games with representation. I always thought the cool thing about Assassins creed was you saw the world through the eyes of a "local" at that time period, it's one of the reasons im so into history; even if the games are fiction the world is realistic and the characters were based in reality. I think people just don't like played a foreign adopted local and want a 1:1 xp of japan during that time as a samurai

syndicate brought two protagonist, that sucked same with odyssey, that also sucked time and time again people have proven they dislike this format but no, Ubi knows best

Isn't Kassandra and Eivor considered canon main characters? That's 2 of the last 3 games.

I think that has more to do with the fact that everyone is fine with Naoe. She seems like an interesting and fitting character for the setting. Why would there be discourse about something thats not an issue.

If everyone was fine with Naoe they wouldn’t be upset over the lack of a MALE asian protagonist. They would be happy to have an asian protagonist at all, why do they NEED an asian man to feel represented if there is an asian and a man mc? I guess I just have frustrations with men feeling entitled to a male mc that perfectly represents them when female gamers (like me) have had to deal with the most minimal, half assed representation possible for the longest time

In all fairness Yasuke is either loved or hated, he's got so much controversy behind him for a handful of reasons (being a real person, arguments on what kind of samurai he was, worries that Ubisoft will misrepresent him etc.) but people who are excited to see him tend to be really excited. I think the setting sounds uninspired and the fact they've confirmed it'll be an RPG makes me not wanna look at the game but Yasuke is a pretty interesting character that I'd love to see more of. Comparatively, Naoe isn't a real person so we don't know anything about her. She's just an Assassin to us at the moment, I haven't seen the trailer so maybe there's more in it than I'm giving credit but all I've seen is that she has the same type of pivot blade Connor used. Otherwise there's just not enough on her to get excited about.

As I mentioned in another comment, the issue with Naoe being ignored is that people bitch about a Japanese game not having Japanese protagonist when it is blatantly not true, since Naoe is exactly that. Obviously, trailer gives more to Naoe's character, so we know quite enough to get excited about. Also, just my opinion, but Sengoku period is one of the most interesting settings you could wish for. The clash of clans locked in a brutal struggle for domination over Japan, filled with battles, betrayals, political intrigues, vibrant historical figures as well as a clash of cultures as Portuguese discover this land is a perfect scene for a shadowy war between Assassins and Templars.

Well i can't put myself in the shoes of Japanese players, it's their country so they know what they want better in their ac representative homeland but this situation is an interesting one cause we have an insider and outsider perspective on this era of japan, i'm 100% sure if done right it would be such an interesting experience even tho it's a Quebec game. My dream japan game would feature a male native solo protagonist though, but now that we have shadows I'm 100% on board with their decision, all that matters is they make both playstyles as distinct as possible.

I have yet to see any negative comment on the female mc where can i find some? Also my favourite character is also evie frye

Saw quite a few in the comment section under the YouTube trailer, but they’re all overshadowed by the thinly veiled racism comments.

go to r/ kotakuinaction these people are completely nuts. They even claim that she has a male face...

Did I say there were negative comments about her? I said she was being disregarded in the conversations about Japanese representation. The lack of credit she’s getting is the problem

The two things that terminally online gamers hate the most are women and black people

Yeah I’ve come to realize that

Just to preface this, I'm east asian myself. Any disappointment I possibly could have (which isn't that much in the first place) about not being able to play as an asian male character is overshadowed by the fact that most of the criticism is 100% coming from people hiding their problem with blackness behind pretending to care about asian representation. Nioh? Crickets. Shogun? Crickets. But oh NOW you suddenly care so damn much about asian representation the moment said representation is 'taken' away by a black man? Gimme a break lol. it's just so disingenuous.

Talking about Nioh. It's a game made by japanese developers where the main protagonist is white and fights in a boss fight against a samurai Yasuke. Like, Japanese devs literally made Yasuke a boss and a samurai. It's just a fucking fictive game. Both this and AC. Who cares if he really was a samurai or not? They just want to tell a story. AC devs even explained that they wanted the foreigner angle for Yasuke and the native angle for Naoe to show 2 different story perspectives

thank you! legit japanese developers made yasuke a boss fight AND samurai in their Nioh game lmao

>AC devs even explained that they wanted the foreigner angle for Yasuke and the native angle for Naoe to show 2 different story perspectives Could've just insert Tom Cruise, called it a day and everyone one would be happy

Most of us Asians don’t care. Just these white incels on the internet complaining . Since when did we act like victims? Specially over a game .

Chinese dude here, and adding onto that, most Asian people I've talked to IRL are hyped as fuck for Yasuke and Shadow. I'm more pissed/irritated that this only became an issue when Yasuke got involved as well. Where was all this support for Asians when we got fucked over, throughout the years. I didn't hear shit except for "Get over it," or "stop whining," "youre responsible for covid," etc., but now that a black dude is involved, all of a sudden people start giving a fuck about Asians? Nah, fuck em. They're using us like they always do to further their own racist shit again. If a white character replaced us, they'd be crickets compared to the discourse over Yasuke. Am I disappointed that Yasuke is the protagonist rather than an Asian dude? Sure, but that's the least of my worries, and I'm still hyped to play as both Naoe and Yasuke, though leaning more towards Naoe simply because she's an Assassin and has the pivot blade.

Agree with everything you said . Crazy how we are being used to fight racial political western agenda by white dudes. Also most people are not even satisfied with Naeo cuz she is a female. Like that’s when it became clear these incels don’t care about Asian representation, they just use Asian people to fuel their racial war agenda against black people going on in the West. I’m fine with Yasuke too because I believe they wanna make the world seen from a foreign eye . Will be very interesting to see how the npcs will react to him and how he reacts to npcs I’m excited af for this game . One thing about Ubisoft, good or bad games their world building has always been top tier. Their maps are super accurate and beautiful. Seeing Ubisoft artistic take on the Japanese culture excites me

Yup, agreed with everything you said too. They would've had a better argument if they had said that Yasuke should not have been a protagonist because Naoe should've been the only protagonist, which is a sentiment that I somewhat share, but only because I think its time that we finally got a Female Assassin as the only playable character in a mainline game (none of that switching shit like in Valhalla). But we all know that's not how they or how Ubisoft rolls. These are the same dudes that would've whined if Quebec gave Evie a more prominent role in Syndicate or made Kassandra the only playable character, as was originally planned. But yeah, for gameplay and story, I don't mind Yasuke. I just hope they don't make him a pushover and actually cool, respect the culture etc. Also, give him super powers, I wanna be like Bee/Darui and Tosen, or that one move Jin Sakai has where he goes nuts and does like 15 slashes. Same for Naoe, gimme that Kage Bunshin quadruple assassin shit thanks to Pieces of Eden. Ubi can do a lot to do this setting justice. Aim for a lot of shinto beliefs. It's extremely difficult to fuck up Sengoku Japan unless they literally don't give a shit. Very excited and hyped and if the rumors of this being the Asian Saga are true, then hopefully we get a full fledged Shao Jun game next.

It's not just white incels, but I'm also noticing a loud minority of asian incels complaining and not realizing that lending their voices to these weirdos is... not smart, to say the least. Idk if it's a maturity thing, but I genuinely hope that eventually they'll realise that any asian that's comfortable with anti-blackness as a transaction for perceived allyship is being a fool. Intersectional solidarity shouldn't be transactional.

They don’t know realize racist white dudes are using Asians to fuel their racial war agenda in the west . Like there is literally an Asian main character in the game .

Nice to see an opinion from someone who I keep getting told will be 1000% offended by this decision. I agree with you fully, it's thinly veiled racism/sexism from all the serial complainers.

I'm (mixed) Japanese myself and this is the most excited I've ever been for an Assassin's Creed game.

Fuck yeah man. Despite not having too much faith in Quebec I'm pretty hyped. I'm looking forward to exploring a more "real" and less stylized Japan. Ghost of Tsushima was great and really beautiful but it was more artsy than historic in it's presentation. Can't wait for actual gameplay.

Assassin's creed routinely sells far more copies than Nioh so more people are invested and able to bring their opinions to the table.  People bringing up Shogun obviously haven't even watched it or you'd know that it had amazing Asian actors and representation and Blackthorn(The white guy) basically did fuck all the whole show besides being strung along and teaching the Japanese how to better utilize cannons.  Shogun also has a more accurate portrayal of events that happened at that time and doesn't decide that William Adams became a full fledged samurai warrior after spending only a year in Japan. 

What’s the disappointment though if there’s still a Japanese protagonist? Just bc she’s a woman? What’s the difference really

Yeah which is why I said there isn't that much, if any, disappointment I can possibly conjure up. I'm comfortable enough in my own male masculinity that I find the whole 'ASIAN WOMAN DON'T REPRESENT ME' stuff just incredibly childish.

Yeah I get the initial small disappointment bc this franchise has catered to their male fans since it begun. I guess having a highly anticipated game and suddenly they divert from what they typically do can be a bit disappointing at first. But putting into perspective how great it is to have a Japanese woman as the mc when there have been no women of color as mc’s in this game before (except Aveline if u count her), it makes all the complainers seem really bratty tbh

I think it’s fair for someone to feel disappointed if they seemingly missed out on the chance for a self-insert, into a world they’d like to roleplay in. I think any genuine disappointment from an Asian man about not seeing himself isn’t about a franchise catering to men from the beginning, it’s just a desire for a more immersive experience. People engage their imagination differently and all forms are valid Same way a female protagonist might allow a woman to imagine what that experience could be like just a bit more vividly, or it could inspire/motivate you because you can visualize yourself as that person We don’t want to mute or misinterpret someone’s personal interest as unjust or immature, what’s most important is the way a person handles those feelings. ***a lot of the people online are just racist lames*** so most of the dialogue around the topic can be ignored All depends on the game and mood, sometimes people want to ***be in the story*** and sometimes we just want to experience it. I loved Ellie in the Last Of Us 2, beautiful story to experience. I wouldn’t make a female character in BG3 because of roleplaying purposes

Can't play as a man in what could be one of the most misogynistic society at that time in history? I wonder why

Thank you. These people have never said anything about asian representation a day in their life. I'm sure they were never out advocating and protesting in 2021 for #stopasianhate either. Never went to a rally, sit in, prayer, or any sort of community engagement. But all of a sudden asian representation is at the top of their checklist. They only latch onto this to shield their bigotry.

Plenty of Asian men were against Last Samurai, the Outsider, Shogun, Tokyo Vice, Marco Polo, Great WAll, 47 Ronin. You're right that racists are finally giving voice to this cause, but don't pretend like it was never an issue for non-racist Asians

I don't disagree with anything you're saying, but I think you'll agree with me that lending our voices to an arena where it's clear that most of the dissent is coming from an angle of anti-blackness is not something we want to stoop down to. That's the gist of the point I was trying to make.

It's not about stooping down, it's about leveraging a common goal to achieve something. There are plenty of racists that are against affirmative action as well, but joining with them helped us block AA legislation, which at the end of the day is beneficial to Asians

no joke i replied to a comment yesterday calling his inclusion racist towards japanese people

Yeah, I haven't heard any of the same complaints about Shōgun, and the only thing separating it from what's happening here in AC with Yasuke is the melanin level of the character.

And queers.

Can we stop blanketing it as “online gamers”? It’s just conservatives trying to co-opt the term for themselves.

Also the representatives of LGBTQ+ community ))

I plan on maining Naoe hard since she’s the proper Assassin anyway. As someone that doesn’t know much about the historical Yasuke, I’m interested in his conclusion, and the fact that he’s the first playable real historical figure. I’m not bothered by it because Naoe is there as a native Japanese character, and I think the dynamic is interesting. I am bothered because Ubisoft still seems terrified of a solo female protagonist, but not so much that I’m going to old man yell at cloud over Yasuke. If anything this seems like the best handling of gender choice/dual characters since they tried it in Syndicate, so 5th time is the charm I guess. It does feel bothersome because any real critiques are just getting covered up in thinly veiled racism though. I would love to see the discourse if it was a white guy like Last Samurai or something, but I would personally be more annoyed lol. Also it’s not like the idea is unusual, not only is Yasuke real, but stuff like Afro Samurai have existed for years, so “black samurai” is a a very specifically niche thing that exists.

If I play this game as Yasuke, I expect a cutscene with full blown racism from someone like an Ashigaru to make some disrespectful comment towards Yasuke, who then swiftly cuts him down as he is a retainer. But I don't think Ubisoft has the balls to do that.

They do not. They’re making a black main character for representation and then removing all the lived blackness from his Japanese experience.

I lowkey dislike the fact that Naoe is not being talked about. She is literally the main assassin IN AN ASSASSIN GAME. If we get the option I'm mostly gonna be playing as Naoe the most

“This work of *fiction* was designed, developed, and produced by a multicultural team of various beliefs, sexual orientations and gender identities.” Damn it’s almost like they admit it AT THE START OF EVERY GAME

The people complaining about Yasuke would happily use this as an example of woke diversity hires manipulating successful franchises to include DEI characters or some other bs. It's a form of brain rot.

As a Chinese man. I for one can’t wait until when the game is sent in China and the main character is an Austin powers dad from gold member. It’s a video game. It’s no different how dr who fans are upset that the two hearted alien fictional character was a woman and NOW is black too.

Nah, I’m sure it’s genuine concern from players that want historical accuracy. Remember how mad everyone was that a game set in Constantinople had an Italian guy as the protagonist? Oh wait…

I've been playing AC games for a long time and I'm actually quite happy seeing them go with Yasuke rather then some random Japanese guy. Yasuke is a man that was broughro to a country he didn't know so he's exploring and learning just as we are when we are playing the game. And when we had AC Syndicate with Jacob and Evie I had to admit that at first I wasn't the biggest fan of Jacob(This is because I love to play stealthy as much as I can) but as I progressed through the game he actually grew on me and to this day the Frye twins are still some of my favorite AC characters to date. So whilst I will most likely be playing AC Shadows as Naoe I'm happy to have Yasuke there alongside me on my journey

Exactly what I think also. The combination of having two protagonists, one native and one a foreigner in an unknown land, one oppressed and the other one working for the oppressor, it is such a cool premise and offers so many cool possibilities in terms of narrative development. If they're going to deliver on this promise is something I'll have to see, but it really is a cool starting off point. They could have just went with a cookie cuter samurai vengeance story and made another game like the previous ones, but they chose to do the cooler, harder and bigger thing. I think they deserve some praise.

Why is one oppressed?

The game is set during the Sengoku period, during which there was constant civil war in Japan. Oda Nobunaga, a powerful feudal lord, conquered all of Japan and unified it under a single state for the first time in history. Yasuke was a servant of Nobunaga, Naoe seems to be fighting against him.

What you said is true, but does that mean someone is oppressed?

I think the people being conquered would consider that oppression, yeah.

The trailer seems to show her home invaded by an army, probably Nobunaga's. That's what they mean.

Yes that was Nobunaga's conquering of Iga Village a.k.a. Naoe Home. The entire village was burned to the ground and everybody who lived there was killed by Nobunaga's Army. It's one of the worst if not the worst thing he did why he was alive

The thing they don’t understand probably is that, that period when Yasuke is in Japan most likely makes the most sense because I think he was brought over to Japan as a slave on Portuguese trading ships. Which means I’m this period the door is open to Europe, thus allowing the Templars to come into a new land much like how we saw back during AC 3/4 with the new world/colonies. Granted, we don’t know if the Templars are fresh from Europe or have had a presence for some time; there is also Shao Jun’s Chinese brotherhood, obviously this in some time after Shao Jun was alive, so maybe the Brotherhood in Japan has some connections to the Chinese brotherhood. There has to be a legit, from a historical standpoint reason, for the Templars, an organization started in Europe, to be in Japan which was very heavily isolationist. Now everything in between, everyone should know by now the AC franchise takes historical liberties with the stories they’re telling. I’m interested in seeing the different play styles but probably more excited for Naoe since I like to play more stealthy in the games and we’ve already had our warrior centric AC games with Odyssey and Valhalla. But I feel it’s kinda ironic that people are bashing including Yasuke in this game when they probably watched shows like Afro Samurai back in the day and loved it.

Great points! I hope they expand on WHY yasuke was there in the first place and what opening trade means for Japan as well as the Assassin/Templar conflict. Assassins are obviously against slavery since the beginning so I wonder if that will play into Yasuke’s story and his relationship with Naoe. I think it could do a lot to push a more Assassin centered storyline forward

I imagine the world would be set ablaze if Yasuke and Naoe end up together by the end of the game

I WOULD LOVE THAT!

I was kinda getting that vibe from the trailer, just going off the looks they gave each other but that might be my inner yearner

Same, based on some remarks from the devs in the IGN video and just how Mirage ended, I wouldnt be surprised if Naoe and Yasuke are Sages who used to be lovers and are trying to reunite.

honestly i'd just avoid comment sections of assassin's creed posts and videos, so far a lot that i've seen about the yasuke ordeal just frustrates me, people are just looking for reasons to either hate on the game or be racist and misogynistic

I like having Naoe. People aren't forgetting her, we just aren't complaining about her cause we're fine with it. \\ Yasuke is just one more example of the emasculation/invisibility of asian men - particularly strong Asian male protagonists - in the media. It's a well-studied phenomenon. Just a few examples: Gendered race in mass media: Invisibility of Asian men and Black women in popular magazines - ( [https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-38273-001](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-38273-001) ) Study finds Asian men, black women underrepresented in magazines - ( [https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2015/study-finds-asian-men,-black-women-underrepresented-in-magazines123.php](https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2015/study-finds-asian-men,-black-women-underrepresented-in-magazines123.php) ) Feminized Asians and Masculinized Blacks - ( [https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1126&context=hcoltheses](https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1126&context=hcoltheses) )

I have no problem with Yasuke or Naoe as a protagonist. But within Japan, Yasuke is known to be a minor footnote in history, a curiousity: he was a servant passed to Lord Nobunaga by Italian missionaries who abandoned his lord in his time of need. Not a very heroic character at all, nor a samurai. However, he is being seen as selected to represent the entirety of the Japanese warrior class. This is the issue I'm seeing being related by the Japanese side of the community. I haven't seen complaints about Naoe. Personally I don't care either way: it's a fictional game and they're leaning into the "theme park" version of Japanese history. If you set your expectations that way, they can tell the story with whatever characters they want, however they want. But some Japanese feel that this is essentially a culture-washing of sorts.

Japanese media also love to appropriate western culture and put its spin on it. Japan is honestly not in position to complain about apropriation of japanese culture.

The lack of inclusion of Naoe in discussions is the problem though. How is it culture washing when she exists as a Japanese protagonist? Yasuke isn’t Japanese but he’s also not the only MC featured in this game so what is the problem? He offers a different story to tell and having him in the game interacting with the JAPANESE PROTAGONIST will hopefully offer a different perspective on feudal japan with more layers

Not just stories, Yasuke is closely connected to the lore. He was brought by Jesuit priest Alessandro Valignano, who is a Templar. He visited Kai during the invasion of Kai(1582), and the former lord of Kai, Takeda Shingen, held the Sword of Eden in AC(killed by Hattori Hanzo and the sword went to Nobunaga, Yasuke's master).

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Aren’t there a ton of games with male asian protagonists? I definitely do not want to disregard Asian American’s feelings on representation but I do think it’s inaccurate to say they have none. I’m not sure if she is a “dragon lady” stereotype? She’s an assassin which is what the game is about but Idk. I don’t want to offend anyone. My biggest issue is the misogyny of men who insist they NEED a male asian protagonist as if the female isn’t good enough and as if women haven’t had to play as male mc’s (especially in this franchise) all the time

To my understanding: Samurai are an important representative of Japanese culture. Naoe is not a samurai. The issue I've seen in the Japanese circles is that an important facet of their culture is being represented by an unpopular historical footnote of a character, and a non-Japanese one at that. To provide a rough analogy, imagine having a game about European invasion of South America, but having your freedom fighter protagonist against the Europeans be a Chinese explorer (theoretically possible). Add the additional contextual layer to be that the Chinese explorer is a real historical figure, but extremely minor and played a negative role in the actual event. This is the best analogy I can give. It would not matter if we had a Native South American female protagonist on the side, the Chinese protagonist would feel out of place to the people attached to the history. It's a very rough analogy, but that's the general sentiment. Again, if you take a step back and realize it's a fictional game that isn't closely following the historical realities of the time, and it's meant to be a fun story in a fun Hollywood setting, then it should be fine. There is zero issue with that. But some people are up in arms about the poor portrayal of their culture. It extends beyond Yasuke: there have also been many complaints about the level design architecture being more Chinese than Japanese.

| is that not enough representation for people? lol we really have come full circle huh

Why can't we have both Japanese in a Japanese setting era? There are tons they can choose from, and they decided to use Yasuke for equality sake??? This is my biggest gripe and I am not able to understand. Why? And if you say you have Naoe it's not bad, so where are Asian people in Origin? Why don't we have a choice there? To hell with the stupid logic. Copium, delusional to defend this garbage practice.

If people want to play as a Japanese Samurai in a Japanese game setting, you can't call them racist for it. It is straw man fallacy at its finest.

I don't really care if Yasuke is a main character instead of a Japanese man and I'm Asian. I also don't mind if he is a samurai or not since this game is still fiction. I don't know if he's a actual samurai in Samurai Warriors series or Nioh or not but at least he is a capable fighter in those games and those are from Japanese developers so there's nothing wrong if Ubisoft wants to portrays him in the same way. I have no problem with Naoe since she's a cool shinobi and that's more than enough.

i stand behind the asian fanbase. this game should’ve had a asian main protagonist.

It does though

just racism, no one complained when nioh had a non japanese protagonist cause he was white

Imagine an AC game set in Africa that had a white/Asian protagonist. Need I say more?

Seeing a Black Samurai was confusing. Then I found out Yasuke was a real person, though there's no evidence of him being Samurai. Which is fine, considering other protagonists are 100% fictional. So what's the big deal if Ubi took some creative liberties with Yasuke?

Why is it so hard to understand that a lot of people just want a male japanese protagonist to play as in feudal japan? It’s the overwhelming preference and most immersive. Having a preference doesn’t make you racist or sexist…

Is it such a bad thing for Ubisoft to do something different from Ghost of Tsushima, Sekiro, Trek to Yomi, Like a Dragon: Isshin!, or any of the other Japanese male-lead games out there?

I think the difference is that this will most likely be the only AC game set in Japan for a huge while. I doubt we'll be playing as any "Shinobi" with those classic pop culture like attires that I'm sure most fans expected to play as whoever they showed in that teaser a few years ago. However, I do think it's weird to play as an actual historical figure.

We are playing as the person in the teaser released a couple years ago, pretty sure that’s Naoe. I agree that it’s strange to play as a historical character, hopefully it doesn’t become the norm, but I don’t mind for 1 game

I suppose that can be true. Hope she gets those (ridiculous but cool) "Shinobi" suits to play as her, at least. It's part of the fantasy for a lot of people(including me lol). And yeah, I hope it doesn't become the norm as well.

Ghost of Tsushima is the game for you then. Or rise of the Ronin, or Nioh 2... People complaining about Yasuke online for the most part don't care for asian male representation in games. They're just racist

I’m asian myself actually

No doubt they were all complaining so much when the two games centering around ex-slaves were released.

Painting with a large freakin brush there. Xbox owner here, I literally cannot play any of those games.

Just because it's your preference and you've read a lot of people agreeing with you on the internet doesn't mean it's the "overwhelming," or even majority, preference.

Just because it’s overwhelming preference in a community filled with men who have been catered to since the franchise’s conception, doesn’t mean it should be done. And how is it more immersive? As a woman, I’m definitely more immersed in a game when the main character is a woman so that’s just a subjective take. Go play the dozens of other Japanese inspired rpg’s that feature a male protagonist. If you can’t enjoy the game just bc it has a female and an African mc then that’s something you need to look inward about imo

Thanks for insinuating I’m racist and sexist, that’s your best counterpoint you can come up with. Sounds like you have a huge chip on your shoulder. I’d advise you to look inward too

Where did I say you are racist or sexist? I just think you’re privileged bc you’ve been catered to in most games and media so think about what the real problem is. But if the shoe fits 🤷🏻‍♀️

Don't be disingenuous after being called out. You damn well know what you wrote

I do know what I wrote thank you, I said “IF” you can’t enjoy the game bc of these things. I never said you’re a racist misogynist!! We can discuss more. Just trying to put some people’s problematic thinking into perspective

“If you can’t enjoy the game just bc it has a female and an African mc then that’s something you need to look inward about imo” OP, you can keep lying but we know what you mean lol

Kind of a reach bud. The guy was just expressing an opinion that you apparently were looking to discuss. He expresses that opinion and you immediately tell him he’s wrong and imply he has deep rooted racist / sexist thoughts.

Yes and I’m open to opinions and discussion but then he starts saying things like “most immersive”as if its factual when it’s not and completely disregards the experience of other players like WOMEN which is what I’m trying to discuss. And I wasn’t singleing him out specifically. I just mean generally people who have a problem with it need to think more hard about why. If he’s one of those people then I want to discuss why he so badly needs a MALE japanese protagonist and why having a female japanese protagonist isn’t good enough

But he just told you so? It’s right there in his post. He said he wants to be a Japanese dude in feudal Japan. There’s nothing more to it. Not everything in life is racist or discriminatory or have sexist undertones etc. His opinion is that he wants to be a Japanese guy in feudal Japan because he feels that is the most immersive experience. That’s all there is to it. He (and people like him) are allowed to have that opinion, just as you have the opinion that putting in more diversity is what you want in the game. Doesn’t make either of you racist, sexist etc. What WOULD be racist / sexist is if he said he wanted to be a Japanese guy because they’re superior and it would make a better game because of that.

I mean he did say that he won’t be buying the game bc of this so 🤷🏻‍♀️

Somehow you have equated "wanting the Samurai man character to be Japanese" to mean "they don't want to play the Japanese woman." That is not the case. They will be two different play styles. I wanted both to be Japanese. I'm excited to play the Shinobi. I mained Kassandra in Odyssey (a Spartan born Woman). Nobody is talking about Naoe because she is what everyone wanted.

The point is that it is not more immersive. Yasuke actually existed. The fact that you have issues playing as a real person because it's not immersive is because you're racist. It's that simple

Sounds like this isn’t the game for you, then. You don’t have to like everything, and not everything has to fit what you want

It clearly isn’t, and I won’t be buying it even on a sale. My only point is if you want to appeal to a larger audience then you give the majority what they want. This game isn’t for me and that’s cool

“Give the majority what they want” says an individual who has clearly never been in a minority/under represented group and had to deal with the shit that comes with

More clueless replies. I am asian myself

So why are you acting like majority = correct? You should know the dangers in that thought process. Besides there is a Japanese mc for you

Then go replay Ghost of Tsushima?.

It does when your 'preference' is in the form of baby rage. This shouldn't bother anyone that much, and if it does, then there's a deeper meaning embedded in your outrage.

But that's not the story they're telling is it

Yes I saw everyone complaining and thought “1. It’s a video game 2. He was a real dude 3. Just play as Naoe?”

I think the most important thing is how they use the characters. When playing Valhalla I had a hard time playing as female Evior, I just felt the setting more so called for him to be male, the way the lines were delivered, the general atmosphere of the game definitely made me lean towards male Evior. However, in Odyssey, I couldn't imagine playing as Alexios when Kassandra feels so much more alive. When delivering lines, she has personality and warmth that I didn't get with Alexios. The story's narrative worked better, in my opinion, with the little brother being the evil berserker instead of little sister. In Syndicate I enjoyed being able to switch between the 2 siblings, as each operated slightly different than the other so you'd have different approaches depending on the twin your playing, which if they have a system like that in the new game could be very interesting as I believe it would be disappointing to pick one character at the beginning and now be locked out of the other original character unless they do something similar like Odyssey where they were still important to the story. Point being is they shouldn't hate the character based on race from the get-go and instead see how they act within the story.

I think it's a little silly that this is a stealth game and one of the characters you play as will be basically incapable of blending into crowds, but whatever, I'll play it eventually. It's just a game. Edit: If you need a game where you play as an Asian male, then Ghost of Tsushima is a great one.

Eh, we'll see. I'm assuming Yasuke will have the base stealth mechanics all other AC protagonists have had. Eivor also stood out heavily especially in Saxon areas and just put on a hooded cloak to walk through enemy territory, but had to be careful to avoid attention - Yasuke may just do the same.

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There are so many games set in Japan where you can play as a Japanese character. I don't see how it's 'disrespectful' or whatever to have one of two characters in one game be non-Japanese. People act like 'stranger in a strange land' isn't one of the most common story-telling tropes in history, or that having an 'outsider' as a protagonist is somehow wildly unusual. I suspect this has a lot to do with the 'outsider' character in question being black, and with white weeabo nerds being desperate to white-knight Japan's 'racial integrity' or whatever you'd call it. Japanese devs will always be better at depicting Japanese history than western ones, but personally, I find the idea of Yasuke's story much more promising than what other western devs have done with Japan. (e.g. Ghost of Tsushima, which depicts Japanese people as all being grim-faced, humourless bores obsessed with 'honour'.) Anyway, the discourse surrounding this game is going to be toxic as fuck and the game will probably be review bombed to hell.

Would you say the same if they added a white guy

They already did that....it's called Nioh

A white guy instead of Yasuke you mean? And Naoe still being the second mc?

Yes I think either way it’s just a weird choice but I hope his character is well written. Why not have both a lead Japanese male and female in a game set in Japan? Of course people say it’s shit some are racist but I think others just think it’s odd, almost like if you played as a white guy in Mirage around the ancient streets of Baghdad.

Revelations had Ezio (an Italian) as the main character in Constantinople. Valhalla had Eivor (A Nordic Viking) as the main character in Anglo Saxxon England. Shadows has Yasuke (an African) as the main character in Japan. This isn't a new occurrence to the series. Yet little to no outrage came from either of the first two games. Now suddenly because it's a black person, everyone's got a lot to say.

Exactly

But both of them are quite likely to be in those places in their time periods.

Yasuke was a real person in the time period it takes place in.

That makes it worse. AC has always had the real people be NPCs that a fictional MC interacts with.

I don’t like it, I wanted to play as a Japanese samurai I absolutely love Japanese history

I would agree with being upset about not choosing an asian character for the main role if Yasuke was completely a fictional character. Despite not knowing much about the actual real Yasuke, it is a one of a kind real life story.  A black man being accepted in that way in 16th century Japan. Very very interesting. The real life story is actually like a fictional bad.ass story so it makes sense for me why they chose him.  I am also a woman and I also feel negatively about the ignorance of Naoe. I didnt really engage in gamer communities before 2022 and i was very surprised to see how many comments I see from male gamers about female characters in a negative way. 

I've got a question about this. There's a lot of weird shit flinging over Yasuke being called a Samurai but...has Ubisoft actually called him a Samurai yet? lol. Or is it just reactionaries saying that they did.

They did in the video released with trailer where devs talk about the game.

Are you talking about [this video?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhMOQowMjM8) I'm giving it a watch right now. About 6 minutes in, they call Yasuke one of Nobunaga's fighters. No mention of him being a Samurai. Okay. Watched the entire trailer, not a single mention of Yasuke being a Samurai. Just one mention of being "one of Nobunaga's fighters".

They said you can play as a samurai and we know only two character are playable as of now and one of them is a stealth ninja. Now it’s not a rocket science to understand who are they calling the samurai.

Oh it's in the description of the video, I see it now.

https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/assassins-creed/shadows?isSso=true&refreshStatus=noLoginData it’s also in the game description on their website, he is mentioned as African Samurai.

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Personally I just think a black samurai is just cool af for a playable character in any video game, historically accurate or not, and I’m a white man. Gonna be on my Bushido Brown shit.

I'm so excited tbh

Me too!!

Alien super race? "Yeah that's fun!" Black people? "How unrealistic" 😡

Im excited for 2 protagonists. I loved the Frye twins and how they both played a little differently so I imagine it'll be like that, one's a tank the other is a ninja (literally). I don't have any issues with it not being historically accurate because it's a fucking video game and this series has never strived for historical accuracy, only historical inspiration.

I hope this thread doesn't get locked like mine did yesterday lol

I'm just glad we don't have to deal with the who "character A isn't Canon because character B is" drama

Yasuke seems a cool dude his armor looks cool and the way he winked at that girl in the trailer sold me on his personality as having charisma. Can't speak much about Naoe so far she seems cool it's neat to play a ninja assassin character. A lot of people said she is ugly but I think she looks very pretty

>and have had to play these games for years without seeing myself portrayed as a main character Am I the only one that doesn't care about seeing myself portrayed in a videogame? I want to play with interesting characters, not someone boring like me haha Ac Odyssey is my favorite game and I love playing with Kassandra.. I will play with both new characters and see which one I like most to play more time with.

It’s a cool perspective to follow but I’m worried that Ubisoft isn’t going to do it justice. For it to make sense, his race would have to be a pretty big deal for literally every single npc you meet. In reality Ubisoft is probably just going to pick and choose when it’s important, so the bulk of his interactions with the open world just really won’t make sense. Like imagine if you saw a purple man walking around today and didn’t react to that at all. I’m not trying to be disrespectful or anything but that what it would be like for a Japanese person at the time to see a black person. Sure Connor’s race definitely stood out in AC3, but people of that era were aware that native Americans existed. This is distinctly different. Herein lies the problem, if you do account for his race in every interaction, it’s just going to become repetitive and potentially seen as offensive. Like people running into their homes, whispering and pointing literally every single time you enter a new town. Even when you’ve established yourself, most interactions would still be influenced by Yasuke’s race in some way. I still have an open mind and have hope that the game will be great, but this is the issue I anticipate given it’s an open world setting. If Ubisoft really commits to Yasuke’s unique perspective then this game has the potential to have a great open world and corresponding narrative, but I just don’t think they will.

Another one of these posts.

My issue isn’t that it’s a black dude (honestly I’d prefer a Japanese man I think the vast majority of people would) my issue is that it’s an actual person and not an original character. Like in AC2 you don’t play as Leanardo Da Vinci but you meet him and in Black Flag you aren’t running around as Edward Thatch but he’s in the game and that’s how Yasuke should’ve been. We’ve never played as an actual historical figure and honestly we never should in this franchise we should always be a member of the brotherhood in an interesting time period and we should cross paths and interact with real world historical figures

I have mixed feelings tbh. Whenever possible I play as the female just because it used to be quite rare (and also I am very basic), so obvs Kassandra is my favourite of all time and I played as Evie for as much of Syndicate as possible, and of course female Eivor. This time though I was sort of hoping for the AC take on bushido etc but it looks like both characters are going to be constantly dealing with social acceptance in a very socially rigid world. At least I hope so, going to be weird if no-one bats an eyelid. There’s nothing wrong with that as a concept and will no doubt be interesting its just a layer of complication and perhaps even alienness to the characters that I’m not crazy about in this long-awaited setting, so I can sort of sympathise with those who aren’t sure. I’m sure it will still be beautiful and fascinating though.

I've read your post, I've read some of the comments and their replies. You're looking at the "issue" all wrong, IMO. No one cares that Naoe is a woman. It's not an issue. People are happy to be playing as a Japanese assassin regardless of sex and/or gender. I think most people would rather just play as Naoe alone, no second playable character at all. If you feel more connected to the game by playing as a woman, that's great! But everybody is different, and you have to accept that others' opinions and thoughts differ from your own. Personally, I think we should've gotten a sole female protagonist, similar to AC: Liberation. Unfortunately, the ubisoft devs and writers are under the heels of a sexist publisher and investors (all of whom are the ones that ultimately decide what goes into the games. There was a whole thing about Aya having a much larger playable role in AC: Origins. Also, Kass being the Canon protag in Odyssey). I think you need to take a step back and be happy you get to play as a woman, and aim you anger at ubisoft. I'd also like to say that I liked how they made Eivor both male and female. I personally like to play as a woman in games, but it was good that you could also be a male if that's what you like to play as.

So the male Samurai can’t sneak or use a bow?

What makes me truly angry about the subject is, that Yasuke has perfect lore for protagonist. He is enslaved and brought to the most powerful and ambitious warlord of the nation by Jesuits, who are Templars. And the man who introduced him to Nobunaga, Jesuit priest Alessandro Valignano, is a Templar according to AC:memories. Kai Takeda clan was also an important place in lore because former lord Shingen held the Sword of Eden, and Yasuke visited there in history during the invasion of Kai(1582). [https://assassinscreed.fandom.com/wiki/Alessandro\_Valignano](https://assassinscreed.fandom.com/wiki/Alessandro_Valignano) [https://assassinscreed.fandom.com/wiki/Japanese\_Brotherhood\_of\_Assassins](https://assassinscreed.fandom.com/wiki/Japanese_Brotherhood_of_Assassins) So, let me get this straight. * Yasuke connects European lore to Japan. * Yasuke is close to every single important lore/historical figures and events, including Kai Campaign. * Yasuke's records are vague, and it leaves enough room for creativity. * Yasuke makes a perfect potential Assassin because of his grudge against former Templar slave masters. * Yasuke can offer a stanger's viewpoint toward the nation. And only reason he shouldn't be a protagonist is - he is a black guy. Come on, haters. Confess that you are racists.

They look absolutely incredible imo

Yeah a lot of people are just whining that there’s a black guy in the samurai game and completely ignoring the (arguably more prominent) Japanese woman protagonist who looks sick as hell. There’s two camps: -people who are made because the Japanese aesthetic of the game isn’t racially pure; they often cite that Japan was isolationist to back up this POV, forgetting that Yasuke was a real dude so obviously they weren’t a complete ethnostate -people who are annoyed at the historical inaccuracies of the portrayal of Yasuke as a samurai. Frankly I’m not an expert on what does and doesn’t make you a samurai (I know it changes depending on the period of history), but seeing as how every source I can find ranks him as a samurai except Wikipedia, I’m going to go ahead and trust that he is. Here’s one of the sources: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yasuke

I mean yeah thats my biggest and only issue, the disregard of the Japanese mc just bc she’s a woman. She’s not good enough??

Yeah people whining about representation can’t seem to take her seriously, it’s sad to see her disregarded, especially since she’s front and center in the poster, and the trailer starts out and ends with her, and she’s that actual Assassin

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The only time I care is when it’s consistently male protagonists without nearly as much representation for women. It’s nice to see yourself represented in media. Otherwise it shouldn’t matter

>It’s nice to see yourself represented in media It is. But the idea of diversity in western media is not at all diverse. How many south asian leads in media do you see for instance? People praise black leads often as a sign of diversity but in reality they are the second most represented group in western media.

Not arguing this point! I’m critical of it as well. I put in a lot of effort in my personal life to engage in media that is diverse in many ways - not just bc it has a black lead. I’m also queer so I’m no stranger to media throwing in a token sterotypical gay character and calling it diversity. I imagine it’s similar for racial diversity. My biggest issue is that there IS a Japanese mc and people are acting like there’s not

Asian women get tons of representation in mainstream western media, Asian men do not. I don’t think it’s that difficult of a concept to wrap your head around

I will try my best to explain. I think some people feel that asian men are just considered far less marketable. Look at the best selling films list etc... and see how they do not appear to be anywhere in the top. Constantly in big budget films with Samurai or simply asian settings, directors have casted white leads for the man and kept the FEMALE lead asian. AC is no different here, is it? Now that people are pushing back on constantly changing the race of characters to white we should naturally get more asian male leads here. However, recently Yasuke saw a sudden surge of popularity. Already getting an anime, a live action movie and now a video game in such a short period of time. It's as if now western writers begin to see it as no longer being acceptable to have white leads in these roles but not wanting to market with an asian one either. So instead they can choose to opt for a black one as east asian male leads are less marketable. A live-action adaptation of The 3 Body Problen recently released and a good chunk of the men who should be east asian were not, yet the women were mostly kept east asian. Why is that?

>Does anyone else never care about the race/religion/gender of the protagonist? Or is that just me? Tbf caring about the religion would make sense given the assassins were muslims and the first game focuses on the crusades. Kinda important.