Please read this if you have any questions on Yasuke being considered a samurai. www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1css0ye/was_yasuke_a_samurai/

Remember, the best thing about Ubisoft games are the trailers.

Even if you werent bothered by yasuke. That 130$ price tag is wild. Crazier is paying 60$ for an incomplete game. Like outlaws star wars. Where you need to pay 100$+ for the full game. Or youll have chunks missing.

- Did Yasuke existed? Definitely. - Was he a samuraï as status and position go? Possibly. - Was he a samuraï in all manners of a native one including the fighting style and knowledge? Considering he stayed a couple of years in Japan, probably not. - Hence is he a fine choice for someone who wants to play as a typical samuraï and have insight on Japan from that era (i.e anoptimal choice for a video game protagonist)? No. - Would Yasuke still make an interesting and cool game protagonist if the marketing and story type were different to match this? Most certainly yes. - Do I trust Ubisoft (or any big western company for that matter) to tell that story in an accurate and inspring way? ... DEFINITELY NO.

I think Yasuke would be honoured to know people are fighting wars over him 😂

I'm Japanese. Before Edo era, only upper class bushi was called Samurai. Bushi and Samurai are two different words in Japanese but in English they are translated as samurai. So this is the problem of the Wikipedia war.

"What is the game about?" "Ah, it's just an assassin's creed game, this time set in [region name]" The series started as a really interesting concept, but it slowly become tiring with many recent installments having barely any fresh new things to experience. Basically, the fast food of videogames.

Yasuke would have to kill everyone around his target. He's the only black samurai in the whole region so he can't have any witness report his description back to his enemies. I mean traveling to his target will make guards and town people take notice.

I know we can’t take much stock in a cgi trailer, (gameplay should always be king) however I wanted to say thank you for sharing your thoughts on it regardless:)

There was actually an outcry when william became the protagonist in Nioh

My problems can be summed up with your comments from 2:00 to 2:30. I have other problems with how they run the series, and frankly this open world thing should have been its own project seperate from AssCreed. As for Yasuke, he's fine. Yes, Ubisoft is probably pandering. Normally we play as historical unknowns and meet the famous figures, like playing Ezio and meeting Da Vinci, etc. However, the hordes of people on twitter who suddenly think they know Japanese history are honestly more insufferable.

What bothers me more than anything is that it is being developed by Ubisoft. Their terrible business practices and monetization that favor pay to win even in single player games should be a deal killer for a lot of people.

I guess I'm "counter culture" here, but having platinum-ed both Sekiro and Tsushima, which have very different levels of alignment to historical fact and authentic "Japanese" messaging, there can absolutely be a balance to strike. There's unexplored territory in the genre that AC is well equipped to explore, notably stealth! Story Delivery? No chance AC can be better than Sekiro. Historical Accuracy? It has no place trying to trump japanese made Rise of Ronin. But it doesn't have to, it can still stand on its own. Is a western representation of Japan a crime in an of itself? Does historical accuracy have to be everything? I wouldn't say so: it says a lot about what westerners hope to see in any context, and ancient Japan seems to be a backdrop that allows us to imagine it. It's like when we learned that Katana WEREN'T the main weapon of the samurai. It might have been a splash of cold water, but it qualified our understanding of what actually happened, and still it shouldn't take away from our ability to appreciate things entirely. Historical accuracy doesn't have to be everything, and having historical characters given more clout than they really had and women take up the role of the stronger-than-life ninja can give us a chance to inhabit a world we want to visit. It says a lot about us! tl;dr, if AC Shadows can give me a ninja game with pretty/idealized japan, cool characters, and the good stealth that AC sometimes delivers, (which sekiro and tsushima didn't really deliver), I can judge it as a good addition to the array of samurai/ninja games that exist today.

If this game had come out years ago, I might have thought about getting the game. For me, Yasuke’s presence as a protagonist is a draw, mixing up the usual tropes. After years of Ubisoft’s corporate practices and at the likely price points we are talking about? I guess I might get it on a sale after the whole game is out. (AKA, base game with DLC or Season pass or whatever they call it anymore)

The most disturbing thing to come from this game's announcement has been the knowledge that there are still people out there who care enough about anything Ubisoft does to give them money or attention.

I think Yasuke is a unique character, both because of his background and for being in the center of a lot of major events. He rubbed shoulders with all the future leaders of including Hideyoshi and Ieyasu. So a game with him at the center could be very good (if done well).

Ill wait for Ghost of Tsushima 2

The fact that every other Ass Creed protagonist is fictional except Yasuke is hilarious.

Your thoughts and opinions were the only ones I cared about in regard to this situation. I appreciate your insight as always sensei!

誤解されたくないので日本語で書くけど、弥助は「小姓」として信長に同行する都合上、便宜的に「士分」を与えられたのであって、弥助自身が「武士」であったわけではないです。 事実、本能寺の変で弥助は信長を守ろうと武器を手にとりましたが、明智軍のだれも傷つける事はなく、またその戦闘技術もなかったため投降後に処刑されることもありませんでした。 日本人としてはウィリアム・アダムスみたいに大名になるサクセスストーリーがあったら面白かったのになとは思うのですが、弥助が信長の下に居たのは1年半程度の短い期間です。 そんな短期間に彼が武士として成功できたならば、相応の記録が残っているはずですし、現存する歴史文書にそのような記述はありません。 弥助が信長から得たのは住居と給料と士分ですが、それは弥助が武士であったと言える根拠にはなりませんね。

People probably wouldn't complain if Yaskue was a character you could interact with rather than play as. Then after the main game have him be a playable character in DLCs. Also I guess this also goes against the lore of AC where you go into a machine you play the memory of ancestors and throughout the series you play fictional characters who interact with historical figures. Personally I stopped play AC after the French Revolution one, only playing Odyssey but never finished, because they changed the gameplay and the writing for me started to get pretty bad and the series felt like it overstayed its welcome. Honestly with the amount of diversity that has been shoved into entertainment media these days it should come at no surprise the reaction by the internet whether it was the intent of the creators or not.

I bet it'll be like that netflix yasuke anime where he barely matters and the woman is the real main character that progresses the plot and does the important stuff, Yasuke never gets good treatment.

The story is most likely about the female lead seeing Yasuke, as an agent of Nobunaga, attacking her people during the Unification Wars in the prologue, but then the main plot is after Nobunaga's death and she and Yasuke have to work together to defeat a common enemy. The story will probably be mostly be through her eyes and contrast her different conflicting experiences seeing him as the enemy and later her only ally when they are both outcasts. Regardless of the actual story and controversy, the game still looks really cool while not replacing any of the awesome Koei Tecmo games set during various historical eras of Japan. There's still Samurai Warriors, Nioh, Rise of the Ronin, and Nobunaga's Ambition series.

Thank you for a balanced, accurate video. I don’t think that Yasuke should be the main male protagonist. However, some people are belittling Yasuke to make their point, and I am 100% against that.

Man what a bummer all I wanted was a Japanese assassin dude like Ezio Auditore, it wouldve been so legendary.

IMO, I have no problem with Yasuke being a protagonist in a samurai game, and think it can work… However, in an Assassin’s Creed Game, it’s a bit mixed. Yasuke is practically the only black guy in game, sticking out like a sore thumb. The whole stealthy assassin angle is gone when you’re the most notable foreign retainer of Oda Nobunaga, and massive. Also, another part, is how it breaks all AC conventions, as Yasuke is the first playable historical character (excluding temporary ones like Leonidas) Honestly, it’s says more about how Assassin’s Creed has gone downhill, as it become less become about assassins, and more RPG. Yasuke being a protagonist in a game like Nioh, IMO works. But not for Assassin’s Creed

Bring back Tenchu, end

A bit late to the party but I do translate Heian period literature into English and I do have a point to make and two cents to throw in. First, I know that during the Heian period the term saburai 侍ひ, (originally pronounced something like samburafi with the 'b' and 'f' becoming less pronounced over time) and referred not to warriors but to servants in general. Because the warriors were considered to be the social inferiors of the aristocracy for a long time and were often hired/utilized by them and they managed to accrue lots of power, the term kinda stuck. But, if I'm also not mistaken, (and I very well could be so correct me if I'm wrong) the samurai were never an official social class until after Nobunaga died. I don't know if it was Hideyoshi or Ieyasu who codified a lot of what it meant to be a "samurai" so I don't know if much of this, if any, actually applied to Yasuke. Yes he was a warrior who served under Nobunaga. He was granted honors and titles and even land. Was he a samurai? Well, I'm not super into the Sengoku period and I'm not sure how the term was used so I can't say, but if my memory serves me correctly, I don't think anyone was a "samurai" in the way most people think of them now; a member of a distinct warrior caste. Secondly, had this been made 5 to 10 years ago I would have been all for it. I've been wanting them to adapt the Yasuke story for a very long time. But over the past several years it's safe to assume that they didn't do this because they desperately felt this story needed to be told. No. It's just a fantastic chance to squeeze in some more of "the message" and maintain some level of legitimacy and deniability. And while it 'looks' great it's clearly lacking a soul. And that's depressing because the story of Yasuke deserves to be adapted and told by person/company that can actually put some heart into things. Lastly, oh wow look yet ANOTHER historical Japanese video game set in the Sengoku/Edo period because clearly Japan only had a couple of centuries where anything cool happened. It's not like there are stories like the rebellion of Taira no Masakado, or Fujiwara no Sumitomo, or that Japan has been adapting and retelling wonderful stories about the Gempei war for centuries, or that Japan has a rich collection of myths from the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki that could be adapted into some super cool movies and games. Nope! Japan only every did anything remarkable in the Sengoku/Edo period so I guess we're making another game set during that time and will never ever make anything set in another period of Japanese history . . . except for one game and that's Ghost of Tsushima, but we're also going to anachronistically shove in a bunch of Sengoku/Edo period visuals and ideas because we can't have things be too different from the Sengoku/Edo period because the Sengoku/Edo period is the best period.

Same old mush we have been getting for years now. And if we complain about it, they go after the fans. Its Ubisoft, hard pass.

You nailed it! I also didn't care about the ethn!c stuff, but when I saw her flying over walls, beating 15 guards, carrying weapons in public (a capital offense for a non-samurai), etc., I went, "Uhh..." And if they chose a historical figure in Yasuke, why not pair him with Tanba Momochi?! His legendary exploits and uncertain fate made him a prominent figure in folklore and theater, and he would fit their timeline perfectly. He was even in AC Memories, a terrible defunct mobile game from a decade ago.

I have Japanese in-laws. I asked them about this "controversy" and they just laughed. They couldn't care less about "cultural appropriation." This isn't an uncommon sentiment in Japanese culture, they honestly don't tend to care much if others wanna check out their culture and even adopt their ways of dress and such. This is widely seen as a compliment more than anything.

Here we go. You and Metatron are the only opinions on the game I was hoping to see. Apologies for the obligation! As excited as I am to see Ubisoft's rendition of Japan, I think we all know that the story and writing overall is going to be the weakest element of the game.

People complaining about Yasuke. Me complaining the price tag + Hattori Hanzo is not a playable character.

This was excellently well said. I just got done putting 96 hours into rise of the ronin, that felt like a love letter to Japanese history, from each landmark having a historical blurb, to almost every character being real and extremely loveable (RYOMA AND SAITO ESPECIALLY) and then the combat felt deep and crisp. I just...dont think this is gonna reach that, i get a bad feeling its gonna be the same shallow stealth, with 2 button combat. Imma wait and see reviews. I almost hope they go for a more tenchu feel then AC feel, and for the love of god no hidden blade please

The "expert historian" they hired for this is a fujioshi who wrote books about the love between monks and little boys. I mean, sure.. it did happen, but that was abuse, not some romantic tale of the past. That should tell you all you need to know about the historical accuracy of this game.

well, I don't think Yasuke is going to be portrayed as a samurai with realistic skills either to be honest, so if we are going to complain about the girl for being unrealistic in terms of combat we could do so for most samurai games as well

8:01 The big difference between them is that Adams had a lasting impact on Japan to the extent that he has statues and a train station named after him.

I think it would have been cool for them to have committed to the historical figure bit and made the shinobi be Hattori Hanzo with Yasuke as the samurai as he is right now. It’s not an inconceivable pair up especially given the Oda-Tokugawa alliance that was incredibly relevant in the fight against the Takeda and the involvement of Iga. So having a Tokugawa retainer be the shinobi alongside Yasuke the Oda retainer would be a cool representation of that alliance. And I just plainly like those two figures by default.

As much as I love the character of Yasuke, the ulterior motive part is when my BS alert went ringing when I saw the trailer.

If they had to add Yaske they should at least give us a male shinobi maybe since they did historical charracters maybe give us that legendary guy

aw, im late about 5 years bto know this channel, subcribed right away, i will marathon your video from sengoku jidai part 1

The difference with Will Addams is that he had real political clout. Japan spared Protestants from execution (but were still exiled) simply because Will is Protestant. Japan executed Catholics including native converts because they feared Jesuit subversion & cited the Philippines as an example of Catholic Christian cultural takeover. Yasuke has none of that political influence outside of the Koei games you mentioned. Koei plays with historical revisionism all the time, they even did a Nobunaga's Ambition game where you could play a bonus scenario of the God of War Uesugi Kenshin as a woman. Although imo, I think he could have actually been a woman in disguise. His skeletal remains were measured somewhere between 4'11 - 5'2 and he was assassinated by getting impaled through his butthole while he was going potty. It's either that ninja were seriously waiting inside the lavatory 24/7 or they were aware that he is actually a woman & scheduled his assassination around his menstrual cycle. My point being, there's a lot of weird crap that happened during the sengoku era but some of the more weird & out there theories such as Kenshin somehow being a woman make a lot more sense to me than Yasuke being some legendary samurai warrior who went unnoticed for centuries even during his own era. The Yasuke stuff really does reek of modern Western English-based politics & it's tantamount to cultural colonization. It's ok to have Yasuke in the game, but not as the leading role. Make him a bonus character or a skin. Even in Will's own game, the entire point of Will in Nioh was that they were trying to conceal his identity as a White guy and they even directly call him a 'White guy' in one of the first cutscenes of the game. I do agree with you that the kunoichi isn't accurate but real life kunoichi were just spies who slept with men in order to gain intel, so it's not exactly something you could make a game out of and should've just wrote her out all together.

You and Metatron probably have the best takes on the whole situation. Despite you're initial apprehension on the topic, thanks for voicing your opinion anyway.

I’m a bit sad about this. I am glad about Yasuke. However, there is 0 doubt that there is an agenda here with all the controversies of modern gaming and the rewrites of consulting companies. I truly think the AC controversy would be way lower if they gave a legendary shinobi like Hanzo Hatori or Sasuke Sarutobi. But instead the entire cast of this AC games are “the exception”. In Nioh, only the beginning and last level take place in Europe, the rest is Japan Boogaloo. I can’t help but to think that this AC game will also have “exceptions” in the main story and side quests. That’s that. Short version, Yasuke has been collateral damage of modern gaming and the true evil was the other main character, not Yasuke.

Great break down on the historical accuracy of this game. Thank you for deciding to make it because I would not have watched any other channels response to the issue. Much appreciated.

My thing is why are non Japanese people so pressed over a video game character that’s weird do they speak for all Japan

Thank you for the gameplay video

I started watching this channel after playing ghost of Tsushima, and I can’t ever get enough of the historical breakdowns and reviews of games and shows

I truly don't understand you and the others defending yasuke. If all he evidence doesn't completely says he was a samurai but is pointing to a possibility. It's a hypothetical situation not a real one. In archeology evidence indicates something possible but not a true. It's never a truth. So you can never say he was a Samurai. You at the most can say he was possibly a samurai. It's semantic but that's how archeology, anthropology and historiography works.

9:58 Where female warriors as rare as African Samurai? 😅

Its ironic, back when origins released Ubisoft said it would never do a japanese centric setting because it would be to much of a trope! And im like bro! Where do you think ninjas and Shinobi come from? It would be best setting for assasins creed and the best part is the Japanese mythology can perfectly align with the major story overarching advanced aliens leaving their fingerprint all over the humanity's growth

The general issue on the "Was Yasuke a real samurai" analysis is sadly often a missunderstanding in the given facts of his role and the gifted things by Nobunaga and the word stipend but also the general identification of samurai. Stipend or fuchi wasn't just a salary for samurai, but for general retainers at the invidual courts (retainer = servant). The role of kosho wasn't suited for a already appointed Samurai since kosho was a pre-role before being appointed later to the samurai status. Why? Kosho were the japanese equivalant to an european medieval squire. They had the same responsibilities and both (kosho & squire) were usually jobs for young boys serving their knight / samurai. Recording say, that the sons of other samurai were selected as Kosho and would require the same amount of fuchi similar to a appointed samurai since of their family status. Also, the gifted short sword (no other gifted weapons are recorded) which was either a wakizashi or kodachi isn't a indicator that Yasuke was appointed directly to Samurai status, since at court all armed retainers (samurai or kosho or hatamoto) were required to carry short sword while longer weapons were banned. Only ashigaru outside of castle would be seen carrying long weapons. Kosho required the short sword in order to fulfill their role as bodyguard of their master. Additiontally, the missunderstanding about the other gift: the residence. In comparison to hatamoto William Adams, the recording about Yasuke's residence doesn't mention any servants which means that his housing might been only a simple place to sleep (e.g. a seperate room or bed inside of Nobunaga's chamber to serve him). Wiiliam Adams on the other hand was appointed to Hatamoto (Bannersman / personal consultant), which was usually assigned to already appointed samurai but not any kosho. The respectable residence of a hatamoto would require additional gifted servants. Regarding, Yasuke accompanying his master on journeys or into battle - this was also the natural task of a kosho, just as the European squire would do. The historical documents of the given time are clear. Yasuke was a kosho, but there are no statements of appointment to samurai. Maybe he would've been a real samurai if Nobunaga wouldn't have died. Most people look at the fact or in case of an image and would argue simply: he's a samurai because he wears armor and sword. Well, that's not correct. Even ashiharu were wearing armor and wielded the same weapons as samurai BUT weren't samurai in the end. Samurai was a special status like european medieval knighthood. Also, the appearance of tosei gussoku (modern armor) on feudal japan makes it extremely difficult for simple people to differ between Samurai and Ashigaru.

They could have made him a dlc playable character and made a japanese guy as the main one thats way more better

Were any of the other Assassin's Creed protagonists real?

Personally I don’t have an issue with yasuke in the game at all! I just don’t think he should be one of the main characters, especially when the other option is a girl. Sorry but when I think of Samurai the last thing I picture is a female and yasuke would be way way way down the list.

8:07 yes, Nioh was a Japanese created game, and their culture to augment. With Ubisoft, they’ve taken their own liberty (with a sprinkle of modern politics), to make Yasuke the main protagonist. I totally agree - most historical records show Yasuke to be a samurai, but I wouldn’t consider him a representative of Japanese samurai in the Sengoku period. As an Assassins Creed Odyssey fan, I would have been pretty upset it Alexios and Kassandra were non-Greek characters. There is a sense of historical representation here, and Yasuke - a blip in Japanese history, spending only 3 years in country - is not a fair representation of the Japanese samurai. I know a few Japanese that are pretty upset with this, and feel Ubisoft is trolling Japanese culture. I feel the same. This feels less like a representation of Japanese samurai, than a representation of Ubisoft political views. Side note; do you think there would have been an uproar about the characters if both were Japanese? No one would have been upset about that. Ubisoft chose to pick the controversial route… which says a lot about the way they see the world nowadays. Rant over. 😊

when did ubisoft say that they are going for 100% historical validity?. I get it hes black and yall dont like us. but at the end of the day its a GAME. All assassins creed have elements of things that didnt exist or NON-FICTION its part of making the game. yes, they hire historians etc so that they can add elements into the world that are reminiscent of the time but the games are not tied or structured to HISTORY. Like The Shogunate said "do not preorder the game" thats sound advice. Other than that just wait and lets see how this develops. i get it japanese people would appreciate the option to play a MALE Japanese man in a game with a backdrop of japan. But why are people of other ethnic backgrounds outraged?, it doesnt even concern you lol. We already have so much games like this. he existed end of, i don't care are about the falsities in his lore or whatever. Bottom Line he is someone that existed around that time who is shrouded in obscurity ubisoft chose to explore that. we have tons history on the Japanese in Japan at that time, look at this channel for example. The fact that people are outraged is laughable. Just wait enjoy the game or dont and dont play lol. who cares that hes black? who cares that shes a woman. look at Bayek, he wasnt black.. actually lets not. Look at Kassandra there was not women warriors in sparta they stayed back to create spartans and be the last line of defence. No one complained lol. lets just see if they can make a good and enjoyable game. UPOPULAR OPINION: AC ODYSSEY IS AMAZING AND THE WORLD THEY CREATED IN THAT GAME IS INCREDIBLE.

This controversy is the dumbest crap ever. Being a game player is so exhausting.

great video as always

What ppl should me mad about is the ridiculous prices. There's nothing wrong with Yasuke.

It wouldn’t be such a controversial take, if Wikipedia didn’t change the history of Yasuke right when the trailer was released. That reeks of Netflix Cleopatra all over again. But my biggest complaint is $170 for an ultimate edition of a live service game, that is utter nonsense.

I recommend to watch Metatron's Video about the Question about Yasuke being a Samurai. He took a further Deep Dive on that Topic and pretty much came to a very different Conclusion after analyzing the Facts.

Complaining about Yasuke instead of Complaining about how this is another game that completely disrespects the OG LORE of AC like the last 3 games before Mirage, idk about mirage didn't play it, is Wild to me.

My thing is why couldn’t they just make the original AC Shadows a game starring both male and female Japanese protagonist, have Yasuke a major side character and crucial key to the turning point of the story, Build off that and come out with AC Shadows 2, and have that Be Yasuke’s full story of how he got to japan??? No?? Wouldn’t that have been much better??, I think Ubisoft got trigger happy ran across Yasuke’s origin story and fell in love with it, and totally scratched there original Idea, To me, that’s how it feels, it feels rushed, AC Shadows II Yasuke wouldve been hard, and if they ever do Yasuke main game, please just stick to 1 main protagonist, like shii bruh

The thing we should all be upset by is that this is a Ubisoft game and is already being monetized out the ass.

If Yasuke was so important, why didn't Nobunaga ever write about him when he wrote about literally everybody else in his service? You could hypothetically read through the entirety of the Sengoku Period and the events that transpired from beginning to end without needing to mention Yasuke once in order for it to make sense. That's how unimportant he was in the grand scheme. While I understand he is certainly an interesting figure, let's not pretend that it wasn't purely because of his African lineage and skin colour. He did nothing of great import. It sounds terrible to put it that way, but it's the truth. What achievements of his do we have to speak about? None. Which is why he is always being adapted into something more than he was and that is one of the main issues people have with him being the lead character in a Sengoku Jidai based game. You know what I'm saying is true @The Shogunate, but I understand it is a sensitive topic right now.

By the way , you mentioned in the video that you reviewed the samurai games that you gonna make a samurai warriors : spirit of the sanada review And I’m actually been waiting for it lol I hope you make a review about it since it’s my favorite SW game

Despite all the bad and mediocre things about Assassins Creed, the open world in this might very well become the most impressive rendition of Sengoku Japan in gaming. That has me excited, even if all the other elements about it flop.

Thank you sir. You got some very good points here. But demanding historical accuracy in Assasin's Creed games... All of the games ins the series are almost complete fantasy :)

Love your insight and how objective you were.

I hope we get to play both of them as we did in syndicate, or the option to chose either like in Valhalla, Odyssey

I would have been more interested if we played as a glorified western version of hanzo. The real issue is $150+ AUD for the ultimate edition which gives you rubbish

People have a lot of problems grasping the meaning of "historical fiction".

Both sides of the Yasuke debate are wrong in how certain they are in their arguments. There are good arguments for both but no conclusive evidence either way.

The points you brought up about Naoe being super skilled and openly carrying weapons only further increasing the tropes of mythical Japan in older periods kinda fall flat when pretty much every other game in the series have their protagonists be represented in a similar fashion. This is after all Assassin's Creed, not "roleplaying as a historically accurate samurai in the Sengoku period" kind of game. Regardless, never pre-order games, whether it be from Ubisoft or anyone else, reading the fact that pre-orders for AC:Shadows has been solid from Tom Henderson has made me disappointed that people still haven't learnt from countless of times with Ubisoft.

You are correct that Ubisoft has an insidious motive. That motive being to make money. While the Culture war loves to argue that Yasuke being a protagonist is part of a somkescreen plan to generate controversy and hide the pre-order scheme in reality it is more likely that since AC has moved more in the realm of pop history they went with a charecter that is well known in the pop history space when talking about Japanese history.

It comes to no surprise that the main folk mad are non-japanese europeans about Yasuke. They never miss a beat to show their Ethnocism, aka the BIG R WORD.

As an Asian dude who has never been interested in the AC universe , I want to say that I’m all for more diversity and representation. It’s important to showcase characters that aren’t just white and male. Where I think you miss the mark is that there is such limited representation of Asian men in leading roles ANYWHERE that the fact that a leading game like AC set in Japan doesn’t have someone I can relate to is incredibly disappointing. I think there should have been a third character, Japanese male, and it would have made this whole issue nonexistent. I’m still waiting for someone like me to get opportunities across media.

8:53 last point get - for those that are fans of AC games, the point of “go play something else” doesn’t hold much water unfortunately. I get your point though.

Hey if I may ask what’s the most accurate samurai game you’ve seen in how it depicts the culture? I tried to get into ghost of Tsushima, but couldn’t get past the plot itself being based on nonsense bushido principles.

I'm Japanese, but I don't think there's any problem with making Yasuke one of the main characters. Yasuke is a real person with many mysteries and legends, but he's a very interesting character who hasn't been featured much in Japanese movies or anime so far. In the work Assassin's Creed, I think there is no one more suitable to expand the imagination than Yasuke in creating a drama of conspiracies with Europe, such as the Jesuits in Japan. I'm very excited to see how foreign game makers will portray feudal Japan and the mysterious character Yasuke.

So, Naoe is an issue because, I quote your video "Female warriors were extremely rare in feudal japan", yet the one and only black man out of millions is not "extremely rare" ?

A game TOKENIZING a Historical African figure in pre-modern Japan. Giving Yasuke a DEI Minstrel Black character to faux see myself on the console screen. Back in the Day STREET FIGHTER created a character DJ. Funny thing I never used him in my game play. Choosing Chun-Li or later Cammy. Chun Li's spinning bird kicks and mini haduken were fun to master.

Thanks for the intelligent video

Nice video and thanks for the mention!

This is your friendly reminder that your talking about historical accuracy in a game series that has you fighting mythological beings and its a work of fiction not historical documentation.

Good points Nick. Thanks for the links.

I wish they don't make Yasuke combat-focus hero and the chick a stealth-focus heroine. Assassin like Ezio are literal John Wick, both of them should excel at both but maybe in different way.

I agree with what the two videos have to say about Assassin's Creed Shadows. I also agree with your take as well. This whole debacle is tiresome. Not much people are mentioning the absurd price points and whatnot. What I do want, is a Sengoku Jidai samurai game. Wouldn't it be cool to play through the turmoil? Maybe play as Hideyoshi and his journey throughout his life. From peasant to one of the highest ranking men in Japan. I know that's what Nioh 2 basically was, but I don't want the fantasy element. I want major battles and whatnot. Samurai Warriors can only scratch so much of an itch in that sense. I kinda wanna lead a squad as Hideyoshi to secure and build Sunomata Castle.

I think the technicality of whether Yasuke should or should not be portrayed as a samurai in the context of an Assassin's Creed game seems trivial since the second game ends with Ezio fist fighting the pope and then immediately talks to a hologram of some ancient alien god.

Why choose yasuke?? There are more retainers that are better than him. Yasuke is just a low average character. Yasuke doesn't have any feats, no achievement. Absolutely a F tier character

personally i think a whole game based on Yasuke would be interesting.

Honestly I think it would've been cooler if we play as an Emishi-Izumo or Emishi-Ainu character, AC protags has always been original fictional characters so idk why they pick Yasuke (I lied, it's for brownie points). Just imagine if you play as an ancestor to the Matagi hunters, maybe he'll have an affinity with firearms and bows instead of the typical samurai archetype that we can find in practically every other game set in historical Japan; plus being of discriminated ethnicity in his own homeland would mirror Connor from AC3 who lately has been receiving a cult following. PS: it would be cool if instead of the cliche action heroine Naoe is depicted as, she's a more historically accurate Kunoichi spying by blending in plain sight. She would be the perfect opportunity to incorporate the latest few Hitman game's stealth playstyle into the series, infiltrating using disguises and assassinating with clever methods to make the murder seem like an accident. Huge wasted potential, but then again it's modern Ubisoft and they're not competent enough to do such a thing.

Price tag is god awful. Trailer looks more Chinese than Japanese. We know EXACTLY why they picked Yasuke (DEI, and strong connections to Sweet Baby Inc.). The Japanese audience seem to be universally rejecting it. It’s a disaster. I like your level headed take, definitely agree that the female character is stupid too.

Assassin's Creed is not a series about historical-accuracy, though At the start of each game it states that it is a work of historical-fiction

My problem with Yasuke isn't him being Yasuke, or a black guy. But that a black (the only one in the entire country), tall man being a head taller than everybody else running around on rampages isn't the best stealthy assassin working for a secret order. And is equally stupid to the feamle Hollywood ninja. But idk. Assassins Creed stopped being Assassins Creed over a decade ago and have devolved into "we have Witcher 3 at home" with some psuedo historical nonsense and much worse writing. I would love to see a character like Yasuke as a badass demonslayer in an Onimusha game though:D

as an asian, theres been no reasonable argument said to me at all yet, why yasuke should represent the male character in asian culture. all the arguments online are championing representation, so why is an african male the stand in for asian male?

The "ackchyually" crowd really clutching those pearls they only care about now because of this. The worst of Yasuke being a main character is that he's a main character in a Ubisoft game, AC at that. The DEI people think it's a woke moment when it's more a moment for a cynical corporate entity to frame an "exciting, new experience" under their god awful pricing and probably microtransactions. The thing is that, in theory, a well rounded depiction of Yasuke in a game would offer many a chance to experience alienation, racial difference to a stark contrast of being objectified for the appearance of your whole body being foreign, and thus not one to ever accept as Japanese in those times

I'm going to be following news on this game just because I wanna see Ubisoft's take on Tanba/Sandayu Momochi. He was my favorite from Samurai Warriors 5 and I'm interested to see a new interation. I think starting from the Tensho-Iga War is an interesting, albeit challenging spot, since the story will be on a tight time frame. I've also never been drawn to an AC game, so maybe in 4 years when the game's 90% off I'll buy it. But in regards to Yasuke, I think he's a cool choice. Most of my apprehension is similar to yours, funny enough Also yes please keep gassing up Samurai Warriors

I agree, I wouldn't mind Yasuke as a playable character, but yeah, the woman should absolutely be a male samurai. The thing I find most egregious is the historical revisionism with AC games in general, Valhalla being among the worst. The wikipedia editing schism happening only heightens this, and further the theory that there's an agenda being pushed, why else would they revise an article after the trailer launch?