Xbox |OT|

[coolbeans]

Ryuu96 said:

coolbeans said:

For someone who's correctly called out DEI corpo shit before, I'm surprised you're using the that strawman.  Also, Ubisoft are the ones who've previously voiced their passion for fusing historical accuracy & fantasy.  Haven't AC Origins, Odyssey, & Valhalla included interactive walking tours that double as World History 101 courses?

In that context, it's odd that a random retainer gets the starring role just on account of his race versus other actual Samurai legends of that era.  EDIT: This kinda feels like the Fable protag discussion all over again, as though it's discouraged to question why she looked kinda gross compared to the insanely hot actress.  

Except this isn't DEI corpo shit, for Christ sake, every time you see a black man it doesn't automatically mean it's DEI, Japanese people themselves use Yasuke, Japanese author Yoshio Kurusu made a children's book about him, Takashi Okazaki's Afro Samurai is inspired by Yasuke, Koei Tecmo's Samurai Warriors 5 has Yasuke as a samurai, Nagoriyuki the samurai in Guilty Gear Strive is based on Yasuke!

Yasuke appears in the Japanese game Ni-Oh which is led by a frigging Irishman and nobody complained about that!

Leonidas I of Sparta wasn't a direct descendant of the Isu, Leonardo Da Vinci didn't chill with assassins, help create the hidden blade between all his other inventions and help an Assassin Guild, Pope Alexander VI wasn't a member of the Templar Order and fought in a crypt with a literal magical weapon. Leonidas didn't father both a boy and girl who went on to find Atlantis.

The Templar Order and Assassin Brotherhood doesn't exist ever. Adam and Eve! The Isu!

Where was the uproar when AC changed the historical accuracy of dozens of political figures since Assassin's Creed 1?

Rightfully you point out that Assassin's Creed mixes historical accuracy with fantasy. Yes, AC has had interactive walking tours that double as World History 101 courses, surely you see the difference between telling the history of some frigging buildings and the actual lore of the videogame itself? Take a history class and try to get through it by using only AC's lore itself and see how far you get.

"Yes, Queen Victoria worked with the Assassin Order to eliminate the Templar threat in 19th century London"

A*

For starters, we're talking about Ubisoft so DEI corpo shit can be the assumed default at the start.

As far as Yasuke's own prominence, I mean... okay?  So, he's featured in other works or served as inspiration elsewhere, but I don't really see how that contradicts my initial impression - especially with Shadows' own marketing.  It still seems odd to enshrine someone as a samurai who, by all available evidence, was just a temporary retainer among other potential legends of that era.   

I feel like all of this extra bluster touched a nerve, so I'll try to re-focus on my main point: from what I could glean, the stronger complaints have less to do with "black male protagonist" existing in Japan and more to do with "not ethnically East Asian male protagonist."  That's why I challenged Versus' framing.  Under that mentality, I can understand it given Ubisoft's past mainline ACs consistency, plus the general sentiment of being the "odd man out" regarding representation after finally setting one in Japan (which I guess is ironically subverted here).