I Don't Understand, Why Is This Game Controversial?

[Grimdaddy]

Can someone explain to me why this game is so controversial? It seems a bit unfair and biased, but maybe I am wrong. Can someone make this make sense?

[Paissa Hoarder]

Many people are sick of Ubisoft's unoptimized, overpriced, over-monetized garbage. Another much smaller group is upset the main character is black. The last, much larger, much more vocal group religiously defends Ubisoft's borderline evil business tactics while claiming that everyone is a bigot or hates diverse characters.

That's it. That's the last 5 years of video games.

[Grimdaddy]

So many are saying that Yasuke really existed, and was really factually a samurai as well.
Was he also historically gay, as well as involved with a married woman of high social rank?

Interesting!

I hope so, as that would make the game even more historically accurate than it already seems to be.

[[Redacted]]

Escrito originalmente por Grimdaddy:

So many are saying that Yasuke really existed, and was really factually a samurai as well.
Was he also historically gay, as well as involved with a married woman of high social rank?

Interesting!

I hope so, as that would make the game even more historically accurate than it already seems to be.

LOL, leave it to Ubisoft to be the upper echelon of accuracy and realism! They really do their research.

[Grimdaddy]

Escrito originalmente por Redacted:

Escrito originalmente por Grimdaddy:

So many are saying that Yasuke really existed, and was really factually a samurai as well.
Was he also historically gay, as well as involved with a married woman of high social rank?

Interesting!

I hope so, as that would make the game even more historically accurate than it already seems to be.

LOL, leave it to Ubisoft to be the upper echelon of accuracy and realism! They really do their research.

Now it turns out there is a romance with a person who identifies as They/Them...

Unlike the others, that cannot be historically accurate, can it? I am starting to worry about this game

I hope someone can explain what this is all about

[[Redacted]]

Escrito originalmente por Grimdaddy:

Escrito originalmente por Redacted:

LOL, leave it to Ubisoft to be the upper echelon of accuracy and realism! They really do their research.

Now it turns out there is a romance with a person who identifies as They/Them...

Unlike the others, that cannot be historically accurate, can it? I am starting to worry about this game

I hope someone can explain what this is all about :conwayshrug:

Do not question the Ubisoft!!

This is going to be the best in the closet gay black samurai assassin marrying a straight woman of a higher social order in order to instigate class warfare while shagging nonexistent non-binaries in feudal Japan game ever made! No dissent!

[Soul Reaver]

because we (gamers) dislike woke things in games unless if that game is made by a developer we like

[Armor Doge]

Because George Floyd wasn't a Samurai.

[Not Edible]

My thoughts on the whole black samurai controversy:
You can look up multiple sources that predate this game by decades that show depictions of a male of African descent who served in Japan in the late 1500s. Probably initially hired as a bodyguard since he was so much larger than the average person. The term 'samurai' by then had also been repurposed from being used only for highly decorated socially elite to more of a general term used for soldiers serving that time period that were skilled fighters with more modest backgrounds.
It's impossible to know exactly the origins of Yasuke, or what his rank or purpose was exactly in Japan, assuming he was one individual and not a series of stories of various Africans who were seen in Japan in the 1500s. But it's not that big of a stretch to speculate that an African male was trained and served as a samurai around this time period.

[Glenn / Vexy]

To me that have played it over 10 hours now. It seems fine to me. Its a pretty standard AC game in my eyes. Not been bothered so far. Game feels missunderstood in a way. So have noe regret of buying it. I dont like politics in my games. But also I cant say ive seen it, so cant complain either.

But in a character standpoint. I think the game has been better without Yasuke. Not towards controversy, but Naoe has a good thing going for her as it is. Feels prety natural. Im not much fan of character swapping, escpecialy when it comes to a playstyle that dont feel like AC at all. Its more hack and slash me Hulk. But the shinobi way, was pretty ok.

[Yakkob auf Cincy]

oh lets see basic historical inaccuracies, nearly every main character being either outright fictional or so heavily fictionalized they might as well be fictional, 1 protagonist being fictional and the other being portrayed entirely incorrectly, terrible performance, impressively bad writing, disgusting levels of monetization and blantant propaganda just to name a few.

[Grimdaddy]

Escrito originalmente por Not Edible:

My thoughts on the whole black samurai controversy:
You can look up multiple sources that predate this game by decades that show depictions of a male of African descent who served in Japan in the late 1500s. Probably initially hired as a bodyguard since he was so much larger than the average person. The term 'samurai' by then had also been repurposed from being used only for highly decorated socially elite to more of a general term used for soldiers serving that time period that were skilled fighters with more modest backgrounds.
It's impossible to know exactly the origins of Yasuke, or what his rank or purpose was exactly in Japan, assuming he was one individual and not a series of stories of various Africans who were seen in Japan in the 1500s. But it's not that big of a stretch to speculate that an African male was trained and served as a samurai around this time period.

I see a lot of people state that there was no evidence he ever rose above the station of 'retainer to the court', and was never trained to fight or to be a samurai. Is this true?

Do you have any links that substantiate him being a samurai, I would like to see them, if so. Also, please avoid using anything sourced from Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard, as they are a bit discredited at the moment thanks to some controversies surrounding their work.

Something from Japanese sources would be really persuading and compelling!

[Not Edible]

Escrito originalmente por Grimdaddy:

Escrito originalmente por Not Edible:

My thoughts on the whole black samurai controversy:
You can look up multiple sources that predate this game by decades that show depictions of a male of African descent who served in Japan in the late 1500s. Probably initially hired as a bodyguard since he was so much larger than the average person. The term 'samurai' by then had also been repurposed from being used only for highly decorated socially elite to more of a general term used for soldiers serving that time period that were skilled fighters with more modest backgrounds.
It's impossible to know exactly the origins of Yasuke, or what his rank or purpose was exactly in Japan, assuming he was one individual and not a series of stories of various Africans who were seen in Japan in the 1500s. But it's not that big of a stretch to speculate that an African male was trained and served as a samurai around this time period.

I see a lot of people state that there was no evidence he ever rose above the station of 'retainer to the court', and was never trained to fight or to be a samurai. Is this true?

Do you have any links that substantiate him being a samurai, I would like to see them, if so. Also, please avoid using anything sourced from Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard, as they are a bit discredited at the moment thanks to some controversies surrounding their work.

Something from Japanese sources would be really persuading and compelling!

Unfortunately I cannot confirm the authenticity of any author/historian which is why I'm guessing Yasuke is more a possibility than a probability. It's pretty clear that Lockley and Girard have taken a good deal of liberties with their book. I'm guessing they got the idea for their book from Shinchō Kōki (The Chronicle of Nobunaga), which also has it's own history, but predates Lockley/Girard by about 200 years - if dates are historically accurate. The other source they may have pulled from is a man named Robert Fikes Jr. who does write ups on historical black figures. In Fikes' small write up he sites a Portuguese missionary, Luís Fróis as describing someone, possibly Yasuke, while he was in Kyoto in the late 1500s. Fikes' Yasuke write-up predates the Lockley/Girard book by only a couple of years. It also states Shinchō Kōki as a partial source.

I guess unless there is some source other than some very old artwork and the theorizing of people who did their research 150+ years later we might never know. Nobunaga is probably one of the more well known historical figures from Japan so it's possible their is more credible information regarding Yasuke.

[Weltall8000]

Here you go:

https://www.reddit.com/r/assassinscreed/comments/1cu71vk/why_yasuke_was_a_samurai_compilation/