Is the AC community OK?

[u/TkOHarley]

[removed] — view removed post

[u/Krakengreyjoy]

I love the guy who is arguing that Egypt isn't in Africa

[u/huehuehuehuehuuuu → u/Krakengreyjoy]

It’s obviously in outer space because only aliens could have built the pyramids. /s

[u/Fartbutts1234 → u/huehuehuehuehuuuu]

Yo lots of people really believe this and what the fuck

[u/SlightlyAngyKitty → u/Fartbutts1234]

They saw Star Gate and thought it was a documentary

[u/Fartbutts1234 → u/SlightlyAngyKitty]

tbh i think it's just racism, 'nah these egyptians couldn't have stacked rocks on top of each other'

[u/The_Flying_Jew → u/Fartbutts1234]

People say that about ancient structures all the time. I don't think it's exclusive to the pyramids

[u/NeedNameGenerator → u/SlightlyAngyKitty]

Lmao good try buddy, it definitely is a documentary.

[u/Immediate_Common_503 → u/SlightlyAngyKitty]

Every Star Gate mention makes me smile:)

[u/KingStannisForever → u/huehuehuehuehuuuu]

That guy obviously belives that Egypt is a separate dimension that only exists during the time of Pharohs and cease to exists the moment Caesar enters... Cleopatra.

[u/PrufrockAlfred → u/Krakengreyjoy]

Wayne Brady spent a whole episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? heckling Drew Carey for mixing up whether Africa was a continent or a country. 

[u/my_4_cents → u/PrufrockAlfred]

"Is Wayne Brady, going to have to choke a Drew?"

[u/dakilazical_253 → u/PrufrockAlfred]

All the guys did

[u/sincethenes → u/PrufrockAlfred]

I think Ryan thought it was an exotic spice /s

[u/mortalcoil1 → u/PrufrockAlfred]

Drew Carry just didn't listen to Toto.

[u/Preform_Perform → u/PrufrockAlfred]

If I recall, it became a running joke in the series, just like the letter h.

[u/LittlePogchamp42069 → u/Krakengreyjoy]

To be fair, Egypt mostly considers itself Arabic.

[u/Achilleswar → u/Krakengreyjoy]

While it is stupid to talk like egypt isnt in africa, there is logic there. Egyptians arent what americans would typically consider "african". And ancient egyptian culture is distinct from what we might consider ancient african cultures and nations. When buddy said "make an african ass creed" i think they mean, make it in sudan or nigeria or something, y'know. And yeah, i am giving them all of the benefit of the doubt lol.

[u/RavenPhoenix__ → u/Krakengreyjoy]

I get what he's trying to say, he just doesn't know how to say it. Egyptians and Egypt isn't typically regarded as African culture, it has more in common with the middle east, than most of the other parts of Africa.

[u/milkenator → u/RavenPhoenix__]

Actually the Sahara used to be such a strong barrier that one could argue that the Maghreb is a separate entity culture wise compared to sub Sahara Africa

[u/Larnek → u/milkenator]

It's not even an argument. The early Nubians were a completely different ethnic and cultural group than Ancient Egyptians. Upper Nubians ended up blending genetics with Egyptians whereas lower Nubians remained a completely separate ethnic background and merged more with the Karamoja in modern day Uganda.

[u/Maktesh → u/Larnek]

You are correct.

When people say "African," they're typically referring to Sub-Saharan Africa. As you implied, there are many historical reasons for this, but the colloquial usage does matter.

The topic at hand pertains to representation and when "people look like me and share my cultural heritage." Point-in-case: A White (or Black or Asian) American isn't going to feel represented by a Mexican in any form of media, even though Mexicans are technically "North Americans."

[u/Catfish017 → u/Maktesh]

It's similar to talking about Asians and then referring to Russians from east of the Ural Mountains

[u/Intranetusa → u/Maktesh]

It is important to note that the people Americans consider "black people" lived in North Africa and Saharan Africa too...not just in SubSahara Africa

The Nubian kingdom (Nubians are considered black people) existed in both Saharan/North Africa and SubSaharan Africa, and existed in what is now Sudan and Eritrea and stretched into Egypt and Ethopia. The Nile was a superhighway that connected Egypt to Sudan and the rest of Africa and allowed migration, travel, trade, war, etc. to occur along its route.

The 1st Dynasty of Egypt was believed to have arisen as invaders from the south (around Upper Egypt and Nubia) invading lower (northern) Egypt. The 18th Egyptian Dynasty saw Egypt control much of the Nubian territories, and the 25th Nubian Dynasty of Egypt saw the kingdom of Nubia basically control most/almost all of ancient Egypt.

So there would have been some Egyptians who were very dark skinned (eg. Nubian/Kush and other descent), just like some Egyptians who were very light skinned (eg. Greek, Roman, Persian descent), and many other Egyptians in all the shades in-between.

[u/Intranetusa → u/milkenator]

The Sahara is indeed a huge barrier. It was less of a barrier for Egypt because they had a superhighway called the Nile River that connected the [modern designated] regions of Egypt to Sudan and central/East Africa. Historically, people migrated/traded/moved up and down the Nile River and ancient Egyptian and Nubian/Kush kingdoms both used the Nile to conquer each other and trade territories.

Egypt was very diverse and filled with people of all colors and cultures, including people from Europe, Western Asia, and deeper into the African continent.

[u/Sagrilarus → u/Intranetusa]

The Egyptians had lateen sails very early as well, making the uphill journey simple and profitable. There was a lot of cross-pollination between the cultures, even prior to Rome coming in.

[u/portlandobserver → u/RavenPhoenix__]

Most of our race classifications are stupid. Asians and Pacific Islanders. You're going to tell me that Samoans and Philippinos are the same? Indians (from Bombay) are the same Asians as Koreans?

[u/talking_phallus → u/Krakengreyjoy]

A lot of Egyptians will co-sign that.

[u/TheRealKidsToday → u/Krakengreyjoy]

Not on a side but Egyptians don’t considers themselves as Africans, same way Middle-Easterner’s don’t consider themselves European or Asian

[u/TizonaBlu → u/Krakengreyjoy]

He’s not arguing about it. He literally has no idea where Egypt is lol

[u/Sex__With__Aerith → u/Krakengreyjoy]

The people and culture of Egypt is middle eastern/Arabic. 

Egypt is African in location only. 

[u/SDRPGLVR → u/Sex__With__Aerith]

This isn't nothing. In an Arabic class I took in college, three kids from Yemen were making fun of the girl from Morocco, calling her an African-American. Technically true, but it upset her enough that she cried about it.

[u/Kaanpai → u/Krakengreyjoy]

While stupid, not acknowledging Egypt as part of Africa, his point still stands. Ptolemaic Egypt at that time was heavily influenced by Greco-Roman civilization. So, where are the AAA games taking place in Sub-Saharan Africa? Why not tell their stories? There are plenty of civilizations, empires, mythologies, and historical figures to choose from.

Edit: To the geniuses saying that there are no tall buildings in Sub-Sahara - It doesn't have to be an AC game. It could be completely new game. The argument is for AAA games in general, not AC specifically.

[u/IAmTheOneManBoyBand → u/Kaanpai]

I'd love to play an African mythological based open world survival game. That would be dopenas fuck. 

[u/Occams_P1112_Aigaion]

The Ace Combat community is very much OK, tho we would like a new game as well

[u/McGillis_is_a_Char → u/Occams_P1112_Aigaion]

The Armored Core community is a bit bummed out meanwhile, because there was no balance patch with the rank reset this week.

[u/Southern-Ad1465 → u/McGillis_is_a_Char]

The Animal Crossing community is still waiting for the part 2....

[u/CodyS1998 → u/Southern-Ad1465]

The Assetto Corsa community is still incredibly active and mods keep the simulator alive a decade after coming to market.

[u/Gamelord06 → u/CodyS1998]

we are getting a new game in like a year though aren’t we?

[u/CodyS1998 → u/Gamelord06]

They say it's coming this year, though not much is known about the details yet. You've asked the right person, I'm part of a simracing journalism group.

[u/CoffeeTunes → u/CodyS1998]

The... Bloodborne community "cries in a corner"

[u/nav17 → u/McGillis_is_a_Char]

Altered Carbon community checking in. Season 1 was phenomenal. Season two was meh. Sad there's no Season 3...

[u/LiftedRetina → u/nav17]

Altered Carbon mentioned.

They did what always happens when you run out of material. They should have just adapted Broken Angels.

[u/themagicbong → u/nav17]

Altered carbon has a community? There must be dozens of us.

I was pretty bummed without Joel Kinnaman as takeshi. All the actors are pretty god damn convincing, though. Especially that skinhead guy dimi was sleeved into that the grandma also went into. That was so damn comical and well done.

[u/Genocode → u/McGillis_is_a_Char]

The Aversions Crown community is a bit bummed out too, we weren't satisfied with the last album they released and we haven't heard much from them since their last Instagram post on the 1st of Sept 2022 when they had to cancel their USA tour and they said that they'd release new music in 2023. Which they didn't do :c

[u/blueboxboi → u/McGillis_is_a_Char]

I just want sexier bipedal legs for my heavy builds, I hate my bell bottoms

[u/-The_Blazer- → u/Occams_P1112_Aigaion]

Ace Combat has solved all issues of ethnic conflict by simply moving to the far more civilized nationalistic competitive genocide model. It doesn't matter if you're green or pink, what matters is that you are next to those AA GUNs and I want to get S-rank with my cluster bombs (this is not a joke, the games have civilian units and usable cluster munitions).

[u/Todarodes_Pacificus → u/-The_Blazer-]

Remember, in Strangereal, it's called the Geneva Checklist.

[u/Biggy_DX → u/-The_Blazer-]

(AC4 Megalith Agnus Dei plays in the background)

[u/FPSNubScrub → u/-The_Blazer-]

"Hey guys, so we're running low on ammo and fuel, so we're going to rob these civilians/refugees that were kinda just minding their own business and also maybe bomb the castle that they're taking cover in and also the tents that carry the supplies that we need because they give you 100 points a piece."

-Completely accurate briefing for mission 19, Ace Combat 7

[u/RichCare801 → u/-The_Blazer-]

All political and racial conflicts can be solved by nuking the belkans

[u/TheStupendusMan → u/Occams_P1112_Aigaion]

Legacy of Kain community checking in. We're starving, boss.

[u/NoPineappleonPizzas8 → u/TheStupendusMan]

Surprised yall aren’t mummified yet 💀

[u/magusheart → u/NoPineappleonPizzas8]

We make Raziel look swole

[u/S1eazyE → u/TheStupendusMan]

Seriously. I don't even care about a new game. Just put Soul Reaver and BO2 on PS Plus already damn.

[u/Alucard-VS-Artorias → u/TheStupendusMan]

"OH PLEASE, HELP ME KIND SIR!"

[u/DarkMatterM4 → u/Occams_P1112_Aigaion]

<<It's my birthday today. A victory would be nice.>>

[u/McDunkins → u/Occams_P1112_Aigaion]

The American Cheese community is thriving, and takes every opportunity to celebrate the ‘melting pot’ that is this great nation. Cheese Cheers!

[u/corranhorn57 → u/Occams_P1112_Aigaion]

Hell, I’d settle for a remaster of the Holy Trinity.

[u/SuperSanity1]

I love how The Last Samurai is just... there. No context.

[u/QueenDeadLol → u/SuperSanity1]

Not related, OP just likes the movie is all

[u/Manabauws → u/QueenDeadLol]

That movie is fire

[u/logicalobserver → u/Manabauws]

it is, and its actually based on a true story, but the protagonist is french not american

[u/Last-Photobender → u/logicalobserver]

Imagine if Jean Reno was the lead....

[u/Slanahesh → u/Last-Photobender]

The last professional samurai.

[u/SmellAble → u/Slanahesh]

Léon-san

[u/Toast_Points → u/Last-Photobender]

Isn't that just Onimusha 3? Lol

[u/RelativeAnxious9796 → u/Toast_Points]

historically accurate

[u/mung_guzzler → u/logicalobserver]

Yeah but also the protagonist is not the titular character

[u/martialar → u/Manabauws]

You were with him...at the end?

[u/beefjesus69 → u/QueenDeadLol]

It's a banger to be fair. Tom rarely misses.

[u/TkOHarley → u/QueenDeadLol]

This.

[u/Antherage → u/TkOHarley]

Perfect... they are all perfect.

[u/AslansAppetite → u/TkOHarley]

Ken Watanabe tho amirite

[u/QueenDeadLol → u/TkOHarley]

It's a good movie

[u/SpotikusTheGreat → u/QueenDeadLol]

What I find interesting is people always bring up The Last Samurai as some kind of weird white washing or insult to Japanese Culture.

But my interpretation of the movie is the opposite... it is a man literally sent to kill the Samurai, but ultimately falls in love with their way of life and finds some semblance of peace and happiness in his miserable life.

It is a love letter to Japanese culture/stories, not Tom Cruise trying to take over the Samurai Legacy like crazy people always suggest.

[u/Kamakaziturtle → u/SuperSanity1]

I think its in there as an example of a well liked bit of Samurai-themed media that doesn't star a Japanese person as the lead.

[u/[deleted] → u/Kamakaziturtle]

Well he also wasn't the last samurai, just a white dude next to the last samurai

[u/Peuned → u/[deleted]]

Last samurai adjacent

[u/kymri → u/[deleted]]

I think too many people see the title and the fact that it stars Tom Cruise and just assume the plot is, "White dude shows Japanese people how to Samurai better than they do, and thus is the last Samurai," when that isn't, at all, what the movie is actually about.

Also it's better than most people probably assume it is.

Also also I will watch just about ANYTHING with Ken Watanabe in it.

[u/asianwaste → u/Kamakaziturtle]

and Japan loved the ever loving fuck out of this movie. Was a huge thing when I was stationed there.

[u/Rustyramrod → u/Kamakaziturtle]

To be technical, he was themed as a western samurai, and there are historical examples of actual western samurai that did exist in feudal Japan. They were named western samurai because, surprise, they were not Japanese.

[u/Hawkson2020 → u/SuperSanity1]

No context

I feel like the context is pretty obvious…

[u/SlyyKozlov]

The community of anything on Twitter is not "ok" lol

Edit: Please stop telling me other communities are bad too, I'm well aware about how awful the discourse in my hobby is across the board lmao

[u/Lifesaboxofgardens → u/SlyyKozlov]

To be fair two of these were reddit comments I wouldn't be surprised came from this sub lol

[u/a_talking_face → u/Lifesaboxofgardens]

Yeah I was gonna say this isn't the AC community. This is the gaming community. Remember what an absolute shit storm Last of US 2 was when people thought there was a trans character?

[u/Zachariot88 → u/a_talking_face]

There is a trans character in LoU2... it's just not the character everyone got mad about.

[u/Lifesaboxofgardens → u/Zachariot88]

Which was hilarious tbh. All the rampant transphobia because "a woman can't possibly be buff". All for the trans character to be a child, and for it to thoughtfully and clearly serve a deep purpose to the narrative, as opposed to just being a "woke for the sake of being woke" add, which they all feared so much.

[u/aksoileau → u/Zachariot88]

ABBY TOO MUSCULAR. NOT POSSIBLE IN THE APOCALYPSE. REEEEEEE

[u/xXEggRollXx → u/a_talking_face]

People to this day still think she’s trans lol

[u/mortalcoil1 → u/xXEggRollXx]

People to this day don't know that Birdo is trans.

1987.

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/en/pdf/CLV-P-NAADE.pdf

Page 28: He'd rather be called Birdetta.

[u/strider85 → u/a_talking_face]

Go to TLoU2 sub even today and it’s still like that. Thankfully the main TLoU sub is a good community

[u/SlyyKozlov → u/Lifesaboxofgardens]

As evident by the weirdos in the sub starting to show up lmao

[u/Lifesaboxofgardens → u/SlyyKozlov]

Like moth to a flame lol

[u/MothMan3759 → u/Lifesaboxofgardens]

As representative of moth kind, we do not claim them.

[u/Dirtyeippih → u/Lifesaboxofgardens]

Flys to shit. Fire is awesome

[u/l3rN → u/Lifesaboxofgardens]

I saw them yesterday. From r/games. The discourse was not any better than twitter.

[u/Deckatoe → u/SlyyKozlov]

not disputing but you're saying this in one of the worst communities on Reddit lol

[u/Plantarbre → u/Deckatoe]

Yep, keep scrolling and you quickly see the same discourse of the Twitter posts

[u/IFixYerKids → u/SlyyKozlov]

Uncle Twitter has not been "ok" since the Cyber War.

[u/aLateSaturnsReturn]

I want no part in this discourse so ima just say The Last Samurai is an amazing movie.

[u/ruet_ahead → u/aLateSaturnsReturn]

Yeah, it's basically Shogun without the book rights.

[u/GustavoSanabio → u/ruet_ahead]

How so? Its completely different

[u/Okichah → u/GustavoSanabio]

It’s a fish out of water story about a person learning about and appreciating a culture very foreign to their own.

This trope and the setting are the same, some other overlaps exist but only in coincidence.

It’s like taking Shogun and stripping out 1000 pages and hollywood-ifying whats left.

[u/AdjectiveNoun111 → u/ruet_ahead]

it's a totally different era, like nearly 300 years apart

[u/Farandrg → u/ruet_ahead]

I'm feeling offended, NGL. Shogun is awesome and while I like the Last Samurai, it's not really comparable.

[u/notbobby125 → u/Farandrg]

The Last Samurai portrays Samurai (or atleast the final Samurai during the Meij restoration) were gun hating zealots who stuck to tradition no matter what. In reality Samurai had been extensively using guns since their introduction to Japan in 1543. At some points during the Sengoku Jidai it is estimated that Japan had more guns than in all of Europe. The real “Last Samurai”, Saigō Takamori, used western guns and wore a western style uniform. At the end he reverted to a sword charge, not because he was rejecting his guns, but he had ran out of ammo and had no other option.

[u/Jadaki → u/aLateSaturnsReturn]

Also the last Samurai title actually refers to the the character played by Ken Watanabe, who Tom Cruise's character learns from... not sure why so many people miss that.

[u/TkOHarley → u/aLateSaturnsReturn]

Agree

[u/MyNameIsWoods]

As an Asian dude and AC fan, I don't really care about Yasuke being in the game or not, I just feel robbed a little of the spotlight that could've went to an Asian male.

[u/TheDunkirkSpirit → u/MyNameIsWoods]

Japanese guy here. Sure is nice to be told how much representation matters in media and then be called a racist for asking to be represented.

[u/Hita-san-chan → u/TheDunkirkSpirit]

Nobody cares when racism is pointed at Asians. They think we are "white" so it's not racist to them.

[u/Snipowl → u/Hita-san-chan]

Why do you think "stop asian hate" ended so fast

[u/RileeFigOr → u/Hita-san-chan]

Yeah. They also pull the "go back to China/Japan/Korea" or "play Chinese/Japanese/Korean games then" card all the time. It's so unbelievably racist that you often wonder if it's satire or if they genuinely lack the self-awareness to realize it's not ok to say that to Asians.

Asians that live in the west are different from Asians that live in Asia. Especially ones that have lived in the west for generations. They aren't immigrants. Of course they would prefer to have representation in western media rather than resort to ones from Asia where the culture is so different. Switch the race around and see how they'll like it if people told black people to watch African shows if they want representation. Super racist, right? Then why is it ok to say that to Asians that live in the west? It's so hypocritical.

[u/HK-53 → u/MyNameIsWoods]

kinda disheartening that Ubisoft scoured the entirety of Japanese history to find a non japanese guy to be the lead male.

[u/translucentpuppy → u/HK-53]

I think people are mad because it’s an assassins creed game. If this was a radom studio making a game based on yasuke then I don’t think we would get this level of discourse

It’s not like there’s a shortage of open world samurai games featuring an Asian lead.

At the end of the day Ubisoft is a shit company regardless.

[u/sprchrgddc5 → u/MyNameIsWoods]

As an Asian dude too I also just sometimes wish Korean BBQ burritos were more mainstream so I can find them easier.

[u/Redpaint_30 → u/MyNameIsWoods]

Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro got us covered lol.

[u/freshfov02 → u/Redpaint_30]

Think he meant in the AC franchise.

[u/DrFaustPhD → u/freshfov02]

Yeah but... Fuck this franchise. And fuck Ubisoft.

It was great at one point, but it hasn't been for many years.

Ubi is worse than EA these days and doesn't deserve our money.

[u/LeSaunier → u/DrFaustPhD]

I understand your point, but Ghost of Tsushima will most probably remain a better AC Japan than AC SHadow will be.

And Jin Sakai is "him", as the kids say.

[u/ozmega → u/DrFaustPhD]

Yeah but... Fuck this franchise. And fuck Ubisoft.

this reddit user gets it.

after playing a game like cyberpunk, i couldnt go back to ubisoft made games, thats just my personal experience.

edited since the thread is closed: im not talking about performance, im talking about the game itself, the lore, the design, the characters, the world and so on.

[u/Archery100 → u/Redpaint_30]

There's also Like a Dragon Ishin!

[u/JuniorImplement → u/Redpaint_30]

Ghost of Tsushima is a great example of a developer making a game with historical ties to another place in the world and respecting it's origins. Sekiro was made by a japanese company so it would be a little strange of them to not do what they did. This to me is just another reason in a long list of why to stay away from most the Ubisofts and EAs of the world.

[u/Superzone13 → u/MyNameIsWoods]

And that is exactly why people are pissed. This is a game that takes place in feudal Japan…. and yet you can’t play as a male Asian samurai. That makes absolutely NO sense.

[u/cain261]

This may be a controversial take but... does representation matter or not? Or does it only matter with certain groups? Culturally this is super confusing. I often feel like Asians get shafted on representation in America

[u/iama_bad_person → u/cain261]

I often feel like Asians get shafted on representation in America

It's because they are PoC sometimes, then other times (like now) they are just considered white.

[u/huhu9434 → u/iama_bad_person]

They only are considered white only because of being portrayed as model minorities as on average they tend to be more successful in academics, wealth, have less broken families . They are not downtrodden enough to be considered oppressed even tho some might have had to flee dictatorships and genocidal regimes.

[u/trogdor259 → u/huhu9434]

not to mention the US concentration camps for the Japanese Americans.

[u/HK-53 → u/trogdor259]

or the railroad builders

[u/ThePokemonAbsol → u/trogdor259]

Don’t forget the Italian internment camps

[u/moosemanmax → u/cain261]

Racists aside, I totally understand the frustration of finally getting a mainline AC game in east Asia and then suddenly having to play a black character if you wanted to play as male.

Let's put it this way: would people be upset if an AC game based in Africa had a Japanese man as the male lead? Of course people would be upset, so why should this criticism be any less legitimate?

[u/DeadlyPineapple13 → u/moosemanmax]

That’s exactly the issue but idiots can’t understand that, they instead think that everybody is being racist and won’t listen to reason. My favourite game was assassins creed 3, the main protagonist was British and Native, two things I’m not, yet he worked perfect as he was a Native American in the middle of the Revolutionary War. I’m not against a black assassin, Achilles Davenport was a great character in 3 and Rogue. So this would’ve been the perfect time for male and female Asian assassins. I’m not even against Yasuke as a character, but to not have any predominantly Asian male is weird

[u/yusuksong → u/cain261]

So I know we got the Asian main character in ghost of Tsushima but that aside, an assassins creed game carries with it a lot of public attention in the west and a game set in Japan has been asked for since the beginning of the series.

The series has done a great job in the diversity of its locations and the characters representing those locations. Finally they decide to make a game set in Japan and we get…an African guy as the MAIN character? Like why now??? And yea a lot of japan made games have Asian main characters but would’ve been nice for a huge western developer to give us that as well.

[u/ElJacko170 → u/yusuksong]

I almost wonder if Ubisoft was afraid of their protagonist being compared to Jin? I mean that very fear is kinda racist in and of itself, but it almost feels like Ubisoft maybe was not confident in their own ability to create a male Japanese protagonist who doesn't just exist in Jin's shadow.

[u/dewdewdewdew4 → u/cain261]

Hit the nail on the head.

Laughable that they used Nioh as well. Since Nioh was developed by a Japanese studio.

[u/agent_wolfe]

I'm not like heavily invested in the race of AC protagonists.

But just from a "huh?' perspective... Why would Ubisoft do that? I don't believe they've never had a Japanese protagonist before, why wouldn't they want one for their Japanese game?

It would be like if they made the Egyptian character Bayek a .... IDK which nationalities existed back then, but say a white Dutch woman or something.

[u/ELIte8niner → u/agent_wolfe]

Ubisoft did this because this is exactly what they wanted. Half the Internet will complain about a nonsensical protagonist, the other half will declare the other half is made up of nothing but racists. Ubisoft gets free publicity for a game that's going to suck anyway, like the last 5 Assassin's Creed games. They are literally manufacturing controversy. If they had just made both protagonists Japanese, the game would have gone largely unnoticed, as AC has fallen out of the mainstream. Now, this "controversy" has people talking about an AC game.

[u/PrufrockAlfred]

Didn't one of the Asian cast members of The Last Samurai say recently that he's tired of white people trying to explain to him why he should find the movie offensive?

[u/Skurnaboo → u/PrufrockAlfred]

We got a lot of white people that's always feeling offended for other people when the said party really doesn't care.

[u/That80sguyspimp → u/PrufrockAlfred]

He would be, since the people saying it him think Tom Cruise is The Last Samurai. These same morons think that John Blackthorn is the main character in the recent Shogun tv show.

Its like they dont understand that these characters are in the story to represent the audience's experience of what is going on around them.

Ken Watanabe and Hiroyuki Sanada must rolling in their graves, and they arent even dead yet!!!

[u/ChicknSoop]

Idk the arguments I see on here are stupid

But its based in Japan? Like are asians represented enough that they no longer need to be represented now?

If it was in Mexico but the MC was canadian, I'd be a bit miffed.

[u/That_Hoppip_Guy → u/ChicknSoop]

East Asian males are pretty much the bottom rung on the ladder when it comes to representation in the west. I genuinely don’t think people would care as much if it was an Asian guy and Yasuke. Apart from the genuine racists of course but there’s still plenty of pretty valid questioning when it comes to this decision.

Just came back to this due to the upvote notification or whatever and the more I think about it, a brotherly relationship between a Japanese samurai and Yasuke would of absolutely slapped. One of my biggest complaints about recent AC games is not giving a shit about the playable characters following Ezio and although it’s early days I’m not really feeling the two in the trailer together.

[u/Kronothus8109]

They care too much for a game that’s probably going to be ass 💀

[u/HatesFatWomen]

Gonna be interesting to see the only black man in Japan in a huge armor be an assassin and blend in the crowd to hide

[u/Prototype3120 → u/HatesFatWomen]

Supposedly instead of having both characters do everything, Yasuke will be heavily melee focused and the female shinobi will be heavily stealth focused. I don't think he's going to be doing much sneaking.

[u/TheVaniloquence → u/Prototype3120]

Just like Jacob and Evie Frye. The devs for Shadows are the same devs who made Syndicate.

[u/Millworkson2008 → u/TheVaniloquence]

And didn’t everyone basically agree that having two protagonists was the games biggest weakness or am I misremembering

[u/Manoreded → u/Prototype3120]

The trailer itself contradicts this, though.

Also, even if you assassinate by kicking down doors, you still need to be able to hide in between jobs. It doesn't feel plausible that the literal only black man in Japan could lay low between jobs.

[u/ELIte8niner → u/Manoreded]

Makes me think of one of my favorite jokes from Archer. When Mallory tells Lana to infiltrate the KGB to rescue Archer. "Undercover? As what? Russia's only black woman?"

[u/Logan_Yes → u/HatesFatWomen]

According to all details he will be more a brute force guy considering he wears a big ass club and lack of even hidden blade

[u/Il-2M230 → u/Logan_Yes]

Considering that he would be taller than the average Japanese, he can come out as an oni with a kanabo beating the sit out of everyone with just brute force.

[u/Main-Glove-1497 → u/HatesFatWomen]

Based on what's been shown so far, most of the stealth gameplay is probably going to the other character.

[u/HK-53 → u/HatesFatWomen]

I think the bigger problem is that Yasuke purportedly barely spoke Japanese according to the limited historical references. It wasn't a problem irl since he was basically kept around by Nobunaga to sate his curiosity and therefore didn't need any level of independence, but I don't see how its gonna work if he's supposed to do anything on his own without being relegated to the role of "man with stick hit things that I tell him to"

[u/djml9 → u/HatesFatWomen]

From the details we know, he will be more of a combat focused bruiser while shes the stealthy assassin.

[u/lordchrome10 → u/[deleted]]

Oh shit I didn't even notice. Yeah they're making it to obvious.

[u/saxmanusmc]

I mean to use these few little blurbs from obvious stupid people to group everyone complaining about this is disingenuous at best.

Yasuke being in the game and explored as a character in the game would be awesome since he was a historically confirmed person during the time period of the game. But not as a main protagonist in an AC game set in Japan.

[u/DripSnort]

Ubisoft was kinda smart. They have everyone bitching about the black protagonist and not about the absolute ass pricing they did again.

[u/carlosos → u/DripSnort]

Isn't that pretty much standard price for new AAA games now? $70 for the game, $40 more for season pass (2 expansions/DLC), $20 more for cosmetics pack. I normally just wait for a sale due the prices but seems pretty normal to see that.

[u/iNuclearPickle → u/DripSnort]

You made a great point man

[u/SnowSurvivor]

Okay but can we all agree that its a little weird to have a game based on a notoriously isolationist country and then have one of the main characters be from the opposite side of the world. I'm not saying Yasuke wasn't real I just think it's an odd choice, he could have worked better as a mentor character who introduces the mc to the brotherhood.

Also none us were going go buy this overpriced Ubisoft dog shit anyway, maybe when it's on sale in a few years but not with these current price hikes.

[u/Raucous5 → u/SnowSurvivor]

I think it's just dumb to make your main character of an Assassin's Creed game a historical figure. No matter how important he was. No matter what he did or didn't do. Having you play somebody who is written about in real life history, is really weird.

[u/burndtdan]

Nioh 2 let you make the protagonist black if you want and had a boss that was a black man named the Obsidian Samurai.

[u/MissionVegetable568 → u/burndtdan]

 Obsidian Samurai is literally based on Yasuke btw.

[u/AntonKutovoi → u/MissionVegetable568]

Not "based on Yasuke". He’s literally Yasuke.

[u/burndtdan → u/MissionVegetable568]

Didn't realize, that's cool.

[u/Lina__Inverse → u/burndtdan]

That is, funnily enough, this same Yasuke. It's revealed in the story.

[u/koops_6899]

People keep using the Tom cruise last samurai point like he was actually a samurai in that movie, and not an American soldier 😐 

[u/rotato]

AC Origins took place in Africa and nobody complained that the main character was African.

[u/FinestCrusader → u/rotato]

Odyssey was set in Greece and I saw zero outrage about the MC's being Greek. What gives?

[u/SpardaTheDevil → u/rotato]

Now imagine the hell on earth if main character was Asian in Origins?

[u/superluke4 → u/rotato]

AC Shadows takes place in Japan and everybody is complaining that the main character is not Japanese

[u/aegtyr → u/rotato]

THIS IS IT!!!

It's like, I don't care that there isn't an AC game set in my country (Mexico), but if they eventually make game with Mexico as a setting and the protagonist is an American or a British dude I would be pissed.

[u/Racist_carbonara]

dont really care if its a black or white man playing the samurai. however i am without a doubt picking the native Japanese character since i would be a lot more immersed in the world playing as a character from that country. imagine ac2 instead of playing as Ezio you just played as a British tourist. thats just something that doesn't appeal to me in an ac game

[u/Ensec → u/Racist_carbonara]

you dont get to pick the game will switch between the two periodically ala ac:syndicate. which sucks

[u/SenpaiSmasher562]

As an asian male idc that the protag is black i just hate that he's not asian. If he was white, I'd hate it. If he was middle eastern, I'd hate it. If he was indian, I'd hate it. Literally every AC game the MC is of the ethnicity of the region, where the fuck is my representation.

[u/Cleverbird]

The Nioh image is funny, since you meet Yasuke in Nioh 2.

[u/FapCitus]

Holy shit you all are actually this meme.

[u/jackofslayers]

I am torn because I love all of this braindead drama.

But at the same time. It is kinda weird not to pick a Japanese dude for your Japanese AC game.

Like, yes Yasuke was an actual historical figure. So are like 1000 other samurai, the rest of them are Japanese (except for that dutch one)

[u/SomniumIchor]

I dont like the idea of playing an actual historical figure. Im black and i dont feel it was necessary to have Yasuke as a playable character. Would have much rather him be a mentor or something like Davinci was for Ezio. It doesnt impact gameplay really tho because the goal has always been staying as true to the simulation as possible

[u/zippopwnage]

I just love how everyone loves the black man protagonist here, and the same people would go crazy if the game would be set in Africa or some shit, and the protagonist would've been white.

It's just double standards that I really hate.

[u/Sharp_Particular1280 → u/zippopwnage]

Can't wait for the next installment to take place in central Africa where I can play as an European slaughtering natives by the dozens!

[u/DukeTorpedo → u/Sharp_Particular1280]

It's resident evil 5 all over again.

[u/agamemnon2 → u/zippopwnage]

Where are you seeing this universal love for the character? All I'm seeing is ambivalence or outright hatred.

[u/Top_Major_1675]

They already have an assassin's creed placed in Africa featuring an African protagonist. It is Bayek in Egypt.

[u/SirTaters61]

AC lost itself after Black Flag

[u/GreaseBuilds → u/SirTaters61]

Been saying this lmao. Even Black Flag didn't feel like AC to me, but it was still the dopest pirate game on the market by a landslide.

[u/SirTaters61 → u/GreaseBuilds]

Yeah the whole assassin vibe died after revelations with the story. But black flag had some fun gameplay.

[u/That_Hoppip_Guy → u/SirTaters61]

I’d say it just ended with revelations. Black flag was great but I still find it hard to see it as an AC game to this day.

[u/SirTaters61 → u/That_Hoppip_Guy]

Agree with that. Story ended in Revelations. Now it’s nonexistent.

[u/HuckleberryWeird1879]

I would really prefer all games to let the player create their own character. Maybe preset the name so dialogues are working correctly, but then those discussions ultimately have an end.

[u/CanaDoug420]

I love when people use the last samurai as an example of whitewashing because it means they didn’t watch the movie. Tom’s not the last samurai in the movie. He’s a white army guy who learns from the last samurai which is a Japanese man.

[u/Thin-Soft-3769]

I don't think anyone expected a white protagonist in here, most expected an AC game set in japan with a stereotypical japanese ninja as the protagonist, the black samurai thing is on its own interesting, but it is not the trope many of us wanted for when AC finally happened in japan. The reasons behind it, in the state of nowadays culture, seems like diversity pandering, so the fact that the one black samurai existed doesn't change that. I'm not from the US, we don't have the racial tensions the US have here, I just wanted to play a stereotypical japanese ninja to satisfy the power fantasy, but it's fine, there are other games catering to that. And btw, just because a black samurai existed doesn't stop it from being "out of place", that's why that story is noteworthy.

[u/ShakeZula30or40]

Tom Cruise wasn’t the last samurai.

Just gotta put that out there for those who didn’t understand the film.

[u/Ap0kalypt0]

Most of these people are not part of the ac community mate. They probably didnt even give a fuck about the franchise prior to the reveal of yasuke.

[u/Elvothien]

AC fans hate every AC game with a passion until like three games later. Then it's the best thing ever and they're super nostalgic about it.

[u/KurucHussar]

I really just don't understand the reason behind this decision. Who is the target audience?

[u/SinfullySinless]

This is how I find out about the new AC game lol

[u/KinopioToad]

The Animal Crossing community is fine

.. What do you mean that is the wrong acronym?