Cultural lessons for Ghost of Yōtei

Of course you can but that's not what they're going for.
Its historic fantasy.
The Ghost of Tsushima is just as mythical a concept as the Ghost of Yotei. Its like a Kurosawa film made into a game. Which I'm pretty sure what they're going for.
That they put in the effort to try and accurately understand and reflect the prevailing culture in Japan during these historic periods to inform their game, is just another detail.
 
People were pissed when assassin's creed shadows supposedly didn't respect the culture in a certain way, so it makes sense that they'd want to do research and do things the right way with this game. If they didn't do so then i'm sure they'd get a brigade of keyboard warriors ready to kill burn them at the stake.
The prime minister of Japan called the game out and it sold horribly there. it wasn't just 4chan dudes. They triggered the normies.
 
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Lol some people are really trying to sping this post as negative.

If anything, nature and wildlife will be accurate cuz devs are packed with Sony Alphas and super-zoom glass for reference photos. A good way to go.
 
Does EVERY Sony franchise need a female playable character? In Ratchet they invented a new one, Spiderman has playable Mary Jane (lmao), The Last Us 2 killed the male protagonist, Horizon replaced Killzone. Now of course the samurai has to be a woman as well.
 
These historical research blog posts that Sucker Punch does are super nice and I really admire the effort they put into the game.

Ainu women are famous for their tattoo beards.
japan+ainu+woman2.jpg


Haven't looked up if those exist during the game's time period, but if it's period appropriate, then Sucker Punch's art director will definitely want to have them in the game, because it's such a stunning visual feature, but I hope they have enough sense to not force a beard onto Atsu (the protagonist).

Why does this sound like you missed the second trailer?

GpmRzfsbMAAXipW.jpg


Also, they start receiving the tattoo at a young age and it goes on till marriage. I don't believe Atsu is Ainu, but it is speculated that her family supported the tribe, which led to their assassination by the Yotei Six. Atsu might have a childhood connection to this lady.
 
Ghosts of Tsushima was a really good game. One of the reasons was it was so accurate and respectful.

I love GoT. Fantastic game from start to finish.

However, it wasn't really accurate. Some of the armour and wepons in the game are completely wrong for this period. As in hundreds of years out. It would be like making a game set in 10th century England and having a viking role up in 15th century plate armour.

That's just the wepons and armour.

It's basically more fantasy than history.
 
Katanas weren't a thing for couple of centuries. And don't get me started about authentic mongolian horses.
3130D02600000578-0-image-a-13_1455451919473.jpg


But some are upset about way more believable female Ronin, lol.
I tought only Odin had a 8 legged horse. Guess Sleipnir is a thing in Mongolia as well. And no, dont be silly with the posibility of being an optical illusion by 2 horses riding side by side, its clear Sleipnir.
 
The bigger question is: Can I Zan-Datsu motherfuckers? Otherwise, Metal Gear Rising remains the best Samurai game.
 
Except no Kurosawa film had le badass woman killing hundreds of male samurai, but let's ignore that.
So what? Its influenced by Kurosawa films. Doesn't have to be exactly the same as a Kurosawa film.

Is it plausible for Jin Sakai to single-handedly resist the Mogul invasion and mow down hundreds and hundreds of mounted, armed and armored Mongol soldiers? What, is a hundred extra pounds on the bench press supposed to make that more believable?

She has a literal attack dog or wolf to assist her in taking people down. Surely that should be enough to help alleviate the difference in physicality. But nah. All the work and effort put into crafting the world and the story is in the bin, because oh no! A woman has a sword.

Its just a video game. Enjoy it. Or don't. But this endless whining about the fact that there's a woman protagonist is just tired at this point.
 
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Katanas weren't a thing for couple of centuries. And don't get me started about authentic mongolian horses.
3130D02600000578-0-image-a-13_1455451919473.jpg


But some are upset about way more believable female Ronin, lol.

I don't care about the main character being a woman. Although rare, women were warriors in Japan, so it's not inaccurate.

I'm just pissed off that they didn't continue Jin's story. Really pissed off.
 
You do realize Sucker Punch talked about this SAME very thing before and after releasing Ghost of Tshima too, right?
Exactly, this is them just echoing that they're staying on course. Which is totally understandable, since a number of Japanese devs and studios credited them for their work and attention to detail in the previous game. I figure this is just another good opportunity for them to say expect the same quality if not more so.
 
Hilarious when you use the word "Respectful" for a game while hiring a disrespectful, obnoxious actress as your main character. But you do you Sucker Punch.
 
Sounds like a boring wall of text.
Won't be reading this shit, but if I could guess I would say this game will have plenty of "trying hard to not offend anyone" lol


… well not the people you are not supposed to offend anyway. These people's great-great-great-great-great-great grandkids bombed the fuck out of Pearl Harbour and tortured US prisoners of war ffs
 
Yes, but its political now because there's a woman as the main protagonist.

Exactly! I don't remember "gamers" being this pissed off when Ubisoft would say and do these same things while developing their Assassin Creed games back in the day.
 
Sounds like a boring wall of text.
Won't be reading this shit, but if I could guess I would say this game will have plenty of "trying hard to not offend anyone" lol
It's got major "white Seattle hipsters trying to pre-empt accusations of cultural appropriation and insensitivity" vibes for sure.
 
Why does this sound like you missed the second trailer?

GpmRzfsbMAAXipW.jpg


Also, they start receiving the tattoo at a young age and it goes on till marriage. I don't believe Atsu is Ainu, but it is speculated that her family supported the tribe, which led to their assassination by the Yotei Six. Atsu might have a childhood connection to this lady.

Hahaha when I saw your screenshot I thought "Damn I've seen this before ... " and this trailer totally got lost in my memory. In the Crimson Desert thread I complained that the protagonist has no call to action, that there is "some unknown catastrophe" that has to be prevented. Maybe that's why Yotei hasn't gripped me and is so easily forgotten, because while typing this right now off the top of my head I can't tell you what the story hook of Yotei is. All I remember is wolves and revenge.

Maybe that's on me. But others in this thread said that Yotei hasn't gripped them either. I don't know what it is ...
 
Steps to become an expert on any culture:
  1. Hire cultural advisor
  2. Take a walk and eat dinner with advisor
  3. Visit one, possibly two, museums
  4. Look around outside in area where culture exists or used to exist
You are now an expert. Go make your game/write your book/make your movie/etc.
 
Does EVERY Sony franchise need a female playable character? In Ratchet they invented a new one, Spiderman has playable Mary Jane (lmao), The Last Us 2 killed the male protagonist, Horizon replaced Killzone. Now of course the samurai has to be a woman as well.
Kratos will undergo gender reassignment surgery and become Karen confirmed!
Maybe Atreus will become L'Atrina too.
 
Does EVERY Sony franchise need a female playable character? In Ratchet they invented a new one, Spiderman has playable Mary Jane (lmao), The Last Us 2 killed the male protagonist, Horizon replaced Killzone. Now of course the samurai has to be a woman as well.
This. Not buying that shit.

If you want to make some fantasy game with a Japanese setting and some female protagonist, do it. But shut your fucking mouth about cultural lessons and history accuracy. I hope this game bombs super hard (I know, not gonna happen).
 
Comes off soooo pretentious. Just yasuke this bitch and with some historically inaccurate fun xD
 
Does EVERY Sony franchise need a female playable character? In Ratchet they invented a new one, Spiderman has playable Mary Jane (lmao), The Last Us 2 killed the male protagonist, Horizon replaced Killzone. Now of course the samurai has to be a woman as well.
Don't forget Uncharted 4. Nathan was supposed to have a son and they changed that so i expect in an Uncharted 5 you play his daughter or at least in huge parts of the game.
 
Exactly! I don't remember "gamers" being this pissed off when Ubisoft would say and do these same things while developing their Assassin Creed games back in the day.
It's all become so goddamn tiring. Brain rot stuff for real. I mean, when they said the samething about Ghost of Tsushima years ago you didn't see negative reactions like these, but now you do. Why? Lmao. 🤸‍♂️
 
This. Not buying that shit.

If you want to make some fantasy game with a Japanese setting and some female protagonist, do it. But shut your fucking mouth about cultural lessons and history accuracy. I hope this game bombs super hard (I know, not gonna happen).

Did this make you so mad 5 years ago?

 
Hahaha when I saw your screenshot I thought "Damn I've seen this before ... " and this trailer totally got lost in my memory. In the Crimson Desert thread I complained that the protagonist has no call to action, that there is "some unknown catastrophe" that has to be prevented. Maybe that's why Yotei hasn't gripped me and is so easily forgotten, because while typing this right now off the top of my head I can't tell you what the story hook of Yotei is. All I remember is wolves and revenge.

Maybe that's on me. But others in this thread said that Yotei hasn't gripped them either. I don't know what it is ...
I think TLOU 2 and the TV show has gotten a lot of people tired of revenge as a theme. And then to see GoY doing it as well and that too with another female protagonist (not to mention her voice actor's antics IRL) has people annoyed. Personally, I don't care for any of it if the actual story and gameplay is good. For me, revenge is simply a backdrop to tell a story and motivate characters, like love, loss, greed, ambition, survival, justice, deception etc... Imagine people rolling their eyes for "another story that has themes of love in it?! Another story where they want to take over the world?! Another story about a cult?! Another story about good versus evil?!". Meanwhile they have no trouble gobbling up the umpteenth sequel of whatever their favorite game/genre is. The premature complaints seem a bit shallow to me, but to each their own, I guess. Not everyone is looking for the same things in their entertainment, so if they can only be entertained by those aspects that don't matter to me, I'm not going to argue with them.

On its own, I'm just neutral to the concept of revenge. How the story unfolds and what thoughts and emotions it provokes is all I care about. Is there depth to the characters? Do I give a shit about their journeys? Does it make me think about something I took for granted in life? Does it say anything new at all? Am I experiencing something I haven't experienced already? That's what matters. Don't give a shit if she has big tits... or no tits. The reality is that the industry is swinging back and forth. We were over saturated with goofy looking creatures, bald space marines, then sad dads and now strong independent women who need nobody's help. Soon devs will want to try something different and we will end up with another trope. It's just another phase. And by the very natures of phases, it will change again.

The good news is Sucker Punch talks about how Atsu realizes she has a greater purpose beyond revenge. And what that is... we don't know yet. It's probably related to the Ainu people and rebellion against a wave of Shogunate unification/expansion efforts that happened during that period. There aren't many mainstream games that explore this period where the strife is internal to Japan and not some foreign invasion (like Mongols, Portuguese etc.) AC could have done that, but they simply don't have the storytelling chops anymore. SP did OK with GoT, so I'm hoping they up the ante with the next one.
 
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This. Not buying that shit.
If you want to make some fantasy game with a Japanese setting and some female protagonist, do it. But shut your fucking mouth about cultural lessons and history accuracy. I hope this game bombs super hard (I know, not gonna happen).
Hate history and other's cultural legacy?
Some kids never grow up
 
I think TLOU 2 and the TV show has gotten a lot of people tired of revenge as a theme. And then to see GoY doing it as well and that too with another female protagonist (not to mention her voice actor's antics IRL) has people annoyed. Personally, I don't care for any of it if the actual story and gameplay is good. For me, revenge is simply a backdrop to tell a story and motivate characters, like love, loss, greed, ambition, survival, justice, deception etc... Imagine people rolling their eyes for "another story that has themes of love in it?! Another story where they want to take over the world?! Another story about a cult?! Another story about good versus evil?!". Meanwhile they have no trouble gobbling up the umpteenth sequel of whatever their favorite game/genre is. The premature complaints seem a bit shallow to me, but to each their own, I guess. Not everyone is looking for the same things in their entertainment, so if they can only be entertained by those aspects that don't matter to me, I'm not going to argue with them.

On its own, I'm just neutral to the concept of revenge. How the story unfolds and what thoughts and emotions it provokes is all I care about. Is there depth to the characters? Do I give a shit about their journeys? Does it make me think about something I took for granted in life? Does it say anything new at all? Am I experiencing something I haven't experienced already? That's what matters. Don't give a shit if she has big tits... or no tits. The reality is that the industry is swinging back and forth. We were over saturated with goofy looking creatures, bald space marines, then sad dads and now strong independent women who need nobody's help. Soon devs will want to try something different and we will end up with another trope. It's just another phase. And by the very natures of phases, it will change again.

The good news is Sucker Punch talks about how Atsu realizes she has a greater purpose beyond revenge. And what that is... we don't know yet. It's probably related to the Ainu people and rebellion against a wave of Shogunate unification/expansion efforts that happened during that period. There aren't many mainstream games that explore this period where the strife is internal to Japan and not some foreign invasion (like Mongols, Portuguese etc.) AC could have done that, but they simply don't have the storytelling chops anymore. SP did OK with GoT, so I'm hoping they up the ante with the next one.
You are of course completely right that games don't explore the period of rebellion against Shogunate unification. The bigger picture is that rebellion in general has been the story hook for the past 20 years. For a change, I wish we could experience squashing a rebellion. Being the mighty power and fighting against a rebellion. Wouldn't it be amazing to be a Sith Lord and annihilate a planet in search for a useless trinket? Oh the humanity! Squashing rebellions could teach us a lot (in a legit serious way, the abuse of power and corruption and all that). Hunting after Fireflies or rogue Jedi. Playing through that would make me ponder a lot.
 
People were pissed when assassin's creed shadows supposedly didn't respect the culture in a certain way, so it makes sense that they'd want to do research and do things the right way with this game. If they didn't do so then i'm sure they'd get a brigade of keyboard warriors ready to kill burn them at the stake.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
 
Trailers and concept itself couldn't be more offensive to Japanese men. A little ninja broad can just defeat hundreds of these fellas in melee combat without catching a single poke.l? Not sure it's even possible to insult a country more than that. You could even extrapolate that to most of east Asia. At least the areas Japan colonized in that era. They couldn't fend off the same fellas who got demolished by a 120lb women? What does that say about them?
 
You are of course completely right that games don't explore the period of rebellion against Shogunate unification. The bigger picture is that rebellion in general has been the story hook for the past 20 years. For a change, I wish we could experience squashing a rebellion. Being the mighty power and fighting against a rebellion. Wouldn't it be amazing to be a Sith Lord and annihilate a planet in search for a useless trinket? Oh the humanity! Squashing rebellions could teach us a lot (in a legit serious way, the abuse of power and corruption and all that). Hunting after Fireflies or rogue Jedi. Playing through that would make me ponder a lot.
Agreed! It would be tricky to balance though, as it would be difficult to empathize with awful human beings. Gaming requires some level of empathy for the player to want to control those characters. If they need some degree of commercial success to make the investment worth it, there has to be a some kind of redemption arc, even if it isn't absolute. But striking that balance is what separates a great story from the rest anyway.
 
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Trailers and concept itself couldn't be more offensive to Japanese men. A little ninja broad can just defeat hundreds of these fellas in melee combat without catching a single poke.l? Not sure it's even possible to insult a country more than that. You could even extrapolate that to most of east Asia. At least the areas Japan colonized in that era. They couldn't fend off the same fellas who got demolished by a 120lb women? What does that say about them?

I would say making her so unremarkably old and average looking is the more offensive factor to them.

Even though Tsushima was well received I remember Japanese commenters went on about how Jin was an ugly dude. I'm sure they'll love Yotei.
 
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Ghosts of Tsushima was a really good game. One of the reasons was it was so accurate and respectful. The Japanese were awed. They piled on accolades and celebrations for the game.

After how AC Shadows shit all over Japanese culture making shit up like a bull in a china shop, this is Yotei's way of letting us know that this game is NOT the sorry horseshit that AC Shadows continues to be.

Gender flipping the main character was a huge blow but it didn't destroy the game for me. The first game was awesome so I can accept this if it is done tastefully which I fully expect it to be. That said, fuck woke bullshit. They approached the line but did not cross it...yet.


Dont forget all the praise for Ghost of Tsushima, a game where they said they "tried to be a historically accurate as possible" so they made it about a katana wielding, armor wearing, haikus making samurai who strictly adhears to bushido.

And they set it 300 years before bushido was even kinda a thing, before they used Katanas, before they wore that kind of armor and before they did Haikus just to name. but that on was fine.

Going by al the crying at the reveal of ghots 2 they may change their mind now that they dared to make the MC a woman, but maybe the racism is just stronger than the sexism.
 
I would say making her so unremarkably old and average looking is the more offensive factor to them.

Even though Tsushima was well received I remember Japanese commenters went on about how Jin was an ugly dude. I'm sure they'll love Yotei.
Can't risk offending the trans who are working on the game. Definitely don't create burner reddit accounts just to upload pictures of outrageously gorgeous young women to r/MTF with the thread title "Do I pass?".
 
I don't care about the main character being a woman. Although rare, women were warriors in Japan, so it's not inaccurate.

I'm just pissed off that they didn't continue Jin's story. Really pissed off.
Why are you so attached to Jin though? He was the most one-note, vanilla character in the entire crew. Every side character ran circles around his boring ass. Lol. I felt like his arc began and ended with the first game. There was nothing for him to carry forth, unless they reimagined him like they did with Kratos. They could have, but Kratos was worth reimagining as he has mascot-level recognition. Jin was as forgettable as... all the characters whose names I don't remember now.
 
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Kratos will undergo gender reassignment surgery and become Karen confirmed!
Maybe Atreus will become L'Atrina too.
True, GoW is the last big franchise left. I wouldn't be surprised if in the next game Freya is playable or something.
Don't forget Uncharted 4. Nathan was supposed to have a son and they changed that so i expect in an Uncharted 5 you play his daughter or at least in huge parts of the game.
Oh yeah, forgot about that. Not to mention Lost Legacy, because the strong black chick was sooo loved by the players apparently.
This. Not buying that shit.

If you want to make some fantasy game with a Japanese setting and some female protagonist, do it. But shut your fucking mouth about cultural lessons and history accuracy. I hope this game bombs super hard (I know, not gonna happen).
Exactly. Either you respect Japanese culture, or you support "current year" western values. You can't do both.
 
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