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[SmoothBrain]

I don't think ubisoft were ever going for historical accuracy. It's just a setting or a theme to them.

From an interview with the lead producer:

"We are trying to create a game that is as authentic as possible. It's something we take pride in," Onnée tells us.

So, they didn't necessarily aim to be historically accurate, but at least authentic. And failed at that, too, as it seems.

Also, a former consultant for Ubisoft and Sweet Baby Inc. employee was questioned for a piece in The New York Times. The Asmon Clip channel sums it up quite nicely:

 

[Kurotri]

Everybody living in the nordic countries cringed and did a facepalm when they realized that they gave the male viking in AC Valhalla a woman's name. Would've taken the dev team about 3 seconds of research to get that right, like ask anybody living there:
- Can a man be called Eivor?
- No.
- Okay thanks!
But it just wasn't as big of a deal online because it's a tiny market. Japan is a bigger market, Ubisoft will still succeed to rape their culture and history by calling it fiction but it's going to get noisier this time.

That's funny because Naoe, the name of the girl, is actually a man's name as well.

 

[Saber]

Saw that yesterday.

Historical innacuracies are the least of this games problems, as silly as it sounds. The video has serious glitches that most didn't even noticed, including me.

Japan is very particular about its culture, hence why it still has one.

Thank godness for that.

 

[Strategize]

Saw that yesterday.

Historical innacuracies are the least of this games problems, as silly as it sounds. The video has serious glitches that most didn't even noticed, including me.

If most people don't notice them, they aren't serious lol.

 

[Fess]

That's funny because Naoe, the name of the girl, is actually a man's name as well.

for real?

 

[Kurotri]

for real?

Well...yeah

Naoe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Naoe - Meaning and Kanji Variations of a Japanese Boy's Name

Explore the rich meanings and 2 beautiful kanji variations of the Japanese Boy's name Naoe. Ideal for parents exploring names or enthusiasts of Japanese culture.

japanese-names.info

 

[Saber]

If most people don't notice them, they aren't serious lol.

A floating door, bullets floating in mid air, a door with no stairs to lead...yup nothing serious.

 

[Boss Mog]

Hope they make an assassins creed uganda or congo and put a white lead together with several african history mistakes... pretty sure "bothering" will be a huge understatement for the reaction of the western mainstream media.

Only certain cultures are worthy of respect according to western media. From what I can tell, the more morally abject a culture is the more it is worthy of respect according to them.

 

[Fess]

Well...yeah

Naoe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Naoe - Meaning and Kanji Variations of a Japanese Boy's Name

Explore the rich meanings and 2 beautiful kanji variations of the Japanese Boy's name Naoe. Ideal for parents exploring names or enthusiasts of Japanese culture.

japanese-names.info

Omg how can they mess this stuff up twice in a row?!

 

[Raven117]

I can't recall a single AC game being historically accurate, but it's the first time it seems to have bothered people.

You are wrong about this. While the stories they told were fiction, earlier games literally had historical facts about places and political goings on in the game.

 

[Drifting in a Dream]

Don't they have like the highest amount of young suicides over there because of the constant pressure?

Data seems to show that Japan's youth suicide rates were much higher than the United States in the 50s, but since then appear to be similar to the US. Link: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/suicide-rates-among-young-people-who-mdb?country=JPN~USA

More on topic: Naoe's concept art does look great. I've never played an Assassin's Creed game, but might have tried Shadows had it been more carefully and respectfully made.

 

[Robot Carnival]

didn't we just locked the other thread on AC:S not long ago? anyway, I'm gonna copy/paste my response from there since it seems like it's still the same argument.

everyone of the previous AC game's protagonist all fits the nationality of the settings of the game, so why is this one different? why do you have to change this game? you can make the two main protagonist both Japanese but from different side of the waring states and still archived the same story.

Yasuke, while being a real person in that part of history in Japan, has very little actually recorded history about him, outside of all the made up stuff by that white professor in that Japanese university. now, if you are trying to take some liberty with that, then why also make him have a same sex relationship in the game? I get that ancient Japan does have a more relaxed attitude towards that subject, but it is still far from the norm and there is absolutely no recorded evidence that Yasuke is gay. it just makes it feel like you're forcefully checking all the boxes of diversity pandering. and when you have previous games going so far as to take a painstakingly detailed scan of the actual Notre Dame, yet you made the mistake of using ancient Chinese architecture in a Japanese setting game, it kinda give people the impression that you're not really taking this one seriously.

I will be the first to admit that there are a lot of racist opinions within the East Asia countries, but it definitely is not the only reason this game is being dislike there. this is the first mainline AC title that's set in one of the major East Asia countries. after seeing all the attention and care the series had received before and all of a sudden when the game is set in your country, during one of the most famous period in your country's history, where there are literally dozens more well known and more popular historical figures, and you end up with a game that not only got the architecture and interior details wrong, but also a main protagonist who's not even your own people, then I don't blame them for disliking it. again, context is key here and I think some folks are not seeing the whole picture here.

maybe ask WHY people are so against it? is there a legit reason for it? sure the AC series had never been 100% historically accurate, but they almost always put a lot of effort into the historical details of the period. so why is it that when it's finally one of the East Asian country's turn there's so many errors in this one? if you don't care about it, then by all means go support the game. but please don't just dismiss others issues against it.

 

[diffusionx]

Why would anyone expect otherwise, Odyssey was a joke too.

 

[Fahdis]

I don't understand. What's about to happen? I'm quite innocent you see. Please explain in rigourous detail so I can tell my mum later.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I don't understand. What's about to happen? I'm quite innocent you see.

Maintain your innocence. I treasure that wholesomeness.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Japan is very particular about its culture, hence why it still has one.

Banger of a comeback

 

[bender]

I need a Jennifer Murphy analysis as she is one of the foremost subject matter experts on Japan.

 

[near]

I find videos like this really insightful. They really breakdown things I just simply never thought about. Like how Yasuke is writing on the scroll the complete wrong way, these sort of minor details are actually quite important considering culture and history are subject matters here.

 

[nikolino840]

Can you imagine a white lead killing black people in assasins creed africa ? LoL... the guy that piches that in Ubi is banned from the industry in the next day ... and people want to question japanese trying to call attention for their culture disrespect.

Is called tarzan

 

[CSJ]

I can't recall a game where I was bothered by its historical correctness.

Well, if you watched the video one of the devs said "Yasuke is our first historical protaganist in Assassin's Creed".
So, maybe you should be? Maybe you should give a shit about things being correct if Ubisoft saying it's correct when it's not.

 

[{insert code here}]

Creating a fictional, non-Japanese character and framing him as the savior of Japan is bad enough. Putting that Buddha shrine in the game tho without permission is just out-of-pocket. I'm not surprised Ubi would do it though because these are the same people (French) that had no respect for the Muslim religion (or any religion) so why would they show respect here.

 

[Sushi_Combo]

All of a sudden we give a shit about historical inaccuracies in Assassins creed games.
"Gamer mobs" are fucking dumb.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I don't think ubisoft were ever going for historical accuracy. It's just a setting or a theme to them.

This is just an excuse for "we are too lazy or cheap to do any sort of research".

 

[Boralf]

OH THE DRAMA

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Creating a fictional, non-Japanese character and framing him as the savior of Japan is bad enough. Putting that Buddha shrine in the game tho without permission is just out-of-pocket. I'm not surprised Ubi would do it though because these are the same people (French) that had no respect for the Muslim religion (or any religion) so why would they show respect here.

You means the same French people that have 4mln Muslims as citizens?

 

[DeepEnigma]

All of a sudden we give a shit about historical inaccuracies in Assassins creed games.
"Gamer mobs" are fucking dumb.

What do you mean, all of a sudden?

This has been a thing in every game they made, more so when they wanted to push a "historical revisionism museum" in Odyssey and the like.

 

[Sushi_Combo]

What do you mean, all of a sudden?

This has been a thing in every game they made, more so when they wanted to push a "historical revisionism museum" in Odyssey and the like.

It was never at the lengths of how it is being brought up now. I was there for most of the AC releases but the media coverage surrounding this topic was very minimal.

 

[XXL]

Ubi just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about Japanese culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is on NeoGAF where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw someone over in Japan, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.
What this means is the japanese public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase this for either system, nor will they purchase any of Ubisoft games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Ubisoft has alienated an entire market with this move.

Ubi, publicly apologize and cancel Assassin's Creed for PS5/Xbox and PC or you can kiss your business goodbye.

 

[Robot Carnival]

All of a sudden we give a shit about historical inaccuracies in Assassins creed games.
"Gamer mobs" are fucking dumb.

again, it's not the story needs to be historically accurate. we know they're taking liberty with the story before. but they had never used an actual historical figure as our player character. and the first time they do it, it's one with the LEAST amount of recorded history and not even from that country. all while screwing up a lot of the other details of that country in that time which they did not before. so I beg you to look a little more into it instead of of chucking this up as "gamer mobs".

 

[DeepEnigma]

It was never at the lengths of how it is being brought up now. I was there for most of the AC releases but the media coverage surrounding this topic was very minimal.

Well, they retconned female inclusiveness where there wasn't any, so said games media definitely wasn't going to harp on it.

And this is also why this is a bigger deal than other cultures raising a brow,

Japan is very particular about its culture, hence why it still has one.

 

[Bojji]

I don't understand. What's about to happen? I'm quite innocent you see. Please explain in rigourous detail so I can tell my mum later.

 

[Slothbeing1209]

Well...yeah

Naoe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Naoe - Meaning and Kanji Variations of a Japanese Boy's Name

Explore the rich meanings and 2 beautiful kanji variations of the Japanese Boy's name Naoe. Ideal for parents exploring names or enthusiasts of Japanese culture.

japanese-names.info

Naoe - Meaning and Kanji Variations of a Japanese Girl's Name

Explore the rich meanings and 15 beautiful kanji variations of the Japanese Girl's name Naoe. Ideal for parents exploring names or enthusiasts of Japanese culture.

japanese-names.info

Naoe is unisex name.

 

[GymWolf]

 

[{insert code here}]

You means the same French people that have 4mln Muslims as citizens?

Yup and drawing cartoon characters of their (Muslim) prophet without permission. They don't respect other people's beliefs, cultures, or religions.

 

[Johnny Holiday]

Well, if you watched the video one of the devs said "Yasuke is our first historical protaganist in Assassin's Creed".
So, maybe you should be? Maybe you should give a shit about things being correct if Ubisoft saying it's correct when it's not.

"historical" is not the same as "historical correct"

maybe you should learn to listen correctly ^^

 

[Johnny Holiday]

Yup and drawing cartoon characters of their (Muslim) prophet without permission. They don't respect other people's beliefs, cultures, or religions.

they just respect freedom of speach/expression.

 

[Fake]

That lady is remarkably perceptive.

The sword not in the sheath, the floating door, the staircase to nowhere, the floating bullet, the barricaded door; the list of nonsense is huge.

Devs must hate her.

Devs hate everything and everyone those days. I wonder what will happen with each one of them when social media disable the 'block' feature.

 

[Paperboy]

Have people forgot about AC's Discovery Tours? A gameplay mode Ubisoft wishes schools would use. They have taken a lot of pride earlier about the historical accuracies of their games and especially in the Assassin's Creed series. There's even that message at the beginning of every AC game about how their team consists of people from different cultures (like they research and respect the the cultures they are portraying).
What bothers people about specifically Yasuke is the obvious political statement they're making. They could've just choosen your typical, but still interesting, samuari, but they just had to augment this one and only sword-bearer of African descent.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Have people forgot about AC's Discovery Tours? A gameplay mode Ubisoft wishes schools would use. They have taken a lot of pride earlier about the historically accuracies of their games and especially the Assassin's Creed series. There's even that message at the beginning of every AC game about how their team consists of people from different cultures (like they research and respect the the cultures they are portraying).
What bothers people about specifically Yasuke is the obvious political statement they're making. They could've just choosen your typical, but still interesting, samuari, but they just had to augment this one and only sword-bearer of African descent.

When this was first leaked and talked about, I thought Yasuke was an NPC or a companion at most, since they've never made actual people from history, main characters.

 

[Kurotri]

Naoe - Meaning and Kanji Variations of a Japanese Girl's Name

Explore the rich meanings and 15 beautiful kanji variations of the Japanese Girl's name Naoe. Ideal for parents exploring names or enthusiasts of Japanese culture.

japanese-names.info

Naoe is unisex name.

I stand corrected.

When this was first leaked and talked about, I thought Yasuke was an NPC or a companion at most, since they've never made actual people from history, main characters.

Imo if they made Yasuke an NPC in the form of a supporting character like Leonardo Da Vinci it would've been perfect. Since he was close to Oda Nobunaga, he could've easily been some sort of spy or informant helping the Assassin's cause.

 

[Quantum253]

I watch an Asmondgold video commenting on this video, and there were some interesting points. In a subtle defense of Ubisoft, this has been going on for years and by a bunch of developers. At the end of the day, there are better Samuari type games to play.
I don't know how accurate the latest Yasuke being trans rumors are, but that seems ridiculous if true. I think that's people falling for trolls and reporting on it.

 

[{insert code here}]

"historical" is not the same as "historical correct"

maybe you should learn to listen correctly ^^

AC is a big franchise so it's no surprise to me lots of folks gonna cape for it but damn.

 

[SweetTooth]

Japan is very particular about its culture, hence why it still has one.

This is so deep and true in so many levels ..

 

[Muffdraul]

They need to either A) analyze the historical accuracy of every AC game or B) they need to go piss up a rope.

 

[Z O N E]

Don't they have like the highest amount of young suicides over there because of the constant pressure?

That's South Korea. Japan is still high but no one reaches the levels of South Korea. They have the highest suicide rate, lowest birth rate AND manufacture 53% of the worlds deepfake porn which is mostly of minors. Literally worst of all worlds

K-Pop and Korean Dramas have glamorised Korea where it hides those issues, but it's slowly making rounds again.

 

[Varteras]

This shit ain't gonna stop until we get a show on Amazon with the King of England being a Black, gay, disabled guy. Or a movie where an Egyptian god is played by a Scotsmen. Thankfully, that hasn't happened yet...

 

[Zannegan]

I mean, it can't be worse than the tame, good guys vikings we had in valhalla inaccuracy wise...

Oh man, I laughed so hard when I saw that first story trailer.

They got a little pushback on their depictions of Vikings, but they leaned hard into the argument that all the contemporary sources were biased pillag-ees.

 

[KaiserBecks]

Looks like Ubi shot themselves in the foot.

 

[Alebrije]

That lady is remarkably perceptive.

The sword not in the sheath, the floating door, the staircase to nowhere, the floating bullet, the barricaded door; the list of nonsense is huge.

Devs must hate her.

Just imagine her couple!

 

[newtypepilot]

Imagine if you were to make a game about chinese cuisine but your knowledge of it exists only within the menu of panda express. It'll be the story about how a non chinese conquered China by making the best kongpow chicken. Then you brag about how the game is very authentic and diverse in portraying chinese food. This is what AC:S is.

These people never cared nor respected history. It doesn't matter what the historical setting is. They just want to parade their propaganda based on their perceived stereotypes in our faces so they can pat themselves on the back. It's why they get so many of the basic things wrong (the video didn't mention this but yasuke is also holding the brush wrong. You don't hold it like a pencil lol). And because they have their heads so far up their asses, of course they would go on a high horse and claim how much they care about historical accuracy.

Can't wait for them to introduce marco polo as the main protagonist in AC: Three Kingdoms.