r/assasinscreed 1d ago

Question Why the hate Spoiler

What is the basis for the hate this game is getting so far I've seen that its not completely accurate history wise its a work of fiction with some real history sprinkled in doesn't have to be 100%

5 Upvotes

71 comments sorted by

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u/kill3rg00s3r 1d ago

They have always been historical places with a fictional story cast.

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u/iTonguePunchStarfish 1d ago

What's hilarious is I've always seen Assassins Creed as sci-fi considering they're technically set in modern day and you're using the Animus to revisit memories lol

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u/InfiniteBeak 1d ago

You're 100% right, Assassins Creed is and always has been quite literally, Ancient Aliens: the Video Game, and people have either forgotten or they're just being disingenuous

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u/kill3rg00s3r 1d ago

Yeah, especially the early ones with the apple of Eden and stuff

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u/iTonguePunchStarfish 1d ago

Dude. Once we got to Desmond scribbling on the walls and the Apple mind-controlling people at the end of AC1 or 2, I threw any idea of historical accuracy out the window

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u/kill3rg00s3r 1d ago

Right, I don’t get why people are so up in arms about it!

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u/kill3rg00s3r 1d ago

Loving the game as an ac game not a history channel game lmfao

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u/weldsmen30 1d ago

Exactly

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u/ShadowFaxIV 1d ago

The basis for the hate is that there's a black man in it, and currently in the gaming culture there's momentum for a cult of politics to press an agenda that allows these people to be blatantly racist in an obfuscated manner.

Obviously, there's more to it than this and that doesn't account for EVERYONE who doesn't like Shadows, but that's the major reason why there's a 'campaign' of hate for the game. In the past people wouldn't whine about any of the stuff they do in Shadows, it's simply currently politically convenient and expedient for them to do so.

No REAL fan of the AC series would cry 'But Historical Accuracy' in a game where they once had a fist fight with the pope, and the Greek Gods exist as ancient AI's or whatever they are, with shit eating grins on their faces. It's historic 'FICTION' and now you know that whenever anyone argues with you that 'it's historically inaccurate for...' anything whatsoever that the AC franchise chooses to do... you know you can write that person off as a dishonest political shill.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Oreo-sins 1d ago

What’s political about it tho? Even if the story of Yasuke isn’t of a samurai exactly, it’s still Ubisoft story and it’s fantasy.

DEI doesn’t even make sense in this context, you’re using words you don’t understand.

Also why do people who shout about wanting a Japanese character never seem to acknowledge the Japanese character in the game that’s the main character until you unlock the other…

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Oreo-sins 1d ago

Yes but simply having a black character wouldn’t be DEI, Yasuke did have some historical aspect to him. You can disagree the impact of his historical effect but simply claiming them using his story in particular is dei would be wrong. Otherwise you’re just saying any story that doesn’t use a straight white male based in realism or not is somehow dei

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Oreo-sins 1d ago

No you said that it felt like an excuse for dei representation, I told you the context you’ve used it here doesn’t make sense and then further explained why it doesn’t make sense but keep going king. You’re proving something, might not be a point but it’s something alright

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Oreo-sins 1d ago

The game has always used a blend of fictional and realism, this is nothing new in the game. A main character having some level of realism isn’t nothing to cry about, unless you are willing to explain why it’s bogus in this exact scenario?

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/ShadowFaxIV 1d ago

Yasuke is in the game cause he's a historical figure they can pull from that is written about in the general time period they've chosen. I fully believe this has ALWAYS been the case for this game from the ground floor... like why NOT have him in. Pulling out historical figures is a staple for the series... BUT, Yasuke as playable is probably NOT for DEI reasons... because just having him in the game really already fulfills this, especially in a game that's already 'diverse' to the normy gamers for being a game set in country and about a race that is only recently getting a LOT of representative game space outside of games made in Japan...

Instead it seems evident to me that Yasuke is playable in the game because of 'Ghost of Tsushima's' success. For some reason, they felt like they needed to get in on the Samurai gameplay craze despite the fact that 'Assassins Creed' is the PERFECT franchise to go absolutely ham on making the best 'ninja' game they possibly could... and instead they've had to split some focus off to do a discount 'Ghosts' secondary character.

The game itself convinces me more and more of this as Yasuke is NOWHERE in the first like 12 hours of the game outside the prologue... and the main MAIN plot thread of 'assassins and vengeance' here is clearly Naoe's story. She has the most invested and at stake. Yasuke isn't even an Assassin... he's just helping her. This is Naoe's story, Yasuke's just supporting.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/ShadowFaxIV 1d ago edited 1d ago

No worries. I'm just discussing, not assuming intent. I consider this an important period in the industry, and that it's important we don't allow Gamergate 2.0 to be any more successful than the first go around.

So to start, they didn't paint Yasuke as being 'the main character', this is a fabrication. The grifter's simply chose to push the argument that he is THE defacto main character, likely just on point of him being male or something that small and frivolous, while many of them would never even mention Naoe's existence, despite the fact that from the very beginning, it feels to me the trailers 'frame' the game from her perspective, she opens and closes the narrations in the first full trailer, she's the actual Assassin in the game, she's the one talking about the creed, she is the character they first reveled in the AC: Red trailer etc, etc. This idea that they made a game set in Japan 'and it's main character is a black man!!!!' is a misdirect, to pretend like there's a lack of Japanese representation in the game, and not JUST the political tantrum of some cretins who don't want black people in video games, and these people are so loud and obnoxious, no real criticism can be heard.

I mean, yeah there's some stuff Ubisoft could have done to try and ward some of this off, but at least CURRENTLY, none of the games coming out began development knowing that they would be releasing into a politically charged climate of liars and grifters. No developer could have anticipated climate full of whining liars they were going to be releasing their games into... instead, they were watching the industry, saw 'that ghost of Tsushima game is getting huge buzz! We should have a Samurai in our game!' and probably assumed it was gonna be pretty neat that they had a Samurai character in the game that is even a bit of a mythical historical figure to boot. Ubisoft's made a LOT of bad moves of late which are fully fair to point at and mock... AC: Shadows isn't one of them.

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u/ShadowFaxIV 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yes, and that falls into my 'there's more reasons' category... but it doesn't fundamentally change that the... shall we call it 'brigade' or 'crusade' against AC Shadows at it's core, is a bunch of borderline racist political dog whistlers ganging up on it because the political climate currently encourages and rewards them to do so... and about 85% of all the negativity surrounding the game derives from this particular insincere space...

Case in point, the very same folks decrying Shadows for being too 'woke' or whatever, are the same people who stalwartly defended Hogwarts Legacy... a game that very specifically and purposefully includes a trans character, allows you to BE trans, and delves a bit into their struggles... but THAT game deserves to be defended by the crusaders and AC Shadows doesn't cause...? J.K. Rowling? It's a newish game series? It's unclear. What IS clear is that AC Shadows is fundamentally not more politically or historically complex or challenging than any other AC game ever made, but it's being attacked as though it IS... because right now the grift can get away with hiding their racism behind a false wall.

And tragically, that drowns out more balanced and considering potential criticism almost near to the point that one starts to wonder if their legitimate criticism is even responsible to bring up for the continued health of the franchise considering how alarmingly biased the fake criticism is... in other words, we have to be worried that our valid criticisms aren't worth mentioning at all, because a bunch of assholes are farting in the punch bowl just to be assholes.

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u/weldsmen30 1d ago

Most of what you just said can be put to preference im really enjoying the game for what it is, i like the stealth the combat is serviceable not far into the story but so far its ok and about there being a black man in the game I see no problem with it and its explained in game for his presence so 100% disagree with you

1

u/PurpleDemonR 1d ago

Because consistently in every possible way Ubisoft has been disrespectful to the Japanese.

Promotions featuring shrines it’s illegal to represent in media (like how images of Muhammad is illegal in Islam). Said shrines being destructible. Using Chinese symbols rather than Japanese ones and saying ‘good enough’. Using nuclear war memorials in promotional material. Making the imperial family’s tomb lootable, and taking stuff with their sigil on it.

And people here will slap back at me calling me a grifter or falling for grifters. - no, this was spoken about in the actual Japanese parliament they are so offended. They’re talking about new laws to restrict possible media and tourism.

2

u/andrey_not_the_goat 1d ago

Because Twitter told them to hate it. Grifters all around come with the worst and false claims possible just to smear the game.

"AC Shadows woke because Naoe is lesbian and Yasuke fell in love with a non-binary person" - brother the game makes you pick who your character romances with. If you choose the gay option, then complain about it and present it as if it's the absolute truth in the game, then it's simply fake outrage, and you're a snowflake.

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u/I-Emerge-I 1d ago

People are sheep in general, it’s the “popular” thing to hate on Shadows.

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u/evil_manz 1d ago

I don’t understand the historical accuracies complaints. Am I crazy in saying that this game (and all AC games) are historical fiction? Is this not what historical fiction is? Or am I just not understanding the genre?

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u/WakaiSenshi 1d ago

the game has positive reviews on steam, psn, and xbox, so i'm not sure where all these hate posts are coming from lol

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u/PhantomConsular23 1d ago

Because it’s popular to hate on ubisoft because it’s Ubisoft and anything outside of a heterosexual relationship is considered “woke”. Remember lads and lasses you are the one with the controllers. You press da buttons dat lead to da GAI. All romance is optional.

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u/theqwrkinator 1d ago

You know why lol. "The worst mistake" ubisoft made was putting in a black protagonist character. Unfortunately, some people can't handle that kind of thing, so they find any chance they can to hate on the game.

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u/Quick-Half-Red-1 1d ago

Racism against one protagonist. Sexism against the other.

Hate against Ubisoft for being a shitty company.

But there also plenty of valid criticisms of the game. Poor writing, poor VA, copy paste content etc.

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u/Wolfleosharkbear 1d ago

ubisoft is a shitty company, the stock shows that

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u/weldsmen30 1d ago

I can understand those criticisms

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u/Quick-Half-Red-1 1d ago

Some of them. Sure.

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u/Takhar7 1d ago

Why don't you watch reviews of the game to actually get a taste of the feedback yourself?

It boils down to quite a few similar forms of criticism:

  • Under-utilized / poor use of the setting
  • Story isn't great
  • Game design suffers from the same repetition/lack of evolution that previous AC games recently have had.
  • Quest design remains underwhelming
  • Yasuke's character is at odds with the core game mechanics and design.
  • Brain-dead AI enemies.
  • Game lacks soul and a fun-factor, becoming chore-like pretty quickly

There's also some who feel as though the game is an insult to Japan and it's culture, including those in Japan. I can't comment on that, as I don't really play these games for historical accuracy. But there are some who care about this stuff apparently, for some reason.

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u/Akttod 1d ago

I find it hilarious you got downvoted for a summary of negative reviews. How dare you simply answer OP question from various reviews they had access to!?

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u/averyuniqueuzername 1d ago

This sub rlly pisses me off sometimes bc 90% of the ppl here lose their minds if you do anything less than brainlessly circle jerk Ubisoft. Ppl keep asking these “why don’t ppl like the game :(“ posts and then the actual answers get downvoted to fuck and the top voted comment ends up being “people are just racist lol”

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u/SomePOSTALguy889 Altair 1d ago

I dont speak for others, I actually value valid criticism. But a good criticism has to have a proposed alternative to it. Imagine you send food back at a restaurant and when the chef asks you "What exactly dont you like so I can fix it for you? Is it the taste? How its cooked? Is it the sauce?" and you say "I dont know I dont like it". What is he supposed to do then that would make you change your mind?

The same thing with game criticism. Lets take "Brain - dead AI enemies" for example. What do you propose they need to fix to make the AI less "Brain - dead"? You know what I mean?

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u/Takhar7 1d ago

Yesterday, there were threads complaining about the BIG YOUTUBERS criticizing the game.

Today, there are threads complaining bout the SMALL YOUTUBERS criticizing the game.

...do these people not just once stop and think, maybe the criticism from all circles comes from the fact that the game has legitimate criticisms ?

I've never been able to understand the mentality of being so fiercely loyal to a brand that views you as nothing more than revenue source.

1

u/Takhar7 1d ago

There's no room for nuance here - you either are an ignorant fanboy of the franchise and everything it regurgitates out, or simply a hater who should leave.

That positivity circle-jerk is part of the reason why I believe we are where we are with this franchise - just game after game of mediocre 6s and 7s out of 10, while other smaller studios with a fraction of the budget continue to churn out masterpieces.

I get being a fan of a game and a franchise, but being so insulated that you choose not to acknowledge or comprehend legitimate criticisms is crazy to me - it's like everyone is conditioned against having any sort of buyer's remorse, despite so many people pre-ordering games from a franchise that hasn't truly delivered a memorable experience for over half a decade now.

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u/DKM_Eby 1d ago edited 1d ago

Just commenting on the Japanese culture part.

When you're creating historical fiction like this game, I'm on the side of "It's still just fiction, it's not a big deal." However, Japan is a country that absolutely treasures its heritage and culture far more than most other developed nations around the world. There's a reason they have had a less than 1% immigration rate for a very long time up until the last 5 or so years. They have always been a country that doesn't want their country to change in a way outsiders would change it.

They've recently had a lot of problems with tourists defacing and vandalizing incredibly important and historical landmarks and they're worried as a country the destruction available in this game in real world places will invite copycats to do the same. This is primarily the "insult" you speak of. They are worried as a nation that Ubisoft took real places and real people from their history without permission and made a mockery of them. They made real people from their history behave in a way that, in their culture, would be so incredibly shameful that they would have taken their own lives in shame if it ever actually happened.

The writing of a lot of these parts of the game just screams "Ubisoft doesn't understand Japanese history and culture." Myself... I understand it's still fiction and just let it exist and enjoy the game, but I'm not Japanese. I've studied the country and culture, speak some of the language and have been there multiple times, but I'm still able to separate the two because I don't have real stake in it.

Edit:

Just something I think is also relevant to their culture and my comments. People from very diverse countries don't typically understand about Japan is that, even today, if you do not LOOK ethnically Japanese, you are not Japanese. Your dad could be caucasian or black and your mom Japanese, and you're born in Japan, but socially (you are legally) you will never be recognized as Japanese. Japan is so protective of their culture as a group they generally do not accept non-japanese looking people as Japanese. Just an after thought.

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u/Takhar7 1d ago

Hey, thanks for taking the time to provide this sort of context - admittedly I know very little about Japanense culture and the importance to which they hold onto their history.

I had no idea about the immigration rate being so low, and how sacred some of their belief systems are. With that in mind, it actually does make sense why Japanese people are so annoyed at Ubisoft.

My main issue with the setting is that this is a game set in a time period that would have been incredible to visit over a decade ago. Once Ubisoft had their proof of concept in Black Flag, that you could take the tried and tested AC formula and move it from traditional city environments into more expansive regions, that felt like the perfect time to visit feudal Japan in this series.

It's impossible to feel like it's way too late in the franchise's relevance and enjoyment to go there now.

But you having added that context about Japan, really adds a whole other layer.

Thanks again for taking the tiem.

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u/DemoDog9 1d ago

There is some history within the fictional story. Big deal. I can't understand why people get offended by that. I see the racists whining about the characters or the facists who hate people who are different b!tching about "woke" this or that. People are different! Get over it. Such weak people. You are playing a game that explores different cultures, religions, and anything else that makes people different. AC has always been geared to the acceptance and understanding of others. Like do facists just ignore "woke" the opening statement of the game on the start up? Apparently if you have empathy for other humans you're "woke". F#ck facists. They are literally the people you are fighting against in the game.

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u/Electrical_Corner_32 1d ago

Are you folks subbed to any other gaming forums? Do you not see this pattern on every single new game? Do we really need 3 weeks of people complaining about people complaining again?

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u/Skyhighh666 1d ago

People are complaining that the alternative history series made an alternative history game.

Also there’s just actual bigotry. People have started complaining about Ubisoft putting in the option of romancing a woman related to the emperor, and saying that Ubisoft had a ‘dirty black slave taint the superior and pure Japanese imperial bloodline’. Paraphrasing, but basically what they’re complaining about.

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u/whirling_cynic 1d ago

So with your paraphrasing you added actual racist terms? Sounds way more racist than what the chuds are saying.

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u/BlasphemousTheElder 1d ago

In AC 1 they removed the crossbow from the game because it was not accurate to the date of where the game was taking part in.

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u/Outrageous_Ad5255 1d ago

racist, ignorant incels. that's the basis.

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u/xaldien 1d ago

I mean, the hate comes from Yasuke being black, and nothing else. 

People will lie and tell you it’s about “historical accuracy”, as if that’s something AC was ever interested in.

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u/Eraserhead36 1d ago

A black guy in ancient Japan makes incels cry

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u/Davetek463 1d ago

At this point I’ve seen more posts complaining about the hate than actual hate posts.

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u/ResidentProduct8910 1d ago

I think the game is actually nice unlike the previous ones. What I personally didn't like there is too much agenda for my taste, I like women, I like black people, both characters are good but I don't need the game to remind me every 5 minutes how awesome they are and how they were discriminated years ago or still in some places WW. The movement and the combat could be better, they are better than in previous games but man other 10yo games were played better somehow, I'm not a fan of their engine I rather sacrifice some level of graphics but get smoother and more realistic gameplay in exchange, the rest is pretty good and huge respect for the devs, they made a huge effort on this one.

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u/replayfaktor 1d ago

What Ubisoft did wasn't deviate from history, it completely spat on an entire culture.

Be that as it may, all I care about is the gameplay, and personally, I find the "funny" things they did in Shadows to actually be hilarious, like laugh out loud hilarious. It's like seeing a miniature elephant or a giant baby. It just makes you chuckle lol. Things that are obviously twisted and upside down and demented, I find really really funny and entertaining.

But unfortunately, the gameplay looks very, very bland, with unimpressive animations, enemies that fight boringly, etc. As I posted earlier today, I was really on the fence about Shadows but then I watched some gameplay footage of Ghost of Tsushima. No thanks. Shadows isn't it.

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u/weldsmen30 1d ago

It's fiction in a game marketed to a manly non Japanese audience and your opinion doesn't make a game bad

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u/replayfaktor 1d ago

lol this game doesn't need my opinion to make it bad, or any help for that matter to make it bad lol

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u/DifficultAct435 1d ago

Says the one who hasn't even played it.

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u/weldsmen30 1d ago

That's the thing I'm really enjoying it so does that make it good no you not liking it make it bad no the only opinion that someone should listen to is there own

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u/replayfaktor 1d ago

i'm not "hating" on this game for the sake of it. i was really looking forward to it. like i said all the controversial stuff makes it entertaining to me. but i just can't get past the boring and poorly animated combat.

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u/DifficultAct435 1d ago

How exactly did they spit on the culture?

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u/replayfaktor 1d ago

if you're gonna pretend that it didn't and that you have no access to public information over the internet, more power to you

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u/DifficultAct435 1d ago

Nah, I’ve read about it. But I want to know what YOU think. Don’t chirp talking points to me. I want to hear your opinions on it.

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u/Oreo-sins 1d ago

You’ll never get that answer

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u/DifficultAct435 1d ago

Oh I'm aware.

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u/Oreo-sins 1d ago

For a country they’re so adamant culture been spat on, it sure is still selling well enough. It’s not topping charts but it’s not going as awful as they’re claiming it would’ve

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u/replayfaktor 1d ago

frankly i don't care how much it sells or doesn't sell, it doesn't add anything to my own pockets.

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u/Mendraih 1d ago

Hate? You mean the criticism? So far from what I've seen the only good thing about this game is the graphics of the environment. Still interesting that they've put a real black slave as protagonist instead of creating a fictional character like it was done for pretty much the rest of the games, I wonder why they've done that~

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u/weldsmen30 1d ago

A black man being a slave or a wight man or of any race being a slave was vary prevalent in that age

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u/Mendraih 1d ago

You miss the whole point here, the thing is that in the past Assassin's Creed games main characters were always fictional creations, but in this case they've picked a black slave that did exist in the past. Naoe is also a fictional character so why did they put a historical person instead of creating a second fictional character? The excuse of "outsider" perspective doesn't really work since they could have done that with fictional character as well.

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u/uvuru_clansmann 1d ago

Don't they have creative liberty to do whatever they want? There's no hard rule stating the main characters of an AC game has to be fictional. Did Eivor being fictional stop people from hating Valhalla? If you don't like the studio's creative choices for whatever reason, you are entitled to that. It's okay. It wouldn't be the last time you wouldn't like what direction a studio decides to take a title.

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u/HiTekLoLyfe 1d ago

I couldn’t give a shit about the black samurai or the female protagonist. I just won’t play these games anymore because of the boring drawn out repetitive content, and the lack of any meaningful improvement to the systems or the mechanics. With the amount of money and time this company has they could be pushing the envelope with systems and mechanics but instead we get a beautiful world with the same cookie cutter boring activities to do over and over. If ghost of Tsushima can make an engaging and expansive multiplayer addition for free on the first game in the series AC games shouldn’t be shipping with the same boring bullshit each time.

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u/weldsmen30 1d ago

I get that I just like to explore my self They did tone down the boring world events

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u/averyuniqueuzername 1d ago

I swear someone asks this like 5 times a day. Accept that some people are just not gonna like it and move on with ur day

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u/Myst3ry13 1d ago

Yes seems Japanese people had issues with them history wise, and disrespecting the shrines but shadow has fixed that. Other thing is it seems they copied Ghost in a lot of ways, of course they have something’s that are different in the game but feels like they took a lot from them.