Assassin's Creed Shadows has been a hit for Ubisoft, but the release of the RPG set in Feudal Japan hasn't been without its controversies and discourse. One of its lead stars, Naoe actor Masumi Tsunoda, says seeing that the shrines in the game could previously be defaced "hurts my heart a little bit."
Beyond the backlash from some gamers questioning the inclusion of protagonist Yasuke and whether he was actually a samurai in real life (he was), the fact that you could originally destroy objects in Shadows' shrines turned a lot of heads. Back at the game's launch, Japan's prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, even responded to a question about this from a Japanese politician (thanks, IGN) who was concerned that "allowing players to attack and destroy real-world locations in the game without permission could encourage similar behavior in real life." Ishiba noted that, in real life, "defacing a shrine is out of the question – it is an insult to the nation itself," and said that "respecting the culture and religion of a country is fundamental, and we must make it clear that we will not simply accept acts that disregard them."
Speaking to Insider Gaming at this week's BAFTA Games Awards (below), Tsunoda was asked if she thought Ubisoft had done a good job with Shadows in the end, after some concerns surrounding the authenticity of its setting (previously, there were also complaints following the reveal trailer which showed inaccurately shaped tatami mats, for example). Tsunoda says that for her, "as a Japanese Naoe, I'm satisfied with my job, with what I was able to portray." However, she notes: "You know, as Japanese, we grow up with the whole shrine, and the sacred mirrors, and all of that, and I saw in the video games that those are destroyable. So those things just [do] not happen. It's like, just watching that kind of hurts my heart a little bit."
She continues: "You're able to do some things in the games that would just never, ever, ever you will be able to do in Japan, and those do hurt me. It's not authentic to be able to do something like that."
It's definitely worth noting, however, that Ubisoft previously released a day-one patch for Shadows which made tables and shelves in shrines indestructible, and also reduced the amount of blood shown in them by removing depictions of blood entirely if you attack unarmed civilians. Therefore, the level of destruction you can cause in shrines has been greatly limited since the game's official launch.
Be sure to check out our Assassin's Creed Shadows review to see why it ranks so highly on our list of the best Assassin's Creed games.
