Veteran game developer Yoshiki Okamoto, who has credits on everything from Street Fighter 2 and Resident Evil 3 to the Oracle of Seasons/Ages, has said that Assassin's Creed Shadows is the kind of game he actually wanted to make way back in 2005, and the controversy around it is overblown.
While Assassin's Creed Shadows' two protagonists are one of the most exciting parts of the game, Yasuke's presence has also courted online backlash from some people who argue there's not enough historical evidence to brand him as Japan's first black samurai. The game has faced criticism from some corners due to its choice of protagonists, but Okamoto doesn't think Yasuke's starring role is a problem at all.
"I’m aware that this game is currently facing all kinds of backlash, but I'd like to talk about things from a more positive perspective," he says in a recent vlog, in quotes translated by Automaton. "It's a game, it's fantasy, not reality. Even if Oda Nobunaga's family crest is upside down, that's just the Oda Nobunaga in the game, it does not impact how entertaining the game is."
Alongside his more famous hits, Okamoto also worked as an executive director on 2005's Genji: Dawn of the Samurai and its 2006 sequel Genji: Days of the Blade, which both had an eerie number of similarities to Ubisoft's upcoming open-world game. Both Genji games were set in a historical, war-torn Japan where the slash and hacking were split between two characters - the heftier, slower, and more powerful Benkei and the graceful, more agile Yoshitsune.
Heard any of that before? Okamoto notes that Assassin's Creed Shadow's dual protagonists, split between the stealthier Naoe and the wall-busting Yasuke, reminded him of what the now-defunct developer Game Republic tried to accomplish with the Genji duo. "We weren't able to pull it off at the time, but I think Ubisoft will, which is why I have high hopes," he says.
