Lost In The Shadows

I used to enjoy the Assassin’s Creed series.  Ubisoft had something there with that series and I want to say that many of the games in the series are top-notch.  As far as really delving into the games of the series, I’ve only completed one game in this series, that being the first game.  I took my time with the first Assassin’s Creed and even though it took my several years to finish it, I enjoyed every minute of it.  Not to knock any of the protagonists in AC, but I always had an affinity for the first game’s protagonist, Altair.  I can’t explain why, though I didn’t dislike Ezio or any of the other AC leads.  I even liked 2023’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage and it’s main character, Basim.

Enter 2024 and the recently announced next installment of the Assassin’s Creed series, Assassin’s Creed Shadows.  Shadows is supposed to take place in feudal Japan and feature samurai.  Being that I thoroughly enjoyed Ghost of Tsushima and the more recent, Rise of the Ronin, hearing about an Assassin’s Creed game set in Japan immediately had me intrigued.  Briefly, I was on-board with picking this game when it officially releases this coming November.  Then the controversy set in and it seems like with every passing day, Ubisoft announces something about the game that makes fans upset with the progression of the game.

I don’t want to get into too many of the intricate details of what’s been going on with AC Shadows, but from what I understand, the main male protagonist is going to be a black man who is a samurai.  I believe that there is some historical accuracy there, though I’m not too clear on those details.  I suppose I could have researched it myself, though I think that I could have overlooked it and still bought the game, if that had been the only issue with the game.  It was revealed just this week that Yasuke, the aforementioned African samurai, and the female lead, a ninja named Naoe, will be able to establish and maintain gay relationships.  That pretty much does it for me.

I have no problem with the LGTBQ+ community, but what I don’t care for is when companies like Ubisoft shoehorn that kind of agenda into video games.  Why is this even necessary?  The sexual preferences of fictitious characters isn’t hugely important.  This has been a problem in gaming for quite some time, where the woke agenda is infiltrating the gaming space, and DEI (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion) has become so prevalent.  It all seems forced, like these gaming companies are adding in this nonsense for the sake of checking off boxes and appealing to a population that is the minority when it comes to those who play video games.  I don’t have any statistics readily available, but I have to think that I’m not the only gamer who isn’t happy with how Shadows is shaping up.

The current gaming landscape is not looking good.  I wonder if it’s this nonsense that has kept me away from all the gaming that I used to do.  Of course, my working 60+ hours might factor in as well, as all that work cuts into my free time and the time I have to devote to gaming.  Still, if a game is worth a damn, I’ll make the time to play it.  Sadly, I don’t see myself making that time for what Assassin’s Creed Shadows is probably going to be.  I was so hopeful too.

Altair, where did you go?