Yasuke has been deemed a “controversial” lead for Assassin’s Creed Shadows by some unruly parts of the internet. This is even though Yasuke was a real historical figure in Japan and gamers in that country showed excitement about using him. As if the current hate for Yasuke wasn’t baseless enough, this character has already appeared in other games.
Koei Tecmo has used the character twice now: Omega Force’s signature Samurai Warriors 5 and the Team Ninja-developed Nioh. Last we checked, fans had no problems when he was in those two games. You could argue that he wasn’t the main character in those games, but the fact remains that he was in two titles that used real historical figures in fantasy settings.
Samurai Warriors 5 has the Assassin’s Creed Shadows protagonist looking pretty sleak and he has some cool moves. Those fans who feigned being angry for Yasuke destroying some temples in Japan didn’t do anything when he was killing thousands of soldiers with ease. It’s also worth noting that no one is making Yasuke destroy anything in Shadows and that players are the ones who control the actions of these characters.
Yasuke was also the Obsidian Samurai in Nioh and Nioh 2. He’s a boss in the first game that William encounters, so players will need to be careful when taking him on. In the sequel, he’s no longer a boss but one of the supporting characters.
It’s also worth noting that Yasuke gets grief because he’s a black samurai in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. But William is a white samurai in Nioh and he never gets criticized for that. It’s almost like this part of the fandom has some sort of agenda.
For more on AC Shadows, fans can check out this hub that has everything we know about the game. Gamers can also read about the leaked AC Shadows art book from an NSFW site.