Highlights
- Assassin’s Creed Red could have two protagonists based on historical figures: Yasuke and Naoe Fujibayashi.
- Introducing playable historical characters in Assassin’s Creed Red could elevate the Feudal Japan fantasy.
- The challenge with historical protagonists like Yasuke is balancing gameplay restrictions with real-world history.
Rumors have suggested that Assassin’s Creed Red could feature two distinct protagonists, echoing the decision made with the Frye siblings in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. The protagonists of Assassin’s Creed Red may be based on historical figures this time, though—a significant leap for the franchise, which has always featured fictional characters in its leading roles, despite the appearance of several real-world personalities in supporting roles.
Assuming the leaks and rumors are true, Assassin’s Creed Red will star a man named Yasuke, an African mercenary-turned-samurai who was active in the late sixteenth century. Yasuke’s real story leaves a good bit of room for interpretation, but the historical record is comprehensive enough to form a clear image of his time in Japan and role in Oda Nobunaga’s army. The other rumored protagonist is a woman named Naoe Fujibayashi. Unlike Yasuke, Naoe never existed in the real world, though her in-game father, Fujibayashi Nagato, was a famous ninja in real life, also active in the late sixteenth century.
Imagining an Assassin’s Creed Origins Direct Sequel
With a cast member recently musing on and expressing interest in it, there are some interesting paths a theoretical AC Origins follow-up could take.
Assassin’s Creed Red’s Real-World Inspiration Could Be a Double-Edged Sword
Playable Historical Characters Would Make Assassin’s Creed Red a Novel Experience
The franchise may not be perfect, but Assassin’s Creed‘s historical rooting makes it unlike almost every other gaming series on the market. More than new features, technological advancements, or the next chapter in the overarching modern-day storyline, Assassin’s Creed fans look forward to learning about where and when each new game will be taking place. In many ways, this is the main selling point of the IP as a whole: it allows people to live out the fantasy of exploring Ancient Greece, Renaissance Italy, Revolutionary France, and other iconic settings.
It’s not clear whether Assassin’s Creed Red will make major changes to things like basic mechanics or the ARPG formula that was introduced with Assassin’s Creed Origins, but the long-awaited Japan setting is enough to get fans excited. Connecting the player directly to Japanese history through the game’s playable protagonists could serve to elevate the Feudal Japan fantasy that the game is going for, heightening verisimilitude and, by extension, immersion.
There aren’t many games that give players control over a real character from history. Even an AC-inspired game like Ghost of Tsushima, which beat Ubisoft to the punch with its Japanese setting, doesn’t star a real figure from history. But, as it happens, there might be a few reasons why Assassin’s Creed has kept real-world historical figures at arm’s length.
Historical Protagonists Come With a Lot of Baggage
With a character like Ezio or Bayek, Ubisoft is able to craft engaging and fairly plausible stories within historical backdrops such as Renaissance Italy and Ancient Egypt. These characters strike a good balance between being believable within their historical contexts, and still having the breathing room that an open-world game hero demands.
Yasuke will have to be restrained by his real-world history, even if Ubisoft takes some creative liberties. Unlike the fictionalized depictions of samurai as lone wolves and rebels in modern media, Yasuke was very much a soldier, employed by warlord Oda Nobunaga during a period of civil war and unrest: he did not likely take long breaks to climb towers, hunt down collectibles, or help locals with trivial matters. This means that the AC gameplay formula could be restricted by Yasuke’s real-world circumstances, just as much as its story could be.
Admittedly, Yasuke’s ultimate fate after just a few months as a samurai is unknown, so Ubisoft has a bit of play there.
A similar conundrum arises with Naoe, though not to the same extent. Since she’s a fictional character, there is much more room for interpretation and creativity, even if her story will need to be written with certain considerations given her parentage. Perhaps she will be AC Red‘s main protagonist, engaging more directly with the series’ overarching narrative and gameplay pillars, with the more stringently defined Yasuke being playable in a comparably linear context.
Assassin’s Creed: Mirage
$54 $59 Save $5
Assassin’s Creed: Mirage is the latest entry in Ubisoft’s iconic stealth series.
The game will be set in 9th century Baghdad and is going to take the Assassin’s Creed franchise back to its action-adventure roots with a more linear structure, rather than the role-playing style seen in the recent main series games.
- Released
- October 12, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Ubisoft Bordeaux
- Genre(s)
- Action-Adventure
- How Long To Beat
- 12 Hours
- Metascore
- 78
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
