'Yasuke became the obvious choice for us to put in the game' — Assassin's Creed Shadows art director on the series' 'first historical protagonist' one year post launch

• Assassin's Creed Shadows art director Thierry Dansereau has discussed the game at a recent
• He explained why the historical figure of Yasuke was chosen to be one of the game's protagonists
• "It gave us the opportunity to play and view Japan as a foreigner, like most of our players," he said

Assassin's Creed Shadows is officially one year old, and art director Thierry Dansereau reflected on why his team featured the historical samurai Yasuke as a protagonist at an event held to celebrate the mark the game's anniversary.

"Yasuke is the first historical protagonist that the Assassin's Creed games have," he said. "We did that because Yasuke, from the historical knowledge that we gathered, [was] close to Oda Nobunaga, who is one of the main characters of the game."

Before becoming a samurai, the historical figure was of African origin and is believed to have arrived in Japan during the Sengoku period in the service of a Jesuit missionary, an event depicted early on in the game. In addition to his closeness to Nobunaga, Dansereau said that Yasuke's status as a foreigner was a major reason why he was chosen to star in the game.

"It gave us the opportunity to play and view Japan as a foreigner, like most of our players," he said. "He's discovering Japan at the same time as the player."

According to Dansereau, Yasuke's apparent size and strength also made him a good pick too and, alongside the inclusion of the fictional ninja Naoe, allowed the team to depict one of two "very strong fantasies" of the period: "the shinobi and the samurai."

"We didn't want to have one character archetype at all, and Yasuke was fulfilling that fantasy of the samurai quite well, while Naoe was embodying the fantasy of the shinobi," he explained. "There are many reasons, but Yasuke became the obvious choice for us to put in the game."

At the same event, which was held in The British Museum, where footage from the game features in the ongoing Samurai exhibition, Yasuke actor Tongayi Chirisa also discussed his role in the "massive" game.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is currently available for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

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PlayStation 5 Slim
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Xbox Series S
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Nintendo Switch 2
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PlayStation 5 Pro

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