In a move that, while not unheard for the franchise, feels particularly weird given that in involves a real-world historical figure, a new report suggests that both Yasuke and Naoe will be able to romance same-sex partners in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
This insight into the upcoming Ubisoft’s title interpersonal social mechanics was first brought to light courtesy of YouTuber JoRaptor, a noted Assassin’s Creed scooper whose track record includes the such accurate leaks as the addition of a New Game Plus mode to Origins and Shadows‘ 2024 release date.
Touching upon the game’s dating options in a July 8th video discussing a bevy of supposed new Shadows information ostensibly provided to him by insider sources, JoRaptor revealed, “Romances are back and it seems like they’re going to work a bit different this time.”
“Just like in Odyssey and Valhalla, we can still choose to pursue romantic relationships or not,” he explained. “But because there are two completely different playable character, they will now have their own unique romances, while in Odyssey, for example, both Alexio and Cassandra had the exact same options.”
From there, the scooper turned to note that “Now, there will still be same-sex romance options for both characters, just like in the previous RPGs, but it seems that the overall focus is a lot more on platonic relationships, so without the romantic features.”
In seeking to provide further context as to just what said ‘focus’ would entail, JoRaptor then relayed an explanation originally given to him by the game’s narrative director Brooke Davies:
“I think something that’s unique in Shadows is we’re going to have some more developed relationships. A chance to really get close to people, get to know people, all sorts of different relationships for Naoe and Yasuke to explore. So it’s not like a dating simulator, like, we do have really more serious relationships, a long term relationship, to develop. Some lighter romances as well. But you get to know some of these people quite well and pursue something.”
Expanding on this information, the scooper added, “We already know about some key characters like Oda Nobunaga, one of the most powerful men of this era who will give a prominent role to Yasuke in his army, and Fujibayashi Nagato, Naoe’s father, but there will be way more characters we meet, of course, that we don’t know about yet, and some can be romanced.”
Further, he also noted that he had “learned that we cannot miss any romance options depending on choices.” However, he did not provide any further details as to just how the game would ensure this outcome.
Notably, this is not the first time word has been mentioned of both Yasuke and Naoe being allowed to ‘play for the other team’.
In an official May 15th press release published alongside the game’s first official trailer, Ubisoft informed players that when it came to the social aspect of Shadows, “Naoe and Yasuke’s disparate personalities also lead them to have different relationships and rapports with other characters, and they don’t always feel the same way about people, nor do people always feel the same way about them.”
“Romantically, they will also attract and be attracted to different types of people,” continued the developer. “Through the pair, players will get to experience a multitude of relationships.”
Okay, look. We can all agree that this is weird, right?
I mean, Yasuke isn’t a fictional character. He was a real, breathing human being who had his own life and exercised his own agency in living it, not a fictional character whose background is made-up.
To suddenly allow players to essentially play ‘fan fiction’ with his life? That’s just outright disrespectful.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is currently set to make mince-meat out of the history books on November 15th, 2024.