The Assassin’s Creed game community has been divided over an and official and rather controversial giveaway from the game franchise’s official Twitter account. The prize? A free of cost digital copy of the upcoming game Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The task? Pick a side in the most epic fantasy battle of all times. Would the well-known samurai player Yasuke take the victory or the ninja Naoe would win the battle? The replies range from very different views to memes and, of course, lots of not so nice comments from the gamers just like all the time. A simple competition has already shown how the players are feeling regarding the dual-protagonist setup.
To begin with, the official tweet was quite clear. Two protagonists. One great duel. If you want to win the game, you need to like the post and comment either ‘Naoe’ or ‘Yasuke’ with your choice of the winner in a one-on-one fight. Sounds simple, right? However, the comments section is the exact opposite. It is a very raw, unfiltered portrayal of the Assassin’s Creed fandom in 2024, full of excitement, doubts, and some really funny comments.
The first thing that comes up is that the debate is fascinating. Gamers are not just picking their names; some are even giving legitimate tactical breakdowns. A user called ukrosatana provided a very deep and detailed analysis: ‘Yasuke, if it’s clean battle. If it’s surprising attack, then it would be Naoe.’ That’s quite a robust argument! It brings out the most fundamental difference between the two characters’ skills. Yasuke is the embodiment of the fighter’s physical power. The guy is probably able to take a hit and still be there even more. Yea, is all about being invisible, speed, and striking from the dark before the victim even knows she exists.
The next player, skibidi_mota, almost said the same thing and stated, ‘In an open fair fight, yasuke but an impromptu fight, naoe.’ It is nice to see gamers interacting with the very gameplay fantasy that Ubisoft is selling. They do not just see two cool characters; they evaluate their possible strengths and weaknesses in a hypothetic scenario. That’s a good sign for the core game concept. Vlad from TUMS even shared a hype image and proclaimed, “I forecast this to be a tough duel, but Yatsuke should come out on top over Naoe thanks to his experience.” Experience vs. stealth, brute violence vs. precision—it’s a matchup every time.
Nevertheless, this is the internet, so the affection comes with a lot of sass. The negativity team went all out and were very harsh. One user who goes by the name DragonDerDragon said, ‘I would prefer to win a moldy loaf of bread rather than this game.’ That was a very cutting remark. Such an expression of disgust is usually reserved for, say, a very boring mobile game ad. Another one, DamoDaFurry, was even more candid: ‘Free? take your trash elsewhere.’ S-mastergaming took the self-deprecating route with a meme, saying, ‘Me, because I’m never gonna play this.’ It is very obvious that the Assassin’s Creed franchise is going to have to work hard to win back some players after the recent releases.
Perhaps, the feedback was not mincing words at all when one user, Assassin00071, posed the question, ‘Why would I want to play this game? I’ve been disappointed by this game anyway.. you want more fans to bully you now?’ That is a sentiment gamers often express—to feel burned by recent releases and to be skeptical about the next one. Also, there were people just asking for completely different things, like EscapeDank who simply asked, ‘Where is the black flag remake?’ Classic. Gamers, never change.
In the midst of the chaos, there were also some sparkling gems. The most hilarious response, without a doubt, goes to boonie_dan, who scrutinized the promo art and posed the question we all had in mind: ‘@assassinscreed Why is she sticking the sword to yasuke’s ass.’ I mean, looking at the drawing! The pose is… sexually suggestive. It is a witty, lowbrow observation that totally blows up the serious discussion and is exactly what makes it so good. This is the type of natural, human reaction that is impossible to script.
And hey, not everything was bad. A lot of players were really into it. StyxHelix shared a very adorable GIF and write ‘Naoe my beloved.’ Others like Ragnar Lothbrok and Gintoki WD strongly supported Team Naoe, while Gecko_AB and SoulShubham3 stood by Yasuke. There was even a mini-hype squad, with Apar Dhiman sharing a whole graphic and a call to ‘Join Us, as the community also engages with other platforms like PlayStation and Xbox.
