Board Thread:Series general discussion/@comment-5088097-20171202154949/@comment-18014300-20180211161627

I think getting an opportunity to explore every major culture in human civilization is a must for this franchise. No matter how often the setting has been done, it will still be a new and unique story in Assassin's Creed. To be honest, Ubisoft's criticism of feudal Japan as overused is little more than a stale excuse to me which was entirely discredited by the fact that they chose the American Revolution for Assassin's Creed III. The late 18th century period with Napoleonic era aesthetics is one of the most widely portrayed in games set in history. From even just the board game Stratego, to Age of Empires III, Total War, to all the countless films set in the American Revolution, to the fact every American sitcom seems to have a mandatory episode themed around the American Revolution, there is nothing unique or exotic about that setting; it is downright the most mainstream historical setting in Western fiction, yet they actually did it.

Finalninjadog already expressed some of my key arguments except I don't think Ubisoft's aversion to it stems from apprehension of making a ninja vs. samurai game—they have entire creative discretion over that anyways nor is the history of that era one of ninja vs. samurai—but because of Eurocentrism. I also think they may want to save the most demanded setting for last as some saving throw for the franchise if needed somehow.

Anyways, I would love a game set in feudal Japan, but I sometimes do think that within Japanese history, the Warring States era is in itself overused or too mainstream. I am thrilled that Ghost of Tsushima is set earlier in the 13th century and dealing with the Mongol invasion instead for example. I almost would want setting to be the Heian period instead, but then that is before the rise of both the samurai and the ninja... The fact that I do think ninja and Assassin's Creed's interpretation of them should be an element in an installment set in Japan might make another Sengoku setting mandatory.

If they set it during the Meiji Restoration or the Boshin War, I'm going to cry... I don't agree with some players who say that their choice of the time period of Origins stemmed from a subconscious inclination to still Westernize an exotic setting, but if they choose the 19th century for Japan over any other earlier period, then I take it back. While the end of the shogunate might make for a compelling story as well, thematically it would be too similar to the end of Pharaohic Egypt.