Former Ubisoft screenwriter talks about what Assassin's Creed could have been like in Japan

In the wake of the announcement of Assassin's Creed: Shadows, one of the former Ubisoft screenwriters with the nickname @InfinitaleComic decided to tell the details of the plot about assassins in Japan, which was developed at the studio in 2013–2014. It was more period-appropriate and adhered to the actual historical events of the Sengoku period.

The plot also took place in the 16th century. The main character was a young monk and assassin Yamauchi Taka, whose name translated as «Hawk». At the time, Ubisoft had a policy that major characters in the series were named after birds of prey. The plot of the story would be the struggle for the Isu artifact «Sword of Eden», also known as «Honjo Masamune».

According to early drafts, the protagonist's mentor, assassin Hattori Hanzo, kills the owner of the sword, Oda Nobunaga, and steals the artifact. The Brotherhood of Assassins tries to take the sword out of Japan, but comes under attack by ships of the Jesuits (Templar Order). Hanzo is killed, and the sword ends up in the hands of Nobunaga's successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The latter, under the influence of the artifact, begins the conquest of Korea.

Hanzo's master, Tokugawa Ieyasu, instructs the young shinobi Yamauchi Taka to steal the sword and avenge the assassin's death. The main character eventually obtains the Sword, and Hideyoshi then destroys the Templars in a fit of rage. Towards the end, Taka and the commander fight in a battle in which the assassin kills Hideyoshi.

After this, Tokugawa Ieyasu begins to put pressure on the main character and the order of assassins, demanding to give up the artifact in order to destroy the enemies of Japan. The Brotherhood refuses him and «disappears into the shadows with the sword.»

According to the former screenwriter himself, he decided to share these sketches because he was disappointed with the announcement of Assassin's Creed: Shadows. In particular, he didn't like the idea of adding a samurai of African descent to the game.

Note that some of the plot fragments were still used in the unsuccessful mobile game Assassin's Creed: Memories, released in 2014.

Let us remind you that the announcement of Assassin's Creed: Shadows took place on May 15. The new part of the series will tell about the events of the 16th century in Japan, and the main characters will be the dark-skinned samurai Jasuke and the shinobi girls Noami. The game will be released on November 15 on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5.

Previously, we published an article listing all the known gameplay details of Assassin's Creed: Shadows.