Being robbed for $110-$130 on a live service, season pass, early access single player game where you're required to connect to the PSN to experience.
Bruh
2013-14 early concept btw.
I worked on some narrative elements for the Sengoku Era of Japan for Assassin’s Creed back in 2013-2014 when I worked under contract in San Jose/Tokyo (Aeria). I guess they tossed all that out for Black Samurai and some canon-destroying Kunoichi-boss?
I’m so glad I’m not in that industry anymore. I guess it’s only fitting that my contributions to these studios vanish like everything else I worked on (every MMO shooter I have worked on has been shutdown).
Here’s a brief synopsis of the original story (from what I can remember — it’s been a decade):
The plot focused on the young monk, “Yamauchi Taka” as the playable ancestor. “Taka” means “Hawk” to coincide with the then naming convention of every playable hero being named after a bird of prey (no idea if that changed with all of these newer, disjointed games that no longer have Desmond as the core hero that bound everything together).
The main conflict was about “The Sword of Eden” (aka “Excalibur”, “Honjō Masamune”, “Genghis Khan’s Sword”, etc.). and how it had given its latest wielder, Oda Nobunaga, an unfair advantage in his conquest of Japan.
After Nobunaga is assassinated by Hattori Hanzo, Taka becomes a part of the brotherhood and, under Hanzo, is trained as an Assassin (Shinobi).
The brotherhood try to transport the recovered sword out of Japan but are beset by Jesuit (Templar) ships and it is lost.
To make matters worse,
Hanzo is assassinated as he considers retirement as a monk. His lord, Tokugawa Ieyasu, charges Taka with finding the killer (and recovering the sword).
Despite Nobunaga’s successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi acquiring the sword and going on a rampage that extends into Korea, Taka steals the sword back and mad Daimyo loses his power, weakening his campaign in Korea. Incensed by the theft, Toyotomi believes he was betrayed by the Templars and basically exterminates all Jesuits (Templars) in Japan. Taka infiltrates Toyotomi’s castle and faces him in a final battle, resulting Toyotomi’s death.
The ambitious daimyo is left to die as Taka slips away before his retainers could intercept him. The now seasoned assassin spares Toyotomi’s infant heir, knowing the clan has lost its teeth and will eventually wither without Hideyoshi. Ieysau begins his ambitious power grab, demanding Taka and the Brotherhood give him the sword and help him wipe away (“abstergo” in Latin) all of his enemies from Japan to fully unite it under his clan’s banners. Taka and the Brotherhood decline and vanish into the shadows with the sword.
Oh well. Black Samurai and Kunoichi it is. What a shame.