Hidetaka Miyazaki’s Logic For Introducing Fiction In His Portrayal Of Japan Makes Perfect Sense, Unlike Assassin’s Creed Shadows

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Hidetaka Miyazaki’s Logic For Introducing Fiction In His Portrayal Of Japan Makes Perfect Sense, Unlike *********’s Creed Shadows

Sekiro: Shadows **** Twice is more than just a brilliant title. It’s a deeply engrossing experience that meticulously blends ********* folklore with real history and neatly packages it up with some of the best gameplay systems out there.

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Naoe inflitrating a fortress in *********’s Creed Shadows – Image Credit: Ubisoft.

Its portrayal of 1500s Japan, in particular, brims with mysticism and history while carefully respecting the cultural essence of the time. This speaks to an intensely cohesive and concrete creative vision on Hidetaka Miyazaki’s part. Unfortunately, it also feels profoundly lacking in Shadows.

*********’s Creed Shadows’ “Creative Liberties” Feels Particularly Lacking When Placed Against Sekiro

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Ookami taking on the Corrupted Monk in Sekiro – Image Credit: FromSoftware.

At this point, we all know the story, with Shadows being the one game that has seemingly left everyone disillusioned with Ubisoft. The game itself, too, has been mired in controversy, with excessive historical inaccuracies and a few too many cultural misrepresentations. All of this led to an industry-wide backlash and a worrisome last-minute delay of the title to February 2025.

Now, as Ubisoft has said time and again, and the series’ history itself would tell you, these games have always taken a few “creative liberties” in representing real-life history. Yet, it feels as though some proverbial line that the company was never meant to cross with these games has now been, well, crossed.

Funnily enough, the whole debacle surrounding the game brings to mind an old interview with Hidetaka Miyazaki. When Sekiro: Shadows **** Twice was right around the corner, the world was simply unprepared for what was about to come.

In the

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, Miyazaki spoke about his thoughtful approach to Sekiro’s world, specifically his decision to set the game at the end of the Sengoku *******. When asked about what led him to this direction, the answer is about as considerate as you’d expect:

If we’re going to do something with ninjas, there are two key areas that are relevant: the Edo ******* and the Sengoku *******. For context, the Sengoku ******* was a bit earlier than the Edo *******. We ended landing on the Sengoku ******* [because it] was dirtier — it was grittier and bloodier. It had more of a feel of the type of world we’d want to create…

He then elaborated further on this, explaining how his team managed its “creative liberties” with this era:

The other reason we landed on this ******* is because [it still seems] ‘medieval,’ vs the Edo *******, which feels more modern. In my mind, it felt more believable to see something mystical or having to do with the presence of gods in the Sengoku *******. Another thing is that it’s set at the end of the Sengoku *******. The reason for that is, in my opinion, there’s a nuance — a beauty — in the finality of something coming to an end. That fits our artistic sense, and we wanted to express that.

Looking back on these words all these years later, there’s an artistic depth in Miyazaki’s words here that isn’t just reflected in the game’s narrative but also in its core themes: the inevitability of ******, the fragility of life, and the importance of the natural order of this world.

The way FromSoftware tapped into Japan’s religious mythos so naturally, without ever making the real-life history side of things feel like an afterthought or a forced inclusion, is, to reiterate, something that we find sorely lacking in Shadows.

Ubisoft’s Woes Were a Long Time in the Making, and *********’s Creed Shadows Isn’t the Sole Culprit Here

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Naoe scouting out a fortress in *********’s Creed Shadows – Image Credit: Ubisoft.

We feel that the comparison between Sekiro and *********’s Creed Shadows, more so than the comparison between the latter and Ghost of Tsushima, brings up an even deeper issue with Ubisoft’s overall game design ideologies, which have led the company to its current state.

Where FromSoftware’s games feel crafted with precision and an evident artistic vision of what to accomplish with their pieces of art, Ubisoft’s recent games feel bloated and scientifically mass-produced, featuring uninspired and cookie-cutter gameplay.

Then, let’s talk about storytelling for a second. While FromSoftware naturally lets players fall into a rabbit ***** of deeply engaging lore and themes, the other company has recently only been piling on hollow exposition and spectacle without any narrative weight or cohesion. It’s like Kojima’s way of telling stories, but it’s only unbelievably worse.

With Shadows, Ubisoft’s lack of attention to cultural detail and outdated game design has led to an overwhelming level of dissatisfaction. To be honest, it’s no longer just about the cultural issues; it’s the series’ increasing lack of authenticity across all its systems and settings.

Look, *********’s Creed Shadows is so far into development that it seems beyond fixing now. But we do hope this setback will prompt some long-overdue introspection for Ubisoft. If nothing else, this small break away from game development may force them to rethink their design processes.

With all that said, though, what are your thoughts on all of this? What are your thoughts on comparing Sekiro and *********’s Creed Shadows from a development methodology and cultural standpoint? Let us know in the comments below.

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