An Assassin's Creed game would clone Ghost of Tsushima and miss the opportunity to explore an even better setting in Japan's past.
In Japanese history, the Edo Period spanned between the years 1603 and 1868, during which time the Tokugawa Clan rigidly enforced a military-based caste system. This lent the daimyō and samurai immense power, as they stood at the top of this hierarchy. Despite the military rule, the Edo Period is ed as a time of peace in Japan, especially because the power of the Tokugawa Shogunate prevented fighting between clans. However, near the end of the Edo period, US Commodore Matthew Perry forced Japan to open up its borders. This caused the Tokugawa Shogunate and the samurai to lose their influence and strength, which ultimately led to the Meiji Restoration and the end of feudal Japan.
With rumors circulating that the next series entry Assassin's Creed Infinity will take place in Japan, Ubisoft should bring players to this specific time in Japanese history near the end of the Edo Period instead of the middle of its feudal era. Themes of US imperialism would play extremely well into past depictions of the Knights Templar in the series, while the preservation of history and culture would go hand-in-hand with the assassins. And though getting to see assassins as ninjas would be amazing, having players take the role of a rogue samurai would better fit into the themes of the Assassin's Creed series.
How A Meiji Restoration Era Assassin's Creed Game Could Work
The game should start in 1853 when Commodore Matthew Perry first visited Japan and forced the country to open up its borders. Perry and Western influences would represent the Knights Templar in a Japanese Assassin's Creed, a concept that fits well into the organization's tradition of attempting to gain global dominance. During the years following Perry's visit to Japan, many Japanese children destined for the Navy were educated abroad, and their Western-styled upbringing is in part what sowed the seeds for the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. A Japanese Assassin's Creed game could utilize characters like this to create a cast of Knights Templar representatives who must be faced throughout its narrative. And this narrative could essentially follow the decline of feudal Japanese society and its structures as it transitions into what it would become in the early twentieth century.
On the opposite side of this struggle would be the assassins. Having an Assassin's Creed protagonist be a samurai or daimyō throughout the game would be inappropriate, as the position of power these two classes held would be more familiar to the Knight's Templar than the Assassin's Creed. Instead, players could take on the role of a samurai at the beginning of the game who ultimately becomes a ronin, a samurai who has lost their master. This setup would allow for several possibilities. First, the main character of the game would be free to wander around Japan instead of being limited to their military duties, which is important to the Assassin's Creed series' free-roam adventure gameplay.
Secondly, the main character would be free to eventually an alternative organization after losing their high status in the Tokugawa Shogunate's military hierarchy. Having players fulfill this role in a Japanese Assassin's Creed game would provide a refreshing yet tragic twist to the series, as the assassins would honorably fight for a way of life that is ultimately lost to the powers of the Knights Templar.
