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Samurai Warriors 5 is a Mostly Successful Soft Reboot
When Yasuke was announced as a prominent new character for Koei Tecmo’s long-running Samurai Warriors franchise…I was nervous. Would the team at Omega Force handle the legendary black samurai with any level of tact, or would he be an over-the-top caricature that bordered on super offensive?
My fears didn’t subside when it turned out that they didn’t cast a black voice actor to play the part. This almost put me off playing the game entirely, since representation is still a huge issue in the casting side of the gaming industry — not to mention the industry in general.
On the plus side, Yasuke’s handling in Samurai Warriors 5 is very far from the racist nightmare of something like the most recent Earth Defense Force game. He isn’t all that involved in the story until its last few stages, but his character is written with an appropriate dramatic tone, and without spoiling the game — the ending sets up fun future appearances. The actor does the best he can with the material he’s given and with the situation. It feels like Koei thought they…
