Haha, glad to know I was not the only one who had that thought about Arno. Yeah, his personality and story are different, but not exactly in a good way? Not that I hate him or anything, but let's say that sometimes it sure seems like the writers do.
And yes, it kind of feels like they've been shoving a lot of Templar philosophy down our throats ever since Haytham. In a way it's interesting to see both sides and let the Templars make their point too, but for me they're overdoing it. Then again, saying the Templar ideology doesn't go so well with my own RL beliefs would be an understatement, so maybe it's just me.
I love Ezio as much as everyone else, but yes, I think him being this eurocentric straight white male character is a huge part of the reason why he got three games, especially when compared to the other two protagonists of the numbered games. There's Altair, a Syrian muslim, and I don't think I need to get started on islamophobia and how that might play into not wanting to revisit him. And then there's Connor/Ratonhnhaké:ton, who might technically be Metis but fully identifies as Mohawk, and not only is his in-game story the most depressing one, they also have to rub salt in the wounds of his fans by casually dropping that his (as white as possible, of course) wife and children left him, and his death was lonely and 'a mess', whatever that means. Sure I'm apparently free to reject that as Abstergo propaganda or whatever, but still. They took a story about an indigenous character, sadly a rarity in itself already, and made it almost exclusively about defeat and loss. The symbol and source of his happiness, the Homestead he tried to protect so fiercely, eventually vanishes as well, at a time that likely happens before his death, and I don't even want to know how and why anymore. What message do they think that sends? Yeah, his strength and heroic appeal is supposed to come from how he never loses hope despite all of it, but. I don't even know. His idealism touched ME, so I wish it could have touched the world around him as well, no matter how naive that is? ...and there I went on a rant again because I'm still not over AC III. I apologize, fellow anons.
I'd have loved more Chinese Assassins too, including male ones, but on a whole I think Ubi could do with more playable female characters and loved Shao Jun. But more Asian cultures in general would be great, the history and politics are so complex they could get infinite amounts of AC games out of it.
Re: Shay/Hope - angry sex
And yes, it kind of feels like they've been shoving a lot of Templar philosophy down our throats ever since Haytham. In a way it's interesting to see both sides and let the Templars make their point too, but for me they're overdoing it. Then again, saying the Templar ideology doesn't go so well with my own RL beliefs would be an understatement, so maybe it's just me.
I love Ezio as much as everyone else, but yes, I think him being this eurocentric straight white male character is a huge part of the reason why he got three games, especially when compared to the other two protagonists of the numbered games. There's Altair, a Syrian muslim, and I don't think I need to get started on islamophobia and how that might play into not wanting to revisit him. And then there's Connor/Ratonhnhaké:ton, who might technically be Metis but fully identifies as Mohawk, and not only is his in-game story the most depressing one, they also have to rub salt in the wounds of his fans by casually dropping that his (as white as possible, of course) wife and children left him, and his death was lonely and 'a mess', whatever that means. Sure I'm apparently free to reject that as Abstergo propaganda or whatever, but still. They took a story about an indigenous character, sadly a rarity in itself already, and made it almost exclusively about defeat and loss. The symbol and source of his happiness, the Homestead he tried to protect so fiercely, eventually vanishes as well, at a time that likely happens before his death, and I don't even want to know how and why anymore. What message do they think that sends? Yeah, his strength and heroic appeal is supposed to come from how he never loses hope despite all of it, but. I don't even know. His idealism touched ME, so I wish it could have touched the world around him as well, no matter how naive that is?
...and there I went on a rant again because I'm still not over AC III. I apologize, fellow anons.
I'd have loved more Chinese Assassins too, including male ones, but on a whole I think Ubi could do with more playable female characters and loved Shao Jun. But more Asian cultures in general would be great, the history and politics are so complex they could get infinite amounts of AC games out of it.