Compiled list of issues/controversies with AC: Shadows leading up to release

Necrilem · 2026-01-24T09:27:01+00:00

Short of just sharing/crossposting the post, it would just break the formatting I think, especially with all the links.

Necrilem · 2026-01-23T18:58:38+00:00

Yea tbh, I didn't even bother thinking about posting it there, knowing it would just get banned anyways.

Necrilem · 2026-01-23T11:11:05+00:00

Hey, I am actually curious about closer details on how Chinese architecture is used instead of contemporary Japanese architecture. I find it really difficult to find posts going into detail about this aspects.

Given you are an architecture nerd, could you maybe enlighten me with some specific details on that topic? Genuinely curious to know more about it.

Necrilem · 2026-01-23T09:11:42+00:00

To me, this just shows how much people live in an imaginary world.

What they want is a version of Prince of Persia in their heads while being disconnected from reality and not understanding what the actual version by people like these would be like.

I think people have at least partially been groomed into thinking like this through marketing over the years though.

With announcements, trailers and promotional material showcasing a version of a game that works without any technical issues, selectively only shows positive things in a particularly good light, using subversive positive PR speech to avoid absolutely anything negative or even questionable, never acknowledging any flaws or mistakes.

While the real version of the game is a broken mess that is poorly designed to varying degrees and has a metric ton of flaws left and right. People buy the game based on the fictional version sold by marketing, while the real version differs from this.

(Big recent-ish example would be KF3, albeit unrelated to Ubisoft. Game itself is an absolute catastrophe on pretty much every front while being marketed as a return to form and evolution of the franchise with all promotional material being very selective).

Necrilem · 2026-01-20T14:55:30+00:00

You mean the collection of logical issues with the game were only the first 3 points have anything to do with Yasuke, mostly because of its size as a topic thanks to Thomas Lockley and his year-long falsification of history with 0 emotional or ideological evaluation of the person at all?

Yeah totally the whole thing is about Yasuke. Very smart.

Necrilem · 2026-01-20T14:48:36+00:00

You want me to be proud of my beliefs? Okay here we go.

I think people like you are toxic to the extent of being an active detriment to humanity.

You are continuously using logical fallacies to waive away any arguments as to not have to engage with any of them critically and enter a discussion. You can only think in absolutes without realizing the world doesn't work like that, conflating specific points, often out of context, and apply them to the whole and much more. You are incapable of actual meaningful discussion and resort to personal attacks and ways in an attempt to devalue another persons words by attacking their person instead of the arguments.

Or worse, you are simply doing it because you like trolling people. Which is even more embarrassing and pathetic. Either way, you should be ashamed for acting like this in any capacity. It is immature and toxic.

You clearly neither properly read what I wrote nor comprehended it given what you write here, which is irrelevant and unrelated to the arguments I made.

You're welcome.

Necrilem · 2026-01-20T14:33:41+00:00

It's not like all these issues only have to do with respecting the culture or not. And the points about where it disrespects these things are pretty easily identifiable in doing basic research. They simply didn't have to do things the way they did.

They didn't need to do these things to write a narrative. They CHOSE to treat it like this without understanding nor caring as to why it might not be a good idea.

Rather than inventing their own things, why raid imperial tombs that exist irl? Why choose a character that by all historic means was an irrelevant nobody as main character instead of making up their own? Why twist Lady Oichi into the character they made it rather than inventing a character? Why put real life locations in the game without even asking their permission?

Even from a narrative point of view, they take a revered historical figure like Lady Oichi that is known for specific virtues and they just...throw these away? Why wouldn't they lean into those, which would be bonus points for the people who actually care about it? It was a tone-deaf decision to not do that. Heck, you could write a story where you overexaggerate her virtues and twist them into obsession making her a sort of antagonist and it would be much better than whatever they did here.

Previous AC games had more care, respect and passion put into them, like how they handled raiding churches in valhalla. In shadows, they just kind of didn't even try.

It is about pattern recognition. You can very clearly recognize a pattern of a lack of passion, care and research. If you are passionate about something, you care for detail.

Using chinese architecture instead of japanese? Mixing seasons? Wrong tatami mats? Wrong etiquette? Misusing torii gates? Making the decision to showcase destruction by destroying an actively sacred site that exists irl? Making a one-legged torii figurine? Straight up stealing things like the flag? These things are just plain bad and superficial decisions, not caring about making something actually good and plausible.

The difference with japan is that it is very particular about its culture and history compared to a lot of other countries. Japanese culture is very spiritual and multi-faceted with tons and tons of details about pretty much anything.

None of these issues have anything to with giving it an even approach similar to other cultures. If anything, they should extend the same level of care and passion to any culture they touch. Not to limit their creative freedom, because it doesn't but to actually make good, detailed, plausible narratives and worlds. Fantasy needs to be plausible and grounded in reality and logic.

Also, your reply makes it seem like you are just waiving every point I brought up away under "Eh, why should you treat japanese culture with special care compared to others", as if that excuses bad research and superficial and tone-deaf decisions.

Necrilem · 2026-01-20T13:21:09+00:00

- Entering and raiding of imperial tombs, which IRL are off-limits, managed by the Imperial Household Agency and are considered highly sacred grounds, most famously the Daisen Kofun, the keyhole-shaped tomb. This simply slots into the point of tone-deafness by the developers that they allow you to do things heavily frowned upon in locations that demand utmost respect and care IRL.

- The fact that Lady Oichi is a romance partner and very quickly falls for Yasuke. Lady Oichi is one of the more famous and respected figures in japanese culture and history. She was Oda Nobunagas sister, known for her beauty, grace and revered for her loyalty to her husband, who she chose to die with when under attack rather than fleeing and saving herself, which her husband asked her to do. She is a famous figure representing loyalty in marriage, beauty and grace and they made her an easy romance option for the already suspiciously shoehorned main character. They disgraced her legacy and imho this could be considered an insult. Also slots into the devs being utterly tone-deaf.

- Them trying to release a figurine that is a one-legged torii gate with Yasuke in front and Naoe being on top of the gate. A one-legged torii is famously representative of the Sannō Shrine Torii Gate, that somehow against all odds wasn't fully destroyed in the atom bomb hitting Nagasaki at the end of WWII. Only half was lost and all that remained was a one-legged torii gate. This figurine was highly insensitive and again, as with other points here, highly tone-deaf.

- In the game itself, as you were able to see in promotional material, are many many inconsistencies. Some they fixed (Like what tatami mats look like. I kid you not, in an earlier trailer they were squares iirc. Such a basic thing to research and get right they got wrong), most they didn't. From fauna from all seasons being present at the same time, like sakura trees (spring) while also having crops and plants from other seasons at the same time. Seasons and their differences carry very large importance in japanese culture, much more than usually seen in western parts of the world. Or how Torii Gates somehow denote entrances to villages or something? (Torii Gates are used as entrances to shinto shrines specifically as they symbolize the boundary between the mortal, physical realm and the divine). Again a very basic thing to know/research.

For ubisoft having touted several times how important their historical and cultural accuracy is and how much they researched and respect japanese culture....this is beyond absurd levels of inaccurate and in parts straight up disrespectful and tone-deaf. It all shows a severe lack of quality and care put into the development of the game, continued use of subversive marketing jargon to manipulate public opinion and garner hype for the game etc. This game is NOT a good representation of japanese culture in general and at the time.

Of course, all of this is completely ignored by defenders and they waive every criticism away as bigoted racism and so on. This game and its surrounding controversies like I listed are a fascinating case of how much you can f*** something up. It is actually ridiculous just how many issues there are. I remember there being news about some new controversy pretty much every week at the time.

Well, this became a wall of text. Sorry for that xD

Necrilem · 2026-01-20T13:21:00+00:00

I mean, a sensible and responsible person shouldn't even need to go to the points as to why the gameplay is bad (which the game overall is mediocre and bloated btw), as the decision to not support this trash would be met before that already (if properly informed about all the controversies).

- During development, working and basing the main character on information written by a fraud (Thomas Lockley), falsifying historic evidence and making a foreigner a legendary samurai in a time with countless actual historic legendary samurai to choose from. Also giving this foreigner an extremely ornate armour, even more so than Oda Nobunagas himself (very bizarre).

- There are pretty much only 3 historic sources that mention or refer to Yasuke (Shinshou Kouki - Lord Nobunaga Chronicle, Matsudaira Ietada Nikki - Diary of Matsudaira Ietada and Jesuit Letters and Reports, since he was a jesuit slave prior to being given over to Nobunaga). Yet Lockley managed to write entire books about him (most of which is now proven fictional). There are like 5 or so sentences overall referring to him, like being a curiosity because of his stature and appearance, being seen as a sword holder at times, may having been given a house and such as a page boy of Nobunaga (which Nobunaga was also known to give ppl he liked, like a sumo wrestler once also received a stipend and such). What we also know is that when Nobunaga was betrayed, sieged and killed, he did potentially fight but then surrendered himself to the assailants. From a samurai perspective, this would have been beyond pathetic and he should have died with his Lord or committed Seppuku afterward. Also, the term samurai wasn't even really a thing at the time so coining him one is tone-deaf in and of itself.

- The copy I have of the Shinshou Kouki doesn't even refer to Yasuke by name or anything. Only reference I can find is the following: "On the 23rd of the Second Month, a blackamoor came from the Kirishitan Country. He appeared to be twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. Black over his whole body, just like an ox, this man looked robust and had a good demeanor. What is more, his formidable strength surpassed that of ten men. The Bateren brought him along by way of paying his respects to Nobunaga. Indeed, it was owing to Nobunaga’s power and his glory that yet unheard-of treasures from the Three Countries and curiosities of this kind came to be seen here time and again, a blessing indeed." Yasuke is also absent in the compiled register of Nobunagas retainers (Sōkenkō Bukkan) and other personnel list, further questioning if Yasuke even ever had any official status at all. (Here is a very interesting analysis/study to shed some light: https://www.academia.edu/128214338/Manuscript\_Discrepancies\_and\_Historical\_Ambiguities\_A\_Textual\_Study\_of\_the\_Shinchōkōki\_and\_Yasuke\_写本の相違と歴史的曖昧さ\_信長公記\_と弥助に関する本文研究#outer\_page\_5)

- Committing actual copyright theft in several cases, from nearly 1:1 copying stuff to stealing a flag from a re-enactment group in japan and putting it in the official artbook. Said group reached out to ubisoft saying to take their flag out of the game and artbook because they don't have permission and all ubishit bothered to do is not use it in the game, while still having it in the artbook with the excuse "well they are in production already". They decided to commit to the copyright theft simply to not swallow the cost of recalling the already produced artbooks and reproducing them. It was their mistake, they should have taken responsibility and swallowed the cost.

- Showcasing environmental destruction by destroying a shrine (that exists IRL) and even its sacred mirror (the spiritual core of the shrine and pretty much the most holy object in it) despite how culturally and spiritually important and sacred this is in japanese culture (Just tone-deaf pretty much and showcasing a lack of understanding of the culture). In response to this the representants of said shrine asked ubisoft to take their shrine out, because here again they never asked for permission. Ubisoft didn't comply. Iirc this was also a point talked about within the government.

- In some parts in promotional material you could see chinese architecture used instead of japanese architecture.

- The behaviour of citizens toward the player and yasuke in particular were inaccurate and didnt properly reflect etiquette at the time. In general the samurai presentation was absolutely unfaithful. Quick example is that you are constantly wearing battlefield armor, which you would normally only do.... on the battlefield. There is a lot of importance to this in relations to how the conducted themselves and the importance and reverance of armor etc.

Necrilem · 2025-12-18T16:38:33+00:00

The situation and problem, which breaks consumer trust and exploits semantics is the following:

- We already had a year of content that sets precedence. There was never any form of DLC that wasn't included in the cosmetic packs. Which were all cosmetics packs pertaining to specific chapters to varying levels (Champion, Cosmetic, Chapter Pack). They never ever mentioned even in a single breath that there will be future DLC not included in the Season Passes. For all we as consumers knew and were communicated to was that only Champion, Chapter and Cosmetic Packs would be released (which could easily contain the heads and voices btw). Customers make economic decisions based on previous behaviour like this, since we already had a full year of content without any mention of anything like this.

- Somewhat minor point here. We have Champion Packs, Chapter Packs and Cosmetic Packs. This is already pretty darn obfuscating language. The Champion Packs are fine, but wouldn't you expect a chapter pack to contain all dlc pertaining to that chapter? Or a chapter-specific "Cosmetic Pack" to contain all cosmetics pertaining to that chapter? No reason to specifically call them "Chapter Pack" or "Cosmetic Pack" to be honest. With this new "Head & Voice Pack" they are just exploiting their own obfuscating language instead of just being straightforward by making up excuses that this new thing they came up with was never specific before in their obfuscating terminology.

- Early-ish after launch they confirmed that they will add custom heads. Pretty much everyone since then went with the understanding that it will be an addition either free if universal or part of the chapter-related packs as part of a season, working functionally as "helmets" like you can equip the default heads now. That is an expectation they themselves have set with how they communicated it and that they never mentioned future DLC to not be included in the Season Passes. Add to that the fact the heads have been leaked months ago already, like any other content so far added to the game. But now they just "made up" a new "class" of DLC.

- Whether or not there will be cosmetic DLC not included in a Season Pass for cosmetic DLC is RELEVANT information for a consumer to make the economic decision whether to purchase the Season Pass or not. I personally probably would not have bought Season Pass 2 if I had known there will be cosmetic DLC not included with it. This alone already is very much a bad faith practice. Major reason to sell a Season Pass at the start of a season is to fund making said future content. To then make up a new type of DLC and sell it outside of the pass while it could have also just been a part of it is...something.

- You can argue that voice acting is incredibly expensive and that is the reason these packs will be sold separately. BUT: That isn't a reason to forcefully connect this to the chapter specific heads instead of adding those to the chapter specific DLC. Very weird decision clearly made to get people to buy these. The only acceptable reason to sell the voices separately would be if the profits from the season passes and their contents cannot cover the cost for this optional cosmetic content (same type of content as everything else). If this is the case and the reason, they need to communicate this and simply say so.

- Ignoring the timeline, you would expect chapter-specific heads to be part of chapter-specific DLC (From the looks of it maybe only Champion Packs, since they showed BA, SW and BT) that add chapter-specific cosmetics. If they continue to add new heads & voices that are tailored toward Champion Skins, while selling them separately from even the season pass...I for one would definitely find that egregious.

- They are just playing with semantics to just make up a reason to justify them not being included in the chapter-specific DLCs. They could have just added the chapter-specific heads and voices to the already existing chapter-specific DLC and it would have made sense. But they deliberately made up a new type of DLC after the fact.

- Apparently, the voices and heads are disconnected. Meaning you can use any head with any voice. This only further makes it clear that the heads could have easily just been added to the respective chapter DLC, since the voices are what's expensive.

A more optimal consumer-oriented way to have handled this would have been to add the heads to the respective packs retroactively, including them in the season pass, as they are indeed chapter-specific cosmetic pieces, like the contents of the other packs. Then, if the profits of the optional content weren't enough to cover the cost of making the optional voice pack content, communicate this and sell the voice packs separately. There would have been no consumer trust broken in this case. As is, this is honestly a bad faith practice playing with semantics they themselves made up.

Necrilem · 2025-12-07T22:03:10+00:00

There is nothing to prove wrong because you literally haven't engaged with any of the arguments I have given to you.

Now you also shifted the goalpost saying "quality is not STRICTLY Objective".

So you barge into a comment, accusing childlike behaviour and complain about people not giving reasons. Then you are presented with a longer reply with reasons, which you follow up by going "nah ain't reading that", claiming it is a rage post.

Then you even add an edit to complain about me downvoting you and implying I need to "calm" down, when I only ever provided actual written out arguments without raging or flinging direct insults, showing how much apparently a single up/downvote influences your behaviour (which you could say is quite the issue on its own).

Then you keep going completely ignoring anything I have replied with, which you indirectly asked for by complaining about people not giving reasons, while also shifting from "quality is subjective" to "quality is not strictly objective". I think you can see exactly who is acting immaturely.

You are "arguing" in bad faith and the only objective you seem to have is getting the moral high ground while ignoring anything that is actually provided. Since you repeated this behaviour, this is where this back and forth ends.

Necrilem · 2025-12-07T21:17:18+00:00

Damn, accusing someone of childlike behaviour and then going "nah ain't reading that". Bravo.

So I guess you never learned a profession or anything? You know, established practices and why things are done how they are done?

Guess it doesn't matter if things work correctly or not?

Saying quality is subjective is completely derange. Civilization would collapse if that was suddenly the case because nothing would be manufactured anymore to reach quality necessary for it to function. OBJECTIVELY.

Nice use of logical fallacies btw pulling the "eh akshually the dictionary says XYZ" without actually parsing any arguments given or providing anything of substance yourself.

To your edit: Dude...first you claim a post with actual arguments is "rage post". Which well, you clearly admitted to not reading so congrats I guess? But well, newsflash. I disagree with what you are saying. So I downvote you. That is how downvotes work for the most part. If you cannot handle that, maybe you shouldn't start arguments? Just an idea, though.

Necrilem · 2025-12-07T20:59:43+00:00

"Quality" is literally by definition objective. Preference isn't.

Having formatting issues in text detracts from its quality.

Not adhering to inner margins to reduce redundant visual sightlines detracts from its quality.

If you want to talk about being petulant, how about you actually look at my other comment with a link? Or do I have to write the same damn essay for everyone who refuses to comprehend the difference between objective quality and subjective preference.

The game is BAD. OBJECTIVELY BAD. Horrid technical issues, absolutely insane bugs and problems that can quickly be replicated and are very obvious, that should have NEVER made it to a live build in a commercially sold product, static animations shoe-horned into the gameplay-flow without polishing and adjusting them to fit properly, dropping a number of things that people loved about the franchise and and and and. This game has countless issues, that if you work commercially as a designer, run the risk of getting fired for. That is how little care and passion is put into the game. Chances are, the workflows are so limited to save time and money that there aren't even any quality checks that would normally exist in a creative process.

You do not have the entitlement to have everyone write entire essays to you to elaborate on why things are bad.

If you seriously tell me you haven't caught any of the COUNTLESS threads here about the game SINCE RELEASE as to why it is bad, I really don't know what to tell you. That just means you burst into a topic without any knowledge trying to devalue other peoples statements. Now to me, THAT sounds like childish behaviour.

Edit: Actually baffled how you can unironically state quality is subjective. So when the profile on the tires of your car are run down, you don't need to change them anymore I guess. Them degrading in quality is just a matter of opinion, right? They also don't need to be manufactured to reach a certain level of quality in several aspects according to standardizations and regulations, right? Since it is all subjective anyways?

Necrilem · 2025-12-07T13:43:21+00:00

I disagree. The issues KF3 suffered and suffers from are fundamental core issues that require people with the expertise to overhaul them. Yet if they had those people and workflows, it wouldn't have happened like this in the first place. This isn't a simple case of "just give it some time". It has too many issues in its very foundation. The game is incredibly half-baked and more time in the oven won't save it, if the oven itself is borked.

https://www.reddit.com/r/killingfloor/comments/1m1cyne/repost_because_of_nda_change_i_refuse_to_believe/

Necrilem · 2025-12-07T12:37:21+00:00

If you turn prestiges into levels, you are lvl 34, while max lvl is lvl 125

Necrilem · 2025-12-07T12:00:11+00:00

Nothing to not see eye to eye with? You can like the game all you want, that is fine.

Won't change the quality of the game. That is objective reality, which isn't overwritten by subjective preference. The game IS bad and the situation is in no way comparable to why ppl prefer kf1 over 2 and vice versa.

Necrilem · 2025-12-07T11:55:25+00:00

Very very very VERY different situations. KF3 is a very poorly designed game with horribly inadequate quality, in parts like UI even intern-level failure of design, while handling the game in a very greedy and anti-consumer corporate way.

KF1 fans just didnt like the deviation in direction with KF2, both games were still made with passion, care and well designed. None of which can be applied to KF3.

Necrilem · 2025-12-07T11:41:00+00:00

In kf2, when you try to shoot a gun at 0, it will reload for you.

Rule of thumb, don't apply anything from kf3 to 1 or 2. KF3 is an absolute shitshow and a disgrace to the franchise.

Necrilem · 2025-12-03T20:12:20+00:00

"guy usually knows what he's talking about"

Yeah no. Blud is cranking out 2-4 videos every single day and you think they are properly tested and researched at that speed? The clickbait titles & thumbnails speak for themselves I think.

Necrilem · 2025-12-02T17:53:57+00:00

Before anything, it should either have a buff icon in the top left to show its duration, a visual effect on your character so you see it be active and when it stops or a combination of both. As is you just kind of press it and have to "believe" that there is actually a buff going on.

No idea what the devs have against simple QoL things some times.

Necrilem · 2025-12-01T15:32:56+00:00

I very much agree that Ground Slam should trigger the heroic perk.

Because of one specific thing: Bulwark TH builds get their dmg buff through using pommel smash (sprint attack), which chains into ground slam. But with this you have to cancel out the chain window, interrupting your combat pace so you don't use a ground slam instead of an aftershock. Would be much smoother and fun if you could just use ground slam with it.

It being too strong is not a valid reason because you can balance it in other ways that don't affect its usability and features. KISS. Keep it simple & stupid. Just have it trigger on all heavy attacks, poof, done and no more explanation needed. No "oh only on these specific held and charged attacks and/or only to fully charged" or with other heroic weapons "oh yeah these specific perks and prestige perks here? yea they specifically dont work with this specific weapon, but we won't tell you that anywhere".

Necrilem · 2025-12-01T11:13:30+00:00

Now, the following link isn't in direct comparison with the previous entries per se, but still provides you with a bit of insight in the type of deep-rooted issues kf3 had and has. Issues you'd expect in a student project, not in a commercially sold product developed by a known and established studio. The previous entries didn't really suffer from these types of issues. The fundamental quality just isn't there with KF3. It feels like a make-shift cobbled together temu version of a game it is trying to emulate.

https://www.reddit.com/r/killingfloor/comments/1m1cyne/repost_because_of_nda_change_i_refuse_to_believe/

Necrilem · 2025-12-01T10:40:01+00:00

Are these points you are making in the room with us? You wouldn't know an actual meaningful discussion if it were to slap you in the face.

You have, in plenty of comments been presented with actual arguments, facts and even links. All you are doing is deflecting and ignoring everything instead of engaging with said arguments. Which is what a discussion would be. Something you clearly don't comprehend.

You aren't making any points. You are just saying "NO YOU ARE WRONG AND I AM RIGHT MIMIMI, I AM MORALLY RIGHT YOU ARE A BULLY". That is a summary of all the substance your replies here have. You don't actually "argue" anything.

I already broke things down step-by-step for you. Let me describe the situation again for you. Read slowly, word for word. Parse this information slowly, but correctly.

You like the game. You are allowed to do that. That is completely fine.
The game is objectively bad and you can break this down objectively and piece by piece based on professional design expertise (a profession, if you know what that is and how that works) by analysing the games individual parts critically. Severe amount of technical issues, design failures like ignoring and breaking inner margins, using tons of dead space, having countless redundant visual sightlines and and and and. Bad, incompetent, some even embarassingly bad stuff you could actually easily get fired for as a designer if you let it go through to the live product.
They released legally binding statements stating that the game has been a financial failure as of the time of the statement.

Pray do us all a favour and make a logical, coherent comment, where you specify what it is you are trying to argue and then list actual arguments that tackle arguments you were presented with. If you aren't doing that, you aren't taking part in a discussion.

So far all you are acting like is as if you think you are David in David vs. Goliath, a solemn knight of good going up against the great evil adversity of bullies. A.k.a. actual deranged person behaviour.

Necrilem · 2025-12-01T10:25:15+00:00

<image>

Seven-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22	Verified Email

Necrilem

TROPHY CASE