Let me get this out of the way to head off the expected rebuttals: Ubisoft's willingness to put men of colour front and centre in their AAA mainline games is awesome (especially given the first game came out in 2007 when gaming was much less diverse than it is now) and I will never deny how important that is. I love Bayek in particular, an amazingly written and acted character.
HOWEVER.
With how well they've done with representation of people of colour and, to a lesser extent, LGBT folks (I say lesser extent because Jacob's bisexuality is handled pretty awfully in that it was only confirmed in an interview, aka the ol' JK Rowling tactic, and let's be honest Odyssey's romances were absolutely cringe-worthy), Ubisoft's treatment of women sticks out even further. I won't claim the Assassin's Creed games are sexist: they have multitudes of awesome female characters, many WOC or LGBT: Aya, Kassandra, Evie, Elise, Aveline, Shao Jun, etc. So it's increasingly jarring that with eleven mainline AC entries (1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, III, IV, Rogue, Unity, Syndicate, Origins and Odyssey) the number of MAINLINE FLAGSHIP games with a single female protagonist comes to a grand total of......... zero.
"But Odyssey and probably Valhalla let you choose your protagonist's gender!" Yeah, sure, okay, that's cool and all. But it's not representation. Representation you can opt out of/choose to ignore entirely isn't representation. Ubisoft themselves have stated that 2/3 of Odyssey players chose Alexios, despite Kassandra being the "canon" protagonist. If Kassandra was canon, why not make her the sole character in the first place? Was Ubisoft afraid of alienating sexist gamer bros? Why go to the effort of voicing and mocapping two different characters when one would have done just fine AND been an important step forward in representation? Did they think a female-led Assassin's Creed wouldn't sell? Horizon: Zero Dawn has proven beyond a doubt that female-led games (open-world RPGs, no less) do sell as long as they're accessible (i.e. on a popular platform) and well-marketed.
Additionally, a selectable protagonist isn't representation because to avoid a ridiculous amount of work, it necessitates "gender-neutral" writing, and writing that is "gender-neutral" is actually just male-centric. Let's consider Odyssey specifically. Ancient Greece outside of Sparta was kind of hideously sexist, yet Kassandra's gender is never remarked upon, even when it really should be: For example, women competing in the Olympics wasn't just illegal, it was punishable by death - and you even get a sidequest dealing with that very subject... WHILE PLAYING AS KASSANDRA, A WOMAN WHO COMPETED IN THE OLYMPICS AND NO ONE SAID BOO. It breaks immersion completely and makes no sense. At the same time, Greece has a number of important, revered mythological and religious figures who are women, so the intersection of that and everyday sexism would have added a fascinating element to Kassandra's story.
I'm not saying I want Kassandra to have been treated like shit, called a bitch and a whore and threatened with rape every five seconds. However, considering that AC does tackle social issues, often with the subtlety of a sledgehammer (Syndicate's tagline was literally "Oppression Must End"), it seems extremely weird that her gender is never even remarked upon. She could have been an Atalanta-like figure, overcoming sexism and being badass despite being shit on by society. And that's where the "male-centric" writing complaint comes in: having your gender ignored entirely is a luxury only people who aren't oppressed because of their gender (i.e. cis men) are afforded. In that way, playing Kassandra doesn't accurately represent the female experience. "It's a power fantasy!" Sure, but you know who else is a power fantasy? Aloy. Just like Kassandra, Aloy is strong, smart, pretty, gets hit on by almost everyone she meets, and is cooler than everyone around her. I love her for it! And Aloy's gender is kind of really important in how it shapes her story and how the world around her reacts to her. Kassandra may be "canon", so why does it feel like the game was written for Alexios, and then she was hastily shoved in for diversity points?
"So you're saying Assassin's Creed can never have a male protagonist again?" (Yes, this is something I've seen people say when women talk about their desire for a single female protagonist). No. I'm saying it would be nice, after ELEVEN STRAIGHT GAMES WHERE YOU CAN PLAY A DUDE, to have one teeny weeny measly little game with a single female protagonist and to be represented in a mainline AAA game in a major franchise.
"We don't even know anything about Valhalla!" True. Maybe I'll be delightfully surprised and the beardy dude in the livestream art was just a big ol' misdirect. But somehow I doubt it. And yeah, guess what, I am, and reserve the right to remain, fucking disappointed :/
HOWEVER.
With how well they've done with representation of people of colour and, to a lesser extent, LGBT folks (I say lesser extent because Jacob's bisexuality is handled pretty awfully in that it was only confirmed in an interview, aka the ol' JK Rowling tactic, and let's be honest Odyssey's romances were absolutely cringe-worthy), Ubisoft's treatment of women sticks out even further. I won't claim the Assassin's Creed games are sexist: they have multitudes of awesome female characters, many WOC or LGBT: Aya, Kassandra, Evie, Elise, Aveline, Shao Jun, etc. So it's increasingly jarring that with eleven mainline AC entries (1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, III, IV, Rogue, Unity, Syndicate, Origins and Odyssey) the number of MAINLINE FLAGSHIP games with a single female protagonist comes to a grand total of......... zero.
"But Odyssey and probably Valhalla let you choose your protagonist's gender!" Yeah, sure, okay, that's cool and all. But it's not representation. Representation you can opt out of/choose to ignore entirely isn't representation. Ubisoft themselves have stated that 2/3 of Odyssey players chose Alexios, despite Kassandra being the "canon" protagonist. If Kassandra was canon, why not make her the sole character in the first place? Was Ubisoft afraid of alienating sexist gamer bros? Why go to the effort of voicing and mocapping two different characters when one would have done just fine AND been an important step forward in representation? Did they think a female-led Assassin's Creed wouldn't sell? Horizon: Zero Dawn has proven beyond a doubt that female-led games (open-world RPGs, no less) do sell as long as they're accessible (i.e. on a popular platform) and well-marketed.
Additionally, a selectable protagonist isn't representation because to avoid a ridiculous amount of work, it necessitates "gender-neutral" writing, and writing that is "gender-neutral" is actually just male-centric. Let's consider Odyssey specifically. Ancient Greece outside of Sparta was kind of hideously sexist, yet Kassandra's gender is never remarked upon, even when it really should be: For example, women competing in the Olympics wasn't just illegal, it was punishable by death - and you even get a sidequest dealing with that very subject... WHILE PLAYING AS KASSANDRA, A WOMAN WHO COMPETED IN THE OLYMPICS AND NO ONE SAID BOO. It breaks immersion completely and makes no sense. At the same time, Greece has a number of important, revered mythological and religious figures who are women, so the intersection of that and everyday sexism would have added a fascinating element to Kassandra's story.
I'm not saying I want Kassandra to have been treated like shit, called a bitch and a whore and threatened with rape every five seconds. However, considering that AC does tackle social issues, often with the subtlety of a sledgehammer (Syndicate's tagline was literally "Oppression Must End"), it seems extremely weird that her gender is never even remarked upon. She could have been an Atalanta-like figure, overcoming sexism and being badass despite being shit on by society. And that's where the "male-centric" writing complaint comes in: having your gender ignored entirely is a luxury only people who aren't oppressed because of their gender (i.e. cis men) are afforded. In that way, playing Kassandra doesn't accurately represent the female experience. "It's a power fantasy!" Sure, but you know who else is a power fantasy? Aloy. Just like Kassandra, Aloy is strong, smart, pretty, gets hit on by almost everyone she meets, and is cooler than everyone around her. I love her for it! And Aloy's gender is kind of really important in how it shapes her story and how the world around her reacts to her. Kassandra may be "canon", so why does it feel like the game was written for Alexios, and then she was hastily shoved in for diversity points?
"So you're saying Assassin's Creed can never have a male protagonist again?" (Yes, this is something I've seen people say when women talk about their desire for a single female protagonist). No. I'm saying it would be nice, after ELEVEN STRAIGHT GAMES WHERE YOU CAN PLAY A DUDE, to have one teeny weeny measly little game with a single female protagonist and to be represented in a mainline AAA game in a major franchise.
"We don't even know anything about Valhalla!" True. Maybe I'll be delightfully surprised and the beardy dude in the livestream art was just a big ol' misdirect. But somehow I doubt it. And yeah, guess what, I am, and reserve the right to remain, fucking disappointed :/