Latest news with #Nobunaga
Metro
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Nintendo Switch 2 dev reveals new feature of console's mouse controls
Or use an actual mouse (Nintendo) Koei Tecmo has revealed a new detail about the Nintendo Switch 2, and it's a win for anyone excited about mouse controls. After Nintendo's big blowout for the Switch 2 last month, there were perhaps more questions than answers around some aspects of the console. Some of these have been answered since, like what the revamped eShop looks like, what the actual upgrades are for original Switch titles, and how those Game-Key cards exactly work, but there are still several unknowns around the hardware's functionality. While Nintendo was perhaps holding back some of these surprises for when the Switch 2 launches worldwide on June 5, developer Koei Tecmo has let the cat out of the bag in regards to one feature – the console supports regular USB mice. Last week, Koei Tecmo posted a deep dive on its Switch 2 port of strategy game Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition, which utilises the Joy-Con controller's mouse controls. During the video, game producer Michi Ryu demonstrated the mouse controls using the Joy-Con, which is used to move the on-screen cursor. However, later in the video, he reveals a USB mouse can be connected to the console and used in the game. 'You can also connect a USB mouse and it will work seamlessly,' Ryu said. 'Once you connect the USB mouse, a message will appear in the top left indicating that the mouse is connected. When the USB mouse is connected, it takes priority over the Joy-Con 2.' The developer also showed off how you can 'switch instantly' between the two control options, by operating the Joy-Con and the mouse simultaneously. 'It's very smooth,' Ryu added. 'You can operate with both the controller and the mouse interchangeably. The switching speed is incredibly fast.' USB keyboards and mice could be technically plugged into the original Switch as well, but not many Switch games supported their use. As such, considering the Switch 2 has mouse support built into the Joy-Con, this extra flexibility is a far more appealing feature. It's unclear if every Switch 2 game with mouse functionality will support a USB mouse, but it could go a long way to making first-person shooters like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond a huge selling point for the system. Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition comes out on June 5 as part of the Switch 2's launch line-up, alongside Mario Kart World. We're less than two weeks away (Nintendo) Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Five Important Tips For Staying Alive In Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny
The first Onimusha game was remastered for modern consoles back in 2019, and it was only a matter of time before the second one was too. Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny is a nostalgic trip back to the classic Capcom PS2 era with fixed camera angles and linear gameplay. Don't expect any complicated mechanics like ones found in modern games like Sekiro or anything like that. However, there's still plenty of fun to have with Jubei as he sets out to defeat Nobunaga. Let's go over a few tips Whenever Jubei downs his enemies, you have the opportunity to walk over to their bodies and impale them with a downward stab simply by pressing the attack button while standing on top. This move is an automatic OHKO (one-hit-knock-out) and prevents enemies from getting back up. Enemies don't have any health bars so it's impossible to know how much more health they have until they disappear. But with the downward stab, you'll know they're gone for good. Just be careful, though, as you can still be hit by other enemies in the middle of the animation. Sometimes you won't get the chance to impale them. But either way, if you have the opportunity to do so, definitely take it as it's one less enemy to deal with. Early on in the game, Jubei will get the ability to absorb souls from enemies that he's defeated. Red souls can be spent upgrading Jubei's weapons and capabilities, while the yellow and blue ones replenish Jubei's health and magic, respectively. Jubei can also transform into a powerful and invincible demon for a short time if he collects five purple souls. In this remaster, players can now control when Jubei enters this powerful mode whereas in the original, it automatically activated once the fifth soul was collected. So definitely take advantage of it to unleash hell at opportune times. Also, souls disappear after a while if they aren't absorbed, so make sure to not leave them hanging or you'll regret it. In Onimusha 2, there are plenty of weapons to collect, each with their own unique effects. The Buraitou is a lightning sword that's both fast and powerful, making it a fantastic all-rounder. The Hyojin-Yari is an ice lance and it has the longest reach out of all the weapons. Use it if you want to keep a safe distance. The general idea is to switch between weapons so that you can maintain an advantage over your enemies. The wind sword, Senpumaru, might be the weakest in the game, but is incredibly useful for hitting flying enemies while the slow but powerful earth hammer, Dokoutsui can smash through enemies defences like they're made out of paper. When you're killing enemies and (hopefully) impaling them, they'll drop valuable gold, which is needed to buy things such as healing items, weapons for companion characters, and collectibles like artwork. This will help you prepare for the challenges ahead. Additionally, scour rooms for treasure chests. They can provide valuable items like green herbs for Jubei to heal himself. Due to the fixed camera angle, treasure chests can be hard to see sometiomes, but take the time to look at your surroundings and you won't be disappointed. Modern technology means that the remaster of Onimusha 2 doesn't need memory cards like the original did on the PlayStation 2. But there are still multiple save slots. The game has autosave, so you don't have to worry about potentially losing hours of progress if something happens like your power going out or the game crashes (which didn't happen to me, to be clear). But saving often and using the slots gives you the ability to go back in case you want to replay a certain segment or if you missed these tips, and you'll be breezing through Onimusha 2 in no time. They'll be helpful no matter what difficulty you play on and how many playthroughs you do. Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and Windows PCs. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Japan Forward
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Forward
Unraveling Yasuke: New Research Challenges the 'Black Samurai' Legend
このページを 日本語 で読む In 1581, the powerful Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga received an unusual guest at his Kyoto court: an African man of formidable stature. This man, known to history as Yasuke, has since been immortalized in Western popular culture as "the first Black samurai." Books, articles, and a recent Netflix anime have portrayed Yasuke as a warrior who rose from servant to samurai. Most recently, the videogame Assassin's Creed Shadows depicts him standing loyally at Nobunaga's side during the climactic battles of the Sengoku era. According to popular lore, he was a swordsman granted rank and honor in a land far from his birthplace. It's a compelling story that has captivated imaginations. But is it true? A new study by linguist Alaric Naude takes a closer look at the Yasuke legend. Titled "Unraveling Yasuke: A Historical and Linguistic Reassessment of the 'Black Samurai' Narrative," it argues that the story may be more myth than reality. Yasuke's story has only begun to attract significant attention in the West over the past decade. Any notable interest emerged at most 20 years ago. In these tellings, Yasuke is often described as a "real-life Black samurai who served under Oda Nobunaga," a barrier-breaking hero in 16th-century Japan. Such portrayals, however, have relied on sparse evidence. Yasuke's life in Japan is poorly documented, appearing only in a handful of contemporary sources. These include the Shinchokoki (Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga) and the diary of Nobunaga's retainer, Matsudaira Ietada. Rather than treating this scant evidence with caution, many writers have filled the gaps with speculation. As Naude points out, Western researchers "frequently insert assumptions that reflect contemporary concerns rather than historical realities" when discussing Yasuke. In other words, modern ideals and imagination have been projected onto a figure who flickers only briefly in the historical record. An image of Oda Nobunaga Oda by Munehide Kano (Chokoji Temple collection) (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons) One example lies in the very title "samurai." In Japan's Sengoku period, samurai were not simply fighters but an officially recognized class of warriors. Usually, they were granted hereditary surnames, stipends, and retainers of their own. The popular idea that Nobunaga formally made Yasuke a samurai rests on later accounts rather than clear contemporaneous evidence. Yasuke is not mentioned by name in the earliest Western accounts from the 16th century. Jesuit missionaries such as Luis Frois and Lorenzo Mexia, who were active during Nobunaga's era, refer instead to a black African figure using the Portuguese term Cafre . In Japanese translations of these reports, however, Cafre is rendered as 黒奴 ( kuroyatsu or kokudo , meaning "black slave"). This emphasizes Yasuke's race and status over his individual identity. It suggests he was viewed more as a background presence than a figure of personal significance. Yet over time, especially in English-language retellings, these references have been "reinterpreted to support contemporary narratives of identity and cultural symbolism." In short, Yasuke's story has been retold to fit a modern desire for a historical black hero in samurai Japan. Naude calls this narrative "mythologized." Crucially, Alaric Naude's new research delves into discrepancies between different manuscripts of the Nobunaga chronicle. It shows how Yasuke's legend evolved through retelling. Japanese scholars have long known that not all historical manuscripts are equal. The chronicle exists in several versions. Earlier manuscripts closer to Nobunaga's time tend to be more sober and factual. Later copies from the Edo period (1600-1868, decades after Nobunaga's death) show signs of embellishment. Naude's study identifies the Ikeda-bon manuscript (an early version of the Shinchokoki ) as "the most accurate source for understanding Sengoku history," given its proximity to the original events. By contrast, a later version, known as the Sonkeikaku-bon , was compiled in the Edo period under the Tokugawa shogunate and is "laden with Tokugawa-era embellishments." Unfortunately, many Western accounts drew from this embellished version. This was partly because it was among the first to be translated into English in modern times. What kind of embellishments? The Sonkeikaku text paints a dramatic picture of Yasuke's introduction to Nobunaga. It records that after meeting the warlord, "the black man was granted a stipend and given the name Yasuke (弥助). Furthermore, he was entrusted with a scabbard (dagger) ... and even a personal residence." In this version, Nobunaga marvels at Yasuke's strength and appearance. Additionally, he rewards him with property, a ceremonial sword, and official employment. Promotional image from the game Assassin's Creed Shadows featuring the protagonists Yasuke and Naoe, a fictional female ninja. (Courtesy of Ubisoft) However, Naude's study urges caution: these vivid details do not appear in the earlier Ikeda manuscript at all. In fact, neither does the name "Yasuke." They seem to have been added by later scribes or editors, reflecting Edo-period storytelling rather than Sengoku-period reality. In the Ikeda version — favored by Japanese historians — Yasuke is described as a foreign attendant of Nobunaga. He is noted for his dark skin and impressive physique, but there is no mention of any grand conferral of rank. The new research argues that the "receiving of [a] wakizashi (short sword), stipend and housing" for Yasuke is likely "an artifact of later political writing rather than a reflection of Sengoku reality." In simpler terms, Edo-period writers wove the idea that Nobunaga made Yasuke a samurai into the historical record. Many modern commentators then took that story at face value. Beyond parsing manuscripts, historians also look at naming conventions and social context to gauge Yasuke's status. Here, too, the evidence undermines the samurai narrative. Samurai of that era were always given a family name (姓) upon receiving their rank. In feudal Japan, this was a mark of honor and identification. Yet no historical record ever attributes a surname to Yasuke . He is referred to simply by a given name, which itself appears in varying kanji forms as if it were a phonetic nickname. "The complete lack of any such surname in any historical record related to Yasuke is highly unusual," the study notes. This absence "casts significant doubt on claims that he was formally enfeoffed as a samurai." If Nobunaga had officially made Yasuke a samurai, we would expect to see a proper Japanese surname in the historical record. That was the customary practice for foreigners who were naturalized into the warrior class. Moreover, the name "Yasuke" itself is telling. Far from sounding like a lofty warrior's appellation, it follows a pattern common among servants or lower-ranking retainers of the time. Most samurai of status had two-character or three-character names, often including their clan or origin. However, Yasuke's name – written with characters meaning "Ya" and "suke" – is different. It fits the mold of "lower-class or servant names of the period." Such names with the -suke suffix were typically used by attendants or common soldiers, not elite samurai. As the study observes, if Yasuke had truly been elevated to samurai status, we would expect a more formal name or title to appear in records. "Yet no such record exists," Naude observes. Taken together – the absence of a surname, the humble style of his given name, and the fact that lavish rewards appear only in suspect later texts – the scholarly evidence strongly suggests Yasuke was never recognized as a samurai. He was undoubtedly a person of great interest to Nobunaga. Moreover, he did serve in Nobunaga's entourage in 1581–1582, likely as a retainer or bodyguard. But there is no contemporaneous evidence that Nobunaga conferred samurai rank upon Yasuke. In the words of the study's author, all signs point to Yasuke's recorded name being "an informal or practical designation rather than an official warrior title." Why does it matter if we call Yasuke a samurai or not? The distinction is more than semantic – it speaks to how history gets interpreted and transformed over time. Yasuke's story is a rare intersection of African and Japanese history, and it has understandably attracted global fascination. But as this case shows, popular culture can sometimes get ahead of the facts. The new research highlights how easily a "mythologized figure" can emerge when later writers (and modern audiences) impose "modern cultural preoccupations rather than historical realities" onto the past. In Yasuke's case, the desire for a black samurai hero was so strong it shaped an entire narrative on scant evidence. This has broader implications. African figures in Japanese history are exceedingly rare in the records, which makes it tempting to celebrate Yasuke as a symbol of early global connections or diversity. However, if that celebration is based on exaggerated claims, it does a disservice to historical truth. As Naude's study argues, there is a "need for a more integrated and evidence-based approach" to such stories. In practice, that means historians must carefully reconcile Japanese-language sources with foreign accounts. They must also be wary of later edits or mistranslations that fit too neatly into modern narratives. Author: Daniel Manning このページを 日本語 で読む
The Guardian
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Assassin's Creed: Shadows – a historic frolic through feudal Japan
Japan, 1581: Iga province is burning down around you. You watch on, injured and helpless as the Oda Nobunaga - the warlord responsible for numerous civil wars and the eventual unification of the country - smirks from a nearby hill. You draw your katana, the blade shining in the flickering light of the flames. This is Assassin's Creed: Shadows – part exciting ninja game, part history lesson. It's an odd combination but it comes together in a sprawling historical-fiction adventure full of discovery and deception. The tumultuous period that saw the unification of Japan and the fall of Nobunaga in the late 1500s is an ideal setting in which to play around as a sneaky shinobi and a brave samurai. The series' science-fictiony framing device is that you, the player, are diving into your ancestor's memories to hunt down a mysterious artefact by taking down a group of menacing masked samurai, one at a time. But mostly the game leaves you alone to enjoy feudal Japan. In this fraught time period, there is a sense of constant danger, each conversation like careful steps on a knife's edge. The story is complete fiction of course, but it does weave around actual historical events and figures, and the developers at Ubisoft have clearly gone to great pains to make the settings feel authentic, both landscapes and the people who inhabit them. You'll automatically remove your shoes when entering a building, and famous temples appear as they would have looked then, rather than as the tourist destinations they are now. The world truly is gorgeous, with several provinces to explore in all seasons and weathers, and period-accurate cities including Kyoto and Osaka. Giant temples rise up over busy towns full of stalls and workshops, while mossy shrines are scattered along winding paths through the countryside. You'll see Japan in all colours, too, from the gentle pinks of spring's sakura blooms, to the fiery-coloured leaves blanketing the hills in autumn, to the inky darkness of a winter's night. It's easy to be distracted by the view mid-mission when you're surrounded by ancient red torii gates, or notice a random puppet performance in the street. Ubisoft's Japan feels alive. It also feels totally overwhelming, at times. As much fun as it is to roam the countryside on horseback, scouting out new villages and historic sites, there's just so much of it that it's easy to feel lost. There are plenty of missions and side quests that will guide you around the map, but there's a lot of repetition in those tasks. To kill a high-level samurai you will need some help; the person who can help you wants a favour, which involves finding another person who wants you to kill a different samurai, and so on. Over the game's long run time, this starts to grate. The dual protagonists do help to alleviate the feeling that you're stuck in a repetitive loop. For the first 10 to 15 hours of the game, you'll step into the sandals of shinobi Fujibayashi Naoe, a young woman seeking revenge after her home was destroyed, and help her to rebuild her life and set up a network of spies and rebels from a secret mountain base. Then there's Yasuke, a principled black samurai based on the real historical figure of the same name, who appears briefly in the game's introduction, then disappears until Naoe gets close to Nobunaga. Naoe is light on her feet, capable of scaling walls and temples with ease, while also melting into shadows to creep around enemies. Her stealthy approach makes for some fun sneaky moments, such as stabbing through paper shoji screen-doors for a surprise attack. That tip-toe approach comes at a cost, though, when she's faced with a brawl. Enemy strikes hit her hard and she'll quickly get overpowered in a fight. Yasuke, on the other hand, is brutally strong, and capable of running straight through those screen doors and shrugging off sword strikes like they're a tickly irritant. He can still assassinate foes like Naoe can, but he does it head-on rather than in the shadows. In a series that has traditionally prioritised stealth, it feels extremely liberating when you bust through a castle's gate and face everyone head on. Both characters are viable options to play through most of the game and you can swap between them (mostly) at will. Unfortunately, no matter whom you play as, you'll have to put up with a few niggles in a fight. While dodges and parries feel amazing when you can pull them off in one-on-one scraps, you'll often find yourself surrounded as more opponents are alerted to your presence, which makes it really tricky to see where hits are coming from. When you're creeping around castle rooftops and taking your time picking enemies off, springing backwards into the shadows afterwards before scoping out your next kill, everything feels as it should. But the instant you get into a fight on the ground it starts to feel messy and frustrating. While I did find myself getting annoyed running back and forth between quest givers, I still can't stop thinking about Shadows. Excellent performances and emotionally resonant moments, such as Naoe's painful recovery after she loses everything she holds dear, mean you'll feel every bit of sorrow and anger alongside the game's heroes. Events are often troubling, as power struggles between lords often come at a huge cost to locals, and you see the unwelcome effects of your actions on your allies. Few other games have done such a good job with this setting, as you run through lush bamboo forests before scaling ancient castle walls and sneaking inside to steal treasures. These moments of brilliance more than compensate for its weaker points. Assassin's Creed: Shadows is released on 20 March; £59.99
