March's Most Exciting PS5 Game Is Skipping One Country Entirely

25.02.2024 - 14:41 / screenrant.com / Ben Brosofsky

is one of the biggest upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusives, but the game is going to be skipping one major market completely. Developed by Team Ninja, the studio behind action hits like, , and, successor to the latter is an open-world historical adventure taking place during a time of major upheaval in 19th century Japan. This setting could prove interesting to many potential fans, but it also treads on some ground that seems like a likely cause for the major exception in its worldwide release.

Wrangling complex history and politics in the scope of a video game can often be a challenge, as accuracy and nuance isn't always as much of a priority as entertainment value. The disclaimer at the front of games is a particularly famous example of this, establishing that no offense is intended by the pulpy elements that decorate its depictions of diverse cultures and religions. Although doesn't seem to have as much of an emphasis on remixing history, it does touch on some elements that could be very sensitive if handled poorly.

Although gaming is a big industry in South Korea, a release isn't going to happen in the region, a decision that Sony confirmed in response to an inquiry from . Reportedly, this might be a decision that was made due to controversy rather than the initial release plan, although there's no hard confirmation of this perspective. Sony's official stance on the matter is that the game ," which doesn't directly address whether the company had plans for release internally.

A behind-the-scenes video about, available on the PlayStation Japan YouTube channel, offers some inadvertent insight into one possible explanation for the game's lack of a planned release in South Korea. In the video, game director Fumuhiko Yasuda speaks briefly about the historical figure Yoshida Shōin, who he compares to Socrates in the influence that his teachings had on a number of acolytes.

To South Koreans, however, Yoshida Shōin's influence is more likely to be viewed in a significantly negative light, and this difference in perspective could be the key to Sony's choice in distribution.

It makes sense that would touch on Yoshida Shōin's teachings, as his influence in the Bakumatsu period of the game's setting and the subsequent Meiji Restoration is hard to deny. Yoshida was heavily interested in the idea of strengthening Japan by examining and incorporating Western developments and firmly believed in the Emperor as the ultimate, rightful symbol of power. Over the course of his life, his feelings about the government of the time became increasingly negative, and he was ultimately executed for an assassination plot against an official.

Despite his interest in incorporating Western ideas and technology to adapt, which even