Part 4/10:
This Japanese approval has complicated certain narratives prevalent in Western media, especially among critics and commentators seeking to criticize the game on social justice or cultural appropriation grounds. Ryan suggests that some Western critics are upset because the Japanese reception counters their narrative that the game might be problematic or offensive. The argument, he notes, is that if even the Japanese see the game positively—and love its authentic depiction of 13th-century Japan—then critics claiming cultural insensitivity are less credible.