(ThyBlackMan.com) Pieces of info on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla trickle out as the weeks pass. However, there’s a lot of information on the game at the moment. Some older features such as social stealth is coming back, there’s new features being implemented that could be used in future games.
Also, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla allows for a male or female main character and customization options. This is different from previous games where most of the time it was a male main character and customization mainly meant new armor skins. Is Ubisoft late to the party on this? Very. Is it welcome anyway? Very.
Just like Grand Theft Auto and discussions of where the next one will take place, Assassin’s Creed has always had that issue of what time period the next one will be set. Once it was revealed that it would be during the Viking Expansion with parts of England and Norway being the setting, Ubisoft made sure to note that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla wouldn’t be as lengthy or vast as Origins.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Doesn’t Need To Be Beefy
Luckily, there hasn’t been a wave of grumbling about Ubisoft not making the upcoming title as big in scale as Origins. It should be a sizable world, yes. That’s what Ubisoft came to the dance with back in 2007.
Ubisoft’s game worlds have gotten larger and larger with each game. Looking back at the late 12th century Holy Land setting of the first game and the Renaissance Era Italy of the second, for the time those game were pretty damn massive. Even the worlds of non-Ubisoft games such as Fallout 3 and Oblivion are sizable. The other thing is that there usually a ton of land or sea to transverse before people start using fast travel.
Players applauded Assassin’s Creed Black Flag for its wide-open world when in reality, the game world just had a ton of sea and chains of islands (the Caribbean). At the time, peeps were talking about how vast it was as if players have to spend hours upon hours traveling from different points. Again, most of us if not all used fast travel at the drop of a tricorne hat.
What’s important is what you get to do in that open world. Is there a ton of things for you to do? Do you have to manage anything? Are you going to have to do resource gathering? That’s why AC III and Black Flag actually worked, you didn’t just rip and run through this big world, your character was a part of it.
They had a hand in altering it. With activities and adventures, that open game world isn’t really lively which means that it doesn’t matter how large it is.
The Game Length Is A Different Story
Now, in 2020 we’ve come to expect games to be lengthy. Actually, this was expected in 2005 but whatever. If we’re going to be paying for DLC and whatnot then the base game needs length. It can be a brief little playthrough. The story itself doesn’t need to be an epic but you’re going to need a ton of stuff to keep busy.
From what has been announced so far, it looks as though Ubisoft has this covered and will have some surprises in store. Plus, it’s taking a more RPG approach while scaling back the reliance on the leveling system. Who knows, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla might end up being the perfect mix between Black Flag and Origins. Especially since Ubisoft is bring back the base building element from ACIII and Black Flag.
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.