Assassin's Creed: Valhalla - Everything We Know So Far

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, revealed through an 8-hour long livestream, is now officially related to the Vikings. The concept art indicates a few more potential details too. We’ll get into that and the trailer. First, we will look at some other Assassin’s Creed games like AC4, Origins, Odyssey, etc. and draw out features that should return.

Whether you’re an Assassin’s Creed purist hoping for the re-emergence of the old-school classic Assassin’s Creed experience or the futurist ready to take the leap of faith with the new direction; this article is for you.

Assassin’s Creed’s Older Titles

The last two games, AC: Origins and AC: Odyssey, were fundamental shifts in gameplay for the series. Origins, the first of the two, marked the beginning of Assassin’s Creed from Action/Adventure to Role Playing Game. This new approach allowed for better variety in combat but also an active role in shaping your story. For example, in AC: Odyssey players could either play as Alexios or Kassandra, had dialogue options, and certain choices to make that would shape their Odyssey. Who doesn’t want that? From a gameplay standpoint, this style is working well and needs to be there in Valhalla.

Origins and Odyssey both had some great boss battles and interactions with mythological entities such as Anubis, Poseidon, Sphinx, etc. What’s better than meeting real historical people in a video game? Well, of course, meeting the Gods themselves. Imagine being worthy of Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, in the game Valhalla. Imagine a dialogue with the Norse God of Knowledge, Odin himself. Ubisoft can surely deliver well on this!

The Vikings were known for their travels across the seas and raids on other European regions. Just like AC4: Black Flag and Odyssey, Valhalla too could have naval combat and exploration. The sea battles in Assassin’s Creed are truly unrivaled and having them in Valhalla makes complete sense.

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla Concept Art

It shows a Viking warrior standing in-between two locations. He is most probably the main lead. To his right, an eagle soars above a legion of boats at night with nothing but the northern lights shining down on the seas and mountains. The eagle probably will the equivalent of Senu or Ikaros. Then, we see something different. We see the Vikings that seem to be in the middle of a raid against English soldiers possibly. They wield shields and axes and fight with a half-destroyed castle overlooking the battlefield from the hills.

Black Flag’s map was gigantic with multiple famous cities that you could revel in. With Scandinavia consisting of multiple regions and islands plus the Vikings raiding other European regions, Valhalla could go all out with the map size. Ubisoft’s world design has always been and still remains top-notch. So much so, that other developers feel relieved when Ubisoft doesn’t decide to go after the same setting they currently are. Also, the Notre-Dame incident.

We also know that the team behind AC4 and Origins is behind Valhalla, with Ashraf Ismail as the creative director. So, the critics that felt the lack of focus on Assassins in Odyssey can rest easy knowing Valhalla will be different. After AC: Unity, the series needed a refresher. Knowing that Odyssey delivered brilliantly in gameplay, setting, and everything else, Valhalla can maintain that and focus on the Assassins and Ubisoft pretty much has the perfect formula.

Though the art shows one character we still hope there’s a choice just like in Odyssey. After all, Kassandra was really one of the highlights of the entire game and one of the best female characters we’ve had in recent years.

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla Trailer

Whoa! That was something. It seems all the speculations about the naval systems, conquest battles like Odyssey, and of course the much asked for hidden blade are making a return. Perhaps the most interesting bit is with the eagle and a mysterious figure showing up mid-fight. Reminds us of Altair’s appearance in the Revelation’s trailer. Also, how does Odin fit into all this? At least mythology will surely be a part of it. The hidden blade design seems to be taken from the Darius’ one from Odyssey’s DLC.

We are surely and gladly taking a leap of faith with this one! Oh, and here are some screenshots of the game.