Summary
2020’sAssassin’s Creed Valhallaoffered a truly massive overall experience to fans, with the game taking players across Norway, Britain, Ireland, France, North America, and even Asgard throughout its main story and expansions. Even with a concerted focus on only the main storyline, it takes roughly 100 hours to beat the title, giving evidence of just how expansive the release is.
This wide range of content inAssassin’s Creed Valhallapredictably led to a lot of bold decisions within the game, adding to the existing controversy of the title adopting the new RPG open-world framework of the wider franchise. In particular,Valhallaproudly chose to do things differently with its protagonist and how they interact with other figures from the IP, being a risk that ended up being a very smart move forAssassin’s Creedas a whole.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Focused on Bringing Franchise Characters Together
Assassin’s Creed Valhallahad Eivor as its main character, who has gone on to become a fan-favoriteAssassin’s Creedprotagonist. There are already a lot of unique elements surrounding Eivor’s character, being the first protagonist to have the option of appearing as male or female, withOdyssey’s Alexios and Kassandra technically being two different people.
Given the size ofValhalla’s campaign, a lot of pressure was on Eivor to deliver in such an important role, but the courageous Viking did more than enough to win fans over. The love for Eivor’s story was clearly recognized by Ubisoft in the post-launch period ofAssassin’s Creed Valhalla, with the game receiving a plethora ofstory DLCs that push Eivor’s arc even further.
Interestingly, many of these expansions forValhallaseeEivor directly interacting with characters from otherACtitles, with this being a huge deviation from the franchise’s norm. Usually,Assassin’s Creedgames are typified as being self-contained, with the characters and narratives of a title having little crossover with other games, especially outside of the modern-era storylines.
Eivor Has Direct Links to Several Other Games
While it is true that character crossovers between titles have happened before, like when Ezio discovered the skeleton of Altair,Valhalla’s Eivor takes this to a whole new level with a greater sense of interaction. Of course, the main story ofAssassin’s Creed Valhallafeatures Basim Ibn-Ishaq as a shock antagonist, with a younger Basim going on to feature as the main character of the recentAssassin’s Creed Mirage. Eivor has a deep link to Basim that transcends their human existence, with both characters having a feud via their Sage links to the Isu Gods Odin and Loki.
InValhalla’s post-launch experiences, Eivor would go on to briefly meet with Roshan, also fromMirage, as well asKassandra fromAssassin’s Creed Odyssey. This by far sets a record for the most characters from other titles that anACprotagonist has met, offering a fantastic level of narrative interconnectivity between the franchise’s most recent games.
The benefits behind this break of tradition are only amplified when considering the future of the IP, withAssassin’s Creed Infinitysetting up a live service focusfor the years ahead.Infinitywill act as an Animus hub for players to explore new gameplay experiences, showing thatAC’s future is going to be a lot less self-contained than what the franchise has historically explored. This will lead to a greater overlap of narratives and characters, andValhalla’s bold decisions are the perfect launching ground for this big change from the origins of the IP.
Not a lot is currently known about Assassin’s Creed Infinite, and the purpose of the service may be subject to change.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
WHERE TO PLAY
Raid your enemies, grow your settlement and build your political power in the next chapter of the Assassin’s Creed series. Become a legendary Viking warrior raised on tales of battle and glory. Raid your enemies, grow your settlement, and build your political power in the quest to earn a place among the gods in Valhalla. Advanced RPG mechanics allow you to shape the growth of your character and influence the world around you. With every choice you make, from political alliances and combat strategy to dialogue and gear progression, you will carve your own path to glory. Construct and upgrade buildings that allow for deep customization, including a barracks, blacksmith, tattoo parlor and more. Recruit new members to your clan and personalise your Viking experience.
