Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is shaping up to be a very complete game, at the same time moving further and further away from what the Assassin’s Creed license was in its early days, for better or for worse.
During our last game session on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, we discovered a gameplay close to a Dark Souls, with difficult bosses and gameplay that left no room for error at the same time that we appreciated the immersion of the Viking invasion on the English coast in the 9th century. For this new session of several hours, Ubisoft allowed us explore a new region, namely Ledecestrescire to follow the main story of the game but also of discover for the first time the management of our camp, a new mechanic that Ubisoft Montreal presented as central in this new opus.
Operation seduction
In its main frame, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla seems to follow a fairly simple structure. Our clan fled their ancestral lands to settle in England and make a new, more peaceful start. To do so, we will have to forge alliances with each region to be on good terms with everyone, which is not necessarily easy as an invader. The last time, we had followed the plot in the region of East Anglia, this time we went to Ledecestrescire, to help the descendants of Ragnar Lodbrok already well known to those who watch the series Vikings: Ubba and Ivarr in their mission to overthrow the ruler of the region and install a more sympathetic king to their cause on the throne.
If the purpose remains the same for these two regions, the means to achieve it will necessarily be very different from a script point of view. Unfortunately, if this new demo session allows us to see classic but effective script structures, which we hope will not be too redundant from one region to another, we still do not know what awaits us on the global story and its connection to the rest of the Assassin’s Creed license mythology. A building in our camp bears the initials of the assassins but we will have to wait for the final game to really discover the common thread which goes beyond the diplomatic and warlike missions of each region of England.
A more organic open world
On the gameplay side, we had already talked a lot about the combat system during our previous demo but we were able to test a lot of new activities, between a mini dice game very nice, the famous rap battles that had spilled so much ink on their announcements, the Cairn construction (those little folkloric heaps of stone found on high points), but also hallucinations after eating mushrooms. We even had time to wander around the map to test various secondary activities, such as the destruction of relics or exploration of Roman ruins. In short, when we add to that the raids, animus puzzles, legendary animals and enemies as well as glyphs that we had already been able to test, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla promises to be rich and varied.
Especially than climb on top of an iconic observation point will no longer reveal the activities to be done in the area but will be content to display small luminous dots on our map and it will be up to us to physically go to the point to find out what it is. A choice clearly influenced by the passages of BotW and RDR2 and the new open world standard to let the player explore and experience things on their own rather than showing everything to him directly, as if it were a todo list to do to get 100%. We will still be entitled to a progress bar of its secondary objectives for each region to know where we are.
Village life
The last big piece we were able to dwell on was our camp. Organized around the great hall, we will be able to develop different buildings, from the blacksmith to the cartographer and the baker, the fisherman, stalls and a lot of other things. Our camp will gradually turn into a village at each level of development past and become a living space where you can play dice, improve your equipment, shop, organize feasts with your clan, customize and unlock new decorative elements to be placed all over the camp. In short, a management aspect that reminds us of the Ezio saga and that gives us pleasure. However, we regret that everything is not centralized in one place and we will have to move in front of each building to improve it and find our way around with your crow to see what still needs to evolve.
More RPG, less AC
Since Origins, the Assassin’s Creed license has taken a sharper RPG turn with its open world formula. For some it is a natural evolution, for others Ubisoft denies the roots of what Assassin’s Creed is. It prevents that if he may not be an excellent AC, Valhalla promises to be an excellent open world, better thought out and very rich. If the RPG side remains very present between the skill tree and the abilities, we appreciated during our session the fact that we spend a LOT less time in our inventory since Ubisoft Montreal has calmed down a bit regarding the loot which forced us to constantly go into its inventory to equip a better weapon or armor. See you on November 10 to see if Valhalla will be a good Assassin’s Creed.
