Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla announcement was met with plenty of hype from franchise fans, but some also worried the series could be headed further from its stealth and historical sci-fi roots. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s RPG elements seem to continue a trend set by Assassin’s Creed Origins, driving the games deeper into full action-roleplaying territory, and some fans aren’t happy.
The full Assassin’s Creed Valhalla reveal came after months of rumors about a so-called “Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok,” until an early 2020 report confirmed that wasn’t the next Assassin’s Creed’s name and that many of the supposed leaks were untrue. Ubisoft first teased Valhalla in an in-game The Division 2 poster in 2019, then released an official teaser via hours of BossLogic illustration shortly before the full announcement.
Story and gameplay details about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla revealed it’s set in 9th century England, with players taking control of a viking named Eivor. Players can customize their character to their liking, including gender, tattoo, and hair options, and choice seems to play a bigger role than ever. Player decisions will affect not only the story but the growth of Valhalla’s viking settlement, which serves as a kind of hub for players between other activities. Additionally, combat will be more “visceral” than the series has seen so far, with brutal viking raids and “action-packed” battles.
How Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s RPG Mechanics Could Hurt Its Stealth
Nowhere on the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla store page is stealth mentioned, while elements like “Advanced RPG mechanics,” “Dual-wield[ing] powerful weapons,” and “deep [settlement] customization” get top billing. The series began as a parkour-heavy, action-stealth game, but Origins and Odyssey brought it away from its conventions into a numbers-focused RPG franchise. Previous Assassin’s Creed games’ signature Hidden Blade – not seen in Origins or Odyssey – appeared in the Valhalla reveal trailer, signaling a return of old-school AC gameplay. But other than a possible Rope Dart on Eivor’s belt (via Reddit) and a supposed January 2020 leak claiming there would be a complex stealth system (which was likely included in the aforementioned report dismissing leaks), everything seen so far implies the weapon is little more than a callback.
Critics have been generally happy with the series’ new direction, earning Origins and Odyssey Metacritic scores in the 80s, but fans are more mixed. Those like Reddit user Sorstalas dislike the newer titles’ reliance on level-gating, where the same enemy type can be very difficult to beat – if not completely invulnerable – based on an arbitrary number increase in particular map zones. But the main issue with the RPG games is the way they’ve approached stealth. As user torrentialsnow said shortly before Valhalla’s reveal, the new games only allow players to play as “a warrior that can do assassin things,” rather than an actual assassin. Guaranteed, one-hit assassinations were removed, and freerunning was de-emphasized. Fans particularly want “social stealth” mechanics back, where players could hide among groups of NPCs to sneak past guards and avoid detection.
The Assassin’s Creed Valhalla trailer’s lack of dense city environments, parkour, or sneaking of any kind doesn’t bode well for stealth-minded fans. Odyssey and Origins were, by most accounts, great games on their own, but the removal of many of the series’ initial draws makes one wonder why they’re called Assassin’s Creed games at all. So far, the same could be said for Valhalla, and yet there’s still time for Ubisoft to ease fans’ worries.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is set to launch sometime in the 2020 holiday season.
