Longevity is a key factor in games like Assassin’s Creed. Recent action-orientated games have boasted a broad horizon of gameplay styles and features in order to vastly extend the time the users spend on the gamer itself. Take a look at the previous Assassin’s Creed game, for example, Odyssey boasted around 100 hours of gameplay time largely due to the number of side quests available. Valhalla, it seems, has chosen a different route.
Instead of focusing on side-quests, Valhalla will lean heavily on ‘world events’ happening around the player. Narrative director Darby McDevitt, in a recent interview with GameSpot, stated that side quests were now “almost nonexistent.” The reasoning behind this was due to the fact the main storyline missions are now much longer and will take a lot more time to complete. These world events will be interwoven around the main quest line to give the game a more realistic feel, rather than relying on you hunting down people so they can give you a side quest to complete.
The idea isn’t exactly a bad one from my perspective. Side quests can become a bit laborious at times, especially the ones where you are just constantly fetching items as opposed to doing something meaningful for the development of the game. Having these world events possibly tying in with what is going on around you may make the events feel a lot more fluid and relevant – rather than just randomly being placed during major plot lines. Can you imaging being asked to fetch some crafting materials in the middle of pillaging a settlement? Does not sound realistic at all.
The reasoning behind having the world events kind of makes sense in the wider picture. Eivor and his/her clan have just arrived in England and are ransacking the place – killing hundreds of people and setting most places on fire. Why would there be so many people already there who are asking for quests to benefit them when they have only just arrived? At least the world events can stick around the narrative and make the flow of the game seem a bit more hospitable and real to how life events would actually be.
Darby McDevitt also revealed some of the romantic elements that will be present in the game. Players have the choice of participating in ‘one night stands’ or pursue multiple romances at once. As well as the randy options, the choices you have for making a long-lasting and meaningful relationship with your chosen partner has also been expanded.
McDevitt stated that:
“There are definitely a couple of one-night-stands you can get involved in and they’re fun in their own ways but there’s also going to be some longer-term relationship. A little of both. If you want to be monogamous and have a single, ongoing relationship with somebody, you can do that.”
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will release November 17 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. It will also launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X but the release date is yet to be confirmed. Players who purchase the game for Xbox One and PS4 will be able to upgrade to the next-gen version for free.
Featured Image Credit [Ubisoft]