Outside of fast travel, your ship was the best way of getting about and navigating the map in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. You could always rely on the vessel to get you somewhere quickly out on the open seas, and naturally, the mode of transport returns in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. However, this time around, it doesn't sound like you'll be engaging in naval combat. It's more about getting to and from battles than sinking ships in the moment -- exemplified by your settlement situated back in Norway which eventually moves to England. Protagonist Eivor returns to them time and time again.
Based on an interview with lead producer Julien Laferrière, Eurogamer comes to the conclusion that Assassin's Creed Valhalla won't place an emphasis on naval combat. "There's no sitting and firing cannons at other boats - Vikings just didn't do that. Instead, your longships act as your fastest means of travel through the English countryside, along waterways which were the main roads of the era." Instead, you'll use longboats to quickly reach and raid English forts before making a speedy getaway.
It's also how you make it back home to your settlement. Laferrière describes it as a homestead you'll want to return to time and time again to see it prosper and grow with time. "It's at the centre of our quests and the centre of the decisions you make. We want players to see the consequences of their actions." Eurogamer mentions that weddings will take place, relationships will be forged between clans, and new buildings will begin to take shape the more you play. That includes a barracks, blacksmith, and a tattoo parlour.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 27
I'm probably in the minority on this, but I'm glad there's less naval combat. It was new and neat in AC 3 and fantastic Black Flag but it started to feel repetitive over the course of the other games.
@Deadlyblack I agree with you. It made Black Flag unplayable for me. It was much better in Odyssey, but I would have rather done without.
@Deadlyblack the only games naval combat have been in are 3, 4 and Odyssey so I don't get the complaint, feel like it adds a different element to the series
I also hate naval fighting. Survived it in Black Flag, scratched my teeth in Rogue and in Origins it started to be disturbing.
@theMEGAniggle Naval combat was also available in AC Rogue and AC Origins.
@theMEGAniggle. People complain about everything these days.i play assasin creed black flag and i enjoy the naval battle.word up son
I'm excited for this. I love the naval combat, but I don't mind if it's less of a focus for this game, I'm sure it'll be a bigger focus on a later game.
Surprising that a game about Vikings is when they choose to scale it back though.
While it was fun in Black Flag, naval combat just got old quickly. Also riding up on a fort as a viking and taking it sounds awesome.
Makes sense. Vikings weren't big on naval warfare, Longships were built for speed not battle. Glad it won't be shoehorned in because video games.
I hope when you upgrade the settlement it actually has a huge visual change to it. Been playing Red Dead 2 and that settlement is a joke, can hardly tell what changed when you bought the upgrades for it.
It sounds like how you update the HQ in The Division. Bring in enough trinkets, get the option to upgrade...but which "station" to upgrade???
Sounds a bit like Ys VIII to me!
'exemplified by your settlement situated back in Norway that protagonist Eivor returns to time and time again'
Are you sure?
I thought Norway was just at the beginning and your settlement was in Britain?
'Yesterday's artwork strongly hinted at Valhalla's focus on Britain - something made clearer by today's trailer - and this is where Eivor's new home will be founded'
I liked the naval battles but cutting back on them gives more time to swing axe and get tats.
No naval because their pirate game is finally coming soon?
@Neolit I'd agree. I played odyssey over the free weekend and enjoyed it, but nothing jumped out at me so much to buy it. The last in the series I played properly was 3, and I really liked it. Things have changed a lot, since then, but it all seems a bit derivative or generic, but I can also see how it would have gotten stale if they hadn't mixed it up a bit.
Upgradable settlement ? Is this just gonna be buy blacksmiths ? Buy bank ? Buy tailor or Viking themed versions of ? Something tells me it will be
I won't be getting this game I lost interest after Black Flag which I never finished, at first AC3 completely killed off the franchise for me personally I couldn't stand Conor the idea of Indian era assassins sounded cool but they seriously mad it bland and boring.
My girlfriend got me Black Flag for my birthday when it came out as she didn't know I gave up on the franchise and it brought me back and I will finish it. I was half way through on PS3 but Syndicate and Origins looked like it went downhill and didn't bring anything new for me so that was it I haven't touched a AC game since.
AC2, Brotherhood and Revelations was the pinicle of the franchise for me
Definitely a day one purchase. The previous Creed games, I just couldn’t get into. My ex girlfriend who was mad on it, lent me them. But they didn’t interest me whatsoever. But since Origins & Odyssey, i can’t get enough of it. I throughly enjoyed them both & cannot wait for Valhalla. Incidentally, my ex girlfriend absolutely hates Origins & Odyssey. But for me especially Odyssey, the amount of hours that I sunk into that game just running around exploring, I would say this gen, that had been my most enjoyable game that I’ve played. Along with the season pass-it adds an insane amount of content to an already massive game.So building your own settlement etc, hopefully a bigger map then Odyssey-man I’m absolutely buzzing for this game. Also it’s about vikings👍🏻
@Neolit The underlying story has always been a big focus for me. I loved Ezio’s adventure and I really enjoyed Bayek’s as well. I really get into revenge tales and it’s an easy setup without trying too hard. I put in close to 30+ hours into Odyssey mixed with both characters and I just couldn’t get into it. I could not care about anyone in it, so it was one of the few ACs I did not beat. I’ve gotten to the point to where I wish they would just drop the future stuff just because it’s always the worst part of the game. You don’t need the future stuff to tell this story and it still could be an Assassins Creed game.
@Deadlyblack you are not alone on this. I simply hated the naval combat and it actually made me dump the series totally. But no naval combat this time sounds great and as a danish guy i simply HAVE to play as a Viking😁
@Neolit Future parts all cinematic would be fine and probably speed up the process. I enjoyed some of Desmonds back in the day, I believe there was a skyscraper scene but my enjoyment of the future sections has died way down due to that they are so scatter brained now.
@JJ2 it has been said by one of the devs that you can visit norway whenever you want via the boat,but most of the story takes place in england.
most likely norway has some sidequests.
@jdv95
That would be cool. The article was edited though since it's true your settlement is in Britain and not in Norway as initially posted..
I do hope you can go back to Norway yes
Cool, I'd probably say that Odyssey was not too big a game if you could just fast travel to islands and skip being a sailor.
Don't get me wrong, I think the combat and sailing was pretty well done, arcade-e and forgiving, but there were a lot of hours pursuing a huge chunk of the game that had little to no bearing on the story or ground skills progression.
I hope the writing is up to par as this will just be a reskin of the last one but with vikings and the gameplay will probably be 99% the same so it'll all hang on the story.
Naval combat seemed interesting but I'm sure it would piss me off. So I'm glad they lessened it.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...