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Julius

Assassin's Creed Valhalla (10th November 2020)

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After a stream today which depicted some of the design of the box art, we finally have confirmation that the premiere of the game we've heard rumours about for quite some time now is on its way tomorrow. 

Time for the next gen announcements to begin! Even if this will probably be cross-gen :p

UPDATE - 30/04/20:

Holiday 2020, cross-gen confirmed. 

 

Edited by Julius
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Shield wall at the ready arselings! (I'm watching Last Kingdom so I'm ready for this)

The rumours and leaks have had me excited for this for awhile and now to have it pretty much confirmed has me even more hyped for the game especially as I love the time period, particularly in relation to some of the history of Scotland and how things like the Icelandic Sagas suggesting that those who went to Scotland did so at their own peril or their interactions with the Picts.

I'm hoping for a bigger emphasis on conquest battles (plenty of shield wall bracing and breaching) and plenty of raiding of monasteries and burning villages to the ground here. And hopefully it'll strike that fine balance between being historical but incorporating elements of the mythos of the time period without going over the top with it (and I'm meaning like having a giant world eating snake or giant wolves swallowing the sun and moon). Its a time period ripe for the picking and especially if the leaks are true, focusing on the invasion of Britain and Paris could be very interesting.

In many ways, it's a setting that could easily have not been an Assassin's Creed game and could've been its own thing but I get why they want to keep things under intellectual property banners as it helps boast sales.

Still, looking forward to the trailer tomorrow and from the sounds of it, we'll probably only have to wait another couple of weeks at most before we see some gameplay (some are suggesting Microsoft will have a direct style event soon to showcase next gen games). Definitely going to be a cross gen game, I'd be shocked if it wasn't.

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Nifty idea for a reveal, I kept tuning in as the day went on. Of course you had idiots talking about how boring it was, as if Ubisoft expected them to sit there for 9 hours.

I'm hoping the map won't be THE BIGGEST OPENWORLD MAP THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN!!1!1! and the game is generally less bloated than recent entries. Also get rid of the bird, it's such a dull gameplay loop having to fly around places before every mission.

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Damn, 15 studios worked together on this game. 

Apparently "only" 7 studios worked together on Odyssey. 

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1 hour ago, Ganepark32 said:

In many ways, it's a setting that could easily have not been an Assassin's Creed game and could've been its own thing but I get why they want to keep things under intellectual property banners as it helps boast sales.

I felt the same about both Origins and Odyssey. Whilst I enjoyed them both, neither of them really felt like Assassin's Creed games. Even less so after playing through the Ezio Collection over the past year.

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5 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I felt the same about both Origins and Odyssey. Whilst I enjoyed them both, neither of them really felt like Assassin's Creed games. Even less so after playing through the Ezio Collection over the past year.

I think that's a good thing. And that they should go further. Remove stealth and remove the Animus. Make the gameplay and story fit the era and location.

Anyway, I know I will enjoy this game. Super excited for this.

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I haven't played an Assassin's creed since the London one and getting bored of it - are they better? the Greek one did look really interesting.

Love the viking setting, so i have high hopes 

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7 minutes ago, Agent Gibbs said:

I haven't played an Assassin's creed since the London one and getting bored of it - are they better? the Greek one did look really interesting.

Love the viking setting, so i have high hopes 

The series is much different than what it used to be. The recent games play more like open world RPGs than stealth games.

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Enjoy the CG trailer:

Cross-gen unsurprisingly confirmed at the end there, along with Holiday 2020. Guess we'll see more in June or during the Series X reveal, whichever comes first? 

Edited by Julius
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Although just a CG video so far it does look superb. Loving the Viking setting.

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Was expecting cross-gen, loving the setting this time around.  Most likely will get this on PS5.

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Pretty cool. I hope PS5 has a similar feature but I'm not optimistic. ::shrug:

EW3KwSEX0AE8d2X?format=jpg&name=medium

Edited by Ronnie
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Game Informer have an interview up about Valhalla. In summary:

Quote

- Eivor (the main character) is pronounced “Ā-vōr.”

- You can choose whether your Eivor is male or female.

- Customization options let you change Eivor’s hair, clothing, war paint, and more.

- The game takes place in Norway and England.

- England has three major cities to visit: London, Winchester, and Jórvík.

- You can dual-wield almost any combination of weapons.

- Every piece of gear is unique.

- Gear can be upgraded and customized, and you can use the same equipment from beginning to end if you want to.

- You earn new abilities through a system mechanically similar to a skill tree.

- What you can accomplish is more about gear and skills, not character levels.

- Words the team have used to describe combat include “brutal,” “crunchy,” and “weighty.”

- The team is putting extra effort toward enemy variety to keep encounters surprising.

- You have a longship you use to go on raids.

- Your longship has a crew, including warriors you can customize.

- Assaults are big setpiece moments. They are different from raids, and involve attacks on large fortifications.

- You build a settlement that serves as your base.

- Your clan and others you recruit live in your settlement.

- Hidden Ones and Order of Ancients (a.k.a. Assassins and Templars) are in the game.

- At some point, Eivor meets Assassins, works alongside them, and uses a hidden blade.

- King Aelfred of Wessex (later known as Alfred the Great) is an antagonistic figure.

- Layla’s story in the present day continues.

- Ubisoft Montreal is leading development on Valhalla. The studio’s last two Assassin’s Creed games were Origins and Black Flag.

- Twelve other Ubisoft Studios are supporting Valhalla’s development, along with external partner Sperasoft.

- Valhalla is a cross-gen game, coming to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X alongside currently available platforms.

- The game will release during the 2020 holiday season.

 

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16 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Pretty cool. I hope PS5 has a similar feature but I'm not optimistic. ::shrug:

EW3KwSEX0AE8d2X?format=jpg&name=medium

Nintendo take note! 😂

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Pretty cool. I hope PS5 has a similar feature but I'm not optimistic. ::shrug:EW3KwSEX0AE8d2X?format=jpg&name=medium 

 

I reckon they will, but time will tell! 

Reason being, PS4 games are compatible with PS5, so I can't see people going out to buy it again on PS5 (once they get a PS5) since they could just pop their PS4 disc in instead. It would be an easy PR win anyhow.

 

When you think about it, all games are installed to the hard drive anyway. So if you installed the PS4 disc version onto the PS5, surely it could then just pull a patch that releases the limits on things like FPS and resolution, bringing it in line with the PS5 version? In fact the more I type about it, it makes so little sense for it to not be a buy once deal.

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Ubisoft already taking about DLC...

Always find it weird when DLC is announced so far in advance, but hey, if it works ::shrug:

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Started playing Odyssey a few days ago, the loading times are extremely long! It'll be interesting to see comparisons between Valhalla running on current gen and next gen consoles, instant loading would be very appealing.

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Official release date, which had been leaked alongside everything else for the game prior to Ubisoft Forward yesterday, confirmed to be November 17th for PS4, Xbox One, PC and Stadia with next gen coming when the consoles launch (which looks like they'll be around that date anyway).

New gameplay overview trailer:

And 30 minutes of gameplay (for those who didn't see the leaked version):

Very much liking what I see. A few saying it looks a bit stiff/rough in terms of combat and animations but then even Odyssey looked and felt a bit stiff and rough in both those departments as well. Could just be things haven't been finalised but I'd imagine it'll still feel a little rough around the edges like most of the recent AC games have felt when it comes to combat.

Its also confirmed that purchasing the PS4 version will net you a free upgrade to the PS5 version when that launches. It had only been confirmed for XSX with Smart Delivery but nice to have a solid confirmation of that on the PlayStation side now.

I'll be picking it up as I love the idea of the setting and such. Probably pick up the PS4 version because given the proximity to suspected PS5 release, I can hold the game back and just play it straight off of the PS5 if I manage to wrangle one on launch day. Game will be cheaper getting it on the PS4 with the free upgrade to next gen so it seems a no brainer to that for this and for things like Watch Dogs Legion.

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Yep, this is Microsoft making sure there's something new to play on the consoles at launch.

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I think it's more likely that Ubisoft are taking advantage and setting up Assassin's Creed as being the main game to get with the console.

I think it would send the wrong message for Microsoft that the only big new game isn't part of Game Pass.

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I think it's more likely that Ubisoft are taking advantage and setting up Assassin's Creed as being the main game to get with the console. I think it would send the wrong message for Microsoft that the only big new game isn't part of Game Pass.
I think it's likely Microsoft have had a hand in it. All the AC Valhalla promotion/reveals so far suggests a loose affiliation with Microsoft, similar to what Destiny have with Sony (including advertising the two Xbox versions first in that image, and promoting Xbox's upgrade path). All this stuff looks to have been already in place.

 

After the Halo Infinite delay I suspect Microsoft have had talks to try and get new games ready for their system at launch, because otherwise they have nothing. Pulling a game release forward with so little time to go can't have been any easy thing.

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New deep dive trailer out for the game:

Gameplay previews also going out as well, with sites having gone hands on with it for several hours. From my cursory glance, it seems hands in impressions are generally positive. Not that I need convincing as that deep dive and the viking aesthetic have sold me. It looks great and I can't wait to go raiding when my PS5 arrives.

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Post launch expansions announced earlier today for this:

The first, releasing in Spring 2021, is set in Ireland and centred around a druidic cult and will explore Celtic mythology a bit more.

The second, releasing in Summer 2021, is centred around the Siege of Paris in 885AD (not the siege that was supposedly led by the fabled Ragnar Lothbrok (though its still debated whether he existed or not) which took place in 845AD). Not sure if there will be a full scale battle of Paris but given they've shown larger scale raids, it must be on the cards to some degree, even if the siege its based on was a year long siege and it just a single battle.

Very excited for both. Probably just pick up the season pass down the line but getting to go to Ireland and experience Celtic culture will be great (I do think that there should be more games that explore that mythology). Shame its not going to touch Scotland but I suspect there'll be a some nods here and there about it, like how The Last Kingdom did in one season where two Viking brothers went to raid in Scotland, got laughed at for the thought of doing it and laughed at again when they came back with half their men and no plunder. Would've been cool to see the Picts/Scots in there but just happy to see some Celtic representation.

The Siege of Paris has me excited a lot though. As I say, if they incorporate a full scale siege battle in there then its already won in my eyes. I suspect there'll be a lot of stealth and "nightwalker" moments within the city but could be good and adds another large area to the world along with Ireland.

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