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Assassin's Creed Valhalla can't come soon enough, and over at GamesRadar we went berserk when we saw the first trailer. It provided a taste of what we can expect from the Viking epic later this year, and we're desperate for Ubisoft to show us more. While we wait, we got the team to tell us what they're most excited about, from Viking weaponry to character customization.
This is the latest in a series of big questions we'll be interrogating our writers with, so share your answers and suggestions for topics with us on Twitter.
Actual choice that remains yours
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey worked wonders with really letting you decide what sort of person you wanted Alexios or Kassandra to be. My Kassandra was a serial flirt, happy to help anyone that asked, but even more so if she could also get them into bed - regardless of gender, age, or political persuasion. She had a lover in every port, and was proud of it. And yet, when the DLC came along and she suddenly found herself wedded and with a young baby, it felt like my Kassandra had been rewritten. The hundreds of hours I'd spent with her as a bisexual, dual-wielding, grandma-seducing goddess had been whittled down to a same-sex, heteronormative relationship that I hadn't chosen. I understand the need for continuity, and for evolving Assassin's Creed lore, but I know I'm not alone when I say please don't make the choices you've allowed us to make just an illusion. Sam Loveridge
Norway, and lots of it!
We know that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is going to be set in Norway and England, but as the focus of the game seems to be the Viking’s beef with England, I’m worried that Norway is going to take a back seat in favor of the sunny shores of Mercia or East Anglia. In the same way, Odyssey had its tutorial on Kephalonia but never required you to return in the main storyline, I’m worried we will just see a brief glimpse of Norway before they sail for significantly less pretty shores. If that’s the case, expect me to put the main storyline on hold in favor of wandering around the fjords. Tusen takk. Ellen Causey
Customizing my Eivor so she's super scary-hot
I was absolutely obsessed with Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood - I sunk hours into finding the feathers, buying all the paintings from the Mercante D'Arte, and (with Brotherhood) playing the bizarre multiplayer. Then I played Revelations, but sparingly, as my life had shifted and spare time was sparse. I haven't touched an AC game since Black Flag, and that was only a poke. In the space between my Assassin's Creed experience, the series swelled to incorporate RPG elements, ship sailing, and, with Odyssey, the chance to play as a lady assassin.
I couldn't be more excited to get back into a series I once cherished, and to do it as a woman who I can fully customize. My Eivor will most certainly have a badass mohawk (I will be avoiding dreads, if that's possible) and as many tattoos as the game will allow, preferably across her face and down onto her neck. I want this woman to look like she'd absolutely impale you with one of them pointy horn mugs they all drank out of back then. I want her to appear on the battlefield and immediately make the Englishmen pee their pantaloons. Think Furiosa but more furious. Alyssa Mercante
I'm just looking forward to playing an Assassin's Creed game again
Don't tell anyone, but I never really *clicked* with Assassin's Creed Odyssey. I tried, by the beard of Zeus I tried, but even after playing the first few hours I just knew this overwhelmingly large RPG wasn't going to be my cup of ouzo. As a result, it's essentially been three years since I've properly dug into an Assassin's Creed game (Origins remains my favorite of the series so far), and I'm already aching to get back into its inimitable rhythms of freerunning, stabbing, and historical tourism. The concept of exploring pre-industrialized England is also very appealing, too, and what more can be said (or shouted, or screamed) about the Viking storyline that hasn't already been said? Count me in on day one. Alex Avard
Using a Viking armoury (among other things)
I am absolutely hyped for Valhalla. After marathon-ing AC 3 to Odyssey over the past year or so, I feel fully 'caught up' and informed on the series, and now fully embrace it as one of my favorites ever. As a result, there's a whole host of things I'm looking forward to, but one of the top ones is getting stuck into all the stabby, pokey, cutty, batter-y weapons of a Viking-Assassin hybrid's armory.
I was delighted to see the inclusion of throwing axes and spears in the cinematic trailer, which should make for more fun and varied ranged options than what we're used to. A cool but unconfirmed inclusion could also be a crossbow. It's debated as to whether they were actually used at that time, but I *think* I spotted crossbow bolts on the artist's illustration. Either way, crossbow or no, there's going to be a wealth of cool ways to take down the badmen, from launching an ax, dual-wielding shields to brute force your way through, or just going ballsy and dual-wielding swords and axes as a full berserker. Combine these with the Viking's different 'style' of fighting - less balletic, perhaps, than your 'usual' assassin technique - and we're in for a fun ride on the combat front. Rob Dwiar
My childhood home(s)!
I've never been a big Assassin's Creed person. Brotherhood was my favorite, I grew tired with Black Flag, and haven't played any since. So when the Valhalla discussion was at full speed, I zoned out. That was until I saw the report that the game would include London, Winchester… and York! York was my hometown, I spent 16 years there growing up, and it's very, very rarely featured in video games. In fact, Wikipedia reckons the only one is Resistance: Fall of Man, which I haven't played.
Unfortunately, the era Valhalla is set in means there won't be many iconic York landmarks. It's about 300 years before the York Minster would be erected, the Shambles won't be there for a long time, but there should be the York City Walls encircling the city center and other familiar features like the River Ouse. I lived in a number of different houses during my 16-year stint, some very close to the middle of town, so if Ubisoft has done me a solid… I'll be able to visit some of my childhood homes from over 1,000 years ago. Can't blummin' wait. Ford James
A lot of Viking folklore
Although we don’t know too much about the Vikings before they sailed their longboats over to England and did all the pillaging, the common belief is that they were what we’d call Pagans. Rather than follow one god, they believed in various rituals, gods, goddesses, and giants who all played a different role in balancing the world. The Amazon Prime show Vikings - which, it has to be said, AC Valhalla looks to be using as inspiration - touched on this but there’s so much more to really dive into it. The largely unknown status of these myths and legends would also allow Ubisoft to take them in whichever direction they choose.
I’d love to see lengthy side quests where you have to perform a number of tasks to please a certain god while learning about the role they played in Viking beliefs. Perhaps pleasing the god of love will open up future romance options but close off some others. It would certainly allow for everyone’s game to be unique depending on who they decided to pledge their allegiance to. After all, you can’t please everyone all the time. Even if they are gods. James Jarvis
A more streamlined experience
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was a billion hours long. While it was tempting to get lost in the world of Ancient Greece, it was an Olympus-sized task attempting to get it all done. Valhalla needs to go back to Origins’ roots and make the game world tighter, dense, and packed with more things to see in its moment-to-moment gameplay.
Thankfully, I have complete faith in Ubisoft to do that, especially as everything feels decidedly fresher this time around. God of War’s 2018 entry aside, Vikings haven’t been covered to within an inch of their bearded lives in games over the years. That means, much like the feeling I got when booting up the Assassin’s Creed games that stick out in my mind – 2, Brotherhood, Black Flag – there’s so much potential for discovery and diving headfirst into a period I know little about. I’m eager to find out more about the world – just as long as it doesn’t take me until Ragnarok to uncover every last rune and relic in Ye Olde England. Bradley Russell
Something to make white supremacists mad
Vikings are cool, but sadly, some of the people who are into Vikings these days are super not. White supremacists have repeatedly taken up the (historically questionable) concept of a homogenous Viking people and used their presumed bloodline as an excuse to justify their perceived superiority. That was the first thing I thought of when I heard the next Assassin's Creed game would be about Vikings - "oh no, white supremacists are gonna love this."
But then I remembered who is making Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Ubisoft is one of the biggest and proudest multicultural video game companies out there, and its stories reflect those values more often than not. My fear turned to pre-emptive schadenfreude as I imagined some white supremacist jerk (with runic tattoos that he can't read) roaring with frustration when Valhalla forces him to accept that people of color existed in the Dark Ages as valid human beings too. I'm trusting you on this one, Ubisoft. Please piss off some assholes. Connor Sheridan
More stuff per square inch
The reveal of Valhalla finally prompted me to play Assassin's Creed Odyssey, and it hasn't taken me long to deduce that Odyssey is so damn empty. I was flabbergasted the first time I zoomed the game's map all the way out, dumbstruck by the sheer wealth of content that lies ahead. After spending a few hours trudging between far-off waypoints and hotspots, that once-grandiose map looks more like an intimidating threat than a promising playground.
For the love of all the gods in Greece, please make Valhalla more compact, Ubisoft. Put the cool stuff closer together. Breath of the Wild proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that denser worlds are better than bigger ones, and while I'm still enjoying my time in Odyssey, I don't think I can handle another billion-mile box of 97% nothing this year - very pretty nothing, mind you, but nothing.
Hm? What's that? Ubisoft recently confirmed that Valhalla is indeed smaller, largely as a response to people like me whinging about Odyssey? Oh, praise Odin. But wait, are we talking smaller or Ubisoft sandbox smaller? Because the two are very different and contain wildly different amounts of towers. Oh well, at least we're on the right track. Austin Wood
A whole load of Norseplay
I take great pride in my 100% Assassin’s Creed record. Which is to say, I’ve never touched any of the games, and have always maintained it would stay that way. Altair? Altai-ugh. Ezio? Easy no. Yet I am partial to a bit of beardy helmeted sword-waving on a Sunday afternoon, so this one may end that faultless streak. Especially if it features the most notorious Norseman of all, Erik Thorstvedt, as a time-travelling boss character replete with iron Hummel gloves and studded boots made of Asgardian steel. A soundtrack featuring grunge hits from the greatest viking band of all time would also pique my interest. Yes, I am talking about A-Ha. Relentlessly downing foes to a chug-tastic alt-rock version of the Sun Always Shines On TV? You got me. Consider it pre-ordered. Ben Wilson
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