Assassin's Creed Valhalla has officially been unveiled to the world, and there's a lot of new information to unpack about the upcoming game. One major piece of newly revealed information is Assassin's Creed Valhalla's exact time and place, giving fans an idea of the massive game map they'll be dealing with.
Previously thought to be titled Assassin's Creed Ragnarok, speculation over the game's Viking Era setting has been going on for months now. Usually, an Assassin's Creed game will take place in one country (and sometimes just one city) but as it turns out, the game world will be made up of two different areas in Europe: England and Norway.
Speaking to Game Informer, creative director Ashraf Ismail revealed some choice details about Valhalla's setting and time period, which falls in the 9th century (the 800s). "It is Norway and the Dark Ages of England – specifically the ninth century. In terms of England, it is quite a large map," Ismail said. "We focus on four major kingdoms of England during this time period: Wessex, Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia." In layman's terms, there are a lot of significant areas covered in those kingdoms, including the cities of London, Winchester, and Jorvik (which today is called York); there's also a longer list of smaller towns that fit in, but those are the big three.
According to Ismail, the game's setting also explains why the Vikings spread out from Norway, as it was a beautiful but difficult place with war and little area to expand. Still, players will also be able to come and go from Norway as they like, so presumably, there are actual things to do there as opposed to it being a tutorial area of sorts. Ismail also touched on the fact that the history of the Vikings is in reality very nuanced, but often painted with only one brush; one of the perks of Valhalla taking place in the 9th century will be its ability to portray history from the Vikings' perspective rather than England's.
Ubisoft also wanted to deliver "THE Viking experience" with Valhalla, which means brutal combat mechanics in addition to the more diplomatic aspect of things. From what information is available on Valhalla so far, it looks like this setting and game map is going to be a fascinating experience in terms of exploration and questing.
There are also plenty of historical figures, both on the British side of things and the Vikings', who could very well be encountered on the protagonist Eivor's journey--hopefully, Ubisoft takes full advantage of the potential this setting gives them.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is set to release during the 2020 holidays for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Game Informer
