Axing The Unwanted

An early morning fog coats the quiet river that your longboat has been travelling upon; your brothers and sisters row slow and steady, their hearts pounding in their chest. Behind you the sun begins to crest and peak above the horizon. At the controls of the boat, you sit, eyes focused and pressing as best they can into the distance. Your crewmates trust your direction and action as they wait for the signal to row hard and fast towards the castle banks they had scouted the day before.

Ahead of you can be seen the windless dance of fiery embers from the torches that line the castle walls. Their heat is burning away the dew around them to create a clear view for the guards. The thick film of cover that is being provided by the fog will dissipate soon and you still need to draw the ship closer before sounding the call. On instinct, you bend your knees to crouch low against the wooden frame of the craft to ready yourself to launch onto the soggy shores. The docks pull into view just ahead and you whisper to your crew.

"Oars in, ready yourselves!" you whisper.

At the left of the ship, several of the crew ready to grab at the dock as the ship runs aside of it. The fast and sudden halt of the ship forces the breaking water around it to echo louder than if the ship had passed by unnoticed. But you're not looking to go unnoticed, this land is perfect for cultivating and harvest and the people of these lands will know your name!

The muffled clang of metal against wood is softly heard among you as you approach the castle walls. You wait for the guard to open the gate door as he has done over and over for the past few days. You hold your hand up in a fist to signal the "hold" of your anxious brethren. Hearing the muddied approach of thin leather boots and mud you crouch down and wait.

"Clank"

The large bolt of the door lock slides open and the dark, damp wood of the door swings out. A pair of feet steps out and you grab the guard and pull him onto the blade that hides in the gauntlet of your arm. The quiet submersion of the cool blade into his throat spills the warm heat of his blood onto your hand. A suppressed gurgle of pain passes out of the newly created hole as you drop the fading body to the ground and signal your men to move in.

A small group of your men splits off and climbs the stairs that lead up to the walkways above. One by one you can hear the men clearing out the guards and their weapons falling to the floor at their feet. The sounds of success are often similar as their metal and technology become the spoils of the raid you are about to start.

"Intruders!" a guard shouts.

An arrow races past your face and in the distance you see the guards charging into the open courtyard of the sales market. A happy grin tears across your lips as you lift the axe in your hand and launch at the center of the rushing crowd. The hard impact of the rune carved blade is heard over the screaming as it enters a chest cavity and shatters the bones in the body of the guard who fell at its entry.

"Valhalla!" you scream.

The loud and violent scream of your warriors echoes out the call of your scream. The rage of the berserker at your back charges past you with a large war axe swinging at the guards. The deflecting "pings" of swords and shields against the staff of his axe are a testament to the power and connection he feels to the gods. You charge at the crowd yourself and cleave a wild and flailing young guard in two, pulling the axe through his soft stomach and out his backside you retrieve the first axe from the crumpled body at your feet and join the bloody fight ensuing ahead of you.

Assassins Creed: Valhalla is the upcoming release in the long running series designed by Ubisoft Studios. The primary "theme" of this iteration will focus around Viking Mythology and I for one am both excited and nervous for this installment. I have been a heavy follower of Norse mythology and tradition for several years since my original introduction to their culture in an Anthropology class in my college years.

Without understanding or reasoning I found myself drawn to their ancient beliefs and lifestyles and while they are primarily dead in the modern sense, the philosophy and culture of the Viking age survives in its own way. Asatru or "Odinism" as some call it is the modern day version of the Viking religion and beliefs. The tales and sagas are kept alive and handed down as best they can be and the feeling of kinship and bonds are heartily felt within the community. As an active and engaged member of this community it means that I personally expect a great amount of attention and detail to go into this particular game.

The successor of the largely popular Assassins Creed: Odyssey (which focused on Greek Mythology) it is anticipated to further improve on the combat and world as well as re-introduce familiar mechanics from previous entries. These include settlement building and character specific customizations.

Upon the completion of Ghost of Tsushima for the PS4 I found myself yearning for a similar stealth game and returned to the unfinished shores of Athens and Sparta in Assassins Creed: Odyssey. My original game info was lost upon transfer to a new console and as such I was forced to start the game from the beginning. I have only just recently returned to the "temple" that upgrades the spear of Leonidas after playing for literally days. Anyone familiar with the game will understand how little of an accomplishment this actually is due to it still being relatively early in the game.

I roughly remember where I was in the last play through of Odyssey and while it felt like I was further ahead, the reality is far from the truth. After finding and confronting your father and discovering that your brother/sister had survived their death as a young babe, you are tasked with locating your mother. Even in the last play through I never got so far as to even figure out which of the islands she resided on (of which there are many) let alone being strong enough to face the enemies of my prior adventures through the opening lands.

This current play through has found me uttering the constant features that I wish to be omitted from Assassins Creed: Valhalla. These particular annoyances are not singular either as I have known many gamers that follow the series that are both annoyed and aggravated with these and prior iterations. Below is a short listing of the features and issues we hope will not be present in AC Valhalla.

World Oversize - Recalling the original Game of Assassins Creed with Altair. The world was, at the time, vast and densely populated in all the right areas. Large and bustling cities separated by a quick horse ride that capped at no longer than a two minute ride at most were dotted on the map. The travel was easy and the sights were plenty but compare this map to the more current size of Odyssey and the likelihood of the entire game being able to fit on one of the largest islands is entirely feasible. Within the world of the original game, Altair could ride from city to city but after discovery of these locations and the high vantage points located within the cities it no longer proved prudent to ride the horse.

There was no added bonus to exploration; it was a simple A to B journey for the most part. In Odyssey however, you are constantly being drawn further and further into the map by the next question mark until finally you reach the mountains of the land and a bear with a skull for his "level" is barreling towards you. You have no hope for survival against it and after the inevitable death and load screen, you look at your clock and find that the "quick" journey has turned into a five hour adventure and you are no closer to completing any of your side quests.

Unrealistic Characters - The series as a whole has seen its fair share of bugs and glitches and while most are patched or altered there are still some glaring issues that stand out to me. Putting aside the absent skins and clunky controls it seems more and more that characters which started out as actual humans have somehow turned into immortal, god like beings. Where once we saw the reaction of impact from swords and spears we are now unflinching and strangely acrobatic. High hung tower jumps that once threatened to end your life are now countered by hedgehog style rolls and parkour stunts.

On top of this also comes the strange ability of a "third sense". Originally the ability to mark targets was strictly limited to only the main assassination target, and then it went to being able to "hear" footsteps through walls of all the guards and the prime target so long as you were within a reasonable distance. Now, an eagle flies overhead and marks targets regardless of class or location. This includes non-visible targets that are obstructed by rooftops and even submerged in cave systems underground.

Pointless Base Features - I enjoy crafting and base building games as much as the next person...as long as they serve two prime functions: Visual changes are clear and apparent and that they actually do something to assist in the game play in one way or another. Unfortunately both of these issues have reared their faces in the Assassin's Creed universe with early iterations like the Ezio series adding a "base building" feature but not actually showing anything for improvements towards them. Originally hiding in a small town, you would "add" to your base with different buildings and structures that increased the amount of assassins you could send out to complete alternate missions. Unfortunately I couldn't tell the difference in where things were being added or improved upon.

The same issue traveled with the series into games like Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag which had a similar "base building" feature to it in that of a small coastal town that was solely for pirates, thieves, and other collected lowlifes that needed to hide from the law. While the property itself would add a physical building to the land that you owned when upgrading, the same feature could not be said for the ship you owned and upgraded as well. Added features to the ship like an increase to firepower or faster speed meant an additional row of cannons or a larger sail. This was usually showcased with a short cut scene and the ship glowing in some manner yet for the life of me I could not see what the visual changes were, if any existed to begin with.

The Level System - While the large map size is frustrating and overbearing in the recent entries it is only made worse when adding the "leveling" feature to the series from the start of Origins. Assassins Creed: Origins showcased a new type of A.C. game in the manner of refined tactical combat, a smoother stealth system, and a richer environment in which to interact with. The only problem was that the "level" system prevented you from exploring outside the regions as you wished to. High level guards and animals were spread in every direction which meant choosing carefully the story line and side quests you were doing.

It removed the "assassin" feel of the series and made you feel more like a bumbling toddler as you tried to take out a target that was two levels higher than you. No amount of careful sneaking and misdirection could help you if you weren't even strong enough to face the lower leveled guards. Even at an equal level, your character would still be too weak because his "assassin rank" was lower than everything else making the feeling of being an accomplished and capable assassin non-existent. Adding to this is the fact that you’re left trying to understand why a sharp blade through the neck or stomach isn't enough to fall an unsuspecting NPC when in the real world, a simple slice at your finger from the kitchen knife sends us running for a band-aid.

Sluggish, Non-Responsive Controls - Since the original release of Assassin's Creed on the PlayStation 3 in 2007 we have endured over 13 years of poor and delayed controls. This has resulted in frantic button mashing in combat sequences to crossing from rooftop to rooftop or finding the character not jumping and instead beginning to drop down the side of the castle wall. The parkour and stealth blend has seen improvements over the years. Don't get me wrong, it’s miles ahead of what it used to be but even in Odyssey I find the character not parrying the incoming attacks even though I clearly hit the two buttons or dashing into another enemy at my side even though I pulled towards the other direction.

It may seem like a minor gripe but with 13 years of this same problem cropping up over and over I simply wish to make my play through in Valhalla with some degree of grace and composure. Instead I fear that I will find myself walking into building walls or bumping into the wrong person that will set off the alarms in the structure that I'm infiltrating.

*Bonus Concern: A clear view of who the enemies are. - One of the most confusing things in Odyssey for me is to know who is good or bad. The protagonist was once clearly of Spartan decent but you play as a freelance mercenary. This means freedom to attack either Sparta or Athens but in doing so I often found myself walking into camps from both sides and one or the other would see me as a threat and begin to attack. I lost track of how many times I did that before using the eagle overhead to scout the area and see if it was even worth approaching to begin with.

All in all I am still excited to play Assassin's Creed: Valhalla and will surely be able to enjoy all that the game has to offer. Regardless of how large the world is I will seek every nook and cranny to see if the lore is accurate or the battles are correct. I dare say it'll even be the first game since Assassin's Creed 2 that I will actually complete 100%. It'll be nice to add a platinum trophy to the collection since I haven't been able to do so in a long time. While no further talk has been released as of yet about expansion stories I do hope they will be as meticulous with their creation here as they have been showing in the growing development of the series.