Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is perhaps one of the largest open worlds crafted by Ubisoft, fitting into the franchise’s much-loved narrative that has worked for certain players. However, a larger chunk of the player base hasn’t shown a particular interest in diving deeper into the game, and there are fair reasons for this.
Recently, the game officially arrived on Xbox Game Pass. This has brought in a lot of new players on the platform, but a graver concern lies in the fact that almost half of them haven’t yet explored the game beyond the opening act.
‘To England!’ Should be a Common Achievement for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, but it Simply Isn’t
The opening act of Valhalla has players exploring the gorgeous landscapes of Norway. Essentially, they’re introduced to the characters, how combat and exploration work, and so on. However, this is just the beginning. Once they proceed with the first several questlines, they start their voyage across the oceans and reach England. The rest is history, literally.
Unfortunately, it’s not as simple for many players. You see, the initial few hours of the game have a lot going on. So much so that you might feel overloaded and see the game as bloated rather than something of an enjoyable experience. Upon first leaving your homeland and starting initial invasions across England, you’re to receive the achievement, ‘To England!’
As it happens, around 43% of Xbox players haven’t achieved this, and 22% of gamers overall haven’t. These stats come from TrueAchievement, which paints the future of the franchise in a pessimistic light. With the rising hype of Assassin’s Creed Red, we wonder if Ubisoft will truly shift its game design philosophy.
The Future of Assassin’s Creed May Hold a Lot of Ambition Unless It’s Executed Poorly
Valhalla‘s bloated nature made many fans re-look at where exactly the franchise was going. Sure, the world may be massive, beautiful, and full of questlines, but at some point, most players felt it was just too much. Ubisoft made note of this and changed the approach in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, going back to the franchise’s roots. The stealth, quests, and character-building were on point, getting fans back into the appreciation phase for Assassin’s Creed games.
However, there’s still a hint of doubt about how Red will do things. The excitement around playing in feudal Japan, with an open world full of things to do, can be a tough sell. After all, Valhalla has left a bitter aftertaste in the psyches of players who either never really liked the open-world take on the franchise or simply found the last big game to be too huge for their taste.
Assassin’s Creed Red will likely have to strike a balance between smaller, more tightly wound stories with a solid narrative structure and having a lovely open world as a backdrop to all that the player wishes to do. The devs and designers clearly have a lot of expectations to build up to, and we’ll have to wait until we take a proper look at what the franchise has to offer next. Do you think Assassin’s Creed Red will live up to the hype? Let us know in the comments below.
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