Assassin's Creed Valhalla has released a CG trailer at the end of April this year, and the intelligence of this work began to be released one after another. Recently, Stephen Totilo, a game reporter from Kotaku, interviewed Ashraf Ismail, the creative director of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The following is a summary of the key points of the entire interview article.

The importance of stronghold

The interaction with NPC has always been an important part of the Assassin's Creed series. In Assassin's Creed Valhalla, the main interaction between players and NPCs is the so-called "Settlement".

According to existing intelligence, the player will play the role of Viking leader Aivol and lead the tribe to England. In the process of establishing a settlement, more and more NPCs will appear in the player's stronghold. Players can communicate with various NPCs in the stronghold to experience specific game content. Ismail said every NPC in the settlement will play its due role.

Like other works in the Assassin's Creed series, Evor needs to receive a mission from the NPC and then complete it and get paid. But the way to complete the mission is not necessarily a battle. Ismail mentioned that some of the tasks in Assassin's Creed Valhalla can be solved through political means, and the key to expanding the sphere of influence is to make allies. Of course, Ever still has to fight when it is time to fight.

Key setting inherits the previous work

Ismail mentioned in the interview that the operation keys of "Assassin's Creed Valhalla" are not much different from the previous "Assassin's Creed Origin" and "Assassin's Creed Odyssey". Experienced players should be able to get started easily. In addition, a brand new "Tool Wheel" will appear in "Assassin's Creed Valhalla".

Gender selection does not lead to content differences

In Assassin's Creed Valhalla, players can choose the image of a female Aivol to play. However, according to Ismail, no matter which gender the player chooses to start the game, the main plot of the game is basically the same. Although Ismail also stated that the choice of male and female imagery was meaningful, he did not make further explanations.

It is also worth mentioning that female Aivor has not appeared in the trailer at present. Players can only learn about the appearance of the female Aivol from the statues attached to the collector's edition. Reporter Stephen tried to ask why this arrangement was, but neither Ismail nor Ubisoft's PR representatives responded.

Use skills to improve abilities

In order to seek change, the 2017 "Assassin's Creed Origin" introduced a character upgrade system. But in the subsequent Assassin's Creed Odyssey, some players began to complain about the upgradeVarious disadvantages of the system. Ismail also said that the production team has been reflecting on the problems of the game system. And in "Assassin's Creed Valhalla", the production team will make some new attempts. According to Ismail, Gaining Skills will be an important way for the protagonist to improve his abilities.

In addition, the production team will also optimize side quests in the game. Ismail mentioned that the new work's side missions will be kept within a reasonable range. As for whether micro-transaction options will appear in the new work, Ismail said that there is no discussion on related topics yet.

Narrative Challenges

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is based on the historical events of the Vikings invading the Island of England. How to tell this story from the perspective of the Vikings is a major challenge in the narrative of this work. In response to this question, Ismail gave the following answer: Although the Vikings did trigger many bloody wars during the invasion of England. But judging from the results of historical development, the Vikings themselves gradually accepted the Anglo-Saxon culture, and different ethnic groups finally achieved communion and integration. This is exactly the narrative theme of this work.

The epidemic will not have much impact

Although the epidemic has not yet ended, Ismail said the development of "Assassin's Creed Valhalla" is underway. He praised Ubisoft's IT team, saying they provide adequate guarantees for everyone's working conditions. Although the production team itself is adjusting its working status, the development progress of the new work is still relatively smooth.

The capacity of the new work may be quite large

A Ubisoft spokesperson previously said on social media: "Assassin's Creed Valhalla will not be the largest Assassin's Creed game in history." But the news was quickly deleted. In addition, there are also production members who say "Assassin's Creed Valhalla" will have the largest game map in the series.

Ismail declined to answer the map size question when receiving an interview with Kotaku. He just said that the production team hopes to provide players with a fulfilling and memorable journey. Judging from the existing signs, the capacity of "Assassin's Creed Valhalla" should be quite large.

Finally, Stephen Totilo also communicated with Ashraf Ismail about some other issues. Ismail stressed that Assassin's Creed Valhalla will strive to be unique and avoid the boredom of the process, but he did not give a detailed explanation. Stephen also asked Ismail for the authenticity of some rumors, such as whether there would be a scene of fighting Nordic gods in the new work, and Ismail declined to comment.