Players on the fence about Assassin's Creed Valhalla will be happy to know that Ubisoft is looking to further shake things up with this year's series entry, promising that the game's combat will be brutal and that the RPG elements of Assassin's Creed Origins and Odyssey are being overhauled. Short of promising a much-requested return to the light stealth of earlier games, this should allay some franchise fans' fears.

Taking the first two-year break between mainline Assassin's Creed titles since gap between the original two titles, this week's announcement of Assassin's Creed Valhalla has generated the most buzz that the franchise has enjoyed in some time. The upcoming game is slated for launch on current and next-gen consoles this holiday season, but that's not stopping series veterans from attempting to make their demands and concerns heard at Ubisoft before the game goes gold. The biggest topic on most players' minds is recent games' stark shift toward an open-world action RPG formula with little regard for the main storyline, which many claim undermines the franchise's foundational premises.

Speaking to Press Start, Assassin's Creed Valhalla creative director Ashraf Ismail makes a somewhat compelling case that those players' issues will be addressed in this year's entry. When asked about how the series' growing RPG influences will play out in the game, Ismail says that while it'll mark the "return of abilities" (this time "anchored and rooted" in the new Viking theme and setting), Valhalla has "gotten rid of the idea of levels." They'll be replaced by "power" that's more closely "rooted in the skill set of the hero," which seems to be used to progress through the game's "really large skill tree" while keeping progression more "focused on what players out there want to do in the game," a system that sounds more akin to The Elder Scrolls than the likes of Assassin's Creed Odyssey.


Though hesitant to give away too much as to how mythical Scandinavian gods and creatures will play into the game, Ismail did share that combat is getting a similar overhaul in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. He excitedly stated that the central mechanic has been "reinvigorated to really showcase the visceral newness and brutality of the time period" and increase the series's notoriously lacking "sense of impact," all while ensuring that after "15-20 hours" players are still working their way through an expanded "variety of enemies" to keep things from getting stale. It doesn't sound like it'll approach levels of Dark Souls' or For Honor's mechanical involvement and positioning, but it could be a huge step-up for the franchise's long-flawed combat.

If everything Ubisoft's Ismail says comes to pass, Assassin's Creed Valhalla may be shaping up to be even more well-received than the generally favored Assassin's Creed Odyssey. If it pays closer mind to the overarching plot, adds a greater stealth focus, and brings back fan favorite systems like the previous entry's Cultist missions, this next release might mark Ubisoft's efforts to revitalize a stagnant series paying off in full.