One of the best parts of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla does not take place in England. Wherever you go is a treat. This is also one of the best parts of the game. We recently asked the people who made it to explain its origin
The area in question is called Vinland and is on the northeast coast of North America. A visit to the area changes the rules of the game. Vinland forces players to leave behind all their powerful weapons and equipment, rather than having them stock up on basic supplies and weapons to complete their mission to reach a single, powerful target in a large, sparsely populated wilderness.
By the way, the spoil we’re coming in is not just for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla but for another game in the franchise involving North America, Assassin’s Creed III.
This area of the game, with its own great map, wildlife and feel, stuck with me even after I finished it. It was a perfect cleanser for platelets after spending most of the game in England killing, investigating and conquering as a powerful Viking warrior. But I also wanted to know more about Vinland. What does a team that is already working on a big game look like Valhalla, also build and create something as big and different as Vinland? Where does the idea for something like this come from? And how do you reconnect it with the labyrinthine story of the franchise? Ubisoft offered some surprising answers about the development and production of Vinland.
According to Darby MceDevitt, the narrative director of Yves Guillemot, the first idea for the region came from Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft. Valhalla. When the team at Ubisoft Montreal explored the environment and theme of Valhalla, Guillemot pointed out that Vikings was one of the first Europeans to visit North America and wondered if it would be an element of history that could appear in the game. However, there was a problem. The Vikings in Valhalla would only sail to America after 1000 AD, and Valhalla was introduced during the 870s. ‘When we think about how it is in the historical timeline of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, we realized that it could work really well – through the lens of the Assassins and Templars, the two groups in our game that always seem a step ahead of real history, ‘McDevitt explained.
While the initial plan for Vinland came early in the production of the game from the field meetings, the actual development would only begin much later, after the teams working on the game had a better understanding of the various systems and functions. This enabled them to create something that felt different from what they had already been working on. The developers wanted Vinland to be a survival experience. “To take one area and realize that feeling of ‘naked and scared’,” said design director Philippe Bergeron. “You have to find your own way, alone with your skills with a difficult challenge to beat. “
Vinland also allowed the team to create an area in the game that would contain a single major assassination target and that players could invent their own approach on a much larger scale than any other mission offered.
Building the world of Vinland was a challenge because of the environment, the wilderness of America and how different it was from the rest of the open fields, rolling hills, cities and farms. This would require more original assets and art. Creating so much extra content would be difficult for a smaller studio, but Ubisoft was able to leverage one of its many other teams to help build the more nature-oriented Vinland map.
‘The team working in the region is from Ubisoft Singapore Assassin’s Creed veterans, ”says Rika Lim, chief designer at Ubisoft Singapore. “Most people who worked on it worked on at least two to three titles in the franchise.” Because players would come to Vinland with nothing but the shirt on their back and their skills they deserved, developers from Ubisoft Singapore built Vinland according to the concept of theft, enabling players to use more careful tactics.
Ubisoft saw Vinland as a ‘pace-breaker’, something that would challenge players to survive without their regular equipment while discovering a brand new region and its inhabitants. It’s the native population of Vinland, the Kanien’kehá: ka, that also led Ubisoft to design the Vinland area as a ‘one-off adventure’, something that players visit for a few hours and then leave behind. The team did not want to change history too much by allowing them to build a permanent settlement of Vikings in America 200 years before most historians believe the Vikings visited the continent for the first time. And they tried to avoid friction between Eivor and the Native Americans who lived there. “We were also careful not to portray Eivor as an antagonist or savior to the people of Vinland,” McDevitt said. ‘Eivor’s goal has always been to track down and defeat a single enemy.
This desire to build Vinland as a one-time survival adventure also led to the decision not to allow players to take with them the equipment they deserve in Vinland when they leave. Fans have been asking about this since release, but it would not have worked with the team’s goal.
“On the way to Vinland, we wanted the experience to feel like an independent survival loop,” Bergeron said. ‘To be true, we had to start you fresh in that area, stripped of your equipment. If the player left the area with that equipment and upgraded at home, it would have broken the experience, so we finally decided on this structure. ”
For longtime fans of Assassin’s Creed, this is not the first time that the Kanien’kehá: ka people have appeared in the franchise. They play a big role in Assassin’s Creed III. One young man from the tribe, Ratonhnhaké: ton (also known as Conor,) is the protagonist of that game. But this is a different period. ACIII was during the 1770s, more than 900 years after the events of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Ubisoft wanted to make sure they were presenting an authentic and period-appropriate depiction of the tribe when Eivor arrived. To do so, they reach out to Akwiratheka Martin, the same Kanien’kehá: ka language consultant who worked with Ubisoft. Assassin’s Creed III.
But there is a more tangible connection with Assassin’s Creed III in Valhalla s’n Vinland department.
Eivor’s assassination target in Vinland is Gorm, a high-ranking member of the Order of the Ancient (also known as the Proto-Templars.) He also possesses a strange sphere, which is actually an ancient Isu artifact that leads him to ‘ a hidden temple that The Order wants access to, therefore they are in Vinland in the first place. After Eivor defeats him, she decides to give the foreign object to the native population of Vinland so that they can protect the powerful artifact. This sphere is the same as what Connor encounters early on. Assassin’s Creed III. And the temple that Gorm is looking for is the same temple that is seen in ACIII also.
The idea to join ACIII on Valhalla s’n Vinland came very early in the development process. ‘We investigated landing sites that Vikings had on the North American coast, and one location was very close to where Connor’s town was. Assassin’s Creed III, “said Bergeron. ‘So, for fans (including ourselves), we made the link pretty quickly. ”
McDevitt admits Valhalla’s backstory for Conor’s Isu sphere was not planned at the time ACIII is in 2012. ‘It will be an incredible testament to our ability to plan and execute. But no. The origin of the crystal ball was not clear when Assassin’s Creed III was in production, ”he said.