Hello, again, friends and Assassin’s Creed fans; here we are with a new breakdown in which we’ll discuss the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla activities Ubisoft intends to implement in the latest AC video game. It goes without saying that the life of a Viking is not an easy one, but from time to time, even a Viking has to relax.
And that’s what we are going to address below. The side activities we’ll get to experience in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Before diving in, don’t forget to check my YouTube Channel for more Assassin’s Creed Valhalla news and the latest breakdowns in which we talk about the AC Valhalla Gods and the Legend of Beowulf Season Pass.
So, the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla side activities that we’ll cover refer to the activities we get to try in the future Assassin’s Creed game that do not involve missions, side quests, or collectibles. The type of activities that allow us to experience the life of a Viking. We’ll start with what Ubisoft revealed along with the first two trailers of the game and then move to several historical facts.
All Confirmed AC Valhalla Activities
As you know, along with the announcement of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Ubisoft also updated its website to include the upcoming Assassin’s Creed game. If you pay a visit, you’ll get to learn more about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and you can also see several details regarding the side activities.
According to the said page in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, we will be able to hunt, play drinking games, or engage in traditional Norse competitions like flying. Additional side activities, however, have also been revealed by Ashraf Ismail, the creative director of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, in a tweet. This tweet announces that fishing and war chief consultations will be available in the video game.
Here’s your home in England.
Spend a lazy Sunday fishing at the docks, consult with your war chief, or check on your people.
Home is where the heart is 🖤#AssassinsCreedValhalla pic.twitter.com/id0pIKU7fW— Ashraf Ismail (@AshrafAIsmail) May 12, 2020
Basically, from these two sources alone, we can understand that there are at least 5 Assassin’s Creed Valhalla activities:
- Hunting
- Fishing
- Drinking Games
- Flyting
- War Chief Consultations
Let’s take a closer look at each of them and see if we can figure out how they work.
Hunting
Hunting in Assassin’s Creed games is not something new. We can remember that in the last two games of the series (Origins and Odyssey), hunting various animals was quite important. By hunting animals, Bayek, Alexios, and Kassandra managed to gather important crafting materials to upgrade their gear.
If we compare this Assassin’s Creed activity with hunting in other video games, we can all agree that it was way easier since we didn’t have to track animals or hide from them in order to remain unseen. A simple arrow, even while riding a horse, was more than enough to put down most animals and collect parts from them.
Most likely, hunting in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will remain unchanged, meaning that we’ll still hunt using bows or any type of weapon, and we’ll get to hunt stronger animals in specific spots, such as the alpha animals in the previous two games.
The species, however, will most likely be different in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla simply because of the game’s setting. Thus, we can expect to hunt various bird species, deer, hares, and foxes. One thing we need to remember here is that the Vikings also hunted Walrus and Seals, which were quite popular, just like the crocodiles in Origins. So, we can expect to see them in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
Fishing
According to Ashraf Ismail, fishing in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will also be implemented, and this is quite interesting because it is an activity that is new in the series. Granted, we had whales in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, but killing them with a harpoon was actually hunting. I believe that hunting whales will also make a return to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla for two reasons.
First, because according to historical sources, whales represented an important source of food for Vikings; and second, because Ashraf Ismail, who is the creative director of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, was also in charge of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, which basically introduced this type of activity.
Back to fishing in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, a little research on the fishing methods used by Vikings reveals that they had various tools at their disposal: fish lines, fish spears, fishweirs, baskets, and nets. If you watched the Vikings TV Series, you may remember the Kattegat dock. Along the dock, we can spot fishing nets as well as fish traps.
Furthermore, there is one sequence where we can see several Vikings using fish spears in England to fish in rivers. The most interesting part, however, comes from Ashraf’s tweet, which says that we will be able to fish at the docks. This tweet denotes one specific fishing method, which is known as stationary fishing, and it requires a fishing line.
How Fishing Works
I believe the answer is fish lines. Attached or not to a rod remains to be seen, but I kinda doubt that we will be asked to set traps or nets, mainly because this type of fishing requires time, and it is a commercial fishing method where large quantities of fish are needed.
Fishing with spears is also a possibility, but if whale hunting returns, we will most likely stick to that, especially because spearfishing is very hard on smaller fish species, and besides the fact that it requires a lot of skill, it is not a stationary method of fishing that can take place at a dock or from a boat; as Ashraf Ismail tweeted.
In terms of gameplay, we can expect to experience an interesting mini-game, not as complex as fishing in Red Dead Redemption 2, nor as accessible as fishing in Dragon Ball Z Kakarot, for example. Last but not least, it’s worth pointing out that the Viking cuisine included a large number of fish species. To name just a few, we should be able to fish cod, salmon, and herring in the northern regions and pike, eel, and even carp when we reach Great Britain.
Drinking Games
According to Ubisoft’s website, we saw earlier; another type of activity we get to experience in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the drinking games. Before we talk about it, we need to know that the Vikings were heavy drinkers. Mead and beer were very common during their feasts, while richer Vikings used to drink imported wine.
These drinking games will most likely be connected to various sports that have been practiced by the Vikings. Thanks to Ubisoft Bucharest, I had the chance to test Watch Dogs Legion in its early phases of development long before it was announced.
Since I am no longer under an NDA contract because the game was announced already, you should know that similar activities will be available in the upcoming Watch Dogs video game. Basically, in Watch Dogs Legion, after consuming an impressive amount of alcohol, you can enter a series of mini-games such as playing darts.
It is a funny activity, especially because your character is very dizzy, making the whole game of darts way harder. If we connect this information with the sports the Vikings used to practice, we can assume to experience something similar. During their feasts, Vikings were often engaged in fistfights, or they were practicing knife juggling, stone lifting, and mountain climbing. Fist fighting is, as we can remember, an activity that was also available in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag.
War Chief Consultations
Although not necessarily side-activities, the War Chief Consultations will also play an important role in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Most likely, they will allow us to identify specific targets and points of interest on our maps. I believe that these consultations will be very similar to the tips we’ve got from the bartenders in Assassins Creed Black Flag.
Even if we had to bribe bartenders inside taverns, they often disclosed key info and locations that unlocked new outfits, rare weapons, and locations of naval convoys carrying treasures. The War Chiefs in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla could have a similar role but without asking for money. During a consultation, Eivor could get info on locations to raid rich English settlements to be plundered and why not, hidden treasures and unique weapons or armor.
Flyting & Rap Battles
Last but not least, we have the Viking Flyting or Rap Battles, which seems to be by far the most interesting of all Assassin’s Creed Valhalla activities. Thanks to Ashraf Ismail’s short video on Twitter, we can easily understand how these will work. First, let’s hear what he has to say:
Viking rap battles, you say? @AshrafAIsmail will get you up to speed on how this all-new feature works in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.#AssassinsCreed #ACFacts pic.twitter.com/WB9BEYO0yC
— Assassin’s Creed (@assassinscreed) May 22, 2020
Now, according to Ashraf Ismail, the rap battles will allow us to duel various opponents but use insults instead of weapons. This feature, however, is not new and most likely will be similar to the one from an older game, Curse of Monkey Island. Let’s check out a fragment on Youtube.
As you can see, these rap battles are pretty funny, and even though Curse of Monkey Island is an older game, I expect to see something similar in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla but with a twist, such as a time limit to pick an answer and obviously better implementation.
One last thing we can learn from Ashraf Ismail is that completing these rap battles will lead to a reward. So these are all the Assassins Creed Valhalla activities that have been confirmed so far by Ubisoft; however, we can expect more to be announced soon because, according to history, the Vikings also played dice games and chess. Quite interesting, right? So, let me know what type of activity you would like to see in Assassins Creed Valhalla, and don’t forget to check the videos on my YouTube Channel.
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