[GameSpot] - Assassin's Creed Valhalla Brings Back Social Stealth, But It Sticks Out

[343iBot]

I get the sense that Assassin's Creed is in the midst of some sort of metamorphosis. After getting hands-on with the game for six hours, I walked away from Assassin's Creed Valhalla with the general sense that I had been playing something that felt altogether different from 2017's Origins and 2018's Odyssey. However, Valhalla feels like it could be remembered as a game that acted as a transition for the franchise.

The Assassin's Creed franchise has always walked the tightrope between moments of stealth and sequences of action, with most entries leaning a bit more towards the former. This changed with Origins and Odyssey, both of which provided protagonists Bayek and Kassandra/Alexios with a more traditional open-world RPG set of combat mechanics and skill trees, and additional opportunities to fight bosses with large health bars.

Both games primarily take place outside of cities as well, removing the need for social stealth in most instances. And, of course, you're not an outsider in either one. Bayek is basically a cop who can get away with murder and Kassandra/Alexios is an educated mercenary--it's reasonable to see them work with the elite in one moment and then interact with the downtrodden in the next. Kassandra/Alexios isn't even forbidden from running free in Athens after they're seen aiding Sparta in numerous conflicts--it's all chalked up to just being a part of their job.

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