While the development of Assassin's Creed Valhalla originally seemed to be running relatively smoothly, like most iterations of the franchise, the situation has become more complex. The director of Assassin's Creed Valhalla has been fired relatively close to launch, but it seems that the game is largely complete and as a result has been submitted for certification. The certification itself suggests that nudity will be featured in the game as well as a greater focus on decapitations.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is highly anticipated and it looks set to mix up some of the conventions of the franchise and create a different experience. Many have already noted that Assassin's Creed Valhalla is approaching gender differently, by allowing players to seamlessly change from male to female, and there seem to be more changes. The game is set to have brothel missions as well as more graphic violence as it achieves a "Mature" rating from the ESRB game certification organization.
The ESRB rating details what is set to feature in the game and it is interesting reading. Assassin's Creed Valhalla is said to include "combat [that] is highlighted by screams of pain and frequent blood-splatter effects." While this won't surprise too many players the added detail that "some weapons allow players to decapitate enemies [and] zoomed-in sequences depict victims' bones, organs, and muscles getting damaged by players' blade" may shock players when they first experience the game. There is also sexual content in the game and it is centered around a brothel-based mission.
There is a mission that features, "a brothel" with "topless women straddling men" as well as a woman agreeing to have sex with a male character. It is unclear whether this element refers to the player's character or happening with an NPC in the background but it is a more graphic depiction of sexual content than previous iterations have offered. It will be interesting to see what players make of this new content and whether players think that these changes help Assassin's Creed Valhalla improve on previous iterations in the franchise.
The game is also set to include some more familiar aspects such as hallucinogenics in the form of mushrooms and the rating details how the visuals in the game will become distorted once players consume the fungi. Players will likely welcome back this element as it adds another factor to the gameplay. How Assassin's Creed Valhalla will balance more intense violence, nudity, and hallucinogenics remains to be seen, but it could lead to an interesting cocktail for fans of the series.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla releases holiday 2020 for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: ERSB