Recent Assassin's Creed titles have put more and more emphasis on the myths and legends of their setting, and it seems that Assassin's Creed Valhalla will be no different. At the time of its official trailer reveal, creative director Ashraf Ismail spoke with Game Informer and confirmed that Norse mythology would, indeed, play a part in the game's story.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla takes place in 9th century Europe when Vikings were departing from Norway in search of greener pastures and finding them in England--much to the displeasure of the powers that be in England. And while Valhalla is also confirmed to put emphasis on real-world battle and diplomacy in equal measure, these Vikings will also be hanging onto their roots and the accompanying rich mythology.
Ismail explained that in Valhalla, Norse mythology would play into everyday life because for Vikings of that time, their myths and legends were part of everyday life. "Our goal is to deliver THE Viking experience in all its nuance and glory," he said. "The Viking belief system was an everyday thing...it’s more about making deals with the gods." Theirs was a polytheistic religion, and Vikings would search for signs of the gods in all of the small happenings around them. Valhalla's reveal trailer dabbles with that, showing Eivor (the game's protagonist) catching sight of something on the battlefield and declaring that Odin was with them.
In Eivor's case, they grew up surrounded by Viking culture and beliefs, so they too believe the great myths and sagas that came about during that time period. Ismail called it a "personal journey" for Eivor, explaining their lifelong connection to Norse mythology and how Valhalla's spiritual connections would be found "in the cultural framework of things." Knowing all of that, there's certainly potential for a lot of different myths to be explored within the game, especially if Ubisoft continues Odyssey's trend of having Isu artifacts perpetuate local mythology by presenting themselves in the form of a legendary creature or object.
So while Valhalla is, according to developers, more "grounded" than previous games, it'll also still play into stories and legends of the day, which could be an extremely fun element. After all, Norse mythology has been studied, taught, and used in popular media for a long time--just look at Skyrim.
Whatever Valhalla does with the mythology available to it, hopefully, it'll be as fascinating and fun as the tales themselves.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla releases during the 2020 holidays for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Game Informer