Ever since the trailer release for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, there's been more and more new information revealed about the next installment in Ubisoft's popular franchise. A Kotaku interview with Ashraf Ismail, the creative director for the game, revealed some key info about the progression system.

Most games up through Assassin's Creed Syndicate allowed players to gains skills and gear through story advancement and exploration. Origins and Odyssey deviated from the formula by integrating levels and experience points, though some Odyssey players found it frustrating to have to level grind in order to stay involved in the main story. Many players are curious now as to whether Assassin's Creed Valhalla will follow this same format.

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Ismail commented that Ubisoft has been analyzing the Origins and Odyssey progression systems and "what that means for players." He adds that the devs have come up with a "new take" that focuses on the "concept of power." One way he suggested that players might gain power is through gaining skills, which in Valhalla are confirmed to use a new form of skill specialization called "skill graphs," which will supposedly be unique to the upcoming game.

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Many Odyssey players found themselves being taken out of the main story and forced to level grind. Valhalla will have a large number of activities available outside of the story, like Viking raids and rap battles, but it sounds like these are meant to supplement the main story and not drag the player out for arbitrary grinding. Ismail said he wants to avoid players hitting a "progression spike" that will lead to this exact problem of players being forced to grind so they can continue the narrative.

Aside from Odyssey's level and experience system being just plain annoying, it also led to players abusing Story Creator Mode to unfairly farm XP. While there's no doubt that these players were cheating the system, if Odyssey hadn't had such a grind problem in the first place there wouldn't be a desire for players to get fast and easy XP. If Valhalla ends up being more balanced, hopefully at least this type of system abuse won't happen.

Another Odyssey mistake that players should hope Valhalla will avoid is the $10 50% XP boost. Some players are willing to spend real-life money on the game, but others are content with paying the original price of the game and want to be able to play something that rewards skill and effort, not wallet size. It's a very good sign that Ismail is speaking out so strongly against grinding in Valhalla, and that Ubisoft seems to have learned from their big mistake in Odyssey.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will be available to play later this year for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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Source: Kotaku