With Assassin's Creed Valhalla, it seems Ubisoft is continuing down the path it started with Assassin's Creed Origins. Specifically, it's fully embracing its new identity as an open-world RPG, effectively leaving its roots as a stealth-action game behind. Part of this evolution involves the return of an excellent feature that was introduced in 2018's Assassin's Creed Odyssey: the ability to choose between a male or female protagonist.
Yes, Ubisoft has confirmed that the new viking-focused adventure will allow us to play as either a man or a woman once again. However, while Odyssey's two characters were canonically separate individuals, Valhalla has just one main character, Eivor. This viking warrior is leader of their clan, and their gender will be determined by you at the start of the game.
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From that point on, it seems, the game will treat you the same regardless of whether you chose to be a man or a woman. This was also the case in Odyssey, and despite the fact that those who didn't play as the female option Kassandra clearly missed out on the better choice, the differences were limited entirely to the way the actors for each gender played their roles.
Thierry Noël, historian and inspirational content advisor for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, explained why players should be able to choose between a male or female viking warrior on the game's official site.
"The archaeological sources are highly debated on [women warriors and their frequency in Viking culture]," Noël said. "But the fact is, and I think what's really important, is that it was part of their conception of the world. Sagas and myths from Norse society are full of tough female characters and warriors. It was part of their idea of the world, that women and men are equally formidable in battle, and that's something that Assassin's Creed Valhalla will reflect."
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There we go. If it's good enough for an actual, qualified historian, I don't want to hear any idiots banging on about it's not historically accurate to be playing as a woman in the new Assassin's Creed. If you don't like, just play as the dude and shut up. Personally, I've had my fill of playing as gruff burly dudes with beards in video games, so I'm fully embracing the option to play as a female Eivor.
While we've only had a CG trailer to whet our appetite so far, it looks like our next look at Assassin's Creed Valhalla in action will be as part of the Xbox Series X gameplay reveal event next week. Read more about that here.
Featured Image Credit: UbisoftTopics: Assassin's Creed, valhalla, Ubisoft