Turns out Assassin's Creed Valhalla *is* larger than Odyssey despite previous reports claiming otherwise

[vestan]

So earlier this month, a (now deleted) tweet from Malek Teffaha (Head of Communications and Localization for Ubisoft Middle East) stated that Valhalla will not be the longest or largest game in the series to address bloat criticisms. Though Ubisoft producer Julien Laferrière went on record a few days ago in an interview with YouTuber Julien Chièze to state the opposite...

Translation:

The first thing that interests the players is the size of the world compared to what you have done previously in Odyssey and Origins, which are the last two. Is it similar? Is it bigger? Is it comparable?

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I would actually say in terms of range, it is probably a bit larger than Odyssey. I do not have the exact figures at this stage, but we have not only created the whole country, which is in this case England, but also a good part of Norway too. There are other secret worlds, which I can not speak about today, which contributed to the size of the game. It's not a small game, it is a game which is clearly ambitious, which will offer many many hours of gameplay for the players.

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To be honest, learning that thirteen studios worked on this game kinda crushed any hope of it being smaller in scope than the game's predecessors. I respect the fact that Ubisoft want to take these newer AC games in a different direction but the bloat is honestly too much. Obviously just because the game's map is bigger doesn't mean the experience can't be a lot more focused and shorter though I doubt it. Too early to make any judgement call though so we'll just wait and see.

 

[Linus815]

I did try to tell people that we should probably wait for clarification because Odyssey was a HUGE success for Ubisoft, and frankly I don't seem them scaling back on it.

 

[Ushojax]

It's not so much the size, it's the density of crappy filler content. The actual world was not that tedious to navigate, it was the mindless busywork filling it that became boring.

Let's hope that there is more to do than just clear bandit camps.

 

[Owlet]

As someone who didn't mind the Odyssey "bloat" I love this, but I also wish it was smaller in scope because it seems like that's the preference of almost literally everyone else I've talked to.

 

[Lord Fanny]

So earlier this month, a (now deleted) tweet from Malek Teffaha (Head of Communications and Localization for Ubisoft Middle East) stated that Valhalla will not be the longest or largest game in the series to address bloat criticisms. Though Ubisoft producer Julien Laferrière went on record a few days ago in an interview with YouTuber Julien Chièze to state the opposite...

Translation:



To be honest, learning that thirteen studios worked on this game kinda crushed any hope of it being smaller in scope than the game's predecessors. I respect the fact that Ubisoft want to take these newer AC games in a different direction but the bloat is honestly too much. Obviously just because the game's map is bigger doesn't mean the experience can't be a lot more focused and shorter though I doubt it.

Click to shrink...

I mean, it could have been both smaller in scope than the previous games and still massive lol. Odyssey and Origins have insane maps

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

I put over 100 hours into Odyssey and loved it but I was looking forward to a smaller Assassin's Creed.

 

[colorblindmode]

... Fuck.

World bloat is not a good thing. I just want tight, concise storytelling. Not every map has to be 100000000 sq km

 

[Deleted member 8593]

It's actually both smaller and bigger in order to attract as many players as possible.

 

[FF Seraphim]

It's not so much the size, it's the density of crappy filler content.

Click to shrink...

This. I do not care how big the map is, please stop putting filler shit in it. I am just so god damn happy when they say there will be no level gating because the only reason I did the filler stuff was to level up

 

[Lashley]

Fuck, man.

I enjoyed Odyssey but the map wasn't exactly great.

 

[Dark_Castle]

Just when I thought I was in, they push me back out

 

[Deleted member 4976]

I'm less concerned about the size and more concerned about bloat and how easy it is the complete the main story.

Origins was big but far easier to complete the main story than Odyssey by a fair margin.

 

[Linus815]

This. I do not care how big the map is, please stop putting filler shit in it. I am just so god damn happy when they say there will be no level gating because the only reason I did the filler stuff was to level up

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Sure, there is no level gating

Spoiler

there is probably gear power rating gating though

 

[Richietto]

I'm really enjoying Odyssey at the moment but my word. I just got to the part where you can upgrade your spear and feel like the world is just too big for what the game offers. That doesn't sound great.

 

[Dust]

I am now playing AC Origins and it is simply too fucking big, anything over would be just ridiculous without Just Cause tier traversal.

 

[Kain]

Good, I loved Odyssey's scope.

"Secret worlds" huh? So Valhalla.

 

[sncvsrtoip]

odyssey problem wasn't that was too big, problem was that I couldn't skipp additional subquest couse they force grindy leveling up on you

 

[Deleted member 135]

Well thats a giant disappointment. Odyssey was one of the worst games in the series, large in part to its world size and bloat.

 

[Mirage]

I really enjoyed Odyssey's world size tbh. Just need the latest in fast travel tech to become standard.

 

[Juan]

If it's bigger but has less filler content and more meaningful one, I'm okay with this.

Navigating trough Odyssey was a joy due to the fantastic landscape and beautiful art direction, the only thing that made me overwhelmed was the amount of repetitive and non-sense content, being quests or places to explore to do the same thing.

 

[SJRB]

Not looking forward to another Odyssey-size slog, that's for sure..

I did try to tell people that we should probably wait for clarification because Odyssey was a HUGE success for Ubisoft, and frankly I don't seem them scaling back on it.

Click to shrink...

I doubt a 20% smaller map would've made a difference in that regard.

Map size =/= game success.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

I'm, excuse me, the whole of England? No Wales, Scotland? Cheeky bit of Ireland?

 

[Deleted member 45414]

Get ready for time savers! 😑

 

[Deleted member 41178]

Excellent news, I was pretty disappointed when I'd heard that it could potentially be smaller.

I love Odyssey and Origins, the bigger the better I say!

 

[s y]

Unless the combat is leagues better than origins and Odyssey, I'll get this on sale, play for 15 hours and drop it.

 

[Paperchampion23]

The game is trying to scale basically the entirety of England, which very possibly includes Ireland and Scotland as the wider "Great Britain" and the fact that geographically, it makes sense. Then they are saying it has parts of Norway and other "surprises", which possibly means it includes the majority of the North Sea and possibly portions of France, Germany, Netherlands, etc.

Honestly, I expected the game to be huge, albeit a different scale to Odyssey.

 

[SunBroDave]

Odyssey was enormous. I thought it was a great game, but I wasn't expecting Valhalla to somehow match or exceed the size of Odyssey's play space

 

[Tora]

Other secret places huh?

I'm sure there was a rumour that mentioned Paris too, I really hope it is included considering that they can work from Unity

 

[CloseTalker]

Count me in on the "fuck yeah" side of things. I loved Odyssey and how endlessly explorable it was. Some games I want to be a tight 20 hour adventure, and some I want to have endless shit for me to do while I put on a podcast and zone out for a few hours.

Im more than okay with this

 

[SunBroDave]

Map size =/= game success.

Click to shrink...

If Map size =/= game success, then in what way does a large map detract from a successful game?

 

[alstrike]

It's gonna be absolutely littered with question marks isn't it?

 

[Ernest]

I just hope it's not a huge world just for the sake of being "huge" with a lot of useless, dead space in it.

 

[Ehoavash]

Yo I heard you like em bloat

 

[DixieDean82]

Someone, please stop Ubisoft.

They are not making games of this length for an artistic reason. And that's a sad state of affairs.

Got to have that levelling up. Got to have those cosmetics.

 

[MillionIII]

Bigger than Odyssey?

 

[HockeyBird]

Hopefully there is a lot more diversity in the environments. Greece in Odyssey was beautiful but a lot of it looked similar.

 

[ced]

Gross, oh well.

 

[Paperchampion23]

Other secret places huh?

I'm sure there was a rumour that mentioned Paris too, I really hope it is included considering that they can work from Unity

Click to shrink...

Different time period though, Paris definitely was not that big then, which makes it more possible?

Hopefully there is a lot more diversity in the environments. Greece in Odyssey was beautiful but a lot of it looked similar.

Click to shrink...

Judging from initial pics, there's already more variety from those.

 

[Stalker]

Fuck, man.

I enjoyed Odyssey but the map wasn't exactly great.

Click to shrink...

I disagree but more with your wording.

The map is unreal, everywhere is unique and amazingly crafted and detailed and you can pretty much walk, run, climb or ride anywhere and get amazing views and vistas.

The problem is it's overwhelming. It's kind of anxiety inducing because of it's scale and lack of focus. Even if you do the main story it's like "go talk to X do Y and come back" and then the mission marker pops up and it's 400m away and you know that because of the level of detail and complexity and player movement speed that going to that location is a 10 min trip avoiding restricted areas so you don't stumble into a fight by just climbing a wall and trying to do it before Mercenary hunter 76 rounds a corner with a health pool this size of the Atlantic ocean and enough DPS to kill your entire bloodline if you don't perfectly dodge and riposte.

Scale is the issue but I can't for a second knock quality in AC:O map design.

The one small issue I have is that I'd like so more ... gamey old style assassins creed parkour sections like climbing a big all structure and swinging along caverns but I understand sometimes real world styles limit those.

 

[Smoolio]

This is good news, the empty deserts in Origins made it feel like you know....a desert.

 

[Tohsaka]

Sounds good to me, I loved exploring the whole map in Odyssey and Origins.

 

[Plinkerton]

Honestly this will probably stop be playing this game, at least anytime soon. I'm playing Odyssey at the moment and its just far too big with so much filler content to flesh the map out.

Surely they would have heard this complaint since 2018 and at least tried to address it in the sequel?

 

[unicornKnight]

"damned if you do damned if you don't"

 

[JCizzle]

odyssey problem wasn't that was too big, problem was that I couldn't skipp additional subquest couse they force grindy leveling up on you

Click to shrink...

Yep, I agree with this. I loved the size and scope of Odyssey. I also totally understand that people were put off by the grindy leveling. I didn't really understand it at first either - I have to wait five levels to do this next thing, wtf?! But being 'forced' to do the side quests was probably the best part of my experience. I ultimately loved exploring random new islands that the game wouldn't funnel me through during the main quest.

They needed to communicate it better IMO or give people an option to streamline it while also giving carrots for people that explore and do the side quests (loot, etc.).

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

What did you expect? Less filler content? Meaningful content? In an Assassin's Creed game?
It will be the same with some new mechanics - like it's always been. It's an Ubisoft game ...

 

[DaleCooper]

Come on. We want massive open worlds and we want less bloat. These are not mutually exclusive.

People need to stop thinking that a "smaller" AC game means less bloat.

The real problem is Ubisoft's understanding of making meaningful content. We had plenty of boring stuff in the old AC games.

 

[grmlin]

Oh no, what a bummer :( I had high hopes for a less bloated experience

 

[Glimpse_Dog]

I'm, excuse me, the whole of England? No Wales, Scotland? Cheeky bit of Ireland?

Click to shrink...

It's weird because the main settlers in England were the danes not norweigans, while the norweigans raided/settled Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. Wales mostly didn't get much in the way of vikings.

As an Irishman, I'm hoping for a bit of Dyflinn/Dublin :D

 

[Yerffej]

I'll play the crap out of this but I've said I want a scaled back one for years. Give me one city to explore, absurdly detailed with all kinds of unique content. Top of the line graphics, since you aren't trying to cover half the friggin world.

 

[Arubedo]

Oh no, i was happy for getting a smaller map...