Assassin's Creed Valhalla Xbox Playstation PC Gaming Stadia

[Son Of Jack]

The official Assassin's Creed Valhalla release date was revealed during tonight's Ubisoft Forward conference – it's scheduled to launch on November 17, 2020.

While the release date already leaked yesterday, we've got official confirmation now that Valhalla is due to launch this November.

On top of confirming the Assassin's Creed Valhalla release date, Ubisoft Forward offered viewers a look at fresh Valhalla gameplay.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is due to launch for PS4, Xbox One, PC (on both the Epic Games Store and UPlay+), and Google Stadia. It was also confirmed that Valhalla will be a launch title for Xbox Series X and PS5, and that players who purchase the game for current-gen consoles will be able to redeem next-gen copies for free.

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[David76]

Today, Ubisoft confirmed via Twitter that the main work on the game has concluded, and it has been sent off to be turned into the disc that you will find in the box.

Of course, the team at Ubisoft Montreal will continue working on patches and updates for the title, as well as any post-launch content that may be planned. But even so, going gold is a still a major milestone for any game.

 

[David76]

Ubisoft has detailed its rather daunting plans for Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The open world adventure will receive not one, but two "massive" expansions in 2021 as part of the game's season pass, and both sound really interesting.

The first is titled Wrath of the Druids, and it's aiming for Spring 2021. It'll take place in Ireland, where Eivor will be tasked with hunting down a particularly deadly group of cultists. It sounds like some supernatural shenanigans are on the cards.

After that, in Summer 2021, we're getting the second expansions: The Siege of Paris. It'll be Valhalla's take on the infamous Viking siege of the French capital, and it'll apparently feature new gameplay activities as well as huge battles.

As previously reported, the season pass will also include an exclusive bonus quest titled The Legend of Beowulf, which will be available at launch next month.



But even without snapping up the season pass, it sounds like players will have a lot to look forward to. Ubisoft says that free "seasonal content" updates will be dropped throughout the next year or so, with the first update landing by the end of 2020. These updates will bring new gameplay mechanics and systems as well as activities.

 

[Tom]

Nice! This will make a great purchase when the gold edition drops in price in the new year like Ubisoft games usually do

 

[David76]

A couple of new videos have been released

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – Norse Mythology

• David76
• 03 Nov 2020

Narrative Director Darby McDevitt introduces the beliefs and cultural values of the varied...

Valhalla features a number of different cultures and religions, and narrative director Darby McDevitt discusses a few of these you'll find in-game, such as the Christian faith, Pagan religions, and the Norse gods, to name a few. The Valhalla team has mentioned before that it wants to focus on the settler side of Viking life and not just the raiding, exploring their culture and day-to-day activities, and the Norse gods play an important role in both. However, like the stories of the gods we came across in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the Norse gods weren't always kind. McDevitt discusses key figures like Odin, Loki, and Freyja, as well as the idea of the nine realms, with Asgard as the home of the gods and the site of Valhalla, the hall of heroes. From a previous deep-dive into Valhalla, we know that we'll be exploring a few of these mythological areas. The game won't just take you to Norway and England, but will let you "leap beyond" to Asgard and Jotunheim.

ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA - CINEMATIC TV COMMERCIAL

• David76
• 03 Nov 2020

Ninth century AD. Driven from Norway by endless wars and dwindling resources, a Viking raider...

On the less serious side of things, Ubisoft also recently released a cinematic TV commercial for Valhalla, which has Eivor patiently explaining the basics of looting and fighting. It's a little different from Ubisoft's usual Valhalla trailers, with Eivor casually chatting to the camera.

 

[David76]

Here's a nine-minute look at Assassin's Creed Valhalla running on Xbox Series X.

Ubisoft has released a gameplay walkthrough of Assassin's Creed Valhalla running on Xbox Series X.

The video is around nine minutes long and shows off your settlement, river raids, fighting, exploration, stealth, and it also touches upon mythology.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Gameplay Walkthrough – Xbox Series X

• David76
• 06 Nov 2020

Get a deep dive into Assassin’s Creed Valhalla captured on the all new Xbox Series X. Assassin's...

 

[David76]

Assassin's Creed Valhalla will receive a day one title update for all platforms.

Ubisoft has detailed the day one title update for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, along with the full game size, and when you can start pre-loading the game.

Title update v1.0.2 will fine-tune the balancing of the game, address various quest-related nuisances, include miscellaneous bug fixes, and provide improved performance and stability.

It also adds content such as additional localized audio packs, and the Codex.

Here, the Animus Database will return with Assassin's Creed Valhalla as "Codex". The Codex has two parts, the Database, and Tutorials.

The Database provides information about the world and its people, while Tutorials provide insights on everything you have learned so far in the game.

Alongside this information, launch times and pre-load times were also provided. You can look over the schedule in the image below.

Finally, Ubisoft also provided approximate file sizes for each platform so you'll know how much space you will need.

Full Game Sizes:​

• Xbox Series X|S: 45 GB
• Xbox One: 44 GB
• Playstation 5: 45 GB
• Playstation 4: 45 GB
• PC: 45 GB

 

[David76]

Reviews now out

• Eurogamer – Recommended
• USGamer – 3.5/5
• GamesRadar+ – 4.5/5
• TechRadar – 3/5/5
• PC Gamer – 92
• IGN – 8/10
• Kotaku – Unscored
• VGC – 4/5
• GameSpot – 8/10
• Polygon – Unscored
• Trusted Reviews – 4/5
• Game Informer – 9.25/10
• Digital Spy – 4.5/5

 

[David76]

I've stopped playing the game after encountering a game-breaking glitch. I'm not buying any more Ubisoft games on day 1. Three of the games I've played this year from them have had issues like this.

 

[Tom]

I've stopped playing the game after encountering a game-breaking glitch. I'm not buying any more Ubisoft games on day 1. Three of the games I've played this year from them have had issues like this.

That's a shame, I hate those bugs that halt or remove progress. Shouldn't happen.

Equally annoying because this game seems like, to me, the best there has been so far. Interesting quests, better combat, less fluff. All just seems more enjoyable to me.

 

[David76]

The first big patch for Assassin's Creed Valhalla dropped today.

Ubisoft has detailed patch 1.0.4 for Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Outside of the day one patch, this is the game's first major post-launch update, and it's full of fixes and several new features.

The biggest new addition in today's update is the ability to choose between Performance and Quality in two separate modes. Those will be available on PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Since launch, Valhalla only offered a single option for players on these platforms, which was fine on PS5 and Xbox Series X, since they ran at fairly stable 60fps, but not so good on Series S, which was locked to 30fps.

With the new modes, even Series S owners will be able to pick which area to prioritise. In Performance mode, the game will always try to hit 60fps by starting at a lower base graphic settings, and upping/lowering the resolution to maintain the target. Quality mode, on the other hand, should offer an upgrade over what's currently available – in terms of visuals. The mode will instead target 30fps.

Speaking of technical upgrades, you should no longer see screen tearing on Xbox Series X/S, and the framerate should be more stable now. On PC, the patch fixes a memory leak issue that occurs when alt-tabbing.

Getting into gameplay, Ubisoft has made it so players don't struggle with fabrics anymore. The fabric limit has been increased to 82, and anyone whose settlement has reached level 6 will now be able to buy fabric from traders.

1.0.4 includes some nice quality of life additions, too, such as the option to automatically assign all nodes on the path when unlocking a central skill. The rune menu now splits the available rules by categories. You'll also note that the offering altar requirements are clearly laid out on the world map.

Read on below for the full change log.

Spoiler: Change Log Patch 1.0.4

Content​

Graphics/Performance modes

• Added an option to the game that allows players to choose between Performance or Visual quality. Available for Xbox Series X|S & PlayStation 5.
• Choosing Performance allows the game to adapt the resolution and graphic settings to maintain 60 FPS.
• Choosing Quality enables the game to run maximum resolution and graphic settings while maintaining 30 FPS.

Balancing

• Updated gear quality and gear to their correct values.
• Added Assassination damage stats on the character stats page.
• Removed duplicate gear from inventory.
• Heavy and light attack stats will now adjust correctly based on acquired skill nodes.
• Heavy attack modifiers will no longer be applied to range attacks.

Miscellaneous

• Added a new background image to the title screen.
• Added various VFX to enhance visuals.
• Added an option that will automatically assign all nodes on the path when acquiring a central skill.
• Added rune categories to the rune menu. All runes are now categorized in Weapon & Armor runes.
• Added a warning when switching from a language that supports TTS to one that doesn't.
• Sliders can now be moved with left/right arrows on M&K and controllers.
• Increased fabric limit to 82.
• Added fabric to traders once the settlement has reached Level 6.
• Added offering altar requirements to the world map.

Game improvements​

Performance and stability

• Improved stability and performance.
• (Xbox Series) Improved experience on Xbox Series S | X consoles including screen tearing
• (PC) Addressed a VRAM/RAM leakage issue when alt tabbing to desktop.

Save games

• Corrected some instances where Load Game would not display save games correctly.
• Renamed Cloud saves to make them more distinguishable from regular saves. Previously the cloud save was only highlighted with a Cloud icon. Now they'll be called, for example, "Manual Save Cloud"
• Removed Cloud saves from the Save menu. This will ensure that it cannot be overwritten unintentionally.
• Added a notification when a cloud save retrieval has failed.

Graphics, audio, animation

• Addressed various graphical issues across the board.
• Addressed various FX issues.
• Addressed various instances of clipping issues.
• Addressed various visual issues with Eivor's cloak.
• Addressed various instances of player or NPC animation issues.
• Addressed various audio issues.
• Addressed various lighting issues.
• Shadow resolution on High will now use correct values.

World

• Addressed various texture or object placement issues.
• Addressed some instances where the player could become stuck in specific locations.
• Fish in Norway will now spawn in bad weather. Yeah, we had to read this one twice too.
• Crows will no longer randomly fall from the sky in Asgard.

Gameplay, combat, AI

• Addressed various bow-aiming issues.
• Improved NPC and Boss behavior across the board.
• NPCs will now react to the player stealing…so think twice before stealing!
• Addressed an issue where dogs would start levitating when Eivor starts to pet them.
• Blocking Springald projectiles will now consume stamina, as intended.
• Zealots that were hit with a sleep dart can now be stun attacked. Sleep tight.
• Zealots will no longer heal themselves while in player vicinity.
• Guards who clearly saw Eivor shoot their ally will now turn hostile.
• Guards will now hear the impact of dead bodies dropping to the ground.
• Improved guard reactions to whistling.
• Improved disguise behavior in distrust zones.
• Shooting bows from the Longship now consumes arrows.
• Players will now be able to air-assassinate sleeping NPCs.
• Improved fish-reeling behavior.
• Addressed an issue where the horse wouldn't use the gallop animation in combat.
• The crowd will now cheer during drinking games.
• Reworked sliding mechanic.

Quests, world events, side activities

• Addressed an issue where the assassination sequence wouldn't play for some targets.
• Addressed various texture issues during cutscenes.
• Addressed various issues with quests or world events that prevented players from completing them.
• Players can no longer use the fishing tool or the horn during the drunk walk with Tewdr –
• Sub quests will now display the correct "Part of" parent quest.
• The memory stream can now be chosen when starting a New Game if Hold Alternative option is set to ON.
• Increased frequency of experienced travelers.

User interface / HUD

• Addressed various issues with the User Interface/HUD.
• Addressed various localization issues.
• Addressed various Mouse- and Keyboard-related input issues
• Secrets will now be discovered when synchronizing a Viewpoint. (This does not apply to Pathfinder difficulty)
• Experienced travelers are now highlighted on the world map and on the compass when in proximity.
• Addressed an issue where the map wouldn't update once players got intel from an experienced traveller.
• Increased Odin's Sight radius and enemies will now be highlighted for longer.
• Improved radius in which Synin reveals keys.
• Reduced Synin's view distance of materials.
• Improved the objective beam behavior.
• Settlement building beams can now be seen using Odin's Sight.
• Improved enemy target-lock mechanic.
• "Sell all trinkets" will now be greyed out after all trinkets were sold.
• Bosses' power levels will now be displayed on their health gauge. This does not apply to regular enemies.
• Regular brightness settings will no longer apply to HDR exposure settings.
• The Codex will no longer foreshadow or spoil some events.
• (A11y) Desktop entries and content on Layla's laptop are now narrated when Menu Narration is ON.
• (A11y) Colorblind filters are now applied correctly to mini-quest log and raid tutorial.

Abilities and Skills

• Addressed an issue where players couldn't use any abilities anymore when the Dive of the Valkyries ability was interrupted.
• Ally NPCs or horses can no longer trigger body traps.
• Addressed a display issue where the poisonous powder trap could become invisible after using Synin.
• Adjusted chain-assassination behavior. Players will no longer be able to assassinate a target who was tackled to the ground.
• The Secondary hand slot will no longer be available when a two-handed weapon is equipped (pre-heavy dual-wield skill).
• Flaming powder traps will now explode when walking over the arrow.

Raids

• "Force Open" will now be displayed correctly even if nearby allies are in combat.
• Addressed an issue where allies would not help Eivor to open a door during Raids.
• Allies will now return to the longship once a raid is complete.
• Added a timer until players can restart a raid that was just completed.

Photo mode

• Effect values can now be adjusted with arrow keys or WASD.
• The no-filter option will now work correctly.
• The Territory panel is no longer displayed in Photo Mode.
• Changing filters will now work as intended.
• Addressed an issue where an Online Service Error could occur temporarily when looking at photos on the world map.
• Snow FX will now center to the camera instead of the player in Photo Mode.

System

• (PC) Updated readme files to show correct PC specifications.
• Added additional checkpoints to some boss fights.
• Addressed an issue that led controllers to vibrate constantly.
• Addressed an issue where players could become stuck in a black screen after closing the menu with start.
• (PC) Updated the autodetect config for Nvidia Geforce 1650 S.