Similar to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, AC Valhalla will allow players to choose between playing as a male or female assassin. The two protagonists aren’t brother and sister this time, however. Instead, male and female Eivor are canonically the same character, meaning players will be able to switch between them at leisure. Until now, it’s been unclear how exactly such a feat will take place in-game. A new gameplay video offers a brief walkthrough of the process.
Assassin’s Creed fan page AccessTheAnimus on Twitter shared a clip of the character switch feature in the following post:
DNA STREAM SELECTION
This was described by Narrative Director Darby McDevitt as a new feature that ensures both male and female versions of Eivor are considered canon.
The feature is backed up by new lore that upgrades the abilities of the Animus#AssassinsCreed Valhalla pic.twitter.com/SlV5Q0Bh7v
— AccessTheAnimus (@AccessTheAnimus) July 21, 2020
Evidently, AC Valhalla players will simply access the feature via the menu screen’s “Inventory” tab. It’s not exactly clear, but a button prompt seems to then open a “Data stream selection” option, which brings up a page adorning the visages of both male and female Eivor. Clicking on male Eivor in the clip above shows a “Select memory-stream” prompt that rather quickly unlocks male Eivor in the first menu screen, indicating he will serve as the new playable character.
The whole process takes less than 20 seconds. As such, switching between the two shouldn’t prove too much of a hassle. What remains vague is how the swap will function in the game world. Are NPCs going to acknowledge the change if they meet female Eivor, then later run into the character’s male version? How might this affect Layla Hassan’s research, since her modern-day journey in Odyssey will continue in Valhalla? Perhaps Ubisoft Montréal will explain as much in the months leading to launch.
Ubisoft recently faced criticism for executives diminishing female lead roles within its games. Allegedly, Kassandra was supposed to be the only main character in Odyssey, but Alexios was added as an option because executives maintained that “female-led games don’t sell,” despite evidence to the contrary. It’s unknown of the Eivor was also a victim of this directive or if the plan included both versions of the character all along.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla comes to PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One this fall on November 17th. Those who pick up a copy on PS4/Xbox One will receive a free upgrade for their console’s respective next-gen version whenever those release.
[Source: AccessTheAnimus on Twitter via IGN]
