Hands-on demonstrations of Assassin's Creed Valhalla have revealed that players can swap Eivor's gender whenever they want by simply accessing an option in the menu during gameplay. Assassin's Creed Valhalla's protagonist will be Eivor, a hidden blade-wielding Viking clan member who establishes a new settlement in land ruled by Great Britain and becomes embroiled in the Assassin Brotherhood's conflicts during their journey. Eivor will be built into the story such that both gender options will make sense within the Assassin's Creed canon.
embracing stealth mechanics after drifting away from them a little over the past few iterations. The RPG mechanics that have been discussed and demonstrated so far appear to balance much more deftly with the gameplay that made the Assassin's Creed series famous in the first place, and the result has been a fanbase that's cautiously optimistic regarding Assassin's Creed Valhalla options and design.
It isn't just the way Eivor wields a hidden blade that's exciting for Assassin's Creed Valhalla - there's also the revelation that Eivor's gender will be swappable at any point during the game by simply accessing the option in a menu. While that may not be of interest to everyone who plans to pick up the Ubisoft title, it will undoubtedly improve the experience for some, and will allow players to experiment with which version of Eivor they most enjoy playing as without being locked in to their initial choice. In an interview with IGN, Assassin's Creed Valhalla narrative director Darby McDevitt explained why the new Valhalla gender swap feature is being embedded into the game's canon:
"You can go into the Animus layer of our game. There's an option to change the memory stream. To explain why would spoil a long-running secret, but I will say that the whole reason for why you can switch [Eivor's gender] back and forth fully embraces the often overlooked science fiction nature of our series."
McDevitt goes on to explain that the team found a way to explain genetic memory and the ability to swap gender in Assassin's Creed Valhalla that should be "pretty satisfying" to fans. Obviously, with so much of the game's story still a secret - and the general Assassin's Creed narrative built largely on mystery and historical intrigue - fans probably won't know exactly what the reason for this gameplay feature is until playing themselves, but the addition is one that would be appreciated by many regardless of its storyline suitability.
It's become pretty clear over the past year or two that video game consumers are beginning to demand more options. The Assassin's Creed Valhalla gender swap feature is one that seems savvy as a result, echoing the ways in which character customization has been reimagined to better line up with fan expectation. With a lot of positivity emerging from hands-on sessions and features like the Valhalla gender swap suggesting a keener eye when it comes to fan representation, things seem to be lining up for Assassin's Creed Valhalla becoming one of the most important entries into the franchise.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla will release sometime in 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia. A PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X launch is also planned.
Source: IGN
