Assassin's Creed Valhalla's extensive length and numerous side quests drew criticism from fans, a concern Ubisoft has directly addressed in the upcoming Assassin's Creed: Shadows. The development team has focused on streamlining the experience, promising a more balanced ratio of main story content to optional activities.
Game director Charles Benoit stated the main campaign will take approximately 50 hours to complete, with full completion, including all regions and side quests, estimated at around 100 hours. This is a significant reduction compared to Valhalla's minimum 60-hour main story and potential 150-hour full completion. Ubisoft aims to avoid overwhelming players with excessive optional content, offering a richer, more focused experience without sacrificing depth.
The goal is to cater to both players who enjoy expansive gameplay and those who prefer a more streamlined narrative. The reduced optional content ensures players can complete the story without an immense time commitment, while those seeking a richer experience will still find ample content to explore.
Game director Jonathan Dumont highlighted the significant impact of the team's research trip to Japan on the game's development. The scale of the castles, mountainous landscapes, and dense forests exceeded expectations, prompting a focus on increased realism and detail.
This realism extends to world geography. While travel times between points of interest will be longer, reflecting the natural distances, each location will be far more richly detailed and nuanced. Unlike Assassin's Creed Odyssey's densely packed points of interest, Shadows features a more expansive, open world design. This approach, according to Dumont, allows for a far deeper immersion in the Japanese setting, providing a more authentic and detailed experience.
