Gaming Instincts has praised Assassin's Creed Valhalla as having the best open world compared to previous Assassin's Creed games.
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Thanks Farflame!Valhalla's side content is not categorized as quests. In fact, quest markers don't even appear on the hud. Only the main missions show up on the quest list while everything else is organically shown through the gameplay and on the map. This makes discovery seem more natural instead of running down a list of chores.
So it was with past Assassin's Creed side quests. A great many tended to fixate upon camps and strongholds, whether it be robbing them of vital goods or targeting a specific leader for assassination.
Conversely, each of Valhalla's side quests - typically marked with a blue dot - are a distinctive experience that could range from the maudlin to the sincerely goofy. One quest has a Christian man bragging about his anger management abilities, prompting Eivor to burn the man's house down and thus escalate the situation into a full-on impromptu boss fight. A sillier encounter involves a man's complaints about an itch; in actuality, he has an ax protruding from the forehead. Another quest sees Eivor effectively playing therapist to a man forbidden by Viking oath from mourning his family.
We could continue with these examples, but the point has been made: they're varied and fascinating in their own ways. Of course, the blue dots don't lead to just side quests.
In Valhalla, players can never be sure just what to expect from a blue dot flashing on the map. Sometimes Eivor will be directed to take some mushrooms and solve a trippy puzzle. Other times, they are introduced to a tough boss fight or tasked with building a cairn.
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