Assassin's Creed Valhalla shows how you switch between male and female characters at any time
A quick video of the Assassin's Creed Valhalla menu has revealed how you can swap between male and female versions of lead character Eivor.
Posted on Twitter by AccessTheAnimus, this clip shows a new "DNA Stream Selection" option, which brings up the two different Eivor options you can flip between at any time.
Valhalla narrative boss Darby McDevitt has previously said both choices will be canon to Valhalla's story (as opposed to having two separate characters, like Odyssey's Alexios and Kassandra), and that more detail will be provided in the game's story as to how this can be the case.
To see this content please enable targeting cookies.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
— AccessTheAnimus (@AccessTheAnimus) July 21, 2020
On the one hand, this enables you to try both versions of Eivor and pick a favourite more easily - perhaps opening more players up to a choice they might not have immediately picked (and are then locked into for the next 100 hours).
On the other, as the Assassin's Creed series focuses more on letting you role-play as your own version of a lead character - picking their skills, narrative decisions, romances, and more - this may break the immersion you're playing as your own individual character.
It also begs the question whether other characters might be available to play as via this method later on. A version of modern day protagonist Layla, perhaps? Or a post-game option to let you play as other people from the story, while keeping the same levels and gear?
The footage has appeared at a time when Ubisoft's series is under scrutiny for its choice of protagonists - after a report yesterday claimed developers were repeatedly blocked from featuring a woman as the sole main character in various Assassin's Creed entries.
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