Chasing Pages in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Is My Pet Peeve

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There’s this one side activity in Assassin’s Creed I’ve never been a fan of.

This task isn’t a challenging confrontation with a difficult boss or a lengthy brain teaser. Instead, it’s all about chasing fragments of delicate paper across the rooftops.

These fluttering pages (sometimes called almanacs or tattoo designs) have been around since AC3. 

As you notice a luminous page, you approach it, and surprisingly, it starts flying away as if it had an urgent destination. The game challenges you to pursue this flying page by navigating a narrow maze of rooftops, beams, walls, and trees.

Theoretically, it’s designed to highlight the parkour system, but practically, it reveals its vulnerabilities and aggravations – particularly evident in levels such as Valhalla.

If you make just one error in this game, your character could veer off course, crash into a barrier, or plunge into water. Missing a page means starting all over again. Frankly, it seems more like a chore than enjoyable play. The experience might be tolerable if the gameplay were more streamlined, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.

In games such as Black Flag and Rogue, there was a definite flow to the gameplay. Navigation might have been a bit trickier due to the layout, but with an understanding of the level structure, you could effectively maneuver through them.

As a gamer in the realm of Valhalla, I’ve found that the parkour system feels rigid and lacks the precision I’d expect, which seems to clash with the intricate layout of the game’s levels. More times than I’d like, my character Eivor tends to do the complete opposite of what I intend, even when I’m executing actions correctly.

Unfortunately, the payoff for putting in so much work is usually quite underwhelming. The pages provide tattoos, ornamental patterns for your character’s skin. However, if your character is typically decked out in full armor, it’s likely that you won’t even notice these tattoos due to the armor covering them up.

As a gamer, let me tell you, the tattoos in this game aren’t predictable. It’s not like you can choose exactly where or what design you want. If you’re eyeing that slick head tattoo from the internet, I wish you the best of luck! You’ll be on a quest, scrolling through page after page, hoping to stumble upon your desired design. The thrill is in the chase!

As anticipated, some players have come up with strategies to alleviate the issue, and I have tried several. By using my raven as a guide, I tracked the page’s path and identified its destination. All that remains is for me to begin the pursuit, sprint to the endpoint, and then wait for it to approach me.

Additionally, I utilized skills such as Blinding Rush to momentarily pause time and grab the elusive page before it slipped away. However, at that stage, it wasn’t about savoring the game anymore; it was about figuring out how to circumvent its mechanics instead.

To save time and streamline the gameplay, consider having the routes circle back to their origin points. Alternatively, the parkour system might benefit from a complete overhaul. These side missions are incredibly dull; I can’t help but groan whenever I see a white marker on the map, knowing it represents another tedious flying page mission. While they aren’t essential, if you’re aiming to fully explore each zone, those icons will persistently nag you until they’ve been cleared.

If you’re like me, immersed in this game and not wanting to let frustration take over due to random Tattoo luck, it feels like I’m managing mechanics that seem to have been overlooked when considering the balance for this kind of playstyle.

To clarify, I don’t believe navigating through pages is entirely futile. If we find the right approach, perhaps a well-designed system, this could make the journey worthwhile. However, for quite some time now, the system we’ve been using has felt misaligned. In Valhalla, it’s rigid, slow, and lacks the element of surprise.

Now that AC Shadows has been released, there’s renewed excitement for parkour that’s more swift, fluid, and purposeful once again. Playing Valhalla feels like trying to do parkour while dragging a refrigerator behind you. I’m happy Ubisoft is restoring some of the lost essence of their identity in Shadows.

However, the numerous instances I fell from rooftops will forever be etched in my memory, as they were all done for a tattoo I ultimately didn’t desire.

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2025-03-21 07:12