Assassin's Creed games include two specific story arcs - one that goes back into history, and the other focusing on modern-day events that connects with the Assassin's Creed lore. Originally, the modern-day protagonist for the first four Assassin's Creed games was Desmond Miles, who was then replaced by an unknown researcher. However, with Assassin's Creed Origins, the franchise introduced a new modern-day character named Layla Hassan, who was also present in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Now, there's news that Layla will also be the modern-day protagonist in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and it is in this game where her story will come to a close as well.
It seems that players can easily transition between Eivor and Layla's story chapters seamlessly. Players will be spending a similar amount of time playing as Layla as they did in AC Origins and Odyssey. However, this time around, they'll be finding several Animus anomalies within the world of Valhalla. When interacting with these anomalies as Eivor, the game will freeze, and Layla will take over from there. Layla will then continue to interact with other present-day characters and complete puzzles. This is a new way that the developer team plans to keep both the past and present story-arcs seamless.
In the previous Assassin's Creed game, AC Odyssey, Layla took control of the Staff of Trismegistus and was told to protect Atlantis until the next Heir of Memories is ready. Layla's journey in Assassin's Creed Origins wasn't an interesting one. However, in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the character's story arc improved significantly and fans grew to care for the character. It'll be interesting to see what happens to Layla in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Will she retire from exploring the memories of her ancestors, or face the same fate as Desmond Miles? The only way to find out is by playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla when it releases on November 10 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Stadia. The game is also in development for the PS5.
