Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s ESRB Rating Promises Brothels And Shrooms

It’s time to once again return to the world of Assassin’s Creed with Valhalla. As always, it will also come with a new historical setting (with a fair share of mysticism on the side), and this time around it’s all about the time of the vikings. And well, it seems at the very least, you’ll be partying like a viking, too.

The game’s ESRB rating shows some new details, including some spicy stuff. Apparently, the game will take you to a brothel, or brothels, at some point as part of a mission. But the real fun is the mention of your character taking some shrooms. Apparently, at some point you’ll consume some magic mushrooms, which will reflect in some sort of drug trip with distortions. It’s unclear if this is a thing you can just regularly do, and constantly take these shrooms, or part of a story sequence. Either way, it seems the game is promising some wild times.

“This is an action-adventure game in which players assume the role of a Viking mercenary (Eivor) who travels through England to forge alliances, lead raids, and defeat rival clans/rulers,” the ESRB summary reads. “Players explore open-world environments, perform missions (e.g., hunting for items, battling enemies), and use stealth to discreetly kill human targets. Players also use swords, axes, arrows, and siege weapons to kill multiple enemies (e.g., soldiers, mythic boss characters) in frenetic melee-style combat. Combat is highlighted by screams of pain and frequent blood-splatter effects. Some weapons allow players to decapitate enemies; zoomed-in sequences depict victims’ bones, organs, and muscles getting damaged by players’ blade. The game contains some sexual material: a mission taking place in a brothel; topless women straddling men; a character agreeing to “lay with” a man (kissing is depicted before the scene fades to black). A handful of sequences depict screen distortion/discoloration and impaired movements after players’ character consumes mushrooms or inhales mushroom-based fumes (dialogue states, “I may still be buzzing from these mushrooms.”). Players’ character can also engage in a drinking contests; later sequences depict the character stumbling as the screen tilts and blurs. The words “f**k” and “c*nt” appear in the dialogue.”

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will release on November 17th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also confirmed. We got to sit down with the game’s Narrative Director to talk about various aspects of the game not too long ago, which you read in full through here.