I’ve been trying to put my finger on why Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is so fantastic, and Watch Dogs Legion is just okay. There are a few obvious reasons, such as the overall universe and intricacies in the styles of each game. However, I think that Watch Dogs Legion is actually just missing something that makes Assassin’s Creed Valhalla so enjoyable. The heart of this is an element to chase. There’s nothing fueling players to explore the world and earn in Watch Dogs Legion. It’s much more like a GTA game in that you have collectibles to earn and find, but there’s nothing out there that’s worth putting in the hours for. That’s not great for dedicated players.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has quite a lot for players to chase in its world. There’s the fact that you have a settlement to build up for one, which requires hours of raiding for resources. There are also various armour sets to collect from enemies and chests located around the game world. Some of them are even part of World Events. It’s the Isu weapons that are the real reason to grind though. These weapons are still being added and discovered, and that’s what players keep coming back for after they’ve finished the main story.
Watch Dogs Legion doesn’t have anything like this. Sure, there are NPCs with specific abilities to collect, that is one aspect that’s similar to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s armour. Outside of that though, why are you coming back to this game world over and over again? Collecting masks adds very little to the game, and there’s nothing meaningful at the end of all of the side activities to make returning to them worth it. Overall, the game feels unfinished in this sense.
That’s not a jibe against the developers though, I think it’s more that Ubisoft is so determined to make the Watch Dogs universe into something, but they have no vision for it. What would be good is a set of super-powerful hacking tools or hacks to unlock over time. Maybe even an AI robot that you can build by collecting certain parts throughout the game world. Sadly though, there’s nothing like that. If Ubisoft wants Watch Dogs to get bigger, they need to be adding these meaningful reasons for players to chase rewards. Without them, it’s barely worth playing.
