Best answer: There will be naval gameplay, but naval combat will be severally scaled down compared to what players have come to expect from Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Odyssey. It may be more similar to Origins, where naval gameplay is almost entirely focused on traversal.
Sail the seas: Assassin's Creed Valhalla ($60 at Best Buy)
What kind of naval gameplay will there be?
As expected from a game about Vikings, players will be able to control a Viking longship to sail between different settlements and locations across the map. This is one primary means of traversal. The longship also allows players to transport their Viking raid party because any fort you come across in the English channels can be plundered.
Will there be any naval combat at all?
There won't likely be any major combat. Vikings didn't exactly have cannons and guns at their disposal. They were more up close and personal, hand-to-hand combatants who preferred a melee style of attack on land. That doesn't mean they just sat back idly while enemies attacked their ships though. Odds are you'll be able to use some sort of offensive attacks while controlling your ship, but the scope of its naval combat won't like that of Black Flag.
Creative Director Ashraf Ismail teased that there were surprises in store with the longship, but he did not elaborate.
Travel around the coast of England with a longship
Naval combat has always been a point of contention in the Assassin's Creed series. Some love it, others hate it. Regardless, naval gameplay is in Valhalla in some form, but it focuses more on traversal and less on combat this time around. No pirate battles here like in Black Flag.
