Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Review
Skal! The new Assassin’s Creed is here and it’s time to go a Viking!
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, the newest game in the AC franchise, is an open-world RPG. There are still stealth elements but as a Viking, who really needs stealth? Evior a Norse Viking, male or female you get to choose, is determined to make a name for themself in England after leading a mass exodus from Norway.
Valhalla starts off with a young Evior experiencing the celebration of Rygjafylke’s newest king being raided by a rival group. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a region being terrorized by an opposing power. But this story definitely feels unique because it’s not following the lineage of the assassins. Every AC up until now shows the assassin being inducted into the Brotherhood and specifically taking on missions that threaten the peace of the world as they know it.
We still see our favs, Layla, Rebecca, and Shaun navigating through Norway via the Animus trying to find hidden secrets.
This saga introduces Vikings from the Raven Clan’s plight which intertwines with what an evil the Brotherhood is also trying to shut down. Evior may have the tools of an assassin but is very much a Viking. The two worlds combined make for a great story. We see Evior wanting to make a name for her clan, going above and beyond for her people, and on a journey to restore honor along with her brother Sigurd. This story is very focused. and it doesn’t feel conducive to be all over the place. I know I felt like I had to complete certain sagas before moving on to the next area. Or have the story take me through a couple of regions and then make my way back to complete what I was doing.
Evior is rarely alone, she has the support of her brother, clan, and the Brotherhood. She also switches between a wise, thoughtful, level headed leader, to a no-nonsense warrior. When she’s on a raid, she pillages and kills without a second thought. However, when it comes to making decisions she is selfless and does what’s best for the Ravens.
Arriving in England is when we start making decisions that have an effect on the story. No matter what decision you make, it will be accepted but there will be consequences that maybe aren’t so favorable. Like, killing a traitor or showing them mercy.
Not only are we making a name for our clan, and helping the Brotherhood against the evil powers at large, but we also have to build a settlement. And how do you get supplies? You guessed it, raiding! Raiding is so different from anything we’ve seen before in previous AC titles. We know the Brotherhood is all about stealth. Not Vikings! They want you to know that they’re coming. And I love it! My playstyle is loud and proud. This is where there are fewer stealth opportunities because you let people know before you rob and pillage them.
You blow a big trumpet as you come ashore with your crew, you down all of the Christian martyrs because as you hit them you’ll hear them say things like, “The Lord guide my sword.” I”m not going to lie, I did feel weird about that. At some point I felt like Evior was going to slay a martyr and then say the line, “Where is your God now?”
Then you find the hidden treasures. When you’re done, you hear Evior say, “Back to the boats.” And more Norse boats will pull up to move in on the land. The treasure you find gives you materials to build up your settlement. This is so important because that’s how you learn to fish, the leap of faith, to upgrade your weapons and learn useful skills for your horse, like swimming.
If the story wasn’t enough, the graphics will surely do it! Heading up to the tallest mountain and sliding down, watching the snow float through the air, hearing the crunch of the snow under Evior’s boots, who could forget the panoramic view and the cinematic camera.
Not only can you feel the warmth of the sun rays as they shine through the sail. You can also feel the water splashing across your skin as you cruise down the river. Just like in the previous games, you have the option to follow the path and head to your objective. Now with Cinematic Mode, you can feel like you’re in a cutscene during gameplay. It shows various shots of Evior, the crew, the boat, the water, and the landscape. On top of that, the crew sings songs and tell tales while sailing. A Cinematic Camera feature is also available while horseback riding.
The gameplay is very fluid, especially with climbing. Evior easily climbs anything, even things you don’t want her to climb. I have found myself standing on chests that I am looting because the climbing mechanism is so flawless. Climbing is my favorite feature in terms of gameplay mechanics. The fighting mechanic feels really simple to understand but takes a little bit of time to master. Like between parrying the yellow attacks, dodging the red attacks which are unblockable, and figuring out where your special abilities like “Axe Throw” or “Valkyrie Fury” fit in will take some thought. These abilities cost adrenaline. To restore adrenaline you need mushrooms. Cloudberry creates rations which restore health. Therefore timing an Axe Fury wrong when you’re low on health, stamina, and adrenaline may result in a loss. Whether you’re fighting legendary beasts or higher level enemies during raids, they all have unblockable attacks and attacks that can be parried.
You can also change the combat difficulty. Skald, is easy, for gamers who prefer a narrative experience versus an intense combat challenge. Vikingr, default, is a balanced combat experience for people with an urge to play as a Viking. Berserkr, hard, for people who want a solid but fair combat experience. Drenger, very hard, for the warrior in all of us who like a challenge.
I enjoy the boss fights, it’s very much RPG style. They have two bars, the gold one is stamina, the white one is health. They also have moves, combos, unblockables. Which makes me have to have moves, combos, making sure I’m saving my adrenaline and my stamina. The more abilities I get the more I rely on them. In some regions, it’s easy to find mushrooms and cloudberry during a fight. I will very much so run while fighting a boss to refill.
Upgrading your rations will help to carry more Cloudberry, however, farming for leather and ore is a game in itself, literally. Ore is the rock/metal used to upgrade equipment along with leather. At some point I would spend whole days hunting game, seal, boar, deer, and wolves. I would climb up mountains to search for ore with my raven, so I could upgrade multiple pieces at once. It is very expensive to upgrade armour so do farm as much as possible. Don’t judge me, but at some point I was even killing people’s farm animals to get leather!
This wouldn’t be an AC game without navigating by boat or horseback. For those of you who find it difficult to navigate a horse or boat, like me, the good news is the follow the road feature is back. Accompanied by a cinematic camera and panoramic mode really enhances the travel experience. I use this mode a lot when I’m traveling. I have the crew sing songs and tell tales while I’m in cinematic mode. I cut most of it out in my walkthrough because I could be sailing for three minutes or more depending on how far is my destination.
The sound is very intricate. Even during the loading screens, you can hear the ambiance of a feast. While looting a chest you hear the warrior cheers of your people. The subtitles complement the audio. While I’m using Odin’s sight, which allows me to see loot, wildlife, and enemies, not only do I hear loot tingling on my left or right. The subtitles tell you loot is nearby with an arrow pointing in its direction. Not only do I enjoy the crunching of snow beneath Evior’s boots and the sound of the sail being opened up in the wind. I also enjoy that the amount of sound is making this game a bit more accessible.
Accessibility
There are a few accessibility features specifically for people who are hard of hearing and seeing and colorblind. Menu Narration, which is when AI reads to you your options on the screen. Colorblind Mode provides color palettes for HUD elements to support the most common types of color blindness.
The other feature isn’t an accessibility feature but caters to a younger audience or people who don’t like blood and gore but still want to play the game. You are able to turn off the blood, dismemberment, nudity, and assassination sequence under the menu option, Sensitive Content.
Replay value
The story isn’t very long. It’s the side missions, upgrading your gear, and being careful about your decisions that take the longest. Valhalla has a high replay value because you can play it on different modes and change your response to situations. There are different levels of difficulty. Adventurer, items, and opportunities are easily visible. Explorer, default, which shows you opportunities on the map. Pathfinder gives you a minimum heads-up display (HUD) or status bar for a more immersive gameplay experience. The more immersive style could be more rewarding on the second playthrough.
The stealth mode is changeable as well. So if you decide to up the difficulty of the overall game, you can change the stealth mode to; Apprentice which is easy, Assassin which is the default, and Master Assassin which is hard.
Being able to change the stealth, level of difficulty, and combat level provides multiple ways to play through the game. On the first playthrough, you may decide to take down someone who is a higher level than you instead of negotiating because it’s going to be an easy fight. The second time around, you may negotiate with your charisma because you don’t like being bodied over and over again.
Opinion
I really enjoyed this game. I got a little turned off of the AC series because I didn’t like the climbing mechanism, riding horses or navigating boats. I know Origins made it easier to get from destination to destination. Even in this game, it’ll tell you destination can’t be reached so I make a trek on foot over the mountains and through the woods to get to where I’m going. I enjoy Ubisoft expanding the fighting mechanism. As a fan of fighting games, I can really get down with the various moves I have. I am enamored with the cleanliness of the graphics. I love the story. Even though I felt like it threw me into a couple of fights I wasn’t ready for, but that’s the beauty of Valhalla. I can’t get as overpowered as I’d like before handling certain people or areas.
I plan on buying the game before Ubisoft granted my early access. I believe the game is worth the wait. I played this game on my PS4 so I can imagine how it plays on the new gen consoles. The load times will be much faster. I have uploaded Part 1–3 on YouTube. Take a look at it, it doesn’t contain spoilers. So if you’re still on the fence about the game, let me know why. If you plan on getting it on day one, let me know!
