This is part 2 of a spoiler-filled comprehensive critique of The Complete Edition. For Part 1, see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368458/

For a conventional spoiler-free review of the base game, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368448/

For the first DLC, Wrath of the Druids, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368450/

For the second DLC, The Siege of Paris, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368452/

For the third DLC, Dawn of Ragnarök, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368455/


The SFX has its pros and cons. On the plus side, this is the first time I was able to distinguish individualized beats for right & left footsteps in an AC Game, and considering the sheer amount of traveling you’ll be doing, it’s quite splendid to hear (expressly for horses!). Valhalla is also the first AC title to exhibit dismemberment and decapitation, and discerning such grisly cleavings via standard combat executions never gets old. The splintering of castle doors, clinking of loose metal on garments, bending of air around Sýnin and more are all signs of polished handiwork from Ubisoft’s artisans.

Sadly, these are partly counterbalanced by deficiencies, beginning with the sheer amount of rehashed dins from the prior RPG games: shattering pots, dragging barricades, crunching snow, whistling, stock animal growls, sail unmasting, fire burning, and others I’m sure I’m missing were blatantly transposed from Origins and Odyssey. And look, I know there’s only so much differentiation you can do with certain noises, but my point is that no initiative was made to even change them-up. Then again, maybe that was for the better as some of the fresh inclusions were not that good. For example, looting massive chests and completing raids produces this hooting that literally sounds like the chorus from Who Let the Dogs Out on steroids. Opening those coffers, in general, never feels invigorating courtesy of the lid removal having a generic sliding sound that’s not even properly-synchronized. Over and above that, atmospheric conditions are significantly diminished by ear: minus scripted sequences, elements like wind, snowfall, conflagrations, and rain come off as unnaturally-muted, which does hurt their visceralness. Like most AAA releases, Valhalla doesn’t feature any aural blemishes that’ll take you out of the game, but it definitely wasn’t as fortitive as it should have been.

I wish I could say the music atones for things, yet this was another area of disappointment for me. As you guys know, Valhalla marks Jesper Kyd’s grand return to the franchise after nine years, and there’s a reason that news generated a ton of hype: the Ezio scores are regarded as a high water mark for the series and his magnum opus as a whole. But it wasn’t just Jesper’s homecoming that was noteworthy: Sarah Schachner, who weaved the wonderful Origins OST, was announced as a co-composer, meaning nothing short of a masterpiece was expected from the duo.

Unfortunately, while you’ll no doubt find many fans who enjoyed their collaboration on Valhalla, I couldn’t help but feel letdown. The issue is Dark Age settings are inherently associated with symphonic orchestras: we’ve all listened to medieval tracks tinged with flute harmonies, brass fanfare, and of course string solos, and the fact of the matter is that none of those matched up with either musician’s prior arrangements (Jesper’s specialty being synths, Schachner’s electric instruments). Now of course, these are artists with longstanding resumes, and it’s very possible they’ve written music reminiscent of the Middle Age period that I’m simply not aware of but, regardless, their work in Valhalla felt very unnatural and subsequently non-enticing, often engaging in these heavy vocal and French Horn melodies, the former of which should’ve been up Jesper’s alley given his previous experience with choral music, but that ends up faltering due to it not resembling either monophonic chants or his famous carols. Nothing builds up to anything, instead occupying background harmonies that momentarily add a new leitmotif before returning to the shadows (the worst offender of this being the Raid strain, which sounds more like the accompaniment for a group of friars going horse cart racing than the bloody scene of their land being pillaged). Viewpoint tunes are a significant drop from Odyssey; the main theme is so forgettable, I literally had to look it up prior to typing this sentence (an absolute crime for an AC game); and, worst of all, Jesper’s revised version Ezio’s Family (aided by Einar Selvik) is relegated to the freakin’ credits, which, for the record, are a menu option and not mandatory). It’s really sad that Unity incorporated it better than its own maestro.

Obviously, not everything is dispiriting- some of the ambient tracks auxiliary to exploration are top notch, the Ravensthorpe theme is fantastic, and the shanties from your crewmen are the best the franchise has seen (though I suspect these were more Selvik’s creation). But considering everybody’s past body of work, Valhalla truly is a damp squib in this department. Reportedly, gamers were experiencing sound bugs that outright suppressed the music, and it pains me to say that those folks didn’t miss out on much.

On the note (no pun intended) of shanties, I’ll briefly go over the naval component of Valhalla as, unlike Black Flag, Rogue, and Odyssey, it’s not about maritime combat; theoretically, the purpose of the longboat is to merely transport you and your horde from place-to-place. However, the fact of the matter is you have mounts that do the exact same thing (aided by them being able to swim), making this apparent reasoning all but naught.

No, the sole intention behind the longboat was clearly to allow players to relive the Viking fantasy of coastal assaults, and the reality is that’s very shallow as, once you’re done plundering the abbeys, there is no other grounds for its existence. Sure, you can call your crew against the occasional camp scattered along the seaboard, but 9 times out of 10 it’s usually quicker to just solo it yourself. And listen, I would have no problem with this being a simple option for players, but the reason I’m complaining is because all those waterways they sculpted into the map make ground-based traversal between regions unnecessarily hamperful. While it’s not extraneous by any means, having to waste time paddling across tributaries whilst tracking down an orb gets tiring -- it reminded me too much of Venice from ACII, which suffered from similar qualms. I get that these rivers are probably historically accurate, but adding more bridges would’ve gone a long way towards making the amphibious transition more palatable. And speaking of bridges, I absolutely hate this instance during sailing wherein, everytime your boat approaches an overpass, your crew has to waste time slowing down and collapsing the mast (often causing it to clip with your tailpiece)- why not avoid the whole shebang and just make the structures taller? They already took a ton of creative liberty with the art assets anyway (as AskHistorians astutely assessed). And for those few of you who insist on traveling by sea, be prepared to get stuck on shorelines frequently (especially during turns) as your crew of @ssholes berate you.

The last major gameplay element is, of course, the skill tree, and it’s pretty bog standard insofar as RPGs go. Instead of levelling-up, you’re granted two points you can invest into one of three branching nodes representing combat, stealth, and archery, and thanks to the level cap not increasing between levels the way it typically does in other RPGs, you’re actually able to gather points at a reasonable pace without having to grind. In addition, Valhalla does away with Odyssey’s convoluted damage system in favor of consolidating everything into a singular “power level” that increases by two every time you invest in a slot, making it an enjoyable framework.

Now, I understand, there are some downsides to this more simplistic approach, mainly that gear boosts and builds don’t matter, but given that AC was never a hardcore role-playing series to begin with, I honestly didn’t mind the “return to roots” format, and it’s not like you’re less-incentivized to go loot scouring (avatar customization is an aesthetics-first enterprise after all).

Look, despite ending on that mini-rant, Valhalla actually ranks in my top 5 AC games of all time. It does a lot right for the franchise in terms of pioneering a better open world format, implementing balanced RPG mechanics, and (it goes without saying) fixing the modern-day after six entries of scattershot mediocrity. Eivor is another great protagonist, and given the sheer amount of hours of time you’ll be spending with him/her, it’s reassuring to know Ubisoft succeeded on this front. Yes there are a few botherations in the gameplay and narrative design you’ll have to contend with should you decide to embark on this long journey with the Vikingr, but as long as you know what you’re getting into, you’ll ultimately enjoy the ride. After 191 hours, I was saddened to be leaving Eivor and company behind, and you don’t experience that if the endeavor wasn’t worthwhile.


Notes
+The RPG elements began with Unity’s character customization/skillpoint acquisition and was further evolved in Syndicate outright having a leveling system. And both Egypt and England were not in their “ancient” status by historical standards.

++This question was actually directly posed to Darby during the aforementioned AMA. His response verbatim: “I'll never tell!”

+++Another thing Mr. McDevitt consistently hammered home during the AMA was Valhalla’s overarching impetus being the internal conflict Eivor contends with between her savage side (spurred by Odin) and more compassionate side, so wouldn’t a hypothetical success story from Styrbjorn’s part have contrasted well against the bloodthirsty warrior represented by Sigurd? I apologize for constantly whining about this story beat, but I cannot stress enough how disheartening it was to see a perfect build-up completely wasted.

-You’ve probably heard that Valhalla doesn’t have cloth physics, and the answer is both yes and no: there are animations for when you’re moving, but absolutely none for the elements (wind, in particular).

This is part 1 of a spoiler-filled comprehensive critique of The Complete Edition. For Part 2, see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1378235/

For a conventional spoiler-free review of the base game, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368448/

For the first DLC, Wrath of the Druids, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368450/

For the second DLC, The Siege of Paris, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368452/

For the third DLC, Dawn of Ragnarök, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368455/

In a lot of ways, it’s hard not to see Assassin’s Creed Valhalla as the video game equivalent of The Rise of Skywalker. Both were the final entries in a sequel trilogy attempting to conclude said trilogy’s story whilst redressing complaints fans had had towards their immediate predecessor. With Skywalker, that was of course The Last Jedi, while here it’s AC Odyssey and so, to give some brief thoughts on that game to indicate my originating mindset, I overall enjoyed it and believe it to be a worthy entry of the franchise. While I’ve been with this series since ACII, I do not hold a purist attitude towards the RPG or Ancient (both misnomers FYI+) or whatever you want to call it trio that sprung from the ashes of Unity and Syndicate’s fiscal failures.

That said, there were decisions I definitely did not agree with, but, even if I shared all the views of those pre-Origins detractors, the reality is Ubisoft would not have had to listen to us. Both Origins and Odyssey were, by all reported measures, huge successes, especially in comparison to Rogue, Unity, and Syndicate, and that lucrativeness tends to result in minority criticisms getting ignored, no matter how valid they are.

Yet, to my delight. Ubisoft did the opposite.

I know it’s become popular in casual discourse to trash Ubisoft, however, in this particular area at least, they deserve immense praise for willingly listening to EVERY part of their fanbase WITHOUT needing an external incentive to do so. What do I mean by this? When you look at other properties that have adapted criticism from a sect of their audience, it’s always been due to a financial dip: WWII and Modern Warfare came about because of diminished sales from Infinite Warfare; the aforementioned Rise of Skywalker from Last Jedi making ~$700 million less than Force Awakens; Breath of the Wild from Skyward Sword selling half as many units as Twilight Princess, etc…etc…

In AC’s case, those critiques largely concerned the removal and/or diminishment of social stealth, one-hit KO assassinations, the modern-day, parkour, and Assassins, as well as the inclusion of level-gating, extraneous loot, and repetitive side activities. And guys, it honestly warms my heart to say that Valhalla literally addresses 90% of these. If you were following the development of the game from the get-go this may not have come as a surprise: like I stated earlier, Valhalla was marketed as the end of an era, and to commemorate the occasion, Ubisoft brought back key personnel who had had prior involvement with some of the most popular releases of the OG era, including Creative Director Ashraif Ismail (Black Flag), writer Darby McDevitt (Revelations, Black Flag), composer Jesper Kyd (the Ezio Collection), and many others I’m sure played a large role behind-the-scenes. During the marketing phase, McDevitt asserted the game would act as a “capper” for events of yore, and while Ismail was canned for an adultery scandal, the hype nonetheless soared as demos showcased classic AC gameplay.

Of course, Valhalla couldn’t be a complete return-to-form. The large successes of Origins and Odyssey proved the profitableness of the RPG formula (plus the introduction of numerous new fans), and so the question that remains is how well does the game balance the two systems? Well, if you’ve been on any forums, you’ve no doubt heard a medley of opinions ranging from good to bad, but, as I’m with the former camp, I hope my review does a solid job elucidating why you should agree as well.

Odyssey’s present-day left things on an unstable note. Layla had been granted more screen time and characterization at the expense of her morality: in her quest to understand the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus, she killed a fellow cell member whilst sparing the life of recent antagonist Otso Berg (whose fate is not ascertained). It’s no secret Layla was never really investable as a protagonist- her inclusion in Origins felt misplaced and intrusive, and having her meddle with Isu Artifacts in Odyssey like an idiot didn’t do much to mend that. As such, there was a lot of pressure on Darby to succeed on several fronts where previous writers had failed: resolve Layla’s qualms, wrap-up her storyline, and, most importantly, make her likable. To do this, McDevitt and his team implemented two initiatives that are honestly quite genius in retrospect. The first is a minor retcon wherein it turns out Layla was being cognitively-influenced by the Caduceus to act out aggressively -- not only did this harken back to Desmond’s stabbing of Lucy in Brotherhood, but it also gave Layla a bit of a Greek tragedy overlay wherein she was being manipulated by the Gods to do their bidding. Victimhood is often a surefire method of garnering immediate sympathy, and I can definitely say I actually felt for Layla whenever she reflected on what transpired before.

The second is bringing back Shaun & Rebecca, two characters I’ve always referred to as the C-3PO and R2-D2 of the franchise due to their buddy relationship and longstanding presence in the games. Layla’s colleagues from Origins and Odyssey weren’t bad by any means, however there’s no denying they lacked the chemistry, humor, and three-dimensionality that Desmond’s group had, which was always going to be detrimental given the short amount of time the MD had to make an impression. That McDevitt naturally inserts Layla into this pre-established duo without breaking up their camaraderie is admirable on its own merits, however, it’s the throwback feel he manages to evoke from assembling them together that deserves real praise. It’s hard to describe, but I honestly couldn’t help feeling nostalgic seeing Layla interact with the two; it brought to mind those times from ACII and Brotherhood wherein you were pulled out of the Animus and had a chance to catch-up with the rest of the gang, usually hearing some hilarious dialogue in the process.

McDevitt further fixes the MD by bringing back its grandiose scope via the inclusion of a new planetary threat. To give some background information for you newbies, after haphazardly wrapping up the original storyline with ACIII, Ubisoft had no idea what to do next in the 21st century: they saw the appeal of the series was in its historical escapades, yet knew the framing device of the MD/Animus was too integral to remove. I fleshed out my thoughts on the decision surrounding Desmond’s fate in my ACIII retrospective, but that notwithstanding, the fallout from it was degrading the modern Brotherhood to essentially glorified treasure hunters over the time-traveling rebels Desmond and co. occupied. In Valhalla, the world-ending stakes are back, and while having yet another Earth-threatening plot device seems lazy ala Force Awakens rehashing the Death Star, there’s more to it than meets the eye (as we’ll see later).

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Valhalla’s MD opens up presumably months after the events of Fate of Atlantis with this newfound trio in an area of New England. They’ve been led there courtesy of a cryptic message informing them that the secret to preventing an apocalypse lies in the memories of a Viking buried nearby. That viking is Eivor Varinsdottir, a character who is canonically female but will be referred to as male here due to that being the gender I selected. Eivor’s story, much like Connor’s, begins with him as a child witnessing the death of his parents just as they’ve secured peace with another clan. Thankfully, that clan’s leader opts to adopt him, leading to him becoming a Bjorn who, years later, successfully enacts revenge.

Compared to my past AC analyses, I’m not going to go too in-depth with the story recapping for a couple of reasons: one, this is my first time completing the game, and a fresh experience is inherently unreliable for any narrative dissection striving to be objective; and two, the game is too bloody long! Months before I started it, a friend informed me that the story by itself was longer than all three of Ezio’s outings’ combined, and though I dismissed him at the time, the truth is he was correct. Valhalla’s intro, set in Norway, takes about 5-6 hours to complete, more than a quarter of ACII’s entire length, and did I mention it was just the intro?

Thankfully, it’s incredibly well-written; so well, in-fact, that I actually beat it in one sitting. Part of that has to do with the lack of filler -- unlike ACIII or Odyssey, you’re not wasting time playing hide-and-seek or fencing on a ship. Everything Eivor is made to do progresses the plot forward, from rescuing his crew, avenging his parents against Kjotve the Cruel, meeting characters who will play a major role down-the-line, and getting reacquainted with his brother Sigurd. There’s even a small arc implemented wherein Eivor starts to learn the value of diplomacy over hotheadedness, a thought that will theoretically play a major part during his time in England (spoiler alert - it doesn’t).

The Hidden Ones are simultaneously heralded in this section, and I absolutely loved what McDevitt and co. did with them. My favorite AC opening behind Origins’ has always been Black Flag’s due to it showcasing the Assassins as they would appear to an outsider: brooding, stoic, and containing an aura of mystery, and you get that tenfold here with Basim and his acolyte Hytham- he joined Sigurd on his worldly journeys for reasons that don’t seem convincing. From closely advising Sigurd to gifting Eivor the Hidden Blade (amidst protests from Hytham), it’s blatantly clear that Basim is using the Vikings for some greater purpose, and these ulterior motives underlying his actions highlight a secondary facet worth noting- the respect for lore past.

By all accounts, ever since Corey May and Patrice Desilets left Ubisoft, there has not been a real loremaster at the company, leading to artifact inconsistencies (i.e., the Precursor Boxes), mass proliferation of Pieces of Eden, and the admonishment of Assassin morale. While the first two can at least be explained away under some retcon, it’s the latter that has always affected me because a nicety from ACI through Brotherhood was the Assassins retaining a degree of ethical clarity. Yes, they were effectively terrorists, and yes the Templars had a greyness around their own actions, but there was never any doubt that the Assassins were the preferred solution.

Starting with Revelations, things started to tiptoe into an ends justify the means subset that seemed unstable in comparison to before: you had Assassins committing mass murder (Revelations), Assassins working with pirates (Black Flag), Assassins doing favors for imperialists and pedophiles (Unity), and Assassins launching gang wars in the open streets (Syndicate). I do like a good many of those games, however there’s no denying that, by becoming entrenched in sequelitis, Ubisoft missed the mark on the core tenets of the brotherhood.

At the outset, Valhalla had a chance of falling into this same trap. After all, this is a game about bloodthirsty vikings who burn monasteries and want to subjugate England, and having a sect dedicated to the preservation of free will allying themselves with such sordid peoples would’ve come across as odd at best. Thankfully, while Hytham (based on later convos) genuinely believes Eivor’s Clan to be honorable compared to the Order of the Ancients, Basim holding alternative plans gives a valid reason for the Hidden Ones putting aside their moral compass in aiding the Drengr.

Tutorials are interwoven organically as well (an impressive feat considering these games are meant to appeal to newcomers), which brings us to the gameplay. Assassin’s Creed has always been built on three pillars: combat, stealth, and parkour. Since Unity, there have been multiple attempts at revamping the combat mechanics of the series, and when it came time for the RPG trilogy, an even greater shift was made from paired animations to hitbox- no longer were you worrying about constant counters from enemies, it was now about evading strikes and knocking their health bar down. In Origins, this worked out like standard fencing: the goal was to keep your distance and jab when your opponent left himself open. In Odyssey, courtesy of the (dumb) removal of shields and increased emphasis on abilities, a more hack-and-slash schematic was implemented wherein the goal was to now pummel-and-dodge until your adrenaline meter built-up, allowing a massive attack.

In Valhalla, it’s about overpowering your adversaries through strategic maneuvers, from breaking defenses via heavy blows to shattering exposed weak points with arrows. However, to prevent players from spamming heavy strikes (or endlessly dodge-rolling like before), a stamina meter has been implemented that depletes the more you do either move. The only way to rejuvenate it is to either take a breather or successfully gore a thug with a light attack, meaning you now have an incentive to use lighter strikes over heavier ones besides their superior speed. Abilities are back (much more-grounded this time around), and similar to Odyssey, there is an encouragement on growing your stamina to utilize them in a hairy situation; however, they’re never necessary for succeeding, turning them into a tool more than anything (and yes, that’s a good thing).

Of the three games’ combat systems, I probably had the most fun with Valhalla’s- not only do you have a good balance between light/heavy/parrying/dodge, but the bosses, in particular, come from the Dark Souls school of requiring smarts over simple lacerations. That said, there are two big flaws: one, regular enemies (which make up most encounters) become quite easy to chop down once your power level is sufficiently high (to be fair, I suppose that’s a standard for most RPGs), and two, there isn’t a cap on archery -- it’s so easy to simply gain some distance and spam arrows/longe range abilities in the middle of a fight, meaning tougher archetypes like the Goliaths, Zealots and majority of minibosses are rendered less effective. Having bowing deplete stamina instead of rejuvenating it would’ve resolved this easily.

When it comes to stealth, it should be noted that, upon release, Valhalla had a broken apparatus apparently akin to ACIII’s. In the months following, two patches were sent-out that, based on my experience, have alleviated those qualms, though from what I understand, the patches were either never released to PC ports or were ultimately ineffective. So Master Race adherents, please keep that in mind.

For fellow console peasants, stealth is pretty fun. In the wild, you’ve got heaps of grass patches to skulk around in, whistle, and snipe from afar. One change I appreciated is hitting an enemy amongst a group doesn’t immediately highlight your presence like it did in Origins, so long as you get back into cover. The largest drawback to the stealth is that, going off what I stated earlier, tools have been completely replaced with abilities- if you want to poison someone, set something ablaze, distract with your raven, or place a far-off explosive, you’re going to have to waste stamina doing it, which takes away from the Assassin portion for sure.

As noted in the introduction, Valhalla made waves for two things: bringing back the one-hit KO Hidden Blade (accomplished via a minigame or menu change if you’re a scrub), as well as social stealth. This might be controversial to say, however I genuinely think this version of social stealth is the third best in the franchise behind Brotherhood and Syndicate, even being utilized better than the entirety of the Kenway Saga. You’ll frequently enter cities and communities dubbed “mistrust zones” which Eivor will cloak himself in, but that cloak doesn’t make you invisible unless you happen to find some monks. It’s a lot like ACI in that, one, you can’t blend in with everyone, and two, that guards have detection meters that set-off depending on how close you are to them/if you’re acting out-of-line: walk like a normal human being (helped by the garment deliberately slowing your speed) and they won’t pay you much attention; dart or climb about and you’ll get some stares. Blending activities are strewn throughout these scapes to allow in-plain-sight hiding as soldiers walk by you, and plenty of drunks somber about to manipulate as distractions. The one thing that would’ve really improved Valhalla is if they added more assassination takedowns. Maybe I’m spoiled by ACIII and Unity, which had these in abundance, but it gets kind of tiring seeing Eivor perform the same 2-3 knifings every murder. Considering all the distinct hiding spots, it would’ve been cool to be able to do a unique takedown in place of a standard stab.

Parkour is, sadly, pretty garbage. It’s no secret Ubisoft moved to an inferior system in Origins out of a desire to emphasize open world exploration over traversable cities, but with Valhalla, it’s bizarre because they’ve actually reverted to the old design style, yet complimented it with what is arguably the worst parkour in the history of the franchise. See, places like Lunden, Jorvik, and Wincestre are built like classic AC metropolises, with interconnected buildings and direct pathways for Eivor to dash about on, and when it’s working right the traceuring (horizontal-wise at least) is smooth. But they’ve made this weird push-button assignment that both feels needlessly complicated and prevents you from mastering progressment the way you could in past AC games -- you click the joystick to run, push the joystick to freerun, hold A to parkour/climb/auto-leap short distances, and double tap A to jump. Perhaps they were attempting to emulate the Ezio versions, which had dedicated digital prompts for jumping, running, and parkour (compared to the Kenway Saga, wherein things were simplified to two buttons), however, there were only three there compared to the four here, and it was also more ergonomic (clicking the joystick in Valhalla just isn’t as functional as pressing a tab).

Still, I would’ve been able to tolerate this had the parkour algorithm been consistent with what it recognizes as pure freerun vs. ascension, but you’ll often find yourself accidentally clambering-up columns or other installations that you would’ve thought traversable with the standard A button.

Vertical movement is worse. Once Eivor has begun his shimmying he turns into glue, unable to detach, drop down, or manually climb-leap to the top (an inconsistent one technically exists, but you’ll see why it’s inconsistent when you play). Your sole recourse is to either finish your trek or auto-descent netherward until you’re within range for a drop-off. Valhalla, to its credit, does retain the side lunge from Unity, as well as a standard back eject (the latter only if you have another structure in range), and I did appreciate them giving Eivor’s model weight akin to Arno, but these are ultimately small potatoes against an inherently-downgraded system.

Okay, now that that’s taken care of, we can continue with the introduction. All cards on the table, there isn’t much else to say that cannot be covered under one of the generalities I specified earlier: it’s tautly-paced, sharply scripted, and informs you on how to interact with the existing systems. Things end with Sigurd and Eivor bailing to England after Sigurd’s father surrenders his throne to King Harald to secure future peace for the clan. There’s a nice duality of maturity vs naivety wherein you see how Styrbjorn’s world experiences have shown him the futility of maintaining everlasting conflict for meaningless things like glory, once again laying the seeds for Eivor’s own arc (that never comes to pass).

In England, the Ravens head to the last known site of a Viking clan who colonized earlier called the Sons of Ragnarr, only to find their lands abandoned. After fending off some Englishmen, Sigurd opts to mark this territory as the Raven’s new home, launching Valhalla’s version of a series semi-staple: the settlement. To elucidate the history for you newbies, settlements have been a recurrent aspect of AC, albeit one not as stringent as hardcore fans would lead you to believe. Yes, every AC game save Origins featured a home base of some type, but the vast majority were never used for anything substantive: Alamut Castle was a simple set with nothing inside; the Villa Auditore a glorified armory; Tiber Island a place only for Assassin ceremonies; Black Flag’s Great Inagua and Rogue’s Fort Arsenal utterly meaningless; Revelations’s bureaus, Unity’s Cafe Theater, Syndicate’s Train a spawn point for missions; and the Adrestia just a ship.

You’ll notice I omitted one entry, and that was of course the Davenport Homestead from ACIII. It was the first time an Assassin HQ actually felt like a real, lived-in place: you had tons of NPCs, plenty of missions/optional dialogue based around their presence, in-game challenges, and an economic boon via trade convoys. It formulated a template I’m saddened none of its sequels expanded upon.

Well, on the plus side Ravensthorpe is a valiant attempt at crafting a meaningful estate, even if it never reaches its greatest potential. It combines the renovation system from Brotherhood, civilian presence of ACIII, and mission generating of the Cafe Theater into a single hacienda. You start and finish all your story missions here, construct/upgrade new buildings to unlock sidequests, and can even activate a feast buff to temporarily boost your attributes. Despite these facets, I can’t say I got particularly attached to Ravensthorpe, and that has to do with a couple of reasons: one, because it’s more of a springboard for your adventures, you don’t spend much time in the actual area; and two, it ails from Unity problem of repetitive AI. What I mean is, every time you enter the place, you’ll see the exact same animations play-out: the same kids running up to you, the same crew members marching from the docks, the same animals lolling about, etc….and that’s ultimately immersion-killing. As much as people hate the Almanac of the Common Man from ACIII, it at least underlined an amazing feat from that game, which was the radiant-esque AI of the homesteaders, and I wish a similar coding had been programmed here.

Anyway, it’s high time we spoke on the story. Valhalla’s main campaign may be confusing to some because it adopts a method of storytelling new to the AC franchise (and mainstream titles as a whole): arcs. Prior games operated on a modus I refer to as “Acts” which, to quote my ACII review, are similar to Arcs in that they’re set around a new threat, but differ in terms of not being standalone. That’s not to say that Valhalla’s arcs are completely unrelated to the other (in fact, several continue/reference events from prior ones); however, they definitively have a beginning, middle, and end, allowing you to complete them without feeling like you’re ending on a cliffhanger. The process generally follows as depicted: Eivor will consult Sigurd’s wife Randvi about a territory, learn of its predicaments/politics, pledge to obtain their allegiance, resolve whatever qualms exist, and then return and confirm with Randvi that the deed is done. Rinse and repeat.

Now, this format has led to accusations that Valhalla is full of filler, and it’s one of those things I both agree and disagree with, though even my agreements are laced with provisos. If we were to condense the arcs under themes, Valhalla has four overarching storylines: Kingmaker, Order of the Ancients, Asgard, and Sigurd. Kingmaker has you running all over England forging those aforestated alliances, Order eliminating members of the proto-Templars, Asgard reliving memories of the Norse Gods (more on that later), and Sigurd’s a combination of all three, albeit one which trails continuously throughout Valhalla’s runtime.

In fictional storytelling, especially AAA releases, audiences are used to conventional chronicling wherein event A goes to B to C to D ad nauseam. Because of this mindset, it’s my theory that conventional gamers appropriated the Sigurd thread as Valhalla’s primary campaign, and I don’t blame them: Sigurd was a major figure in the intro and the whole reason Eivor departed to England in the first place. Eivor’s purpose is to serve his adopted sibling, and given the recurring nature of the man in the story, at first glance it would appear Ubisoft agreed.

However, upon closer inspection, I do think Valhalla is more experimental than that given that progressment, even in Sigurd’s sections, is primarily reliant on the formation of those dutiful liaisons since Eivor utilizes them to aid his sibling (more on that later). The reason I consider this approach experimental is because, in mainstream releases, you usually get the opposite. Think about it: in other games, the A plot is a singular strand which lasts uninterrupted whilst side content occupies shorter bursts of self-contained tales; in Valhalla, though, the self-contained tales pull double-duty as autonomous contes AND building blocks for the development of Eivor and Sigurd’s relationship.

But that begs the earlier inquiry of is this filler? If the player has to do these elongated set pieces to advance the A plot, did Valhalla’s writers fall prey to the scourge of shōnen anime? Again, not to dodge the question, but the answer is somewhere in the middle. For me, if I’m going to label something as filler, it needs to contain two components: one, have no importance to the macro, and two, not be referenced in postliminary scenarios. I theorize the reason critics have championed this accusation is because Valhalla’s non-Sigurd arcs are largely deficient in the latter, which is what most people look for when gauging continuity. However, it is not zero sum, and, more importantly, contains the former in spades. We’ve already established that Sigurd’s storyline, itself, is not completely independent due to it being tied to the Raven Clan’s confederacies/the brothers’ connections to the Old Gods. As such, by having dedicated individualized chapters to both those threads, you avoid falling into filler territory by my definition.

Still, I am sympathetic to the quibbles, and definitely agree that more connecting tissue should’ve been implemented to guide players from arc-to-arc, and I honestly feel these problems derive from Valhalla’s wish to be open-ended. This is a game that wants you to do certain beats in a certain order whilst concurrently providing a freedomic approach towards said objectives a la A Link to the Past. Unfortunately, in a story-driven enterprise with recurrent characters, you can’t exactly have that because it interrupts the flow, which is the dilemma gamers no doubt faced here. Thus, to alleviate this for future players, my suggestion is to do what I did, which is, well, role-play. Imagine why Eivor would want to embark on Y next as opposed to Z. Trust me when I say it’ll go a long way towards making your experience a lot more enjoyable. Valhalla is a ROLE-PLAYING game, so technically such a tactic isn’t out of the left field. However, I understand this isn’t a legitimate answer to the qualm of the arcs not being strongly-tied together, which is why I said the answer is ultimately muddled.

Tl;dr, I don’t think the absence of narratorial links make the non-Sigurd arcs filler, but it definitely hurts the pacing unless you do some imagineatory gymnastics on your part.

I’ll begin my story analysis with Ledecestrescire, wherein Sigurd has located the displaced Sons of Ragnarr, who, in a bid to win the favor of King Ceolwulf, are attempting to replace current Mercian ruler Burgred with Ceolwulf’s son Ceolbert. You can tell a lot of effort went into this arc by way of the sheer amount of mo-capped cutscenes, and as your first real look at the Viking presence in England, I was pleasantly surprised by the brutal depiction. Unlike Black Flag’s pirates, Valhalla’s Norsemen are portrayed as the cruel warriors they garnered a reputation for, and while other aspects are sanitized (more on that later), at least here it’s made clear from the get-go that you’re in league with Machiavellianists. Central to this rendition is Ivarr the Boneless, a character who I’m confident has become a fan favorite in the same vein as Cesare and Roberts. He’s cruel, hedonistic, and above all entertaining, never failing to spice up the narrative (especially against his dull bróði Ubba).

I’ve heard from friends that Ledecestrescire evokes Game of Thrones vibes, and though I haven’t watched that show as of the writing of this review, I can definitely imagine how the blood games and political machinations would be reminiscent of such goings-ons in Westeros. But yeah, overall Ledecestrescire was a great first step into Valhalla’s world of war and ruses: Ceolbert is a superb young character, the historicity is surprisingly accurate, and the tone is on-point. It ends with Sigurd departing to conduct more work whilst asking Eivor to continue the proliferation of the Raven Clan’s power.

That leads to the next arc, Grantebridgescire, which is unfortunately a big step down from Ledecestrescire due to being too reminiscent of an AC Odyssey questline. What I mean is, for those who didn’t play that title, is that it takes an interesting premise and dilutes it with the classic video game formula of do THREE things. In this case, Soma suspects one of her three councilmen is a traitor and needs Eivor to figure out who as her clan fights for control of the area from Order member Wigmund. The tasks associated with each of the trifecta are diverse enough, but it can’t help feeling pointlessly drawn-out and consequently sluggish. Perhaps this was deliberately done to increase your level given that the next arc, East Anglia, has noticeably higher stat requirements.

Things begin when Eivor returns to Ravensthorpe and finds his clansmen under attack by fellow Danes. After defeating them, Eivor and Randvi deduce they must have come from East Anglia, prompting the beginning of Eivor’s acquaintanceship with King Oswald. Oswald is set to marry the norsewoman Valdis in a bid to secure unity between the Saxons and Danes in East Anglia; however, hampering things for him are two factions: Valdis’s brothers, who disapprove of Oswald’s inherent character weakness, and the hostile viking Rued, who is behind many raids in the area (including the attempted one at Ravensthorpe).

East Anglia is, without a doubt, my favorite storyline in Valhalla because of several factors: one, the production value; two, the pacing, and three (most importantly) Oswald’s characterization. He’s meant to occupy the pathetic archetype, yet isn’t pathetic if that makes sense. He’s clearly weak and out of his depth in this Dark Age world, yet continues to press forward with courage, and it makes for a very enjoyable persona. My only problems with East Anglia were the inclusion of a last minute camp raid I thought needless, as well as the writers not bothering to explain how Oswald and Rued survived their fall. Slim pickings though.

Eivor comes back to learn that Sigurd wants to meet in Oxenefordscire, where he plans to install a thegn called Geadric into power. Arriving there, Eivor finds Sigurd reunited with Basim (who departed on his own errands soon after the Vikings made windfall) and being hunted due to their support of Geadric against Lady Eadwyn, a royal selected by King Aelfred of Wessex to rule over the country. The rescuing and support of Geadric starts off fine until Sigurd discloses ulterior motives to his activities in Oxenefordscire- he is trying to find a Paladin named Fulke who reportedly has knowledge of a deific secret concerning Sigurd. Sigurd’s push to prioritize Fulke over Geadric, especially under the divine justifications he gives, leads to friction with Eivor, and while their conflict is a bit rushed given their established brotherhood, it’s executed well-enough that I didn’t have serious complaints. For one, Sigurd’s vagueness is frustrating to Eivor (and possibly the player), but at the same time is brought about by him wanting to be certain about things AND being accustomed to Eivor blindly following him on prior adventures. And two, going back to what I stated earlier, it’s blatant that Basim is pulling some strings to manipulate Sigurd into acting this way, a notion that further aggravates Eivor.

Fulke has knowledge of the Isu and believes Sigurd to be a reincarnation of a Norse God, a supposition that further exacerbates Sigurd’s increasingly Messianic beliefs. Despite successfully beating Eadwyn, King Aelfred arrives. To avoid further bloodshed, Sigurd proposes the two sides trade their best warriors, during which Fulke betrays the group by pleading with the King to take Sigurd instead given his heritage as a prince and deity, disclosing her identity as a member of the OotA in the process. The terms are agreed upon and Aelfred withdraws, prompting Basim to covertly follow them and promise to update Eivor when he finds out where Sigurd will be taken. Overall, despite having some blatant padding, Oxenefordscire is a solid arc that simultaneously pushes events forward whilst introducing characters who will play a major part down-the-line.

With all this talk of gods, I decided the next thing Eivor would do is try and figure out his own spiritual roots to get to the bottom of things, and given the arrival of the seer Valka in England, now seemed as good a time as any. Drinking a special brew from her grants Eivor dreams of Asgard wherein Odin is desperate to stave off his destiny of dying in Ragnarök. All cards on the table with you guys, I did not like this arc at all. It comes across as a discount God of War script, weaving an epic of hypothetical grandiose with micronic figures. What I mean is it doesn’t feel Eddaic because you’re seeing events through what are literally reskins of standard NPCs and characters from the base game. Origins and Odyssey both incorporated mythological realms, and while the rehashed gameplay definitely diminished their value, at least you were still controlling the same human protagonist. Here, you’re technically supposed to be playing as Odin, yet he operates exactly like Eivor when he’s supposed to be this supernatural entity. And yes, I know that the Isu are not gods in the conventional sense and were never going to be treated in the same vein as Darksiders; however, their corporeal incomprehensibility and mythological craftsmanship in past releases still elevated them to grander plains that Asgard fundamentally fails at concocting. I maybe would’ve been able to overlook this had the narrative been something special to the AC world, but it’s literally a transcription of poetry from Old Norse texts.

Also, for a game that wants to have a Sage plot twist, it baffles me that they didn’t bother trying to disguise the other characters from their Earthly counterparts, either visually or aurally. Loki looks and sounds exactly like Basim; Thor like Halfdan, Týr like Sigurd, and so forth.

Because of Fulke’s association with the Order, it made sense that Eivor would pursue them next, spurring a journey to Lunden where Hytham notes the Templar presence. Lunden is not only one of my favorite arcs in the game, it’s also my favorite city in the game. With Roman ruins, flat rooftops, and an emphasis on social stealth, it’s a clear homage to the Ezio games, and boasts an interesting tale involving two friends trying to figure out who murdered their King. A nice arc that wraps up nicely and removes three Order members from England.

Returning back, Randvi tells of Ceolbert, who had briefly stayed with the Raven Clan to learn the art of politics. He is now in Sciropescire, striving to broker a peace between the Danes and Britons. Sadly, talks break down quickly when Ivarr, representing the Danes, declares war on King Rhodri, representing the Britons, having had a past feud with him over the scarring of his face. As you can imagine from Ivarr and Ceolbert’s presence, Sciropescire acts as a sequel to Ledecestrescire, yet sadly isn’t anywhere near as good, largely due it focusing on efforts to undermine Rhodri logistically in order to force him to the negotiation table. These actions consist of your usual raiding, which gets boring fast as you’re doing the same repetitive activities again and again and again. I’m 90% sure the praise for it comes purely from the last third wherein Ceolburt is apparently murdered by an Englishman, prompting the forgoing of diplomacy and the sieging of Rhodri’s castle. After the battle, the King is captured by Ivarr, taken to the mountains, and turned into a Blood Eagle, after which Ivarr reveals himself as the real murderer of Ceolbert- the subsequent fight with Eivor sees the Ragnarrson killed and Eivor leaving depressed. It’s absolutely a great finale, but one that doesn’t quite make-up for the utter monotony you have to put up with.

In Ravensthorpe, Randvi has seemingly great news- Basim has tracked down Sigurd to the southeast. Unfortunately, the consequent Cent Arc, despite continuing the “main campaign,” is arguably the first instance of major filler in Valhalla. See, Basim hasn’t actually found Sigurd - he’s found a guy who claims to know where Fulke is, but will only do so if they help him discover who Aelfred selected as ealdorman of the land his church resides in. Despite some interesting conversations with Basim, the lion’s share of this storyline is more banality, further hampered by the presence of one of the most annoying NPCs in the series, Shergar. If you needed further proof of it being filler, it literally ends with Fulke murdering the ealdorman and escaping to a nearby fortress in Suthsexe.

It brings me no pleasure in saying that the Suthsexe Arc doesn’t redress the drudgery of Cent. Despite seeing many of your established allies convene for this fight, it suffers from the same problems as Sciropescire in that you’re chiefly doing war preparations (not to mention the actual siege itself isn’t any different from prior castle assaults). But hey, at least Fulke is assassinated and Sigurd rescued. Tragically, though, it appears Eivor was too late as Sigurd is a changed man: he views himself as a God, withdraws from company, and acts outwardly aggressive towards his clansmen.

Once again, this talk of godhood convinced me to head back into my pagan dreams (encouraged by the requisite ingredients being near Cent and Suthsexe) wherein Havi has arrived in Jötunheim, or the realm of giants, to seek their Seiðr: it holding the secret to immortality. Thankfully, Jotunheim is a marked improvement over Asgard simply because it does what Curse of the Pharaohs and Fate of Atlantis did, which is tell an Assassin’s Creed story through the designated mythos instead of regurgitating an existing tale. Significantly aiding this endeavor is the presence of Juno, depicted as a Scandinavian figure named Hyrrokkin, who secretly helps Havi discover the method by which he can survive Ragnarok: dispersing his soul in a well called Mímisbrunnr. It also leans a bit more into the preternatural with there being an actual giant you have to fight (and Odin, you know, plucking out his freakin eyeball!).

Back in the land of the living, it was time to re-pursue the Order for what they had done to Sigurd. Cue Jorvik, where Hytham has caught the presence of three more targets. Luckily for Eivor, it turns out two of his old friends, Hjorr and Ljufvina, reside in the city. Arriving there, Eivor finds yet another conspiracy afoot- members of a gang called the Red Hand are attempting to kill the elite class, as well as anyone who fancies them (including Ljufvina!).

As another city arc centered on eliminating proto-Templars, I was hoping Jorvik would be as great as Lunden, but that wasn’t to be. On the plus side, the three radicals are more memorable than the ones in Lunden, but on the negative side, too much time is spent on investigations, which theoretically would be nice save they’re the same trivial casework Origins “pioneered” years ago wherein you would simply enter an area and find all the highlighted “clues” for Eivor to put together on his own. Such a method feels like you’re going through the motions instead of actually solving a mystery, meaning you only get so much mileage. The Red Wedding-inspired finale is decent at the very least.

Next up is Essexe. You get a letter requesting your help from the ealdorman there, Birstan, who wants you, along with another Viking named Rollo, to kidnap his wife so that she can go live a happy life back in Francia whilst he marries his true sweetheart. To be blunt with you guys, I can’t quite describe a role-playing reason as to why Eivor would commit to this area, making it the only arc which I will unequivocally agree should have been relegated to a side mission. Yes, you acquire your typical alliance, but the events don’t tie into anything else occurring in England minus Aelfred’s men showing up as last-minute antagonists. The story itself isn’t bad, and is definitely different from the standard regicidal flair of the other arcs, but this microcosm just felt ultimately unnecessary as a whole.

In Eurvicscire, King Halfdan, another Ragnarrson, requests Eivor’s aid in his fight against the Picts. Eurvicscire acts as something of a follow-up to Jorvik given the similar setting and Eivor enlisting Hjorr and Ljufvina’s help down-the-line. However, the bulk of it surprisingly has less to do with the war and more with Halfdan’s health: he suspects his first mate, Faravid, of conniving to kill him. The writers evidently intended for this to be a morally-grey yarn wherein you don’t know who to trust, but to convey this they went about the annoying route of making everyone talk in drawn-out babblery without getting to the point. I’m sure you guys have seen a piece of media or played a game where this type of technique was employed, and it just reeks of amateurity- there’s a way to be thrilling without dancing around the point like a teenage girl attempting to flirt.

I was also really bothered by Eivor’s facial animations. For those who don’t know, Odyssey and Valhalla employed an algorithm to render body and countenance expressions so that Ubisoft didn’t have to spend money on motion capture for every cutscene. That’s perfectly fine, and I don’t condemn them for it- it’s an expensive procedure, other companies have employed similar tactics, and if it works out it works out. And contrary to public opinion, I actually do think it’s worked out for the most part- minus Eivor feeling the constant need to cross his arms every minute, his movements never feel unnatural (Valhalla’s regression to “talking heads”, on the other hand, is a point of contention, but more on that later). However, something must’ve gone wrong during the programming of Eurvicscire as Eivor constantly makes these weird smiley visages with his eye sockets and eyebrows that are off-putting. It reminded me a lot of that scene in Terminator 2 when John is trying to teach the T-800 how to grin.

Anyway, like Jorvik, the conclusion is pretty good (Halfdan is thoroughly entertaining), but to get to that conclusion, you have to complete generic objectives and one more castle siege. The one saving grace to those setpieces are the Picts- I mean it when I say credit to Ubisoft for designing so many unique enemy archetypes this late into the game. They add new challenges and feel like the warmongers feared by Emperor Hadrian.

Returning to Ravensthorpe, I found a young nobleman named Hunwald domiciling in the settlement. Enquiring about his problems revealed that he was forcibly separated from his father, the Ealdorman of Lincolnscire, by mysterious men of an “ancient order”, and wants an escort back home. Well, that thinly-veiled allusion to the Order of the Ancients convinced me to take-up his request, and boy did I regret it. Lincolnscire is, without a doubt, the worst arc in the game (IMO), and it all starts with Hunwald: first-off, he looks uncannily like Michael Cera, and yes, that’s a bad thing. Secondly, his dialogue is atrocious -- he inhabits the happy-go-lucky, naive, caffeinated jackrabbit stock character we’ve all seen since Scrappy Doo, and it is painfully out-of-place in this Medieval era. I have no qualms labeling him the AC version of the Adoring Fan or Sticky or insert your choice of annoying NPC, and denying him the Thegn title is one of the sweetest things I have ever done in a video game.

The storyline itself is bad on its own merits, blending the worst parts of Cent, Suthsexe, and Eurvicscire into an unappetizing mess of bad pacing and obnoxiously obscure convos. The truth about Hunwald’s father is otiosely protracted, and the process for replacing him comes down to a simple straw vote with predictable outcomes. Again, you get a decent cinematic ending with Eivor assassinating an Order member, but overall it was such a dull experience, I actually took a break halfway through to complete side activities (something I didn’t do for any other arc).

On that note, it’s worth taking a rest here to speak on those side activities. As you have all of England at your fingertips, so too are you provided hours upon hours of excursions to partake in. First up is your conventional treasure hunting that has accompanied AC games since the flags of yesteryear: Valhalla has notably done away with the looter shooter schematic of Origins and Odyssey in favor of unique outfits and weapons. Upgrading these requires resources, from precious metals to your standard materials, and all three caches are located in chests peppered across the map. One of the more unique things Valhalla does is hide these crates behind obstacles, requiring you to solve a mini-puzzle of sorts to acquire them. Now, I’ve heard a lot of complaints regarding this system, stating that it adds unnecessary redundancy to the scavenging, and I generally disagree. For starters, it makes sense that goodies would actually be hidden (and beats the post-ACII system of simply placing guards everywhere). Secondly, while some of them are needlessly elongated in the sense that the solution is to simply dart around the side of the building ala TLOU2, the majority are actually pretty dang clever and require proper reconnaissance. They do get repetitive in the sense that the same barrier schemes are redone ad nauseam (i.e., the same bars, same explodable walls, etc…), but because it isn’t necessary to constantly upgrade armor the way it was in the prior RPG games (more on that later), you never have to force yourself to find them anyway.

Artifacts are the second type of collectible and they’re generally unconcealed compared to treasure, though a number of pieces do lie behind similar barricades. There are five variants: hoard maps, which display chests in the vicinity; Roman masks, which can be traded in for settlement cosmetics; flying tattoo papers, which, like the Almanac Pages and shanties from prior entries, need to be chased down a parkour course; Rigsogur Fragments, or generic lore entries, and finally Cursed Sites, the most disappointing substance in the game. At first glance they seem cool- you enter an area, hear some rumblings, and finally your screen gets all shadowy like the Black Suit shimmering in Spider-Man 3. You’re told the place is haunted and asked to end the curse; sounds thrilling right? Well, you’ll quickly realize that nothing bad happens while you’re on this hallowed ground, the sensorial stimuli being surface-level effects and the grand solution merely to destroy a single relic. A letdown for sure.

Overall, the artifacts are fine. Minus the R Fragments and Cursed Sites, I appreciated how each of them actually provided some tangible benefit to the player (a significant upgrade from previous games’ odds-and-ends that relied more-so on intrinsic motivation). Nonetheless, it’s the “Mysteries” you’ll be spending most of your time finishing, and I do have to commend Ubisoft here for trying to variegate these activities. Not since ACIII has an Assassin’s Creed title cooked-up such a batch of diverse side content, and given the sheer amount of time you’ll be spending in the game, they clearly planned things out well.

That said, the quality is up for debate, starting with the World Events. These little narrative tales involve an NPC or group of NPCs requesting you to complete some arbitrary task in support of an initiative on their part, and much like the Guild Missions from Brotherhood, they are VERY hit-or-miss. 6 times out of 10 they’re humorous in tone, but the comedy is either lame, geared towards some hackneyed pop culture reference, or undermined by the stupidity of the task itself. One event, for example, required me to carry a little girl out of a rabbit hole she’d fallen into whilst chasing a white hare (get it?); another had a singing woman stalk me until I paid her over 100 coins of silver to skedaddle. They’re not all bad, I did get a chuckle here-and-there, and the serious ones will leave a lump in your throat. However, the lion’s share of these babies are simply short forgettable distractions-and-diversions; the fact that their length is both the best and worst part about them speaks for itself.

Fly Agarics, based on the shrooms Vikings allegedly imbibed, transport you into a slightly-altered dimension where you have to complete the monumental tasks of either lighting fires, entering specific portals, or killing wild animals. Yeah, despite the visuals being pretty cool, it was wasted potential as far as the psychotropic hijinx Eivor could’ve been tripping, and not helping things is the fact that, half the time, the “signs” to resolve the dilemma are confusing to deduce. There were instances where I literally succeeded through trial-and-error, and I imagine that'll be a shared experience by most gamers.

Standing Stones are short brain teasers consisting of finding an established pattern in a pile of menhir via Odin’s Sight, in turn granting you an ability point (more on that later). Cairns are another rock-based puzzle, albeit one that requires you to stack an assortment of mini-boulders to a predesignated height. Now, if you surf on any online forum, you’ll no doubt come away with the impression that these are the bane of one’s existence, yet like most Internet reactions, that is an overexaggeration. Yes, finding the right pattern can get frustrating, but there are multiple solutions to every heap (and unlike the Fanorona minigame from ACIII, you can actually look up an answer). The physics are surprisingly well-done, the slabs behaving like their real-life counterparts, and similar to the Constellations from Origins, you get some throwback dialogue to Eivor’s childhood. Nonetheless, there were two changes Ubisoft could’ve made that I genuinely believe would’ve alleviated 90% of the ire: one, have a undo-last-move button to prevent a single maneuver from ruining all of a player’s work, and two, throw in a bottom shadow showing exactly how a piece will fit on-top-of another (as it stands, you have to make an educated guess based on the shape of the rock itself).

Lost Drenger, Daughters of Lerion, and Legendary Animals are all types of boss fights you can partake in. Because there are so many of them, they aren’t as unique as Odyssey’s encounters, though they’re still fun and pose a fun challenge. My only complaint is I wish it was possible to see the respective enemys’ power level on the map after discovering them as they’re often much higher than the recommended level of the surrounding area, and the only way of knowing their number is to initiate the fight.

Flyting is my personal favorite Mystery, aptly and accurately described as Viking rap battles by Ubisoft. Maybe it’s because I’m an English major, but I absolutely loved these and wish there were more of them. Their only reward is raising your Charisma, which in turn opens up unique dialogue options that, while not affecting an arc's outcome, were disclosed by McDevitt as being the “canonical” dialogue, so take that how you will.

Treasures of Britain are essentially Valhalla’s version of the tombs from Origins and Odyssey; large-scale exploration hubs to prospect for a special trinket. Very cool and just as well-crafted as the ones that came before.

Offering Altars are essentially the Daedric Shrines from Oblivion without the accompanying sidequest, requiring an oblation in exchange for a random reward.

And finally, you’ve got Animus Anomalies, which were Darby’s attempt at progressing the modern-day without pulling Layla out of the Animus. Given that they’re optional, I don’t know how much he succeeded on that front (they really should’ve been mandatory in retrospect, though more on that later); however, what you’ve got is basically a reinvention of the Glyphs from ACII/Brotherhood in a platforming skin. Layla (or Basim depending on if you completed the game) will materialize into England and need to successfully ascend a series of hard light structures to acquire a piece of data. They’re a nice change of pace from the usual action/adventuring, but much like Desmond’s first-person sections from Revelations, I expect half the audience to dislike them.

Besides the above, Valhalla has a plethora of extra stuff to partake in, beginning with Raids. Raids are basically the epitome of the Viking fantasy, involving you reliving the infamous Lindisfarne Tragedy on repeat as you and your crew attack coastal monasteries for resources. Given that few settlement constructions are required for story progression, you’re basically allowed to conduct these at your own volition, which goes a ways away towards making them fun since they’re never needed for grinding purposes. What I really appreciated was how they don’t fully whitewash what you’re doing- yeah, you can’t kill civilians (which I liken to Achilles sparing the Trojan Priests in Troy) and there’s certainly no carrying back citizens to the longship for enslavement; however, you are explicitly a menace. People run around screaming, huts are set ablaze, all wealth is sacked -- when all’s said and done, it’s clear this place has been ruined for the foreseeable future. Gameplay-wise, I wish the developers had implemented some form of strategy as, while entertaining, they’re pretty blatantly easy due to your crew being unable to die (when struck down, you merely have to hold down a button to “revive” them, allowing infinite hounding of stronger guards). A system wherein you could allocate who attacks where and force a retreat if too many of your guys were wounded would’ve done wonders.

Orlog, a dice minigame, gained a notable amount of traction following Valhalla’s release (to the point of inspiring a real-life tie-in), and though it has innumerable enthusiasts, unfortunately I don’t count myself among them. I’m generally a big fan of dice games in titles (Liar’s Dice in RDR, Dice Poker in The Witcher 1), but my problem with Orlog is that it’s unchallenging. You’re given arguably the best Totem from the get-go ala Thor’s Strike, and the only legitimate tactic forward is to build-up tokens to unleash your God Favor. Sure, the occasional wrench is thrown at you, but 9 times out of 10, you’ll have the advantage over your opponent courtesy of Thor’s Strike being OP. If they had introduced variations like being able to call God Favors without sacrificing pawns (that had consequences), then things may have gotten spiced up, but as it stands, the game gets repetitive due to every competitor’s strategy being indifferent from the other.

That said, I’ll take Orlog any day of the week over drinking contests wherein you literally press one prompt on repeat with the intermittent joystick toggle to prevent stumbling. Utterly banal (it’s telling that Watch_Dogs of all releases had a better drinking game) and thankfully unmarked for completionists to avoid. And on the topic of banality, we’ve got a continuation of the lame hunting system this series had literally failed to innovate on since ACIII. If anything, it’s been made grindier here since you cannot purchase animal parts from stores anymore, nor swing your sword from horseback (Eivor instead kicks and punches), the latter preventing you from mass killing prey during chasedowns. Accompanying this is fishing, which is a barren hodgepodge of boring mechanics: you throw your bait out, wait for a nibble, and then mash A to reel it in. You’re technically given the option to use a bow-and-arrow, but it’s evident the developers wanted you to wield the rod due to a number of reasons: Synin doesn’t recover your arrows, Odin’s Sight marks fish for a measly five seconds, and discharging a bolt scares away the other water critters. Outside of size, there’s no way of telling what kind of fish you’re getting either, meaning the endeavor isn’t even a reliable source of income.

Contrary to popular belief, there are side missions, and while the bulk were added post-release, they're still a welcome addition (I further anticipate readers of this review will be engaging with the Complete Edition of Valhalla that includes all extra content). Most of the quests are initiated from Ravensthorpe and involve either members of your Clan or outsiders requesting Eivor’s aide. They’re a lot like Odyssey’s in that YMMV, but they do exist and offer their own elongated narratives; plus, I can personally vouch that two of the more popular ones, Beowulf and the crossover with Odyssey, are excellent.

Alright, back to the main narrative. Killing Bishop Herefrith in Lincolnshire has prompted Hytham to gain wind of the Poor Fellow Soldier of Christ. This anonymous individual had provided prior intel on previous Order members, and it seems he’s found a new sect in Wincestre. Meeting the instructed informant brings Eivor face-to-face with King Aelfred, who was also notified by the Poor Fellow about a plot on his life from the Order. Despite this only being his second appearance in the story, credit must be given to Ubisoft and actor Tom Lewis for surrounding Aelfred with a sense of foreboding. He may be short, but it’s evident he holds a wealth of power; power to rival all the Vikingr in England. The two have a common interest in seeing the Order expunged, resulting in a temporary truce. Overall, Wincestre makes up for the weaker arcs I had to trudge through courtesy of its regicidal story and indulgence in more classic AC gameplay.

Coming back home, Randvi has received notice from one of Eivor’s old friends, Vili, inviting him to Snotinghamscire where he’s throwing a party for his father Hemming Jarl. Heading up there reveals that things are not as optimistic as were made out in the epistle: the clan is engaged in their own strife with the Picts and Hemming Jarl is dying, a fact that Vili refuses to acknowledge.

Snotinghamscire is reportedly the most accurate arc of Valhalla in terms of its depiction of Viking culture, and indeed you do see how Norse funeral preparations & rites would’ve played out in real life. Unfortunately, the rest of the storyline is pretty forgettable due to its crux resting on Vili and Eivor’s camaraderie. In fiction, it’s very hard to give depth to a relationship that has not been showcased beforehand: not only do you need excellent scripting that recollects past memories without overbearing them in exposition, you also need performers who can successfully parlay the idea that they’ve known each other for a long time. The writing here is balanced enough in that it doesn’t feel like the prelude to a Family Guy cutaway, but all too often it dips deeply into sentimentality; kind of like with Hunwald, there’s too much joviality for individuals who have grown up in a harsh society. Hampering this further is that neither of the boys have strong chemistry, though given how these games are made, I doubt the actors were even in the same booth when they recorded their lines. In addition, Vili gets a bit annoying- his denial about Hemming Jarl’s death starts off natural enough, yet his resistance to accepting the title drags and drags -- it really seemed like some backstory was cut out concerning a past fight he had had with his dad. Overall, Snotinghamscire is fine enough (and certainly a step-up from Lincolnscire), but it would’ve had a lot more weight had Vili played a part in the Norway intro. Also, was it just me, or were they trying way too hard to make Hemming Jarl into a Viking Mr. Miyagi (sounded just like him too)?

Gunnar, the Ravensthorpe blacksmith, has been out for some time, and inquiring about Glowecestrescire gives us our answer: he’s gone off to get married! Given how f%cking awful his replacement forger sounds, I decided to help out the lad. Glowecestrescire is, ironically, the opposite of Snotinghamscire in that it’s apparently the diciest depiction of 9th century England, and I can’t disagree. At the hamlet, you’ve got Anglos and Norse alike both strangely celebrating the Celtic festival of Samhain, concurrent with a Wicker Man ready to sacrifice their king in. It’s pretty nonsensical and a blatant attempt at crafting gameplay diversity between the arcs, which I wouldn’t have had a problem with had it been fun, but as you can guess, that wasn’t exactly to be. Samhain, for openers, is solely treated as Halloween-in-everything-but-name, the trick-or-treating being more boring than Costume Quest’s (it also results in you getting lots of moldy bread that is stated to be cakes in the dialogue >.>). I wish they had leaned more into the culture behind this long-running festivity as that would have made for a far more impressionable product than what you get here.

Besides that, Glowecestrescire does have a fascinating premise of a bigot learning to be accepting of other races as malevolent forces conspire to murder him. The contrast of a person mastering tolerance whilst being conspired against by the very people he hates is where mature storytelling ferments; however, the issue is the game rushes through this -- it’s not a realistic transition, and quite honestly the events that lead to this guy (Tewdwr) changing are silly (incompetent bandits choosing to spare him out of a failed squeezing scheme). There’s also this weird gag wherein Gunnar’s fiancee, Brigid, speaks incomprehensibly to everyone but Gunnar (I thought this was going to build up to some special twist down-the-line, but no, it’s apparently the developers taking jabs at the Welsh language). I do not mean to sound completely negative as I actually liked Glowecestrescire as a whole: it has a lot of memorable characters and the Gothic setting oozes with atmosphere. I just wish more time had been devoted to expanding on the motivations/expressions.

There were two new pathways when I got back to Ravensthorpe: Sigurd wishing to see his father before his ascension, and Hytham discovering one of the Order’s head honchos, who, wouldn’t you know it, is Gorm, son of Kjotve. Well, a combination of Sigurd pissing me off and me not wanting to return to Styrbjorn whilst Gorm still thrived cemented my decision. Onto Vinland, where Eivor has to give up his arsenal in order to sneak into the country unsuspiciously. A lot of praise has gone to Vinland from the AC community, but just like with Sciropescire, I feel most of this comes from the final act and not the bulk of the playthrough, which is ridiculously boring. Eivor being stripped of his weapons in a strange foreign land had a ton of potential, but the arc is literally reduced to the AAA equivalent of “thank you Mario, but your Princess is in another castle”. No seriously, you track down Gorm by rummaging through every camp he was in, finding pieces of stationery stating he’s departed elsewhere, until you get to the right one, and taking him out is a matter of a simple assassination. The whole thing can be completed relatively quickly as well, putting Vinland on the shorter side (particularly surprising given that Ubisoft sculpted an entire new region for it). The whole shebang ends with Eivor retrieving an Apple of Eden from Gorm, giving it to the local Natives for protection (setting up ACIII), and then telling them a myth about Odin before leaving back to England. It’s good stuff, but doesn’t atone for the dullery of afore.

Okay, now it was time to revisit Norway. I had big expectations for Hordafylke: the years-brewing confrontation between Sigurd and Styrbjorn, the truth behind Sigurd’s dreams, and the manifestation of Valka’s prophecy of Eivor betraying his brother. Disappointment began with the first wherein we see Styrbjorn as a broken man, the locals commenting on his fall from kinghood. Why was this done? Styrbjorn’s actions served two purposes: physically, they staved-off the destruction of his clan, and thematically, they showed, or were meant to show, how diplomacy and peace are worthier pursuits than the glory of battle/war, the latter trait obviously formulating the beginning of Eivor’s character arc. By having him be a depressed wreck, though, it completely undermines that theme and gives Sigurd’s side more ammunition. Styrbjorn should’ve been depicted as happy, content with the stability and security of his people, but no, instead you get the opposite, which of course gives Sigurd ample opportunity to berate his old man+++.

The brothers then march to the location of Sigurd’s visions; a long-dormant Isu site equipped with a mechanical Yggdrasil the two interpret as Seidr over tech. Attaching to it transports them to a virtual reality in the vein of Valhalla where they are immortal, treated as Gods, have their strength amplified, and participate in an everlasting battle. Those hoping this Afterlife would be as extravagant as the ones from Origins and Odyssey’s DLCs will be dismayed by the short hall and field before you, though considering how little time you spend here, this decision was probably for the better lest the devs repeat the errors of Vinland. Anyway, it doesn’t take long for Eivor to notice something is wrong and that this isn’t the real Valhalla, resulting in him convincing Sigurd to leave. These actions upset Odin, who tries to force Eivor to stay, claiming responsibility for all of Eivor’s feats. Eventually, our protagonist succeeds and departs from the simulation.

I have many, many, many problems with this grand culmination. First of all, why is Sigurd so easily-willing to be persuaded out of Valhalla? He was acting like an arrogant diphead about the future all those months (years?) leading-up to this event, and when he’s finally here, you’re telling me it only takes a couple of sentences from Eivor to change his mind? Secondly, why does Odin want to stay here? He’s evaded Ragnarok and is experiencing grandeur with Eivor in England: how does hiding in some eternal machine line-up with anything we saw before (couldn’t he have just done that back in the day?)? Thirdly, why does Eivor have NO reaction to Odin outing himself as a corporeal presence? I get that, before, he was just a “fly in the ear,”, but now you’re seeing this guy is real, has power, and is a part of you, you have NO reaction but to treat him as an anonymous threat? On that note, how is Eivor able to just lock Odin away? Past Sages were unable to do anything resembling that, yet Eivor, an untrained person, can? Lastly, why doesn’t Sigurd have any connection with his persona Týr? We went through this whole process of Fulke torturing him to awaken his deific psyche, yet don’t witness a materialization of the God? And why was he acting like a dick if Týr is depicted as a nice God? And what of Valka’s prognosis of Eivor betraying him (and yes, I know the “bad” ending technically answers this, but considering a chunk of the player base is going to get the “good” ending, and considering it isn’t even that ominous a betrayal, this is still a half-baked concept)?

Don’t worry, it only gets worse. Outside the Yggdrasil, Basim has magically appeared ala Captain Anderson in ME3, where he has apparently gone mad, raving nonsense about Eivor wronging him and how he will finally get revenge. Now, if you’re a long-time AC fan, you’ll understand what’s going on - Eivor and Basim are Sages, with Basim being Loki and Eivor of course Odin (a point that, once again, was hammered home in the Asgardian missions where the devs didn’t bother changing up their appearances at all…).

However, if you’re an average joe, I don’t understand how the writers intended for this scene to make sense, especially if you didn’t bother doing the mythological parts (all of Asgard is optional). The issue is nothing about the Isu is told straightforward- it’s all done under the guise of Norse metaphors, and rather than have Basim finally explain things to a very-clearly confused Eivor (representing a newcomer) in a plain manner, he instead speaks with more jargon! Even within the context of the game, is he really so idiotic as to not comprehend that Eivor has no idea what he’s talking about? That Eivor is not aware he’s Odin reincarnated? All cards on the table guys, part of the reason I’m so flustered is because Valhalla’s big revelation was spoiled for me long before, and so, in the prelude to playing the game, my mind concocted this idea about how Eivor discovering the truth would play out: it’d be this big cognitive dissemination that shocked him to his core whilst a rendition of Ezio’s Family played in the background. And yeah, I know it’s not fair to criticize a title for not living up to such fantasies, but considering the actual product is just so anticlimactic on its own merits, I can’t help but be utterly disappointed. Basim makes for a decent “boss fight,” but the sibylline dialogue should’ve been direct, both for Eivor and AC neophyte’s sakes.

The skirmish ends with Eivor and Sigurd impaling Basim on the machine (why they don’t bother killing him is beyond me), Sigurd handing over the Jarl title to Eivor, and the two sailing back to Ravensthorpe (or, if you got the true ending, Sigurd staying behind). No real convos about what transpired, no apologies to Styrbjorn, nothing.

Having found the Isu Site, Layla exits the Animus. We get a classic cutscene in the present with Shaun and Rebecca realizing the magnetosphere problems are originating from Desmond activating the Orb in ACIII. The field that now protects the Earth originates from the Yggdrasil Temple and needs to be slowed down, the only problem being the area is full of radiation. Using the spear for protection, Layla heads down and attaches herself to the device, where she meets Basim in the netherworld. Realizing he’s the one who sent the message, Layla asks him for a way to stop the machine, which he provides before telling her that the timeline will eventually self-correct to cause another disaster (a bit like time fixing itself in 11/22/63). Layla alters the computer, transporting her to another dimension inhabited by a man called The Reader, who is trying to permanently stop the disaster node from repeating. Fathoming that Basim has used her presence to exit the Sacred Tree, and feeling regret over her past actions, Layla decides to stay behind in the Grey to help The Reader.

In the real world, Basim (who is somehow not a shriveled corpse ala Altair in Revelations) latches onto the Spear, heals back to normal, and converses with Odyssey’s Aletheia, disclosing this to have been their plan from the beginning. He meets Shaun and Rebecca, gives them a fabricated recording of Layla, and asks for a meeting with their mentor William Miles. The two depart, and Basim enters the Animus to continue the rest of the story.

Despite having only two mandatory scenes, I really liked what Darby did with the modern day. After 5-6 games of Ubisoft evidently not knowing what they wanted to do post-Desmond, it actually seems like there’s a plan in-place for the future. The idea of the inevitableness of destiny, averting future disasters, and of course Basim himself having ulterior motives/objectives means there’s a lot of weight to what’s going on outside the Animus, which is something I cannot say was the case from ACIV through Odyssey. Other positive facets include the sheer amount of Easter Eggs, Layla earning redemption for her past actions, and The Reader being a blatant transhumanist version of Desmond (why they didn’t outright make him Desmond is a story for another day++). The only drawbacks I had were it, again, being only two scenes, and Shaun & Rebecca having no problem leaving Basim alone with the Animus (especially when they’re blatantly suspicious of him).

Alright, we’re back in Ravensthorpe. All this talk of Gods from Basim made me want to finish off the Asgard storyline, which continues the trend of being another letdown of a finale. Having ensured his survival in Jotunheim, Havi returns to Asgard with one final goal in mind - binding Fenrir. The giant wolf doesn’t take too kindly to this bondage attempt and engages in a fight, which the God of Wisdom bests him in. Following this, there’s a quick mash-up of images of the future, and then…fin. That’s it.

It’s hard to convey why I believe this to be a bad decision, but I’ll try - throughout the game, you have Odin and the Norse Gods playing a large part in both the historical and modern day, yet the exact event depicting their connection to the protagonists and how they came to persist to the end is not materialized. What was the point in having all that build-up and backstory if you weren't going to flesh out the culminating moment that literally leads to everything else being impacted? The game sets-up this Asgard storyline to show how these Norse figures came to be reincarnated, but then haphazardly axes the entire third act. Odin makes this pact with Juno, returns home, gets into a random scuffle with Fenrir, and then there's credits. It's like, where's the rest of the story? Where are the rest of the answers? Why did he tell the others about the Fountain? What was their reaction? What is the mead they are drinking? How did Loki manage to get resurrected if Odin banned him from the knowledge? Does this process work the same as Aita's method or is it different? How was Eivor able to resist Odin when all other Sages meshed with their host? Why do some hosts never realize they’re Sages? All these questions that Valhalla was building-up to to connect the Asgard storyline with the England one were just tossed to the side in favor of a choppy cutscene that doesn't do anything but confirm what we already knew happened. And YES, I’m well-aware completing all the Animus Anomalies unlocks a secret clip depicting the real “reincarnation” and Loki’s survival, but because those were completely optional (and most likely not to be done at that point by most players due to them not even being marked on the map unless you enter their vicinity), and because they don’t answer all the questions underlying the events regardless, this whole affair is lamentably sordid. Either make the Anomalies mandatory or recreate the scene here.

Don’t worry, Valhalla has one last narrative thread to smash into the ground, and that is the Kingmaker saga. Cue Hamtunscire, where the Great Heathen Army is preparing to take the fight to Aelfred. Before heading out to join Guthrum and Ubba, Eivor receives another dark vaticination from Valka about him dooming Ravensthorpe if he leaves, and don’t worry, just like with her other predictions, it doesn’t amount to anything (with this track record, perhaps Eivor should consider firing her).

Eivor arrives at Hamtunscire with past allies where Soma informs him of Guthrum’s plan to negotiate a peace with Aelfred. Unfortunately, the Wessex King lets slip that he executed Ubba, leading talks to break down and the Vikings to betray the armistice once the King leaves. With news that Aelfred is stationed in Chippenham, the Vikings hatch a scheme to surprise attack the hamlet, leading to you doing your typical sh!t of making preparations and rescuing stragglers. Cue the assault wherein Aelfred’s lieutenant, Goodwin, informs Eivor he knew about the strategy and launches his own counter-assault. The Vikings prevail, albeit at the cost of Soma, Hunwald (tytytytytytyty), and Hjorr. Eivor reports back to Randvi, a wedding is held for Gunnar, and then we’re done.

It’s so easy to rag on the grand finale, from Soma having the only dedicated mocap death scene to this pathetic skirmish as a whole being less epic than even the castle sieges of prior arcs, but honestly the bigger issue is that there’s no sense of completion. You beat Hamtunscire and then what? Nothing. It’s treated as another standard region in the countryside. There’s no importance to its chronological conquest, no credits, no special cutscene, no epic speech, nothing. All these hours you’ve invested toiling away at the Alliance Map amount to no vibe of accomplishment.

I also found it very disingenuous to end the game this way, implying the Vikings won when in reality Aelfred would mount a vicious campaign, beat the GHA at Edington, force Guthrum to baptize, and put a cap on the Viking Invasion, all within the next few months. It truly begs the question of why the developers bothered including Guthrum and Aelfred as major players in the plot if their plan was to subside the battle they’re most famous for participating in. The comparison I’ve always drawn this to is a hypothetical AC release set during the American Civil War with Grant and Lee that opts to not incorporate Overland, Petersburg, or Appomattox Court House in its storyline. It’s like, what was the point in having those guys when you won’t even show the greatest historical event they shared?

Now, the counterargument I’ve heard to this is that Valhalla was going to produce a lot of post-launch content and it wouldn’t have worked to end with the Vikings losing. Except, a brief look at Wikipedia shows the Treaty of Wedmore let the Norse keep most of their conquered lands (something outright acknowledged in The Last Chapter, though more on that later), meaning Ravensthorpe wouldn’t have been affected by the Battle of Edington anyway. In addition, every single DLC produced for the game takes place AFTER the end of the war, meaning they were either way going to deal with that timeline. Considering Black Flag had no issue showcasing the pirate utopia collapsing, it’s disheartening to see Ubisoft not commit to the same principles with the Vikings, especially when it would’ve put a thematic cap on the character arc that began in Norway with Eivor realizing that taking a knee is sometimes the better tactic over constantly fighting to the end. Alas, this is what happens when you have a narrative that goes on longer than it should - you lose sight of your original ideals.

Regarding that post-launch content, Valhalla was Ubisoft’s first attempt at turning Assassin’s Creed into a live service game. Numerous free updates were thrown in to keep players engaged in the hopes of coaxing them into purchasing MTXs. Unfortunately, the non-permanent ones have long been removed, meaning I cannot speak on such activities as the holiday festivals. The additions that have remained, though, I will gladly describe, commencing with Tombs of the Fallen. These are five vaults to excavate at your discretion, and while we’ve had tombs in the franchise before, this marks the first time they’re puzzle oriented. I haven’t found all of them at the time of this review’s publication, but the ones I did were definitely fun - nothing too challenging, but miles above the versions we got in the Tomb Raider reboot.

Next-up are River Raids. As the name suggests, they’re basically a mode built around the monastery blitzes from the base game, featuring multiple rivers full of goodies to reap: villages have rations to heal your crew, military posts supplies, and forts/monasteries unique loot. Some changes were implemented to no doubt address criticisms of the vanilla version and make the ordeal a bit more tactical. For example, your crew members (called Jomsvikings), can go down permanently if you don’t revive them with rations, and continuously attacking the same area increases local defenses. River Raids are fine enough, but the problem is not enough was done to diversify things- you’re ultimately conducting the same types of assaults ad nauseam, with the same configuration of posts. And once you scavenge the special drops, there’s no real reason to continue forward with the process unless you’re one of those completionists who wants all the new items in the new store (which, lo and behold, require a special currency you can ONLY earn from River Raiding!). If that weren’t enough, be warned that there is a grindy aspect courtesy of the developers requiring you to upgrade your Longship’s hold to increase its capacity. Several other pet peeves of mine include the broken stealth, emptying of your ration pouch each time you launch a raid, and the inability to uncover a location’s identity unless you leave your ship to walk within its radius (sailing by the harbor should’ve been more than enough!).

Last is The Forgotten Saga, a roguelite mode set in the past wherein you control Havi attempting to rescue his son Baldr from the Goddess Hel. Again, I haven’t done much of it at the time of this review, but what I did play was actually pretty enjoyable. The realms are beautifully-designed, each run is different courtesy of the RNG items, and you do feel like you’re getting stronger. The option to stealth your way through certain parts with the one-hit KO assassination significantly aids in the completion of areas, and combined with there being an actual Isu story, I’d say it’s worth attempting. Just keep in mind that it’s still fundamentally the same gameplay loop as the River Raids in that you’re either fighting or killing.

We’ve still got one final story to cover, and that is of course the Order of the Ancients. The reason I’m talking about it last is because it canonically takes place after everything (and should be done so lest you risk incurring a bug). Valhalla semi-models this questline after the Cult of Kosmos from Odyssey wherein you have to hunt down all these members across England. Odyssey had 42 individuals: here you’ve got 45, divided into 15 zealots, 29 adherents, and 1 Grand Maegester. In Odyssey, I found the cult system to be rather basic, consisting of you doing very arbitrary tasks that somehow added up to uncovering a persona’s identity, and unfortunately that same framework has been carried over to Valhalla (a shame considering a mini-sleuth subplot involving actual detective work could be intriguing if Ubisoft ever dedicated more time to fleshing out the parameters).

Alas, we have to deal with the reality in our stead, and the system here has, at least, been slightly improved upon. For starters, 13 of the members are encountered during the various arcs, and no clues are required to deduce the Zealots, meaning only 16 have to be tracked down separately. Secondly, there are three checkboxes per member, compared to Odyssey where it was around 5 (IIRC), making it much easier to finish (England being smaller than Europe doesn’t hurt either). Finally, and this is admittedly more of an aesthetic change than anything, but every single Order individual (including the Zealots) has a Confession scene, which, at least for me, gave an extra incentive to hunt them down. Confessions have of course been a tradition of the series (save Unity and Odyssey), and while the non-story members don’t have the same production value as their narratorial counterparts, it was still nice being able to witness an inner dialogue between them and Eivor.

The finale is also pretty good, consisting of you simultaneously being granted a meeting with the Poor Fellow Soldier and Grand Maegester, King Aelfred! Yes, it turns out they are one and the same, with Aelfred having inherited the Maegester title from his lineage. Through a beautifully-written conversation, the Wessexian discloses his disgust towards the Order’s anti-humanist ideals and pagan leanings, and how he used Eivor and the Hidden Ones to eradicate them so he could build something more God-fearing from their bones. This is of course a reference to the future Knights Templar that will evolve into the eternal enemy of the Assassins, the Templar Order; an ironic yet satisfying conclusion to Eivor’s quest.

Now, some fans have pointed out that this ripped-off the ending of the cult storyline in Odyssey wherein Aspasia also grew disillusioned with the Kosmosians and exploited the Eagle Bearer to destroy them so she could grow something else. The outline is definitely the same, but I felt Valhalla’s was much better executed for a number of reasons: 1) the tale, as stated earlier, is a lot longer in Odyssey, meaning the ending inherently had greater expectations; 2) Valhalla's sets up future AC games by having the more modern Templar Order, whereas the Cult was just another proto-Templar society that failed to last; 3), slightly subjective, but I thought Aelfred was a far more memorable and developed character than Aspasia (it certainly doesn’t hurt that he has a constant presence throughout the story compared to her); and 4) it was a straightforward scene, not hampered by pointless dialogue options/choices like Odyssey’s (I still can’t get over them giving a romance option).

Years after the base game came out, Ubisoft finally sent everyone The Last Chapter, a free DLC meant to provide proper closure to Eivor’s storyline (that was personally overseen by Darby compared to the other expansions). The Last Chapter is literally an assemblage of six cutscenes you have to trigger at certain points in the world, the framing being Basim wants to witness how Eivor’s story ends, and for a low-budget rushed resolution, it’s surprisingly fine. I know from reading Darby’s responses on the Reddit AMA that the writers wanted to do more in terms of granting extra final interactions between Eivor and her compatriots, and that inability to succeed is definitely TLC’s biggest drawback. You’ve got Hytham, Aelfred, King Harald, and Guthrum, the four representing different factions that try and draw Eivor back into the fold (Hidden Ones, Templars, Norse Vikings, Danish Vikings respectively), and while it was thematically well-intentioned, it can’t help making no sense for goodbyes to be dedicated to loose characters like Harald and Guthrum but not close comrades like Randvi, Styrbjorn, and Sigurd.

The general synopsis of Eivor deciding to come to terms with Odin’s memories and embrace them was a nice twist, but even then it’s treated as a rushed framing device that simply caps the beginning and end of the DLC, denying players a look at a fascinating concept in AC history wherein a Sage opts to coexist with their Isu brethren over being completely taken over.

Still, I’ll give The Last Chapter props for somewhat addressing qualms I had with a number of Valhalla’s finales: Eivor acknowledging Odin is another entity; Guthrum and Aelfred explaining the post-Edington peace treaty/Guthrum converting to Christianity, and a surprisingly-introspective explanation from Eivor as to why he won’t join the Hidden Ones.

The modern-day, however, is where The Last Chapter truly shines -- seeing Basim mess around with the Animus, his commentary throughout the ordeal, and of course the ending convo with William Miles made for some really fun content, and while the conclusion doesn’t end up going anywhere (Basim uploads his genetic code presumably for Miles to relive in the Animus, only for Mirage to not have a modern-day portion), I did enjoy Rota’s performance.

Please keep in mind, however, that Ubisoft was a bit lazy with regards to certain narratorial facets, namely that there’s no differentiation between male and female Eivor for the abovementioned intro-and-outro, and not only was there no differentiation, they didn’t even bother putting in the Odin model from the Confessions (nor let Magnus use his Odin voice)! Female Eivor is Eivor, while male Eivor is Odin, regardless of who you chose initially, so that may come as a surprise to players like myself who spent hundreds of hours playing as one gender.

My final quibs are two-fold: first, having the player run around trying to find the memory units felt like a cheap way of artificially elongating the content; and two, they apparently recast Aelfred’s VA in his dialogue (no doubt scheduling conflicts as Ubisoft is famous for bringing back prior actors). When all is said and done, though, The Last Chapter was a good move by Ubisoft: yes, a story finale shouldn’t be produced years later in a hasty manner, but at least we got something proper (not to mention hearing the opening chords of Ezio’s Family play at the end is always awesome).

It’s time to address the technical facets of Valhalla. The first thing I texted my brother when I booted up this game was how it might be the best-looking title I’ve ever played, and I proudly stand by that claim over 60 hours later. The new Ubisoft Anvil engine has completely done away with texture streaming, giving you fully-furnished environments from the get-go no matter where you travel, and trust me when I say that that’s a noteworthy facet considering the diversity and seamlessness of the world. This is the first AC game to indulge in the biome schematic, and while I’ve never considered such biogeographical units necessary for free roam variation, I can’t deny it prevents a sense of déjà vu during your many excursions across England. The frigid mountains of Northumbria, seasonal spice of Mercia, mistiness of East Anglia, and springtime tide of Wessex all converge into a community worth touring. This is probably my favorite map in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and considering the prior beauties, I don’t say that lightly. From the desolate Roman ruins and mythical structures to the sights of warfare and working-class hobbles, there’s a real feeling of a past life wherever you amble, and such vibes go a long way towards maintaining an immersive bubble- you’re just another part in a long history overlaying this land.

Helping matters is the fact that Valhalla does away with the conventional confetti system that’s blotted Ubisoft minimaps since the days of Brotherhood, replacing them with light orbs: blue for mysteries, gold for loot, and white for artifacts. On the surface, it doesn’t seem like such a change would matter since the undertakings are unveiled upon entering their vicinity anyway, but you’d be surprised how much of a difference it makes to not be distracted by a minimap. This is the first AC game I played without one, and I found the experience to be so beneficial I hope future entries never revert to the old style.

Character models are a bit of a step down from Odyssey- I didn’t detect as much detail in Valhalla’s physiognomies as I did in its predecessor’s, though thankfully that’s made up for by the lack of stilty-ness that rendered Odyssey’s figures uncanny at times. Cheekbones and eyebrows, in particular, move a lot more naturally, even as you slather them with body paint. It’s the textiles, however, that deserve the most praise as the precision that has gone into their assemblage is a sight to behold. Leather, cloth, fur, it matters not -- all look intricately stitched as they fold around Eivor’s chassis. I was especially impressed anytime light refracted off metallic pieces, providing an authentic sheen that shifts with your movements accordingly.

The lighting overlay, in general, is fantastic, being another rendition of the dynamic system Origins pioneered. I’ve always been a sucker for the sight of streaming sunshine through forested enclaves, and as you can imagine, Valhalla has that in abundance. Combined with the day/night positioning of the sun and varied environmental hues, and you get a motley of aesthetics that ayont the worlds. Unfortunately, there are some downsides to this refulgence, specifically the game’s indulgence in filters. These were clearly done in a bid to either amplify the lambency or diminish overcasting, but the end result can’t help but make certain areas appear artificially lit. In snowy scapes, for example, you get a white cover; foggy ones blue; fiery ones red; and underwater light blue. I feel the game would’ve been better off utilizing a more natural source for the majority of its lighting during these parts, though YMMV.

Besides that, there were a number of defects I encountered playing on my Xbox Series X: clipping between sheathed weapons and clothing (predominantly on horseback), draw distance generation issues for foliage and flora; occasional framerate drops; bird wings lagging while synchronizing, Eivor getting stuck during parkour animations; and your classic AC pathfinding quandaries with NPCs. Nothing is game-breaking, but it’s evident this was a title held back by its dual-gen release, and should be approached accordingly.

Other miscellaneous graphical plights include the lack of footprints when trudging in frost, shoddy animations for animal finishers (good concept, but should’ve been axed since they weren’t ready), comically-exaggerated splash effects, rainfall being surface-level impact points over a genuine environmental component, and fire looking incredibly dated (your torch is fine enough, but set a blaze or bushfire and you’ll witness combustion that wouldn’t look out-of-place in the original Gothic).

Performance aside, I think my biggest problem with Valhalla’s presentation is its reversion to the “talking heads” dilemma that plagued Unity through Origins. Talking heads, to elucidate, is a term my boy GManLives coined in his Skyrim review, referring to a lack of cinematicity during dialogue. You know, those instances wherein your character and another are technically having a conversation, but don’t appear to be engaged with the other due to the placement of the camera. Yeah, they’re standing opposite the other, however, you inherently lose interest since they’re not framed in a way that conveys they’re the centerpiece of attention. It solely happens in non-mocapped scenes in which the developers simply had the actors record the lines and processed their bustle through an animation algorithm, which, to reiterate, would’ve been fine had they preserved some sense of dynamism in the convos. But no, you often have to move the camera yourself to better enunciate things. If Valhalla had come out after Origins, it wouldn’t have been all bad given the precedent; unfortunately, Odyssey actually alleviated this by adopting a Mass Effect-framing, and while you do get that in the story, the vast majority of your side content is hampered by talking heads.

Further infringing the side stuff is the voice acting. I don’t know what it is about the English accent, but everytime Ubisoft has utilized it for generic civilians, it always sounds mediocre, as though they hired low-effort thespians to save money, and that continues to be the case here. To avoid an absolute, of course not everyone sounds bad, but it’s saying something when Oblivion and its cast of three had better portrayals than the more eclectic assembly here (you even get this recurring mismatch wherein an older-sounding lady voices younger lasses).

Thankfully, the main line is great, with Magnus Bruun and Carlo Rota, in particular, giving standout performances as Eivor and Basim respectively. I was really impressed with Bruun’s ability to distinguish between Eivor and Odin, lacing them with a masterfully concurrent similarity and dissimilarity. With regards to his female counterpart, Cecilie Stenspil, the parts I’ve heard on YouTube indicate her to be terrific as well, and anyone who claims she’s significantly inferior to Magnus is lying- your choice should come down purely to gender preference. That said, there was one person I wasn’t a big fan of, and that was Gudmundr Thorvaldsson as Sigurd. His acting itself is top-notch, but all too often his timbre came across as garbled.

For Part 2, see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1378235/