Assassin's Creed Valhalla Review

what is it what has happened this was not for you harvey like assassin's creed odyssey and origins before it assassin's creed valhalla continues the series trajectory into a full-fledged open-world rpg though ubisoft has dug up some of its stealth action routes to make that style more appealing valhalla's focuses on the absolutely massive recreation of dark ages england brought to life with stunning beauty and a level of detail i've rarely seen and it's been an impressive showcase for the xbox series x playing in 4k and a near constant 60 frames per second you have to put up with some new progression system ideas that don't quite deliver and an abundance of bugs but there's a staggering number of things to do explore and discover in and around valhalla's more atmospheric storytelling the main story follows avor their brother siegert and the friends and enemies they make throughout their exodus from the frozen fjords of norway as viking wunderkinder i smell the stink of a dozen kingdoms in your beard it's just the start their search for wealth and glory in england's rolling hills lush forests and political upheaval is darker and sadder and more grounded than the past few games had led me to expect with hard decision-making that left me reeling and that's all propped up by main characters delivering some intense and haunting performances this was the fate woven for me so i live it this vast world is home to clashes between danes norse saxons britons picks the word of christ pagan mysticism and norse mythology complete with an excellent use of the pantheon and an interpretation of asgard i am stupidly excited for everyone to see the assassins versus order of the ancients dynamics starts softly almost optionally slowly acclimating avor into the ways of the assassin by weaving in and out of this tale with admirable restraint before the usual dan brownification picks up and reveals everything is touched by these organizations but the focus rarely shifts completely from avor's more engaging efforts to build a network of alliances throughout england's four kingdoms and its many many shires that's a bread knife my lord do you mean to bother me stay back back i say i'll fight you many of valhalla's consistent high points come as you lead your viking clan in raids against the gold swollen churches and monasteries of england loaded with supplies and materials needed to build your new settlement that acts as your home base and quest hub the pageantry of raiding is powerful as thatched roof huts erupt in flames while priests and villagers wail and scurry throughout the fray the medievalness of it all has cranked up another notch in assaults on fortresses and castles which serve as the payoffs for longer quest chains breaking through defenses and working toward the inner keep is a very cool spectacle and oh my god are these places incredible to behold i know it's common to gush over a big ubisoft open world but valhalla might be its most gorgeous and detailed yet i've regularly forgotten what i was doing when i turn a bend in a snaking river and get blasted by the golden sun or the clouds and mist roll across its swamps and forests and the lingering bones of the roman empire it's absolutely stunning on the xbox series x and it's not just for show i shot a fox from what seemed like a mile away thanks to incredible draw distances and it's unbelievable to me that load times are virtually non-existent when the fidelity is this high [Music] while valhalla faithfully sticks to the open world script of origins and odyssey there are some new systems in play for better rewards this time around skill progression and abilities rub me the wrong way for two reasons first you have to spend points to reach and reveal the next cluster of unlockable skills before you have any idea what's in it or whether it's something you want to work toward and secondly these are more passive skills that augment combat rather than introducing new abilities granted a lot of them are incredibly useful vital even but the majority are unexciting stat upgrades the game-changing new abilities are hidden throughout the world in books of knowledge so unless you're exploring and hunting for them from the get-go the big ticket abilities like the bulrush or ground in pound or that infamous kick may or may not end up in your arsenal for dozens of hours because of this the first 10 or 15 hours i felt like valhalla's combat was underwhelming next to odyssey's bombastic style and flair i was eventually proven wrong of course and it became flexible and fluid and brutal as ever and it even brings back instant assassinations if you want to go back to that old style of stealth it just takes way too long to start adding that complexity so especially if this isn't your first assassin's creed game the initial scuffles are some very bland hack and slash on the other hand i love what they've done with inventory in quests here for instance there's less loot in valhalla so instead of finding 400 junk level bearded axes that you'll inevitably sell to a merchant anyway valhalla gives you different kinds of the archetypal axe or shield or greatsword each version is statistically slightly different and carries passive bonuses for flavor preference but if you find one you like you can invest in it and upgrade its quality and its level it's so much less of a hassle and more rewarding in the long run the other great change is in the greater flexibility and organic discovery of side quests and activities ubisoft has done away with the cascading lists of side quests to track in favor of revealing color-coded points of interest on the map for mysteries wealth and artifacts often you'll find one of the many insane and lighthearted side stories like one involving a crazy cat lady my pretty babies but it could also be a place of mystical power a psychedelic hallucination challenge or an ambush by abandons they're quick reprieves from the darker heavier tones of the long multi-part main story quests and the freedom to pick what you want to do feels liberating a visitor for chad the bewilderer the most radiant and rakish riddler do you have the wits to best me there is cake in it if you do no matter where you go in assassin's creed valhalla though you're sure to encounter some let's call them quirks everyone and everything here is fighting a common foe a large number of bugs and technical hiccups that span the spectrum of hilarious annoying frustrating and downright broken i've run into a half dozen heart crashes like this breakable items that are anything but staircases that had one job enemy ai that is odd nitro powered rowboats david blaine quests that get stuck for one reason or another hud elements that overlap or stay on screen enemies that inexplicably regain health and the ability to survive any fall as long as you attack on the way down among others you get it valhalla is buggy real buggy that said it wasn't overpowering looking back after 60 hours played all those nagging issues feel like small footnotes and what's otherwise been many great hours of exploration and discovery assassin's creed valhalla is a big bold and ridiculously beautiful entry to the series that finally delivers on that much requested era of the viking and the messy political melting pot of england's dark ages it walks a fine line between historical tourism top shelf conspiracy theory and veiled mysticism against the backdrop of a grounded focused story fresh takes on the series established loot and quest systems help to keep things fluid and nuanced though progression could use some refinement there's also a bigger than usual horde of bugs and blemishes to contend with from start to finish but while it may not be the most stylish or polished its rugged and brutal look at the muddy business of scandinavian expansion is as memorable and dense as an assassin's creed has ever been and it makes great use of the new consoles for more on assassin's creed valhalla check out the first minutes of gameplay in 4k 60 frames per second on xbox series x and watch our guide to the 9th century britain and for everything else stick with ign

Channel: IGN

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Keywords: IGN, Xbox, Review, Action, Ubisoft, Adventure, Ubisoft Montreal, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, valhalla review, ac valhalla review, ac valhalla, assassin's creed valhalla, game review, assassin's creed review, assassin's creed

Id: vlk1z44sF18

Length: 9min 1sec (541 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 09 2020