After the mess that Assassin's Creed Odyssey brought to the table, all Assassin's Creed fans had the right to feel disappointed knowing that the series that they once knew had come to an end. Therefore, long time fans of the series, including me, weren't expecting much from Assassin's Creed Valhalla either. However, I have to admit that Assassin's Creed Valhalla is an amazing game. But, it's still not an Assassin's Creed game.
Yes, you get to assassinate your enemies, but unlike the first few Assassin's Creed games, ACV doesn't call you an assassin. You play as an assassin, but without the label, which I found to be cool. The game lets you choose to play as a master assassin or as a Viking daredevil.
One of the biggest selling points of Assassin's Creed Valhalla is its gripping narrative. The game takes its time to tell the player an interesting story, and it does so through Memory-like sequences, as seen in the earlier Assassin's Creed games.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla has also gotten rid of excessive loot and instead focuses on improving already owned weapons and armor. This means you can pick up any weapon or piece of armor and upgrade it to improve its stats. In fact, you can finish the game with the same weapon and armor that you receive at the start of the game.
Valhalla has also gotten rid of the boring and meaningless side quests that plagued Assassin's Creed Origins and Odyssey. In Assassin's Creed Valhalla, players will encounter "World Events" instead of side quests. These World Events are short stories that don't require you to fetch something or travel 2,000 meters to complete an objective. While these World Events aren't as interesting as those found in The Witcher 3, it is still a good step in the right direction for the franchise.
What I understand after playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla for 60+ hours is that Ubisoft wanted to make Assassin's Creed a fully fledged open-world RPG while remaining true to the Assassin's Creed philosophy. However, the transition wasn't perfect. The developer had issues with balancing leveling, loot, skills, and other RPG elements. But, in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Ubisoft has managed to correct plenty of flaws that were present in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, and at the same time, managed to deliver an epic Viking tale.
Stay tuned to check out our final critique of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, where we discuss the game in finer detail.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Stadia.
