Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the latest entry in Ubisoft’s long-running franchise of history spanning conspiracies and shadowy secret societies. The franchise has taken a break from focusing on stealth action gameplay, which has since shifted focus to make the franchise more of an RPG like The Witcher franchise.
This began with Assassin’s Creed Origins, which took place in ancient Egypt, and was expanded further with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, which took place in ancient Greece and Rome. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, like the name implies, has you exploring ancient Norway and England during the time of vikings.
Vikings, unlike assassins, aren’t exactly known for their subtlety and stealth, but surprisingly Ubisoft has made it work. So if you are thinking of jumping into this franchise that now spans 22 games, we definitely can’t recommend Valhalla enough.
What Can You Expect From Valhalla?
For all intents and purposes, at the core of Valhalla, it is very much a viking simulator. Most of the game’s main and side quests consist of you leading raids and invasions across the isles of Britain. You’ll be chopping off heads, pillaging villages, and destroying churches in your conquest. Getting to those moments, however, can take a while. Going out from the initial tutorial area can vary between 4 to 16 hours, depending on how thorough you want to explore the world around you.
So where does the assassin part come in? Well, your playable viking, Eivor, learns the way of the assassins from a pair of roaming acolytes from the Middle East. They provide Eivor with the tools to perform stealth kills and how to sneak into the shadows. This ultimately gives the player the choice to either perform their missions stealthily like an assassin or loud and proud like a viking.
In between all that, there’s an entire open world to explore, taking place across Britain and Norway. Players are able to upgrade their home fortress to have a much more stable base of operations, get into relationships with NPCs, play minigames which includes a fun dice-based turn-based RPG and the rap battle-like Flyting, and even engage in quests based on Beowulf and Norse mythology.
What If You Haven’t Played Assassin’s Creed In A While?
If you’ve dropped off from the franchise around Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag or when the franchise was losing steam during Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Valhalla will definitely be quite the departure due to its lesser emphasis on stealth gameplay and a more refined combat system.
However, compared to its two predecessors, Valhalla brings back most of the classic assassin’s gameplay that older fans would be familiar with. It is a bit of a juxtaposition to have a burly viking control like a light and nimble assassin, but the game allows for the players to really shape their game style to suit their preferred way of playing.
The counter-attack mechanic featured in earlier Assassin’s Creed games is also gone, which makes combat flow much smoother and fun. If anything, this new breed of Assassin’s Creed is more like The Witcher 3, with a higher emphasis on conquest and not featuring a magic system.
Do You Need to Play Origins and Odyssey First?
While there are callbacks within the world of Valhalla to Origins and Odyssey, it is not exactly needed to enjoy the game. However, like most Assassin’s Creed games, there is a portion of the game that focuses on the modern-day protagonist, Layla Hassan, who has been reexperiencing the lives of ancient warriors through a machine known as the Animus.
If you are a huge fan of the overarching story of Assassin’s Creed that pertains to how these ancient cultures have a massive impact on the lives of people living in the modern world, then the previous two games are definitely required. Though maybe a quick read through the Assassin’s Creed wiki is enough to fill you in.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is definitely a major refinement of the new formula that was introduced in Origins, and bridges the gap between old and new Assassin’s Creed gameplay. Buyer beware, there are a few glitches with the game at launch, varying between next-generation and previous generations of consoles.
All in all, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a great game that everyone can enjoy. While there are some glitches, combat can be tough unless you play on an easier setting, and that it takes a while before the game really kicks in, it is still one of the games from 2020 that you won’t want to miss out on.
