Before I pen this quick article, let me make it very clear that I firmly believe Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a great game.
I haven’t reviewed it as yet because I don’t feel I’ve scratched the surface and I’m around 20 hours in. With Watchdog Legion, I felt I knew the game after about an hour, but this is different. Assassin’s Creed games have evolved and become such sprawling epics that they need time to ferment and develop.
There are a few aspects that I am a little disappointed with, which seems a bit like saying I was disappointed to only win £500 and not £750, but I think it is symptomatic of a different Ubisoft house getting behind their ideas and not following on from what I feel was a success. I loved Odyssey, for many reasons, and a few of those reasons have been removed from the current game.
I can’t help but feel that the crafting system in Valhalla has taken a bit of a hit. I seem to be able to simply keep levelling up my starting gear each time I find the materials, and there is little incentive to go out and find the alternative gear placed all over the world. Indeed, when I see one of the yellow ‘wealth’ icons turn to the assassin’s logo, I’m actually a little disappointed. It seems there is nothing other than cosmetic appeal to getting new items and they don’t feel like a reward for your efforts. At present, I’m using almost all of the equipment I began the game with, certainly that I found in my first foray into England. I’ve conquered Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire and East Anglia and haven’t once felt like I needed to find more gear, or buy new gear.
Part of me likes the split between abilities and skills, a finding a wealth icon turn to a book when I locate it is a real thrill. That said, the skill tree is a little difficult to navigate and I’m not sure I like the ‘power’ rating over the old levelling system. I’ve spent a lot of time unlocking a skill tree, only to find I was disappointed with the skill it revealed and have to go back and take it all off again. I understand that Ubisoft want to keep in with the imagery of the Norse world, and using the stars seemed like a good idea, but they could perhaps have taken a look ay Skyrim‘s ten-year-old system and used that, or something similar, rather than the route they have gone down. I’m not one to turn to online guides quickly, but I may have to when it comes to the skill tree.
Then there is the sneak and infiltrate element. Even after I finished Odyssey’s storyline, and the Cult of Kosmos assassinations, and the Atlantis missions, I still found myself turning it on every so often to just find a fort and eliminate everyone in it using stealth and silence. That just isn’t possible on Valhalla, not at the stage I have got to at least. I find that I try to go in stealthily, but the clumsy raven mechanic doesn’t allow for plotting enemies movements and within a few minutes, all hell breaks loose and it is back to mass killings and a hack n slash approach to combat. There seems to be no reward, nor incentive to do anything quietly, which perhaps might change as I get a bit further down the line.
I do have other little gripes, but the reason I do is because I know what I like about the series. Graphically the game is great, it plays well, there is plenty to do and I do genuinely look forward to playing, but I’m not sure deviating form a hugely successful formula so dramatically was a wise move. Mind you, on the plus side, I’ve been playing for hours and hours now and only had to endure the pointless modern-day storyline for a few minutes. Silver linings, and all that.