With the final Valhalla update behind us, I reflect on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and some of its more misguided ideas.
00:00 Intro
02:15 The Problem
11:24 Gameplay
30:18 World and Progression
40:28 Narrative
48:13 An Endless Grind
53:48 In Conclusion
r/AskHistorians post for Valhalla:
Watch more new videos about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | Synthesized by Mindovermetal English
I regret buying it
Odyssey is one of my favourite games of all time. Valhalla broke me. I hate its guts. I despise everything about it. It’s so awful
Weirdly, I enjoyed Valhalla more than Odyssey. I actually didn't even finish Odyssey, Close to finishing it, but never finished. In Valhalla, I did 2 playthroughs, although I haven't played it for a while now and I also didn't buy Ragnarok since the Mythology aspect of the game isn't really my jam. What made me quit Odyssey is the need to constantly change weapons, while in a gameplay perspective it's cool since you always have to find something new and experience it, on an immersion perspective, it just felt wrong. Like why is this weapon way better than the other one when they're just basically the same? Needless to say, I like the way Valhalla did it with the weapon system, all weapons are unique and have something to offer instead of a copy paste system with just higher rarity.
As much as I enjoyed Valhalla, I won't put it on my top 10 games. None of the AC games are in my top 10 games. But as for your title, it may as well be a game made for people like me.
This game is just a mess like Odyssey, they tried to put every genre and trend that work into a single but that has gone nowhere. Look, you can make a free-roaming RPG like Skyrim, a farming simulation like old JRPGs, an action RPG with a good storyline and well-written characters like the Witcher, or you can make a stealth-action, army-building game, resources managing game like Metal Gear Solid 5 but please, pick one.
The game is an endless grind yes but I may be weird but I kinda like this game a lot I enjoy the shit out of this game every time I play it
Valhalla is a pretty big turd for bastardizing the AC franchise further. Female Eivor has utterly intolerable voice acting. This was never meant to be a true AC game.
I agree with just about everything you're saying. 1/2 way through "Valhalla", I just couldn't wait for it to end. It was just so dull. "Odyssey" had that a couple times but then I'd discover some new thing or place that renewed my interest. "Odyssey" was long but by the time I finished it, I really felt like I'd accomplished something. "Valhalla" I never looked back. Had no desire to buy the DLC.
I enjoyed fighting the bounty hunters in "Odyssey". They were tough but fair. In Valhalla they were always way above my level. It was tiring to shave off a little heath with each hit and getting one-shotted when I missed a dodge.
I can't think of anything that Valhalla did that was better than "Origins" or "Odyssey"
So I'm No One.
I actually liked this game tbh 😂 don’t kill me
Some of your tales are questionable but overall nice video
Imq buy it along with origins
I've watched a lot of Valhalla critiques over the past couple years and you are mentioning issues that I've never heard anyone talk about. Without a doubt, this is one of, if not the best, most complete and constructive critiques on YouTube. You get to the heart of nearly every issue in this game and still manage to be relatively concise. Excellent video 🙂
No one here
Loved Valhalla, it didn't get extra dlc, free content updates, and become supported for years cuz it was boring….
I'm only 10 minutes in, but you explain very clearly the issue with Valhalla trying to shoe horn so many things into itself. And in a way it gives me hope for future games, considering Mirage will be solely focused on a classical style AC, while the Japanese one was going to focus on RPG mechanics (if I'm bot mistaken). So hopefully each game will not try to please everyone and succeed in their own style.
Edit: the thing I really disliked the most about Valhalla was its main story arcs system. So many of the arcs felt so irrelevant, boring and not memorable. They were like a big obstacle to get through to move the story. Most of the time at least. Some were nice stories to follow. Most were not. I remember one arc in a northern region where towards the end, I had to choose to kill someone I had befriended in that arc or not, due to something he did. The issue was that I didn't really feel any emotional attachment to him during the whole arc. He was just a boring character. However when I do fight him and finally kill him, the cinematic of me killing him was very impactful, in the sense that it was very well done. But it actually wasn't impactful because I didn't have any attachment to him so I didn't really care. I think these meaningless arcs were what threw me off of the game the most, and the reason I stopped playing and didn't finish it.
for me it was the rpg elements that killed assassins creed. bought origins kinda liked it till i got to an area where a sneak attack did 0 damage 🤣 thats just ass to me. ass assins creed.
reminds me of when they added rpg elements to ghost recon then promptly made removing them an option after it flopped.
i dont wanna snipe a dude 17 times in the head in a tactical shooter. thats dumb.
some people like rpg elements in every games. usually bad players 🤣 rpg means your power is based on hours played and not just skill. so for them to have any power requires a game where you just grind till your op.
I enjoy the combat system and that it is viking. But well, after ancient greek. The muddy cold UK… dosnt work. I will play through, because i bought it. But MALAKA… i stuck still in ancient greek^^
I liked it. Played for like 110 hours. It's way too long but I enjoyed it
It's game for me, I love it. Great title
I've had it installed on my PC since launch. I got a ways into it, rescued the brother, then I just kinda stopped. It's been there for over a year and I have no interest in finishing it.
game for no one, well no its not this game sold alot due in part to being set in england and vikings, considering where im from yes yes i did get it day one and yes i played it to death including all the dlc and since it was a direct sequil to ac3 i loved it.
The most boring assassin's creed i have ever played and I have been fan to this series since the first game come out and now I have zero interest in the next coming games sadly ubisoft killed this franchise long time ago with their stupid desicions
You summarized almost everything that's wrong with Valhalla in such a nuanced and concise style. And it's only your 3rd video! Keep it up bro, I'd love to watch more of your "critique" vids.
AC3 and Black Flag killed the series.
This is one of the games of all time.
Valhalla embodies basically everything wrong with open world games. While I did appreciate the take on side questing (short, sweet, to the point), it basically bumbles everything else. The absolutely bloated world design, the needless grinding in order to continue the story, etc.
The game was supposed to be about Vikings. I was EXPECTING the MC to be like Ivarr, but what I got was yet another "do-no-wrong" goody two shoes. Narratively, the game was drab, probably in part to how bloated the game is and how far apart major story beats were.
The game went in the direction of "bigger=better", which just isn't true. I'm looking forward to the series getting revamped, but man… It shouldn't have happened this way to begin with.
After 1500 hrs in Valhalla since launch I totally agree mate, beautiful world which quickly becomes empty and yeah most side quests are just small fillers to bloat the game. Stealth… Well I never saw the need as you can easily take anything the game throws at you head on. As for loot, just as you said it's all cosmetic as perks mean nothing much the same as the skill tree. Therefore no real satisfaction for your hard work. I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and several boss battles but with no incentive to replay it nor replayability I have uninstalled this game permanently. Sad as I still play Odyssey, origins, black flag and most of the earlier titles. I certainly hope covid had a big role in production issues and bugs because if the future of AC is this buggy and no Ng+ then RIP Assassins Creed, my favourite franchise of all time!
I really want to understand how someone can be upset with how Ubisoft is losing the Historically possible side of this IP but then be upset they doesn't go all in on a female character physically overpowering multiple warrior men…..
It's not that women couldn't kill warrior men but they did so by exploiting their perceived weakness. If a woman approached in full gear she would be dealt with as a warrior. This is why most viking female warriors were archers. It's so odd watching the world be both upset about Historically misguided thoughts but then wanting to wallpaper over them like they didn't happen. Before you ask the developers to commit to an idea maybe do so yourself.
Edit: That said I do agree they could have at least obscured Odin's face in Valhalla for both characters as with the mass promotion of the male character [which the devs may not call canon but the actions in the story do] even those that choose female would know.
I'm glad you brought up the gender choices in these two most recent games. I hate these false choices ubi puts into the game. sure you can play as male or female but in both cases female is the cannon choice. why even have a choice if one of them is the correct one and the other is fan fiction. Not to mention having two models takes away the polish only one model has. bayeks model was more detailed and had many more physics going on with his clothes to the arrows in his quiver. kassandra and alexios both look more stiff and rigid and less detailed overall.
This game is really fun
how to partially fix this game: use no hud,smoke weed
I already don't trust your opinion when you say you loved odyssey, Origins was absolutely brilliant but odyssey felt like a complete hot mess
I enjoyed valhalla the story was…ehh at the ending but the soundtrack n ambience and scenery alone was amazing
I finishes the main fame, Wrath of the Druids and The Siege of Paris and checked out after that
I am at the beginning of the video but I will say, without a doubt, AC Odyssey was damn near a masterpiece while Valhalla felt much different… Odyssey appeals to me because I love Elder Scrolls, Red Dead 1 and 2, etc, and Valhalla just didn’t quite do it for me.
What annoys me is how they nerf the parkour in each new AC game if they kept the Unity parkour every AC game would feel amazing
I can see where you’re coming from with this analysis, but if you change your approach to the game it becomes a great experience. I don’t look at it as an assassin’s creed game or even as an action rpg, I just want to run around in a beautiful open world with fun gameplay while looking cool, that’s it. Valhalla has the fun gameplay with the beautiful open world and the weapons and armor sets look cool to me so it checks every mark.
Btw I didn’t buy any helix store outfit, weapons etc.
The game sucks for multiple reasons.
Not the least of these is that the setting and protagonist dont fit the genre.
Desynchronization://
No one has ever heard the word Viking and thought Parkour.
Desynchronization://
The attempts at shoehorning modern causes du jure is cringe, and falls into the same failing of a Jack Chick Tract were messaging is more important than story.
Desynchronization://
The idiot idea of having Thors Hammer and Excalibur wielded by a Character, does a disservice to the games professed intent to recreate something "based" on a "Historic Setting". Pushing it into D&D land but with fewer Orcs.
Desynchronization://
It's not a setting so much as it is a dumpster fire.
Desynchronization://
I understand everybody is entitled to an opinion but come on bro ac Valhalla is one of the best games in the series. You need to get in the bin🙄
Now I hate stealth games never liked them
Back in the day I rented the first AC game from blockbuster and I returned it early
But I’ve loved the last three games before Valhalla
Yup u read that right
I actually really liked Syndicate
But this game has no heart or soul
I put 120 hours in and I constantly wanted to turn it off
It was a slog to play through
This games feels like:
That girl you’ve liked a lot for a long time but when you finally tell her
She tells you she only likes u as a friend
Valhalla is the worst AC game I’ve played.