Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

[Boothjan]

It DEFINITELY helps to watch The Last Kingdom and/or Vikings to lure you back in 

 

My Eivor would definitely have both Uhtred and Ragnar.  He's absolutely hard as nails.

[Garwoofoo]

I'm not so sure about the game having a slow start - I think the pacing of the whole game is a bit off. It's a VERY long game and the quality of the different story arcs varies wildly. It means the game never really builds to anything, you're just doing region after region and while a couple of them are great, a lot of them are just quite dull filler content. There are about three cut-scenes in the entire game that actually progress the main story, then you get a massive plot dump 120 hours in when you are right at the end. It's really quite odd.

 

Others have mentioned that Ireland is the best bit and I agree - it's a really nice self-contained section with a good plot and some memorable characters and some unique mechanics. It's just another glorified story arc at heart but it's the best one in the game.

[Mars]

2 hours ago, Rayn said:

 

It might very well be ridiculous but that's my personal take on the game. While I didn't find it directly boring from the beginning I only found it went from good to very good past lvl 130. For the majority of my time with Valhalla I thought Odyssey was the better game but in the end I was a bit torn between the two. I still am, tbh, the both have their pros and cons when directly compared but I think I might give it to Valhalla. 

Apologies, I didn't mean to imply that what you said was ridiculous, just the game   I played 25 hours or so and lost interest and it's a shame that the better content is gated behind so much play time.  I adored Odyssey and was really looking forward to exploring the Valhalla world but I just felt apathy towards it after the time I played.  I was also playing on the Ubisoft+ service so was wary of subbing for another month to play more.

[Rayn]

36 minutes ago, Mars said:

Apologies, I didn't mean to imply that what you said was ridiculous, just the game   I played 25 hours or so and lost interest and it's a shame that the better content is gated behind so much play time.  I adored Odyssey and was really looking forward to exploring the Valhalla world but I just felt apathy towards it after the time I played.  I was also playing on the Ubisoft+ service so was wary of subbing for another month to play more.

 

Yeah, it's beyond me why they decided to drag things out so much with Valhalla. Odyssey had a much better pacing but the thing is, once Valhalla really gets going it's as good as the franchise has ever been. Some of the late game missions and lore are fantastic, the violence and gore in some of the story missions go beyond what I've seen in horror games to boot so there's some really, really good stuff in there. It really is a shame that it takes so friggin long to get going. In most "which ac game is best" polls, valhalla is often mentioned as an afterthought because it seems the majority of players has abandonded it within the first 30 hours. 

[Mars]

Hmmm... I may well go back and pick up my save seeing as it's now more affordable to buy as a key.  Like others here I'm a big vikings/last kingdom fan and I was so hyped by the 'Odyssey in a pagan britain' proposal.  

[jonamok]

I think I’d put about 30 hours in and was in Asgard, or somewhere utterly mental, and was still mostly enjoying it. Though it was immersion breaking. Then Elden Ring came out anyway, and I never went back. Maybe I will, but I also hate all the modern day shite. Just gimme a tight 40-hour Vikings simulator and I’d be happy.

[Rayn]

To those of you who abandoned the game around the 30 hour mark, I really suggest you try and pick it up again at some point and just continue where you left off. It might take a few missions to get into the flow again, but the progression of lore and story from the 30 hour mark and onwards is actually pretty darn great and some of the skills and abilities you start to unlock makes the combat system really varied and fun, often with brutal outcome. 

 

One of my favourite skills to unlock was the slowdown one, when successfully dodging an incoming attack everything slows down except you so you get the chance to put in 2-4 blows before time catches up again.

 

Chained stealth takedowns are great as well, giving you an edge when taking out the smaller camps or groups of initially unaware guards. 

 

There are loads of great weapons to find as well, a couple of them in the vanilla release, including Thors' hammer Mjolnir. My current favourite, though, I grabbed from the France expansion, a massive scythe equipped with runes that can deal fire damage as well as igniting enemies on top of healing myself on each successful critical hit. 

 

I agree that the modern day stuff is crap, usually at least, but in Valhalla this is kept at a minimum, at least compared to previous games, but there's a point around halfway through the main story where the viking stuff and present stuff blend in a way that blew my mind, it was at that point I realized that Valhalla is something special indeed. 

[Mawdlin]

3 hours ago, Rayn said:

To those of you who abandoned the game around the 30 hour mark, I really suggest you try and pick it up again at some point and just continue where you left off. It might take a few missions to get into the flow again, but the progression of lore and story from the 30 hour mark and onwards is actually pretty darn great and some of the skills and abilities you start to unlock makes the combat system really varied and fun, often with brutal outcome. 

 

One of my favourite skills to unlock was the slowdown one, when successfully dodging an incoming attack everything slows down except you so you get the chance to put in 2-4 blows before time catches up again.

 

Chained stealth takedowns are great as well, giving you an edge when taking out the smaller camps or groups of initially unaware guards. 

 

There are loads of great weapons to find as well, a couple of them in the vanilla release, including Thors' hammer Mjolnir. My current favourite, though, I grabbed from the France expansion, a massive scythe equipped with runes that can deal fire damage as well as igniting enemies on top of healing myself on each successful critical hit. 

 

I agree that the modern day stuff is crap, usually at least, but in Valhalla this is kept at a minimum, at least compared to previous games, but there's a point around halfway through the main story where the viking stuff and present stuff blend in a way that blew my mind, it was at that point I realized that Valhalla is something special indeed. 

Great post. I am about 22 hours in and am in two minds about this game.

 

I love the setting, visuals, combat and general progression. In that sense I am enjoying it more than Odyssey, which I felt overwhelmed by (too many areas blocked off due to some arbitrary level cap). In fact Valhalla is absolutely stunning. I'm also enjoying the little mini stories you naturally bump into while exploring. Each area feels different, nuanced and detailed.

 

However, I'm only finding myself playing it for an hour at a time. It's hardly addictive. It could just be the mood I'm in though.

 

I think it's the Raids. They've definitely started to grate. I much prefer just exploring yet you are forced to Raid to progress things.

 

Going to push on.

[BubbleFish]

6 hours ago, Rayn said:

To those of you who abandoned the game around the 30 hour mark, I really suggest you try and pick it up again at some point and just continue where you left off. It might take a few missions to get into the flow again, but the progression of lore and story from the 30 hour mark and onwards is actually pretty darn great and some of the skills and abilities you start to unlock makes the combat system really varied and fun, often with brutal outcome. 

 

One of my favourite skills to unlock was the slowdown one, when successfully dodging an incoming attack everything slows down except you so you get the chance to put in 2-4 blows before time catches up again.

 

Chained stealth takedowns are great as well, giving you an edge when taking out the smaller camps or groups of initially unaware guards. 

 

There are loads of great weapons to find as well, a couple of them in the vanilla release, including Thors' hammer Mjolnir. My current favourite, though, I grabbed from the France expansion, a massive scythe equipped with runes that can deal fire damage as well as igniting enemies on top of healing myself on each successful critical hit. 

 

I agree that the modern day stuff is crap, usually at least, but in Valhalla this is kept at a minimum, at least compared to previous games, but there's a point around halfway through the main story where the viking stuff and present stuff blend in a way that blew my mind, it was at that point I realized that Valhalla is something special indeed. 

OK, one more time! This will be my fourth attempt at sticking with what should be my dream game 😁

[SeanR]

So, I couldn’t START the dlc, because I couldn’t INSTALL the dlc…

[Hawklord]

2 hours ago, SeanR said:

So, I couldn’t START the dlc, because I couldn’t INSTALL the dlc…

Have you tried clearing some space?

 

Spoiler

😛

 

[Rayn]

3 hours ago, SeanR said:

So, I couldn’t START the dlc, because I couldn’t INSTALL the dlc…

 

The Ragnarock one? Mine started downloading as soon as I purchased it. But you can manage the addons from either the ingame Ubi Store menu or from pressing the start buttong on the game icon from the home screen and then "manage addons"

[Rayn]

3 hours ago, BubbleFish said:

OK, one more time! This will be my fourth attempt at sticking with what should be my dream game 😁

 

Hang in there, I honestly do promise that the game turns really good eventually. 

[Sixkiller]

So I've just completed the mission where

 

Spoiler

you rescue your brother and kill fulke

 

Realistically, how long have I got left in the main game because i'm at like 65 hours already!? 😂

[SeanR]

7 hours ago, Sixkiller said:

So I've just completed the mission where

 

  Hide contents

you rescue your brother and kill fulke

 

Realistically, how long have I got left in the main game because i'm at like 65 hours already!? 😂

this is where it gets a bit “rushed ending…

 

I’m at 279hrs 50minutes

[SeanR]

Ooh ooh!

 

the

 

Spoiler

St. Patrick

trophy in Ireland, lol!

[Haribokart]

2 minutes ago, SeanR said:

this is where it gets a bit “rushed ending…

 

I’m at 279hrs 50minutes

 

I loved Origins and especially Odyssey (100% and Platinumed both) very much, I usually find your gaming opinions to be similar to mine - how do you feel this compares? Noticed it's on PS+ now so I'm curious after not really hearing good things back when it launched.

[SeanR]

It’s dour.

unnecessarily grim. Gruesome even

 

two words: blood eagle
 

two more:
 

Ubisoft iconathon.

 

and it has signposted story beats, and multiple fake endings, and an actual ending that’s so abrupt you’ll have whiplash.

 

Might leave you feeling short changed

 

but…

 

it’s a great prologue, but understandable if you bounce off the first 10 hours and don’t make it to the land of the angles…

A great learning experience, as an accurate portrayal of what it must have been like during the dark ages.
 

You feel the ruralness, the mud. The water…

 

the history/inherent Britishness of it.

 

Familiarity with the lay of the land drives you to reach those places.
 

When you get there you explore. because the icons become weapons, and treasure, and a means to power up and wage war on Briton, Dane, and Saxon alike.

 

Ravensthorpe feels like home when you go back. There’s enough writing to the characters that it’s good to see them.
 

and the flourishes, the niche references, the easter eggs. The realms, the story within a story within a story.

 

I want to say emergent gameplay, but what that really means is you get to a stage where killing stealthily, picking off enemies without being spotted and wading in windmilling have about the same amount of risk.

 

#killingmachine

[Waggo]

All of the above plus for some odd reason I spent far too much time fishing small ponds and becks for giant Perch, which I found strangely compelling.

[Sixkiller]

On 08/07/2022 at 18:51, SeanR said:

this is where it gets a bit “rushed ending…

 

oh good, as much as i'm enjoying it, I could do with it moving on from the 'pick a county, do that county's missions' rythm that i've been in for a while

 

On 08/07/2022 at 18:51, SeanR said:

I’m at 279hrs 50minutes

 

😬 presumably that's with all the DLCs?

[SeanR]

2 hours ago, Sixkiller said:

 

oh good, as much as i'm enjoying it, I could do with it moving on from the 'pick a county, do that county's missions' rythm that i've been in for a while

 

 

😬 presumably that's with all the DLCs?

sure, why not…

 

seriously though

 

skye - some hours

ireland - 15 hours

france - nil points 

ragnarok - no hours

 

main game - 265 hours

[Uzi]

Did you leave it paused for a few days? 

[SeanR]

19 minutes ago, Uzi said:

Did you leave it paused for a few days? 

good question: compare my save game 290hrs, to my ubiconnect stats which says it’s nearer to 300hrs…

[alf]

£15 as a Amazon Prime Day deal

 

 

[SeanR]

On 28/06/2022 at 15:06, SeanR said:

So, I couldn’t START the dlc, because I couldn’t INSTALL the dlc…

that’s DRUIDS done. Reckon I added 25-30 hours to my save game.

 

downbeat ending 

 

Siege of Paris next… 296hrs

[SeanR]

 

going to mainline the France quests, and pick up the treasures afterwards.

 

I hate rats.

Edited July 16, 2022 by SeanR

[Rayn]

Finished the main story of the Ragnarok DLC yesterday and I must admit I loved it. My favourite DLC for Valhalla by far and way up there as one of the best expansions for a game ever. It's a bit sad to see that so few players has experienced this DLC, all the achievements were sub 10% of players has this achievement, I think for the end of story one it was 1.49%. 

[Garwoofoo]

3 minutes ago, Rayn said:

Finished the main story of the Ragnarok DLC yesterday and I must admit I loved it. My favourite DLC for Valhalla by far and way up there as one of the best expansions for a game ever. It's a bit sad to see that so few players has experienced this DLC, all the achievements were sub 10% of players has this achievement, I think for the end of story one it was 1.49%. 

 

I'm still tempted - although the Asgard bits were among my least favourite parts of the main game. I've had a break from Valhalla now and I'm ready to get back into it.

 

Just waiting for it to come down in price now. It's annoying that in the current Xbox sale, the "Ragnarok Edition" of the main game has a hefty discount, but the Ragnarok DLC itself is still full price.

[Rayn]

1 minute ago, Garwoofoo said:

 

I'm still tempted - although the Asgard bits were among my least favourite parts of the main game. I've had a break from Valhalla now and I'm ready to get back into it.

 

Just waiting for it to come down in price now. It's annoying that in the current Xbox sale, the "Ragnarok Edition" of the main game has a hefty discount, but the Ragnarok DLC itself is still full price.

 

Yeah, the price is a bit steep. I bought mine about 4 weeks ago, it was then discounted at 50% off which is why I decided to get it. 

I agree with you on the Asgard bits of the base game, they were my least favourite as well, but the new area in Ragnarock is friggin awesome and has some of the best landscapes in the entire series. 

[Spicyhotpepper]

What is the combat like in this? I've played Origins and own Odyssey (though I have yet to play that outside of the prologue), but have been disappointed that the actual fighting is very bare-bones.

 

Im hoping against hope that this finally introduces combos and stuff, but I suspect it doesn't?