Assassins Creed: Valhalla

 

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla continues my recent streak of famous video game franchises that I played for the first time. I briefly plays the original Assassin's Creed and remember getting frustrated by how easy it was to bump into NPCs and blow your incognito cover, thus resetting the stage. I didn't last long in the game because of this, and haven't played a single other AC game until Valhalla. I almost didn't play Valhalla because of my history with the original AC game, and because I thought it would be too similar to God of War due to the Norse mythology theme. I'm glad I decided to play the game, because I thoroughly enjoyed it and it opened my mind to playing other AC games.

AC: Valhalla surprisingly takes place in 870s England, and thus is nothing like God of War, which takes place in the realms of Norse mythology. This game is about a group of vikings who leave Norway to establish themselves in a new country during the era of the Viking raids. You spend the name growing your clan and influence in England. There are a couple of story arcs that do take place in Asgard and Jotunheim, and you do fight Fenrir and meet Angrboda, but that's about the extent of the similarities with God of War. It doesn't take long to realize that the Order of Ancients have a strong influence on local politics, and become a common enemy. From what I've read on the AC franchise, the Templar Order vs the Assassins is the common running theme of the games. The Order of Ancients eventually morphs into the Templar Order, and in Valhalla, the Assassins are referred to as the Hidden Ones.

Another theme in the AC games that I remember from the brief time I played the first one, and it resurfaces in Valhalla is the Animus. The Animus is a type of memory machine that allows present day people to relive historical events through the eyes of people who were present. In Valhalla, present day researchers relieve the story of how the vikings eliminated the Order of the Ancients through the eyes of Eivor, the main character. I'll admit, my understanding of the deeper story of this game is a bit fuzzy. Apparently, Eivor is a reimagined version of Odin, and one of the characters from the Hidden Ones that is present in the game is able to transport himself into the present day. There were two, maybe three scenes, that take place in the present day and involve the Animus. I also found a location that appeared to be glitching and when I interacted with it I became the present day character attempting to collect "data". Again, I'm a bit fuzzy on the details here, and thus I'm not sure of the importance of all of this. Maybe it would make a bit more sense if I had played other AC games?

I've also read that the game has shifted from stealth-only gameplay to more of an open world, approach as you like concept. This is certainly true in Valhalla, and I employed both stealth approaches as well as come in guns blazing approaches. I like having the option to do either, depending on the situation and my mood. I can't imagine that the vikings were overly stealthy in reality.

This game is huge. It took me around 60 hours to complete the main story, and it feels like there are a lot of side quests that I could still complete. The English countryside looks fantastic, and the map is quite large. There are fast travel options, but I felt like I spent a lot of time traveling around. Overall, I really enjoyed this game and the story, both the main story of Valhalla and the deeper overarching AC story. I have access to a number of AC games through Playstation Plus, and I plan on checking out at least some of them in addition to Valhalla since I liked this game so much.