Everyone Told Me That Valhalla Was The Worst Assassin's Creed Game
300,033
Published 2023-11-16
In what should have been the final episode of Assassin's Creed: Ranking The Series, I have a look at the longest, and to my mind least Assassiny game, in the series: Valhalla.
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Assassin's Creed Valhalla is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the twelfth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, and the successor to 2018's Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Principally set in the years 872–878 AD, the game recounts a fictional story during the Viking expansions into the British Isles. Players control Eivor Varinsdottir, a Viking raider who, while attempting to establish a new Viking clan in England, becomes embroiled in the centuries-old conflict between the Assassin Brotherhood, who fight for peace and liberty, and the Templar Order, who desire peace through control. The game also includes a framing story, set in the 21st century, which follows Layla Hassan, an Assassin who relives Eivor's memories so as to find a way to save the Earth from destruction.
Development of the game began in 2017, around the release of Assassin's Creed Origins. Ubisoft Montreal led its three-year development with help from fourteen other Ubisoft studios worldwide, as well as Sperasoft. Numerous people involved in the development of past Assassin's Creed games returned for Valhalla, including Ashraf who served as the creative director for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013) and Origins; Darby McDevitt, the lead writer for Black Flag and Assassin's Creed: Revelations (2011) and co-writer of Assassin's Creed Unity (2014); and composers Jesper Kyd and Sarah Schachner, who composed the game's soundtrack alongside musician Einar Selvik. Similarly to Origins and Odyssey, the team conducted extensive research into the time period to make the game world as historically accurate as possible, and drew inspiration from Norse mythology for certain narrative elements. The team also sought to address some issues found by players with Odyssey, such as its over ambitiousness, small focus on the Assassin-Templar conflict, and the absence of traditional Assassin's Creed gameplay elements like social stealth.
Valhalla was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Stadia on November 10, 2020, with the PlayStation 5 version following on November 12. It received generally positive reviews, with praise for the narrative, characters, voice acting, visuals, soundtrack, world-design and the interconnectivity of activities, while being criticized for its length, technical issues, and repetitive structure. The game had the biggest launch in the Assassin's Creed series to date, selling the most copies within its first week and becoming the second most profitable Ubisoft title of all time. Ubisoft supported Valhalla extensively with two years of additional content, including both free and paid story expansions, game modes, and events. The game was followed by 2023’s Assassin's Creed Mirage, which features a historical setting in Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age and follows Basim Ibn Ishaq, a major supporting character from Valhalla.
All Comments (21)
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Its a good game the only problem is they put assasins creed in the title
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The internet is a double edged sword, in many ways it ruins the fun in exploring a game by yourself and sometimes saves your time and money from a bad game.
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"Its like edging except it doesnt feel as good when u finish"💀💀
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Finally someone who realized the same thing... Valhalla is best when you play it slowly. In my first playthrough I rushed through it. It was a chore and a bore (although I liked the story). For the second time I played it over the span of maybe 3 months. It was soooo satisfying to discover what Valhalla had to offer.
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The "God stuff" was cut from the main game at fan request. Basically what happened was people were being upset about the fantasy elements in their sci-fi series (Origins and Odyssey had these first) so Ubisoft introduced this solution for players to be able to skip the fantasy portions by making them optional. Now, given that it's mandatory to play the Asgard bits to understand the ending of the game it's safe to say they shot themselves in the foot and that they were waaaaay into the development of the game. The decision was made late and the devs weren't able to rewrite the the story to cut the fantasy stuff altogether - or actually make it optional.
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The best Viking game of all time, for sure. Stunningly beautiful and with “endless buffet” of stories and discoveries to make, yet best enjoyed one meal at a time over many months. It was so easy to pick up and play again even if you took a break. It was like five seasons of an amazing TV show, which you can enjoy slowly while still binging a few episodes when you wanted to. I don’t get the haters, at all.
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Been at this gem of a viking experience for several months, the dailies and weekly tasks are fantastic hooks to make you think "oh, go on..just a little more exploration" The lesson here is to always judge for thyself 😊
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I believe many players are missing much of the "meta" stuff that ties them all together. Going back to the start, Adam and Eve themselves were hybrid human/ISU. This means that some ISU genetic exist in varying degrees across all humanity. Those with cetain combinations have varying abilities. I.e. the vision/bird tie-ins, that cause them to pervieve things and leads them toward the assassins or the templars. These being genetic in nature also means that these individuals are oftem groomed to these philosophies through familial bonds. What the Norse ISU (and atleast one other) did was incorporate more of themSelves into this hybridization. Appearanace, traits, but most important to Valhalla, memories. BUT the person whom these attributes begin to express in [seers] deal with them in unique ways. Some go mad (Tyr/Sigurd), some integrate fully (Basim/Loki) and some struggle and eventually come to a partnership (Eivor/Havi). I believe this is also some cross breeding between the existing ISU genetics present in human lines intermixing with the newer Norse lines. Basim being probably the best example (and also explain why he also got to the middle east). So lets suppose that Basim had more hybrid genes AND the norse genes which is why Basim integrated fully with Loki. This also explains why Basim can skip around in the Animus, because his norse ISU genes add capabilities (or genetic memory of how to use the anumus in this way). I would say that as a gamer when you run into something that doesn't initially make sense, instead of assuming it's a shortcut/retcon by the game devs. Try to look deeper. ❤
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Been playing this game for almost 3 months now,over 300hr and I’m still having a blast.Got the 2 dlc W o D and S o P for 1/2 price. Waiting for Valhalla Ragnarok to be discounted I’ve enjoyed all the AC that I have played.Been an AC fan from the first one that came out in 2007.Black Flag Probably is my favourite. Update...Holy crap, same day I made this post, I get home and turn on my PS5 and low and behold freakin Dawn of Ragnarok is on sale for $19.95!!! Crazy luck.Have not even finished Wrath o Druids and still to do Siege of Paris.
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It's funny. I've played every single AC ever made.. AC Unity, Revelations, 3 and Odyssey being my favorites. It's odd though, because Valhalla has clocked the most play time, and I still find myself playing to this day. Over 300 hours and counting :)
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While I played as female Eivor, I did honestly hate her voice a lot of the time lmao. And it sucks, because the voice actress has a lovely voice, but she went for this overly raspy tone that was just really unpleasant to hear and definitely impacted her performance. She also played the voice of Eivor's mother in which she sounded way more like her natural voice and I really wish she had done that for Eivor.
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Hahha I know right, don’t get me wrong it has its issues, and I haven’t played any DLC. But I had a FUCKING BLAST playing this very long epic satisfying main story, in my homeland. The raids feel amazing especially the big main mission ones. They can go on for almost an hour sometimes
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I love Valhalla. I completed it 100% with all the additions. I also liked collecting opals, I visited every nook and cranny. After finishing the game, I missed Eivor the Viking. After a year, I'm back and playing Valhalla again. :)
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It's pretty nice for the first 12-15 hours or so, while the viking setting still feels fresh, and then it just becomes a chore...
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I am so incredibly pleased to see this video and channel doing so well. Congratulations mate, very well deserved!
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It’s one of the worst games I’ve ever played. Bloated. Boring. And the combat almost seems like a joke. Like it was deliberately designed to be bad combat.
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I think sometimes players who criticize a game harshly have played hundreds of games and are comparing them, sometimes unconsciously, to the best games they've ever played. Also, some players have played too many games and have gotten jaded and great graphics and gameplay don't engage their joy response much any longer.
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Loved the video, got me through a long drive. The length of this game can be extended by another 40 hours if you get all the dlc haha. I have only beat Wrath of the Druids so far, if you ever return to this game, highly recommend playing it, Ireland is beautiful and the story is great.
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It’s not assassins creed but it’s a good game but shouldn’t have been “assassins creed”
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“I would play at my own pace, explore how I wanted to and not worry about racing to the finish line” Oh, you mean how games are MEANT to be played? That's the issue right there: most of you have lost that, or never had it to begin with.
