With a new game added to a franchise by Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was no exception to giving outstanding quality and character development, but the game has been conflicting with people after playing it.
They released Valhalla on November 10 in 2020. With now 11 main games and several other side games and films, the audience has been loving the Assassin’s Creed franchise for a very long time. Lately, the games have been coming less up to par with expectations and fans who have been playing some of these games are taking notice.
The story leans on being a viking, not much an assassin
Now as cool as it is to be a viking, raiding and building your settlement in the middle of England, keep in mind that this game’s sole meaning is for you to be an assassin. In recent games such as Origins and Odyssey, their stories were wrapping heavily around The Order of Ancients. Other games that point closer to present time also calls them The Templars. Since day one, they have always played the role as a prime enemy. For the major character, there was a grudge or rational motive to go after those people almost as soon as you start the game.
In Valhalla, there’s more of a worry to get away from your home in Norway from other viking clans and make alliances once you arrive in England. This is important on the viking aspect of the game for sure, but introducing the player and the main character to The Order of the Ancients is important as well. You are only told of them until you make it out of the introduction and into the main game, which takes a fair amount of time. When they give you that part as a main quest, they should make it seem more than just a thing to look out for to the main character, presenting it to be not much of a problem and just something to look out for. In short, the game loses itself on what should be a priority rather than an annoyance while trying to coexist as a viking.
Easy leveling up, good or bad?
The leveling up system in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is also different from the other previous games. Keeping ties with how you’re in a Nordic atmosphere, the leveling up system follows by getting two points per level cap you reach that you can use by putting them into a constellation formed ability system. As you continue to get more points and put them to getting your abilities, more abilities become revealed, allowing you to progress easier. However, there are a few flaws to this system, those said flaws being that it makes it seem like harder quests are just as profitable and easy ones. For some players, this gets rid of the need to jump over a hurdle and feel proud of completing it afterwards.
Another aspect is that smaller parts of this leveling up web don’t seem all that helpful. There are useful abilities and other growths to the character that help, but there are way more of the smaller additions than crucial ones. For example, some go by the terms of ‘+1.0 fire resistance’ or ‘+2.5 health’. If those small pieces didn’t have to lead up to get the more important abilities, there’s little change they can actually bring into a game. From each level you go through and each two points you put into your character, you wouldn’t notice that slight change as you continue.
Confusing yet fun game to play
As much as it seems to be worse for wear, the game is still unbelievably captivating and fun to play. You can customize your character and switch between genders as much as you want without a need to worry about an effect on your previous saved files. It stays whimsical and firm on the view of a viking, but the only and most crucial needle of the haystack is that it doesn’t fit into the experience of the usual assassin story Ubisoft usually provides. That’s why it feels so lackluster, because as much as it hits the bullseye on some aspects, it feels unnecessary to the complete series.
