Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA is the best Assassin’s Creed to date.
My favorite Assassin’s Creed is now Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which is saying something considering it’s a series that spans 23 games. It builds on the already excellent RPG foundations laid by Origins and Odyssey, but with meaningful improvements that iron out many of the frustrations I had with both games. Case in point: Not once during the 60-hour story was I told to stop and level up a bunch before I could take on the next quest. That also means Ubisoft isn’t selling optional experience boosts, either. Thank God.
What really stands out to me, though, is how much better Valhalla is at telling an engaging story that twists and turns according to my decisions. Valhalla does a great job of introducing characters, concepts, and themes, and then forcing me to decide how Eivor, the main character, relates to them. When one of my beloved clansmen betrayed me and tried to take my life, I had no choice but to kill them in self defense. But I agonized for almost a full minute over whether to let them grasp their axe with their dying breath or kick it away, denying them entrance into Valhalla. I had come to love this character and their betrayal was upsetting, but does that justify denying them an eternity in heaven?
RAGNARÖKIN’
Set during the Viking invasion of England, the story follows Eivor and her adoptive brother Sigurd, two fierce Norse warriors chasing glory. Like Odyssey, Eivor can be played as either a man or a woman, but what’s great is you can now switch between them freely to test which one suits you instead of being locked into that choice from the outset. Whichever Eivor you play as, the story unfolds in mostly the same way. Sigurd was supposed to be made a local king, but the unification of Norway under King Harald leaves him two choices: Bend the knee, or leave. Unwilling to give up his dream of ruling, Sigurd convinces Eivor and much of his clan to abandon Norway and sail to England so they can violently carve out a new future for themselves.
The anchor of this story is my settlement, called Ravensthorpe, which expands slowly over time as I gather new resources and construct new buildings. Like Dutch’s camp in Red Dead Redemption 2, the settlement is a home base that I return to frequently in between quests. New buildings unlock new upgrades, like a forge so I can enhance my equipment or a brewery so I can host feasts that give me a temporary buff to my stats. As the settlement expands, it draws new characters, sidequests, and even the opportunity for romance.
Most of the story is concerned with what’s happening outside the borders of my settlement, however. In order to cement a permanent place in England, Eivor and Sigurd have to negotiate alliances with the various Viking tribes (and the occasional Saxon king). This is all centered around an Alliance Map, where I choose which region I want to venture to, participating in a somewhat self-enclosed series of quests to win the favor of whichever faction happens to be there.
It takes a while before it all starts to come together, but Ubisoft does a great job juxtaposing my relationships with Sigurd and the rest of the Raven clan with the much more epic sagas as I wage war on Picts with the legendary Halfdan Ragnarrson, establish puppet kings with Ivar the Boneless, or trade veiled threats with Aelfred, King of Wessex. All the while, dialogue choices poke and prod the rigidity of Norse culture and traditions with surprising nuance. It’s hard to explain without spoiling specific moments, but Valhalla has some wickedly knotted moral conundrums. There were a dozen or more times I stared at dialogue choices, completely baffled over which option was the right one to go for.
RANSACKED
There are still some moments where Valhalla feels like a bad Game of Thrones episode, though. Entire armies show up undetected at a moments notice, and characters will inexplicably change sides in a conflict just to reveal they’re actually a part of
As the settlement expands, it draws new characters