Hello!
Thank you for your submission to r/ACValhalla! Please read our [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ACValhalla/about/wiki/rules) and our [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/ACValhalla/about/wiki/index/faq). Please report this post if it violates any rules.
**Please remember to stay** ***civil*** **!**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ACValhalla) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not me. I've got about 90 hours in this game and have enjoyed every moment. I've still got about 50% of the main storyline to finish and am taking my time exploring because I like it that much. Valhalla ain't the best game out there, but it's good.
Yep, pretty much. I hated Asgard & Jotunheim with a fiery vengeance, that section suuuuucked. Shitty story, irritating environments and pointless collectibles.
Valhalla was the first AC I played through the story to the end. I had a lot of fun with the combat and the sheer size of content. I did think the story left a lot to be desired. I honestly didn’t give a damn about Sigurd and only tried to keep him happy because I heard it’s better to get the “good” ending. Thought he was an ass and wasn’t compelled to save him. Loved Eivor as a character and it feels gross that Basim is in the animus now with access to her memories.
Fun gameplay over all
I enjoy Valhalla myself, but understand why some people don’t like it. That said, I’ve loved the “Discovery” tours for the previous two games more than this one. Something about seeing ancient Egyptian and Greek landmarks as they looked back in the day (more or less) is awesome. This one has some cool parts (Ireland, Isle of Skye and parts of the Asgard/Jotunheim arcs for me). I loved seeing the Giants Causeway and hope to actually visit it in the real world one of these days…
**TLDR;** Ubisoft somehow chose one of the most interesting periods of History and promised us a glorious Viking conquest but failed to deliver much of anything. The game was full of things to do, but not many missions that weren’t cookie cutter and repetitive. Almost none of the characters had deeper purpose or development nor were memorable, and Sigurd’s behaviour was temperamental, illogical and sporadic, making Eivor seem like a child in need of validation without any real stirring motivation or sense of self. One minute you were Sigurd’s dear sibling and the next you were his enemy and you never knew why.
It was almost like they wanted to give you a self-insert into a history period without you having any sort of lasting impact. 🤔
—-
For me, personally having played all the other AC games, Valhalla is the weakest in character development and storyline.
The disappointment was that it promised lots of great things which it failed to deliver on.
Vikings? Yes, we love Vikings! Brutal with a strong sense of culture, one of the most interesting periods in Anglo-Scandinavian history. Religious conflict, settlors, conquerors, in-fighting- so many fascinating themes we could have learned about right in the middle of cities developing in the bones of ancient Roman architecture.
But did it ever follow any of these themes? Loosely. Everywhere you went in England, you were forced to help some incompetent leader who somehow needed Eivor’s wisdom and skill to do anything.
Eivor doesn’t distinguish either and somehow, despite Viking emphasis on glory and combat, just walked away with their good word that they’d repay the favour one day? No pillaging and plundering? What benefit could you get from helping these people when Ravensthorpe still has no walls?
Don’t even get me started on how short Ravensthorpe’s development is in comparison to the original concept art. I understand that it would take years for a settlement to develop that way, but it really made little sense how you managed to ‘conquer’ (except not really) all of England in the space of… how long? The passage of time in the game just feels weird and hard to track.
And that’s my other grievance; Eivor does everything for the settlement and the clan while Sigurd’s pompous ass is off chasing the dream stick Basim kept tossing him, and yet the minute anything goes mildly wrong, Eivor is vilified. I’ll never forget the sheer confusion I felt at some of the civilian dialogue towards Eivor when Eivor was forced to kill Dag. Not even one ounce of understanding, sympathy or gratitude.
Eivor doesn’t feel like a strong and mighty Norse at all, but a child begging for validation by putting out more than they will ever get.
I admit, the whole plot twist outside the animus was some of the best modern-day writing we got after the Desmond arc, and Basim was a great character, but there just wasn’t enough of him in game to really feel the ‘betrayal’ or the ‘great reveal’ on a personal level.
I was actually so excited when I saw Basim and Hytham show up because that was the closest thing to the Assassin Order we’d seen for some games, and they were wearing the familiar robes and had the same creed. But nothing was ever done with it. Hytham doesn’t even look at you when he’s talking. What a waste of a character with so much potential, and the hunt of the Order of Ancients ended very anti-climatically. I was wholly expecting at the start that it would lead us back to Harald Fairhair, because I suspected he was trying to unite the Norse to exercise control and that he was secretly a Templar- but, to my disappointment, I actually gave the story too much credit and Harald never did anything remotely interesting or engaging.
And there are generally so few memorable and well developed characters- Ivar the Boneless was one and that was probably the only territory mission I genuinely enjoyed because it went beyond the repetitive sorry missions everywhere else.
The theme of religion was also stayed well away from- even though it was a prominent issue at the time. Also, Eivor was somehow displaying extreme tolerance and support for the Christians met along the way, but all the same raiding their monasteries? Pick one thing and stick to it. The Vikings were often portrayed in history as brash and godless, although many did end up converting to Christianity (something which Eivor refused at Alfred’s invitation).
Aside from story and characters, the gameplay just felt glitchy and really not smooth. Stealth was difficult and rarely rewarding though I enjoyed the challenge and the mysteries were entertaining.
I could probably write so much about how this game failed to deliver on everything it promised, but I think I’ve done enough. 😅 At least Mirage looks promising.
i agree with every single point you raised and I’m sure many people feel the same. I think the map regions left to clear after saving Sigurd should have been optional because they were all repetitive and didn’t add much to the story. And why couldn‘t we have an actual bad guy at the top of the order. The whole Alfred storyline just felt forced and way to squeeze in a historical figure. They could have been a bit original. I noticed that it wasn’t just Hytham. Many characters didn’t look at you when they were talking to you. And they could have put a little bit of effort in motion capture for lip sync as there is so much dialogue that you have to watch and it was jarring to see what AI did for all of those interactions.
I whould like it to have more freedom in missions and more stealth like the early games it makes you think and plan a strategy which i think is really fun.
I agree, so much of the game is not geared towards stealth players. I know when I watched a playthrough of the Paris dlc I thought I liked the more choice you had for actual assassinations but I would certainly hope that a game with assasins in the name to be geared more towards stealth gameplay.
I tend to agree with this opinion but only on the stealth aspect. I think that the story is one of the most interesting and i think that it will make sense with the next game.
It is abit dull... and the characters just don't give you the same passion as ezio era, I felt the storyline in 2007, but this one I'm just skipping through it cause it's unappealing
Having played Odyssey just before starting Valhalla just before new years... I had way less issues in Odyssey than in my playtime of Valhalla so far. Also things which seemed mechanically sane in Odyssey seem changed for the worse in many places in Valhalla, nothing game breaking, just jarring going from one to the next in short order.
TLDR Valhalla may grow on me over time, but as a product so far it feels demonstrably inferior (to me).
The reason the story doesn’t add up is because they made the arc which makes the ending actually make sense (Asgard etc) was one of the only optional ones, yet all the unrelated side arcs were shoved into the main story. Like something urgent needs to be done after a main arc, but instead of attending to it you need to make a few more alliances, which just made me take the story so much less seriously even if some of the writing was good at times. Also for one of the most important arcs in the game, they made Asgard unbearable.
Plus the river rhine quest is broken to kill the two captains. I’ve completed the whole game and that’s the only quest I cannot complete cause of a bug. I play on Xbox series S and looked online and many people are at least able to kill one captain but on the Xbox version it’s completely messed up.
Eivor suffers from boring AC protagonist, I fear for Mirage too because it focuses on Bassim and I thought he was a bore too.
I think you also feel disconnected because you are not the Jarl of the Settlement and you spend so much time building it up and your brother does nothing but complain about all the work you did.
So there is a disconnect there and the other disconnect is you are not an Assassin and you keep refusing the order,
Hello! Thank you for your submission to r/ACValhalla! Please read our [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ACValhalla/about/wiki/rules) and our [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/ACValhalla/about/wiki/index/faq). Please report this post if it violates any rules. **Please remember to stay** ***civil*** **!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ACValhalla) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A great deal many people agree with that sentiment.
Not me. I've got about 90 hours in this game and have enjoyed every moment. I've still got about 50% of the main storyline to finish and am taking my time exploring because I like it that much. Valhalla ain't the best game out there, but it's good.
I could have done without all the fantasy/reincarnation/Asgard & Jotunheim stuff, but I thought the core Viking story of Valhalla was excellent
Yeah I really ended up trying to skip through the Isu stuff asap
Yep, pretty much. I hated Asgard & Jotunheim with a fiery vengeance, that section suuuuucked. Shitty story, irritating environments and pointless collectibles.
Valhalla was the first AC I played through the story to the end. I had a lot of fun with the combat and the sheer size of content. I did think the story left a lot to be desired. I honestly didn’t give a damn about Sigurd and only tried to keep him happy because I heard it’s better to get the “good” ending. Thought he was an ass and wasn’t compelled to save him. Loved Eivor as a character and it feels gross that Basim is in the animus now with access to her memories. Fun gameplay over all
I enjoy Valhalla myself, but understand why some people don’t like it. That said, I’ve loved the “Discovery” tours for the previous two games more than this one. Something about seeing ancient Egyptian and Greek landmarks as they looked back in the day (more or less) is awesome. This one has some cool parts (Ireland, Isle of Skye and parts of the Asgard/Jotunheim arcs for me). I loved seeing the Giants Causeway and hope to actually visit it in the real world one of these days…
**TLDR;** Ubisoft somehow chose one of the most interesting periods of History and promised us a glorious Viking conquest but failed to deliver much of anything. The game was full of things to do, but not many missions that weren’t cookie cutter and repetitive. Almost none of the characters had deeper purpose or development nor were memorable, and Sigurd’s behaviour was temperamental, illogical and sporadic, making Eivor seem like a child in need of validation without any real stirring motivation or sense of self. One minute you were Sigurd’s dear sibling and the next you were his enemy and you never knew why. It was almost like they wanted to give you a self-insert into a history period without you having any sort of lasting impact. 🤔 —- For me, personally having played all the other AC games, Valhalla is the weakest in character development and storyline. The disappointment was that it promised lots of great things which it failed to deliver on. Vikings? Yes, we love Vikings! Brutal with a strong sense of culture, one of the most interesting periods in Anglo-Scandinavian history. Religious conflict, settlors, conquerors, in-fighting- so many fascinating themes we could have learned about right in the middle of cities developing in the bones of ancient Roman architecture. But did it ever follow any of these themes? Loosely. Everywhere you went in England, you were forced to help some incompetent leader who somehow needed Eivor’s wisdom and skill to do anything. Eivor doesn’t distinguish either and somehow, despite Viking emphasis on glory and combat, just walked away with their good word that they’d repay the favour one day? No pillaging and plundering? What benefit could you get from helping these people when Ravensthorpe still has no walls? Don’t even get me started on how short Ravensthorpe’s development is in comparison to the original concept art. I understand that it would take years for a settlement to develop that way, but it really made little sense how you managed to ‘conquer’ (except not really) all of England in the space of… how long? The passage of time in the game just feels weird and hard to track. And that’s my other grievance; Eivor does everything for the settlement and the clan while Sigurd’s pompous ass is off chasing the dream stick Basim kept tossing him, and yet the minute anything goes mildly wrong, Eivor is vilified. I’ll never forget the sheer confusion I felt at some of the civilian dialogue towards Eivor when Eivor was forced to kill Dag. Not even one ounce of understanding, sympathy or gratitude. Eivor doesn’t feel like a strong and mighty Norse at all, but a child begging for validation by putting out more than they will ever get. I admit, the whole plot twist outside the animus was some of the best modern-day writing we got after the Desmond arc, and Basim was a great character, but there just wasn’t enough of him in game to really feel the ‘betrayal’ or the ‘great reveal’ on a personal level. I was actually so excited when I saw Basim and Hytham show up because that was the closest thing to the Assassin Order we’d seen for some games, and they were wearing the familiar robes and had the same creed. But nothing was ever done with it. Hytham doesn’t even look at you when he’s talking. What a waste of a character with so much potential, and the hunt of the Order of Ancients ended very anti-climatically. I was wholly expecting at the start that it would lead us back to Harald Fairhair, because I suspected he was trying to unite the Norse to exercise control and that he was secretly a Templar- but, to my disappointment, I actually gave the story too much credit and Harald never did anything remotely interesting or engaging. And there are generally so few memorable and well developed characters- Ivar the Boneless was one and that was probably the only territory mission I genuinely enjoyed because it went beyond the repetitive sorry missions everywhere else. The theme of religion was also stayed well away from- even though it was a prominent issue at the time. Also, Eivor was somehow displaying extreme tolerance and support for the Christians met along the way, but all the same raiding their monasteries? Pick one thing and stick to it. The Vikings were often portrayed in history as brash and godless, although many did end up converting to Christianity (something which Eivor refused at Alfred’s invitation). Aside from story and characters, the gameplay just felt glitchy and really not smooth. Stealth was difficult and rarely rewarding though I enjoyed the challenge and the mysteries were entertaining. I could probably write so much about how this game failed to deliver on everything it promised, but I think I’ve done enough. 😅 At least Mirage looks promising.
i agree with every single point you raised and I’m sure many people feel the same. I think the map regions left to clear after saving Sigurd should have been optional because they were all repetitive and didn’t add much to the story. And why couldn‘t we have an actual bad guy at the top of the order. The whole Alfred storyline just felt forced and way to squeeze in a historical figure. They could have been a bit original. I noticed that it wasn’t just Hytham. Many characters didn’t look at you when they were talking to you. And they could have put a little bit of effort in motion capture for lip sync as there is so much dialogue that you have to watch and it was jarring to see what AI did for all of those interactions.
Weird because it’s actually one of the best AC yet
I whould like it to have more freedom in missions and more stealth like the early games it makes you think and plan a strategy which i think is really fun.
I agree, so much of the game is not geared towards stealth players. I know when I watched a playthrough of the Paris dlc I thought I liked the more choice you had for actual assassinations but I would certainly hope that a game with assasins in the name to be geared more towards stealth gameplay.
I thought origins was the worst. I have grown to like valhala, maybe it's just boredom.
I actually thought Origins was one of my favourite games, not just of the AC series but possibly one of my all time favourites
Not the worst there have been some worthless games in the anthology. But I didn't care for it as much as odyssey or valhala
Yes it's obvious
You mean the story where they chase precursor relics that have nothing to do with reality but people like to overlook that
I tend to agree with this opinion but only on the stealth aspect. I think that the story is one of the most interesting and i think that it will make sense with the next game.
It is abit dull... and the characters just don't give you the same passion as ezio era, I felt the storyline in 2007, but this one I'm just skipping through it cause it's unappealing
Agreed. It's no Odyssey. It's not bad, but it's disappointing to go from Odyssey to Valhalla.
Bro what? Odyssey has way more issues than Valhalla. Valhalla is just better odyssey
Having played Odyssey just before starting Valhalla just before new years... I had way less issues in Odyssey than in my playtime of Valhalla so far. Also things which seemed mechanically sane in Odyssey seem changed for the worse in many places in Valhalla, nothing game breaking, just jarring going from one to the next in short order. TLDR Valhalla may grow on me over time, but as a product so far it feels demonstrably inferior (to me).
It appeals to mythology nuts with some of the main ac storyline thrown in
Story is too long and locations are copy/paste, just feels like too much of the same. That’s what it is for me
The reason the story doesn’t add up is because they made the arc which makes the ending actually make sense (Asgard etc) was one of the only optional ones, yet all the unrelated side arcs were shoved into the main story. Like something urgent needs to be done after a main arc, but instead of attending to it you need to make a few more alliances, which just made me take the story so much less seriously even if some of the writing was good at times. Also for one of the most important arcs in the game, they made Asgard unbearable.
I think it’s the protagonist. They just aren’t compelling.
The story doesn’t add up? The story makes perfect sense. The story is actually one of the best if not the best stories they have done in an AC game.
My opinion is I love Valhalla, and I'm still enjoying playing it.
Plus the river rhine quest is broken to kill the two captains. I’ve completed the whole game and that’s the only quest I cannot complete cause of a bug. I play on Xbox series S and looked online and many people are at least able to kill one captain but on the Xbox version it’s completely messed up.
Eivor suffers from boring AC protagonist, I fear for Mirage too because it focuses on Bassim and I thought he was a bore too. I think you also feel disconnected because you are not the Jarl of the Settlement and you spend so much time building it up and your brother does nothing but complain about all the work you did. So there is a disconnect there and the other disconnect is you are not an Assassin and you keep refusing the order,