Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (2020)
Characters
The main character Eivor can be either Male or Female. I chose the male option and played through the entire game this way. Eivor grew on me as the game progressed, at first I thought he was just a brute but he actually became pretty charming. He grows as the game progresses and his character development is well handled.
Basim is back from previous games and here he is a cool companion to Eivor, Sigurd and the settlement. He is always a bit mysterious and as you delve into his story he is an interesting character that I didn't really know about as I haven't played previous games.
Sigurd is the leader of The Settlement and he is pretty cool if not pretty complex. As the game progresses he goes through a lot and his relationship with Eivor becomes more strained and it's then that you see his character shine.
You meet so many characters in this game and they are all well voice acted and well performed raising up some of the mediocre plots.
Story
I like the characters stories and the development of these group of Vikings from a small settlement to booming colony. The character clash and have real progress which is nice to see. However, the game has a repetitive story. You go around England attempting to recruit allies and there is a large amount of these with many feeling very similar which gets a bit dull. Also, to someone who isn't a fan of the franchise, the ending is really confusing and I had no clue what was going on and how it linked to the overall lore of Assassin's Creed.
Side Content
As you saw above, this game took me ages to complete and that is because of how much content is here. I enjoyed some of the side content, I enjoyed helping the people at the settlement and committing raids for resources and gold. Though, this game has some really boring side content too that feels like a quantity over quality approach which I don't think ever works in a game.
Gameplay
The Gameplay is really good, it took a bit to get used to but I loved the Combat. You have lots of choices when it comes to weapons and they all play differently. There is a good amount of enemies with a lot of challenging boss fights to keep you on your toes. The stealth isn't as good but with practice I managed to even start getting good at this element of the game.
Graphics
Probably the best part of the game is the graphics. The game looks drop dead gorgeous and nails its feeling and aesthetic. It is great to travel through the world on your long boat and attacking all the interesting locations.
Overall
Overall, Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is a great game that I had a lot of fun playing. It is a long game with plenty to do but it is well worth it and I would suggest this is a game to play, but probably when you have played the other games so you have a better grasp on what is going on.
Rating - 8/10
