Assassin's Creed Valhalla Review: Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Speedrun Tips

Assassin's Creed Valhalla steps into the tumultuous waters of a console generation transition atop a Viking ship and boldly arrives boasting more series-altering changes wrapped in a jaw-dropping historical setting.  

Valhalla represents only the third time the series has had a gap in releases since it started in 2007, the hope being it's the apex of the revamped series that started with what feels like a trilogy in 2017 with Assassin's Creed Origins. 

The shift more toward action RPG feels fully complete with the removal of traditional side quests, and the setting—AD 873 as Vikings raid England—is a new height for the series. 

While Valhalla is far from a complete next-generation revamp for the series, what it brings to the table in scope certainly makes it feel like it belongs near the top of "best of" lists. 

Graphics and Gameplay

It shouldn't come as any great shock to hear Valhalla is the best-looking game in the highly regarded series, plus one of the better-looking games out there, period. Likewise, the epic score is an easy contender for soundtrack of the year and brings it all to life.

Those sort of statements have been standard fare for Assassin's Creed games for a long time now, as the attention to detail for historical settings alone has often made those setpieces and sprawling maps more of a point of anticipation than the stories themselves. 

There is no exception to the rule here—a much-bigger-than-it-seems map is packed to the brim with details, and the game makes sure to take the player to a lot of different-feeling places. Early on it is snow-capped mountains and freezing rivers, and it quickly morphs into misty swamps and beyond. 

Behind the scenes, an impressive day-night cycle shifts the feel of each area as shadows progress and light sources become more emphasized. This gets coupled with dramatically different seasons in different areas. It's impressive while sailing down a river, for instance, to see summery autumn leaves give way to sheets of rain, which progressively turns into hail before the countryside is blanketed in snow. 

From the jump, Valhalla flexes its graphical prowess, dropping players into that snowy environment and turning up visual treats, such as plowing through the snow realistically and misty breath. Those little details are pervasive throughout, whether it's a lived-in feeling to small towns or muddy patches that horses can splash through. 

The presentation isn't without flaws, though. The first kill of the game—the usual training fight—ended with the view of the actual execution impossible to see because the camera zoomed out and was behind a wall. Hair still clips through armor sometimes, and corpses can suddenly flop around like a fish out of water before settling again. 

And non-player characters can create an immersion issue. NPCs are stiff, and some of the bigger battles players can run through feature the same sounds and animations just replaying. One horse-chase mission featured the player's friends and enemies alike just...riding behind him or her for the duration of it. It's almost a suspension-of-disbelief thing at this point when thinking about the power of the hardware vs. the bold things the game tries to accomplish, but it's still notable. 

The game seems to hope big setpiece battles can be a highlight, and at times they are, especially with the number of people on screen. There's even a revive mechanic now to help out downed friendlies. It's a nice thing to have, but most of the time it's just some random person the player doesn't have an attachment to, so it feels like a moot point. 

There's also the inescapable Witcher comparison. More often than not from a presentation standpoint, the game feels like a souped-up Witcher 3. Players who love that series will feel right at home, to say the least. 

Voice acting is very, very good in most instances, too. While the lip-synching is deserving of some flack here and there, it's largely done well, with some surprising performances turned in by what could be thought of as side characters players only interact with once or twice.

To its credit, gameplay largely follows the same musings. There's a finer emphasis on thought in combat now, with players tasked with managing the stamina meter to find success. Sure, the dodge can feel a little overpowered, but doing too much of it means fully depleting the stamina bar. 

Players can replenish the bar with light attacks, but those won't do much to tougher enemies. There are now two bars above an enemy's head, the top representing their stagger and/or ability to block, the lower simply health. Players can choose how to whittle away at those bars, though they'll have to do so while parrying attacks or getting out of the way of unblockable ones.

Keep in mind regenerating health is gone, which is a nice changeup because it adds an emphasis on exploration and meaning to the looting in buildings and out in the wild. Building up a supply of rations through looting means more health refills in battle. 

Special abilities can still feel overpowered, but the counter seems to be that enemies close fast, too, and don't seem to want to give the player the time necessary to charge one. 

While there is plenty of player agency built into the experience—such as working a range-only build with a variety of bows—some of the series-long problems persist. The lock-on system can still feel wonky, the mentioned camera issues can pop up, and other enemies can pop in and do free damage unexpectedly. 

Still, the carnage of battle is probably the best it has felt in the series. Heads and limbs go flying, with bloodspurts galore. Baiting an enemy into a mistake can leave them stunned on their knees, opening up grisly executions. 

It helps that a strong cast of weapons lets players experiment to find what they like best, too. Weapons have interesting strategic tradeoffs. An early two-handed ax might reward the player with stun modifiers for every heavy blow landed. But a one-handed ax means being able to equip a shield in the other, plus a swing-speed modifier for every quick attack landed.

Dual-wielding is in, too. A double-ax build is as fun as it sounds. It might be better off to strap a shield on one arm depending on the situation, or even roll with something like a spear. But it's up to the player, and there is just enough depth in the form of small bonuses that players will spend quite a bit of time messing around with different builds, which gives off an RPG-lite vibe. 

Maybe the biggest problem is something Valhalla can't help—the recent release of Ghost of Tsushima, where combat in these types of games seemed to get revamped and arguably perfected. While there are some changes and it remains fun—if not more weighty than in the past—the new inescapable comparison leaves it largely feeling like more of the same. 

Longtime fans of the series will be happy to hear it's possible to do one-shot kills with the assassin's blade (tip: there's an option buried in the menus to make all of them one-shot kills). It's something players have to earn, but before long, one of the big complaints of the last couple of games disappears. Even so, stealth feels a bit like a secondary option in this game, which makes sense from a narrative standpoint for reasons players will uncover, but it might disappoint some who prefer the style presented by early games in the series. 

Out in the world, the formula for the series is a little exhausting at this point. Raiding, like in the past, is just docking a boat, giving the Viking horn a big blow, hopping off and slaughtering a camp. There are synchronization points at great heights to reach again and traversal challenges to best. 

Traversal—as always for the series—remains spotty. It's clear the engine behind the scenes won't iron out these issues. While it can be incredibly fluid at times, other times, Eivor is just stuck awkwardly hanging from a ledge instead of jumping down to the ground or slinking along an edge instead of climbing up. 

That is a shame, because the beautifully-crafted world has some amazing traversal sequences. Jumping from tightrope to tightrope, then flying down a zipline to stealth assassinate someone before flinging an ax into the skull of another and avoiding a camp alert is a chef's kiss moment the series used to only make possible in cutscenes. 

Somewhat on a traversal front, it is nice that players can get around so quickly. There's fast travel, but being able to hop out of a boat at any time and immediately summon a horse with a finger-whistle actually encourages not hopping around by pulling up the map and finding a fast travel spot—instead, you just work through the world itself. 

It would be selling the Valhalla gameplay experience short to only classify it as more of the same. There are familiar trappings and veterans will feel right at home, but some smart changes make it a fun time. 

Story and More

One of the biggest selling points of Valhalla and outright bright spots is how the narrative unfolds around the hero, Eivor.

Thanks to these changes, this feels like arguably the first time the setting doesn't overpower and outshine the characters and story itself. Make no mistake—it is a wonder to sail past some decaying Roman ruins knowing players aren't that far removed from 2018's Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

But starting the game, picking a male, female or mixture of both based on an Animus story beat and then diving in is as engrossing as it gets these days. 

There's the main story with some of its expected things for the series as a fully-realized hero. But there are self-contained narrative beats that play back into the main story. We're talking sprawling, fleshed out storylines with three or more stages with unique characters. These branching storylines have the feel of entirely different seasons of a show within a series or standalone arcs that could be like massive DLC packs, to contextualize the point. 

Narrative-wise, the game has to walk this funny balance that makes for some oddities. The game is far, far back on the series timeline, yet for video game purposes, it can't be without some of the modernizations in Assasin gameplay technically found in the future. 

Eivor just up and does some assassin-y things without much explanation from the story itself if a player doesn't follow the order of missions seemingly expected of them, which is fine for those not thinking too much about it. 

But in time, the narrative works to explain why this Viking raider ransacking an entire country can also be a super-diligent assassin. The narrative really sinks its hooks in a player, though. One early, lengthy quest offers a reward that earned a visceral, celebratory reaction because those mentioned sprawling, offshoot missions heavily play back into the main narrative.

Perhaps biggest of all, traditional sidequests are thankfully gone, which removes some of the overwhelming checklist feel the prior two games had. 

Organic stories unfold throughout the world, only deepening the immersion and desire to get out and see what's out there. One early discoverable event is coming across some children playing as Vikings about to go on a raid. Eivor can join them on that "raid," showing off his or her skills and helping the children discover the loot in a burned-out building they've converted into a plaything. There isn't some massive reward for completing it, but it's fun—and there's a twist at the end. 

It's these little offshoots throughout the world that help it feel lived-in. Past games in the series have had issues with the setting itself just dominating the experience but otherwise feeling a little empty. Not here, as none of these get logged in a checklist. Players have to find them, and the variety is splendid, bordering on intimidating once it dawns on a player just how big the world is and how many there are.

It's also nice that all of these actions in the world, whether it be simple exploration or raiding, feed into resources the player can use to build up the encampment. Like regenerating health helping the justification for looting, it feels like the series has finally found a way to make everything symbiotic. 

Building up the camp is rewarding in itself, too. Besides going from a huddle of tents to a sprawling, realizing community from a visual standpoint, each crafted building offers some sort of benefit to the player. Early on, strategically choosing what to build up can have a dramatic impact on how the game plays and what is available. 

Dots on the map represent different discoverable activities (white are artifacts, gold are side activities and blue are story-ish events). Players can breeze past them and power through the main story, but, as hinted, there are worthwhile rewards for getting sidetracked. 

This might end up being pretty controversial, but the overpowered eagle vision is gone. Eivor has a bird companion named Synin, yes, but the way-too-video-gamey ability to pop into the bird's mind, mark every enemy with wallhacks and then get in there and sneak around is gone. Synin will still scout and help a player locate things, but Eivor has to actually get in there to do the dirty work again. 

It's also worth pointing out there is so much less meaningless loot, wearables and weapons. The series started to trend toward a Destiny-lite direction gear-wise, drowning the player in meaningless items. That's tapered off a ton. That plays back into the importance of side quests or puzzles that reward weapons and armor. 

Also out in the world are a swatch of strong side activities mostly found in encampments. A drinking minigame is absolutely hilarious and a good test of timing-based skill. The dice game seems thin at first, but the depth of the strategy there begins to emerge as a player works through more rounds. Even fishing, while simple, offers a relaxing side activity that flexes some of the world's eye candy and offers rewards. 

And it's nice that the wordplay minigame actually has meaningful consequences on the rest of the game, as earning charisma skill points through it can unlock dialogue options that can alter how meaningful story beats play out. 

Choices aren't just a gimmick in this game, either. Diving too much into it would delve into spoiler territory. Some dialogue options clearly are just there to present a choice and won't much impact what Eivor says. But deciding fates of characters has massive ramifications on how the game plays out. 

For those curious, the future-oriented storyline with Layla Hassan is in as well. It doesn't come up often nor overstays its welcome, but Ubisoft seems to know the power of this release rests on the happenings in the Animus, not outside of it. 

Also returning is the sprawling constellation-styled skill trees with three different colored offshoots. They all eventually intersect, and the skill points seem to flow endlessly while playing, which is good because there are a mind-boggling number of different constellations to unlock. Players, especially early, have to specialize in bonuses to stealth, melee ability or range, and within those specializations are bonuses to certain armor sets and new abilities (think, chain assassinations in the stealth constellations). Skill trees are able to be reset, which is a huge plus. 

Progressing in those skill trees means upping Eivor's power level. Past entries in this three-game arc from Ubisoft took rightful criticism for level-gating areas. Now there is merely a "recommended power" to certain areas, and it truthfully is a bit of an afterthought unless a player tries to challenge a power-gated boss while free-roaming. 

While on the topic of bosses, the Order of the Ancients is back. It's almost a game-within-a-game at this point. Seeking out clues to the identities of potential targets is a blast, and it's incredibly rewarding to identify them, read about them and then take them down. 

Customization is a big point, too. Players can uncover droves of tattoo designs and apply them. Armor types have differing looks, and weapons even cosmetically change upon upgrades. Players can also alter the looks of ships in interesting ways. 

The game also features a robust set of options again. There's a score of accessibility features, as well as the removal of presentation items like gore. Also included are differing difficulty settings for individual things like stealth and exploration, something that would be nice to see many other games adopt.

There are also a ton of little items tucked into the experience, like a photo mode for those who want to embrace their inner sightseer. There's also a rather large microtransactions store, which features everything from ship and tattoo cosmetics to purchasable passes that will reveal things on the map or give the players loads of resources. It's sure to be controversial, but the optional stuff is there.

Speedrunning Tips

Assassin's Creed always makes for an interesting speedrunning time because of the sheer number of ways a runner can get through the historical sprint. 

There are some staples, of course. Skipping through cutscenes and dialogue is a big point of emphasis for a good run, regardless of an any-percent run or even a (very brave) 100 percent run. 

Specific to Valhalla, it's likely best to lean heavily into the melee tree. Emphasizing stealth when awarded skill points won't make a ton of sense for the most part because it's got a niche usage—slowing down to take enemies out quietly goes against the heart of a speedrun. And while the ranged skill tree has some usage, speedrun gameplay dictates getting up close and personal will be best. 

Within that tree, making a point to quickly unlock the stomp to finish staggered enemies is a must, as is the ability to swap dual-wielded weapons. Since attacks are dictated by which weapon is in what hand, swapping them with the press of a button means more adaptability for different situations and enemies without pausing the game to get into the inventory. 

Granted, players will be running past most combat during a speedrun. Even the bigger setpieces, when they don't ask the player to eliminate all enemies, can largely be completed by letting allies do the dirty work. 

On an exploration slant, it should be limited to a few synchronization points at key spots on the map to guarantee fast travel, which is preferable at all times. Depending on what one prefers, tackling a tough location for a favorite weapon or armor early in a run could make some sense, but most other exploration isn't necessary. 

That's because skill points tend to flow easily and players shouldn't need a ton of resources to spend time building up the camp. Memorization of what to emphasize and when, and where to go, will play a part in runs as well 

None of this is too surprising given the similarities to past games. But what should make it a blast for runner and viewer alike is the setting change. 

Conclusion

Valhalla feels like a fitting potential end to the current ancient history trilogy that started mixing up the Assassin's Creed formula in interesting ways. 

To Ubisoft's credit, feedback from the prior two games clearly played a part in this release, with combat notably improved and some of the more cumbersome RPG-isms stripped away or refined. 

Make no mistake, this is still an Assassin's Creed game. But the beauty of it is the potential for hundreds of hours unique to each player. Stealth-minded players, explorers, loot-seekers and players who just want a Vikings simulator all have plenty to enjoy here. 

Where Valhalla really deserves praise is its gripping narrative that quietly keeps a player engaged and the reimagining of how sidequests work, which manages to make the amazing setting even more engrossing.

Expectations will dictate whether players think of Valhalla as a truly next-generation game. But it straddles the generational line incredibly well, squeezing the most out of the older machines while smartly embracing series advancements in the world and storytelling areas that are sure to be the groundwork for something even better sooner than later.