I like the old Assassin’s Creed. I once wiped up Brotherhood to holes, and Black Flag carried away for fifty hours; I still remember how, a long time ago, I was looking for friends with a computer more powerful, so that I could play the very first part without lags. But the closer to Odyssey, the less interest there was in new franchise releases. In Ancient Greece itself, I even lasted less than an hour: it simply did not catch on anything. Here it is. So much so that there was no desire to stay and see how the game unfolds.
Therefore, I went to the presentation of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla with an unkind premonition. But, oddly enough, in vain: after two hours of playing, I’m at least interested in looking at what Ubisoft will get on the release. So, this time the studio did everything right and competently worked on the mistakes?
Unfortunately no. But a worthy attempt.
We are Vikings, Alone with us
Details of the plot are still kept secret, but in the segment that I went through, it is approximately like this: IX (ninth) century AD, Danish Vikings are mastering the lands of Anglo-Saxons with might and main. The main character of Valhalla, Eivor, and his Raven clan settled in East Anglia. In order to ensure peace in the region and enlist the support of the British, Eivor decided to put the new ruler on the throne of the kingdom – but, as usual, everything went awry. The Viking apostate clan abducted the future king and fortified himself in a castle near the coast. Therefore, it will be necessary to cut through the path to a brighter future in the old fashioned way: with the help of axes, arrows and rams.
In short, if you were expecting more or less “real” cruel northerners from the game, I will disappoint right away: you are unlikely to find them here. Eivor – from the “good” Vikings; robberies, the slave trade, and the cult of violence are all about the “bad.” On the one hand, this is not surprising, but on the other, it’s still a little annoying. It is annoying that Ubisoft once again does not want to test its audience for strength and smooths out the most uncomfortable aspects of the real story. In any other setting, it would not have been so striking, but here … It is noticeable, after all, that the studio is seriously inspired by the Vikings series – they even attracted the composer of the show to work on the game. Ragnar Lodbrok and his comrades, to put it mildly, were not saints, but they still wanted to empathize: contradictory actions and ways of life made history only more interesting. But the writers of Valhalla, apparently, preferred once again not to take risks.
In the demo, Aivor’s appearance could not be customized, but there are still enough small details. Black mascara, a tattoo on a shaved head, a braided beard – everything works for an image
Nevertheless, the tone and aesthetics of the game are now much darker: the developers have gone in the opposite direction from sunlit and evergreen Greece. East England is torn by war, all around dirt and devastation; shabby, yellowed forests are interspersed with small streams and swamps. Depressive, but in their own way beautiful landscapes cause persistent associations with Velen from the third “The Witcher”. But, if anything, strictly positive. If artists labeled (intentionally or unconsciously) in this parallel, then there’s nothing to blame them for: the surroundings look great.
Against the background of all this darkness, Ivor himself stands out most clearly. And here we are no longer talking about visual design (the series has never had a problem with this), but about the character himself – at least about his male version. Both hypostases of the main character Odyssey are too arrogant: the scriptwriters seemed to overdo it, creating an image of a dashing adventurer with a sharp tongue in Hollywood. But in the first two hours of “Valhalla” this, firstly, less; and secondly, it simply looks more appropriate. Eivor gives the impression of a reasonable man, but capable of impulsive acts. In the end, the leader of an entire Viking clan needs to maintain the image of a fearless, resourceful warrior. They even took a separate mechanic to this – a kind of “rap battles”, where you need to respond to rhyme to the poetic insults of the opponent.
The same “flaming” looks funny, but I still expected something more. Too easy to rhyme
Danish souls
As for the gameplay, it feels like Valhalla is following the same course as Odyssey. Here, too, you need to constantly update equipment, and the complexity is tied to the level of the character. There were sprawling skill trees, and “elite” opponents, and other small RPG elements. That it’s still Assassin’s Creed is reminiscent of only a hidden blade on Eivor’s wrist. Yes, and he looks a little strange complete with axes that hang on his belt.
Leveling is now divided into active abilities and a constellation of passive skills straight from Path of Exile. What for? Well, now it seems that it’s just “because”
But, in fairness, it is impossible to call the game a simple transfer of Odyssey to another setting. The open world basically functions as before, but the studio tried to make it a little more alive. For example, while walking around Northwick – the largest of the settlements that were in the demo – I came across a boy who had a domestic cat jump out of his hands. Of course, the mighty leader of the Raven clan cannot get past such a disaster – so I rushed in pursuit and successfully returned the pet. And at the same time he told the child that cats have long been valued by sailors as the main hunters of ship rats. The situation is ridiculous, but the game itself emphasizes that this is just a funny case – one of many. There were no quest notifications and no reward at the end: this detail simply creates a mood and supports the illusion of life.
The ability to sail on the ship also remained: Eivor, as befits any self-respecting raider, has his own dragcar with the team. Blow a horn off the coast of any fairly large river (and not just in the port, as in Odyssey) – and it will appear as if by magic. True, why is he needed at all – this is a completely different question. The Vikings really rafted along the rivers, but it is not clear what role the ship will play in the gameplay – except for traveling to those places where it takes too long to ride a horse. In the battle, or rather, in the staging cutscene before the fight, he lit up only once.
Yes, I also thought that if you direct the ship under a low bridge, then it will either not crawl or the model will sink in textures. But no: the sailors quickly folded the mast, and then lifted it again. H – Nekstgen
In general, the most significant changes in Valhalla affect just the combat system: here Ubisoft suddenly turned into the Dark Souls steppe. Eivor now has endurance, which is spent on blocks and dodges, and health can be improved in battle by healing rations. Moreover, they do not recover on their own: after all, the hero is not treated with a bottomless flask with a potion, but simply with food. And you need to replenish supplies personally – in the demo, for example, you had to collect edible berries and mushrooms.
Assassin’s Creed’s emphasis on resource management is unusual. A limited supply of endurance does not allow you to endlessly dance around opponents or sit in a block – sooner or later you have to fend off. Now it makes sense to really choose equipment for your style of play: Avor holds weapons in each hand, and you can change hands at any time. With a shield in your left hand you can block attacks, and in your right hand you can beat to stun the enemy. With paired hatchets, you can end the combo with a series of quick strokes, and with a two-handed blade, you can spin a crowd of enemies in a whirlwind. Special abilities also look cool: Evor still has a “Spartan” kick, but the ability to ram the enemy on the run, like a raider from For Honor, looks even cooler.
In general, the hero has quite a lot of opportunities outside the battle. At any time, you can light a torch, put a hood on your head to merge with the crowd in the cities, and … Fishing. How did we live without her before?
And it seems like I want to say that everything works as it should. New options and nuances really fit into the game: from the point of view of the setting, from the point of view of the mechanic. If you squint strongly, then the Valhalla combat system can technically even be equated with soulslike, but … an order of magnitude lower. The battles in the demo are not reminiscent of the FromSoftware classics, but rather some of its imitators – for example, Lords of the Fallen. Formally, all the components are in place, but the sensations are not at all the same.
First of all, the weight of the attacks is not felt at all – both in Eivor himself and in the opponents. All fights take place as if in low orbit, where gravity was turned off specially for you for a short while. This may seem like a trifle to some, but the impact of strikes is extremely important: it not only gives aesthetic pleasure, but also helps to get into the rhythm. Now the battles in Valhalla have no pace or fluidity at all. Ubisoft promised that some realism awaits us and that the player will feel every blow, but here the studio was clearly disingenuous. Animations of finishing off with a dissection are juicy, no doubt – but not only beautiful things are expected from a good fight.
It is interesting that during sieges you need to personally break through enemy fortifications with a battering ram, but otherwise large fights do not please with the production. Too chaotic and stupid
Much worse, soulslike principles work best in duels – while Valhalla, by contrast, insists on massacres. While you methodically deal with one enemy, a few more are always confused under your feet, and they do not spare forces: miss two or three attacks – that’s all. Without automatic health regeneration, battles have to be paused to run around the battlefield in search of healing mushrooms. As a result, large-scale raids and assaults on fortresses, which the studio promotes as one of the main features of the game, sometimes turn into an absurd comedy. You and a dozen soldiers punch the castle gates with a battering ram, the defenders shoot back, throw stones at your heads and pour boiling oil … Wait guys, you have to go pick mushrooms.
After the demo, the impression remains that the developers do not quite understand that the typical soulslike battle is based on many nuances. For example, on the level of design and the real threat of losing something valuable in case of failure. But the AAA blockbuster, especially the Valhalla level, cannot afford even a hint of hardcore. This is not an accusation of casualness. It’s just that now everything looks as if the studio wanted to create only the appearance of novelty, without really changing anything in the gameplay. There is endurance, there is none – it plays plus or minus the same way as before.
It’s even embarrassing that the best example of game design in the demo version is the optional mini-game “Who Will Cross Who” at the end of one of the tasks. I’m not even joking: she is really wonderful. It is necessary to press the button rhythmically to swallow ale from the horn in time with the cries of the crowd, which are gradually accelerating. And on the second horn, you also need to make sure that Avor does not stagger – otherwise everything will spill. There is a challenge to the player, and a complexity curve, and skill …
In general, all that Valhalla is lacking so far.
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