Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (PC/PS5/XSX/PS4/XB1/STD) - November 17, 2020

[Qalbert]

[AoE]

Just scooped this up on Amazon for $40. Only downside is I won't get it for another 2 weeks but I figured buying a new game for $20 off wasn't a bad deal.

[Anoat]

Ubisoft you are killing me. not really a spoiler I think but juuuust incase

Spoiler: show

COVID19 is a Templar plot, COME ON

[Krandor]

For anyone wondering, it's pretty much exactly what you would expect. Another logical evolution and refinement of the Origin/Odyssey style but with Vikings.

Loot system is way better though, instead of random diablo style it's all predefined gear that you can level up along with you

[Daydreamer]

For anyone wondering, it's pretty much exactly what you would expect. Another logical evolution and refinement of the Origin/Odyssey style but with Vikings.

Loot system is way better though, instead of random diablo style it's all predefined gear that you can level up along with you

Holy shit yes. This was by far my most hated part about odyssey. It’s like I always needed new gear as I leveled quicker than I could get mats to upgrade my current stuff.

[Anoat]

You can choose to play as male or female Eivor, but the default choice is the Animus selecting it for you based on...reasons? So the canon way to play is to alternate between male and female. Maybe it will make more sense later in the game.

[Anoat]

I have run into a couple of traditional launch day AC glitches. Dialogue audio cutting out early. Random background NPCs walking through cutscenes that they definitely shouldn’t be in.

Eivor and Sigurd look great. Becca, in the modern day, looks hideous and actively worse than her previous generation iterations. The rest of the NPCs don’t look so great. I’m playing on PS4 (non pro) so that might be why.

I might be a little spoiled because I just finished Uncharted 4, despite that game being four years old at this point, it was gorgeous in comparison.

[Krandor]

I've had the game seem to randomly just... skip cutscenes.

For the first big boss fight as I landed the final hit the game definitely skipped a few steps and left me moderately confused.

And my understanding is that male or female Eivor really makes zero difference in plot, hence why the game just lets you switch at any time.

[Vil]

Is there any difference in terms of gameplay, or is it basically completely down to if you prefer the way they look/sound?

[Krandor]

Afaik there is absolutely zero difference outside of your appearance/voice.

I haven't even noticed anyone specifically referring to Eivor by gender

[Anoat]

GAME BREAKING “BUG” AND ACTUAL BUG WARNING

After you build the Seer’s Hut in your camp, it will start a sidequest for you. This sidequest will, without warning, send you to a new area that is recommended for players with a minimum power level of 90. You must then complete a quest in this new area before you can leave. But if you are underpowered, welp, you’re boned because you have to fight a boss that is probably going to kill you in one or two hits. That’s just a poor design choice.

This is the actual bug part. The thing you need to click on to finish the quest can be bugged and won’t trigger, which means you’ll have to reload a save and try again.

Oh, Ubisoft.

[Anoat]

I am enjoying it but the game still has a lot of bugs. Mostly audio. Sometimes the music just pops or skips, dialogue skips, or you’ll get stuck on the same music track playing in a loop. Sometimes Eivor won’t put their weapon away even outside battle and it makes cutscenes look hella weird. No word yet on a patch after more than a week. I’d say it’s definitely worth playing but maybe wait a little while until it gets some patches.

[Krandor]

I am moderately amused that there's like literally only one truly good set of armor.

The mentor set is just so much better then every single other armor set it's kind of hilarious

[Andalusian girls]

so by all accounts the game is just Odyssey but better yes (which is good with me Odyssey was dope)

[Krandor]

I'd say generally yes.

There's less emphasis on stealth and combat is a little clunkier, but that's clearly by design because you know... Vikings.

I'd say with 100% certainty if you enjoyed Odyssey you will also enjoy this. The loot system and how talents work is a substantial improvement over Odyssey as well, which is nice. Voice acting is kinda hit or miss tho if I had to point out a flaw, along with the aforementioned plethora of bugs.

[Anoat]

I’d say the story is tonally a bit more serious and dark than Odyssey. Odyssey was very campy and leaned in to it at times. These Vikings have their moments in the side quests but the main story seems a bit more focused to the serious side.

But Valhalla does have battle raps so that’s new.

There does not appear to be any ship to ship combat at least that I have experienced. Your boat just gets you and your crew from point A to B.

[Tyrath]

That's lame. I have loved boarding ships since Black Flag and loved that they were back in Odyssey

[mahler05]

That's lame. I have loved boarding ships since Black Flag and loved that they were back in Odyssey

I personally never liked AC ship missions so i am loving this and the Raid stuff feels way better than circling a ship for a few minutes then ram it. But i am biased.

[Pirian]

GAME BREAKING “BUG” AND ACTUAL BUG WARNING

After you build the Seer’s Hut in your camp, it will start a sidequest for you. This sidequest will, without warning, send you to a new area that is recommended for players with a minimum power level of 90. You must then complete a quest in this new area before you can leave. But if you are underpowered, welp, you’re boned because you have to fight a boss that is probably going to kill you in one or two hits. That’s just a poor design choice.

This is the actual bug part. The thing you need to click on to finish the quest can be bugged and won’t trigger, which means you’ll have to reload a save and try again.

Oh, Ubisoft.

Playing on ps4 pro. The amount of crashes is insane. I have not played any other game that has crashed as often as this one. Fortunately, the crashes seem to mostly happen in area-transitions in or shortly after the load screen, so the autosave has meant I usually only lose 5~ min of gameplay. Still quite annoying.

[Krandor]

Playing on XsX I've had the game freeze twice, but the console still just let me hit the Xbox button and close the game. With the load times on the new consoles and frequent auto saves it has only cost me like 2 or 3 minutes of time so not awful.