Will divide the review into 4 categories that are rated separately and that give the final rating. (played on PC).
Story:
The story in Valhalla is completely ok and divided into two different branches, you could say. One story is the classic Assassin's Creed story (which is intertwined with the main story) where you have to chase an order and prevent the order from "taking over the world". If you have played previous titles, this is basically a copy paste on previous titles. Which makes the "assassins" part of the game pretty boring. I can not say that I play Valhalla because of the assassin's story. I am aware that it is an assassin's game, but if I could have chosen, I would have left out the "assassins" part altogether, which takes one to the "other" story.
The second part of the story is that you settle in England, try to create alliances and take "part" of England in a combination of discovering the world. Only for this part of the story is the game worth playing. It's entertaining to raid to upgrade your base. The assignments to get allies are varied, some good and others less good, but always well worked out by the developers. Instead of mixing in the assassin's creed element, they could have focused much more on the political tension and used their knowledge to "assassinate" characters to do missions that make politics swing in different directions and named the game "valhalla - a viking saga" type .
The side quests are entertaining and some really good. They have invested more in "different" and strange sidequests than more serious or "supernatural" quests. Often something supernatural has an explanation or contains psychedelic mushrooms.
Out of 10, I would give the story 6, but the side quest still raises the rating to a 7a.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is fun in the beginning and challenging. You really have to take advantage of your assets and be creative and to some extent choose your types early. Skill tree is quite fun to discover and see what you can get for different properties. Then you unlock "extra" features by finding books in the world. Something I appreciate more in this game unlike previous titles is that the features are not "divine" in their design. However, they are completely overpowered which makes lategame in the game quite boring.
The beginning and midgame are really fun but then the game loses a bit of its finesse. Especially when you can shoot back projectiles coming at you by clicking the dodge button. Or throw weapons lying on the ground at the nearest opponent. You become, as in all assassin's creeds, a man's army. If you see a fort, you can go into "guns blazing" and take out the entire fort without any problems.
It would have been fun if they made you have "good skills" but skills that you really needed to save and plan to use. An example is three witches who are sidequests to do on lvl 90, lvl 130 (I think) and lvl 320 type respectively. I came across lvl 90 when I was lvl 68 type. It took a lot of swearing and trying before I defeated her. The next witch was a walk in the park. At lvl 140 as I might have been, my qualities were already so overpowered that I could take her out without any problems.
Since the start and midgame e really fun but late becomes very flat, I give the gameplay 5 out of 10.
Open world:
This one actually goes hand in hand with the side quests so I will keep this card:
The world is fun and interesting to explore. There is a lot to do in each area and I have explored much more than I one touched the main quest. However, many areas are very empty. Which is perhaps realistic given that it is England in the middle of occupation. So many people may not have been out and about, but at the same time the developers have "bragged" about how big the map will be and so much is deserted.
The world still gets 8 out of 10 in points.
Skills that kills:
The Skill tree gets its own point even though it is mentioned in the gameplay but it needs to be addressed. In the beginning, the skill tree is quite interesting and fun. Nothing extravagant really but a bit interestingly designed. It's fun to discover what the combination of two ways leads to and what to do. This maintains one to a large extent until one passes 130-140 approximately.
Suddenly, there is not much to fill in more than filling in the tree in a way that you yourself do not have as a style of play. I have realized that against lategame I will have filled the ENTIRE TREE whether I want to or not. That bit is unfortunately quite boring for several different reasons.
You are forced to invest in skills that do not belong to your style of play. This in itself may not be bad but it shows that they have not devised more advanced skills for different playing styles.
Replayability disappears for me. If I already played with all the skills. Why would I want to replay? In the end, my character will be "perfect" and as good as the first.
I think the dilemma is that they did not bet that certain paths in the game create a unique character that is awesome on one thing but terribly bad on another. The resistance does not get harder either, it just gets more health. It would have been interesting with more niche skills and that they were more characters with niche fighting styles that make it difficult to play against throughout the game. That all roads you take have pros and cons.
Right now it is only applicable at the beginning but towards the end of mid and lategame so. Yes. You steamroll the resistance.
Considering that it was still interesting in the beginning but loses a lot, get skills 5 out of 10.
This would give a rating of:
Storty: 7 out of 10
Gameplay 5 of 10
Open world 8 of 10
Skills: 5 out of 10
Which gives a rating of 6 out of 10 points.
The game is not bad but it has some shortcomings that would make it entertaining in the long run. What keeps one going is world exploring and taking care of one's village. Doing quests to create alliances. These are interesting fighters. Raids are quite entertaining but monotonous in the long run as they are exactly the same every time and you only raid churches because there you get material. You can raid a fort but you get nothing for it.
Would I recommend the game?
Yes. despite their 6th, they have succeeded well with the "viking feeling" in the game. Even if one's characteristics are overpowered and I feel that it would be balanced with, I will not lie to catch an arrow or spear that comes towards one and throw back and then throw an ax that a soldier dropped on the ground IS SATISFACTORY. You feel pretty cruel.