Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is an action role-playing video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the twelfth major installment in the Assassin’s Creed series that was launched on November 10, 2020, as a direct successor of 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
The game received great critic reviews but mixed user reviews at the launch. It definitely felt like a new-gen AAA title, but something about Ubisoft’s Viking approach to an Assassin’s Creed title felt unamusing to many. So, about a couple of years later, let’s take a closer look at all the aspects of the game and see if it’s still worth purchasing AC Valhalla in 2022!
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is worth purchasing in 2022 for its beautiful open-world environment/landscapes, fluent combat style, thrilling side activities, and 100+ hours’ worth of content.
| Pros | Cons |
| Great graphics and beautiful environment | Repetitive and boring main quests |
| 100+ hours of content | Poor stealth and parkour mechanics |
| Thrilling side activities: Orlog, Fishing, Mysteries, Assassinations, Viking raids, Collecting legendary weapons etc. | Lack of attention to Assassins’ storyline and activities. |
| Smooth Gameplay | Poor Story & Bland Characters |
| Fluent combat mechanics with cool animations | Loads of Bugs and Glitches |
1. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is Visually Impressive
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is set up in the beautiful landscapes of 9th century Norway, England, and the imaginary realms of Asgard and Jotunheim. It has everything from vast empty green plains to bustling cities, massive mountains, and mesmerizing fantasy worlds.
Even if you do not wish to follow the game’s storyline or do quests, just go for a stroll or horse-riding in the enthralling environment/ world of AC Valhalla, and you will still enjoy the gaming experience.
2. It has Plenty of Main and Side Content to Explore
The base AC Valhalla game has 21 territories/regions throughout the open-world map. All of these territories have their own storyline/arcs with dozens of main quests, world events, mysteries, artifacts, and collectibles. All of the side activities are incredibly entertaining in the game.
Ubisoft has also launched a few DLCs such as Wrath of the Druids, Siege of Paris, and Crossover stories, which contain more quests and content, so it is safe to assume that you will not run out of things to do in AC Valhalla anytime soon after purchasing it.
According to the website, HowLongToBeat, it takes 135+ hours to 100% complete AC Valhalla, including the additional content. In my opinion, if you can extract 100+ fun hours of gameplay out of a single purchase, then it’s worth every penny. But unfortunately, the main quests and alliance building gets boring very quickly in the game.
3. Smooth Gameplay, Combat, and Wide Variety of Weapons
The gameplay and combat, in particular, are mostly smooth in AC Valhalla. You can fluently move, do combos, perform assassinations, and cool finishers, all while taking on waves of enemies. Additionally, the Viking raids and mystery solving are fun aspects of the gameplay.
The game offers a vast arsenal of weapons and gears so that you can create your own class/playstyle and engage in combat without making it feel repetitive and boring. There are also a few overpowered legendary weapons in the game that players can collect and feel the power of Norse gods in the palm of their hands.
Alright! That’s enough of the good stuff, now let’s take a look at the unimpressive side of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
4. Its Main Quests are Repetitive and Boring!
The core gameplay of AC Valhalla is made up of four elements, Alliance building with the regional rulers of England (Main quests), Assassinating members of the Order of the Ancients, Monasteries Raids, and other Side activities.
Sadly, All the stories of building an alliance with regional leaders follow the same patterns and require you to do similar quests repeatedly for all the 16 territories of England. Eventually, it becomes a grind with no fun.
5. AC Valhalla Lacks Enjoyable Parkour
Parkour is the very soul of any Assassin’s Creed game, but it just feels off in Valhalla. First of all, the game doesn’t even have many parkour-friendly locations or cities.
Once you find a suitable place to jump around and have a good time, the restrictive and stiff physics of ropes and Eivor’s movements make it all unenjoyable and straight-up frustrating.
6. Being an Assassin Takes the Backseat in AC Valhalla
Ironically, a series named Assassin’s Creed is slowly moving away from the core concepts of stealth and assassinations with the launch of every new game. The idea of assassinating the Order of the Ancients members in AC Valhalla seems to be added just for the name’s sake as it is more of a sideshow. It just doesn’t fit with the overarching story of Eivor.
The alliance building and Viking raids are the prominent part of the game, so if you are a veteran fan of the Assassin’s Creed series, Valhalla will feel like a completely different game with more upfront battles and a lack of stealth, parkour, and assassination.
7. Poor Story and Bland Characters
The prologue sets up the story of Eivor, Sigurd, and Basim really well, who are the only interesting characters in the game. But, as soon as Eivor reaches England, the regional stories take over the main story, and it gets overshadowed. These regional stories are nothing interesting, and all of the different characters of various regions are forgettable.
None of it plays any significant role in the overarching story of Eivor and Basim, but when we do come back to the main story in between of these arcs, it ends abruptly and feels disjointed, leaving players confused and dissatisfied.
The same goes for the modern-day story of the game. Basically, AC Valhalla tries to tell many stories in a limited time simultaneously and doesn’t do justice to even one of them.
If you are a person who plays games just for the stories, AC Valhalla is clearly not for you.
8. It is Full of Frustrating Bugs and Glitches
The gameplay of AC Valhalla is still buggy even after multiple updates since its launch. Eivor occasionally phases out of the land and gets stuck between objects. Quest-related important NPCs sometimes deny interacting with you, which is critical to progress through the game’s storyline. The worst thing about it is that at this point, Ubisoft doesn’t even bother fixing them.
9. The Verdict
AC Valhalla has a poor story and repetitive quests. It is far from an “Assassin’s Creed” game, but if you look at it as an individual title, it becomes one of the best games released in recent years. Its environment is captivating! It has lots of entertaining gameplay and side content to go through. The smooth combat mechanics and animations will make you addicted to slashing and bashing hordes of enemies in no time.
Overall, it’s still worth purchasing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in 2022 if you want to have a unique Viking experience and have lots of free time on your hand to go through all of the activities. But, if you are a fan of Assassin’s Creed series expecting Valhalla to be its savior, then sadly, this one is not for you.
10. About Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Developed and Published by Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the latest instalment in the Assasin’s Creed series launched in November 2020. The action-adventure, role-playing video game is available to play on Playstation 5/4, Xbox One/ Series X/S and PC.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla takes players back to the Vikings’ glory days around the 9th century through the eyes of a Viking invader from Norway named Eivor. By playing as Eivor, gamers must represent the clan and help fellow warriors in the battle against Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. The game brims with phenomenal main quests along with noteworthy side quests. AC Valhalla will also embrace many new features like dual-wielding of various weapons and armours.
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