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There are still some moments where Valhalla feels like a bad Game of Thrones episode, though. There were a dozen or more times I stared at dialogue choices, completely stumped over which option was right. It's hard to explain without spoiling specific moments, but Valhalla has some wickedly knotted moral conundrums. All the while, dialogue choices poke and prod the rigidity of Norse culture and traditions with surprising nuance. It takes a while before it all starts to come together, but Ubisoft does a great job juxtaposing my relationships with Sigurd and the rest of the Raven clan with the much more epic sagas as I wage war on Picts with the legendary Halfdan Ragnarsson, establish puppet kings with Ivar the Boneless, or trade veiled threats with Aelfred, King of Wessex.

That's something I can't really say for any other Assassin's Creed games, including Odyssey. What really impresses me, though, is how consistently great the story is throughout the entire adventure, even as it takes astounding detours to places far beyond England and Norway. Each one is a narrative thread that, woven together, tells the collective story of the Raven clan.Īt first this structure seemed too templated and isolated, but once the story gets going characters from one region will pop up in the story of another, giving a nice sense of continuity between these otherwise independent chapters. Instead of completing side quests for random strangers I find while exploring, like in Odyssey, I'm helping my blacksmith find a wife, or my museum curator settle a feud. Like any good trip, we bonded and became lovers a few dates later.Įven though many of the characters aren't as fully realized and vivid as in Red Dead Redemption 2, I love how Valhalla's settlement encourages me to get to know my clan. When huntress Petra asked me to help her look for her missing brother, for example, we ended up accidentally tripping on some magic mushrooms we found and chasing forest creatures instead. As the settlement expands, it draws new characters, sidequests, and even the opportunity for romance. New buildings unlock new upgrades, like a forge so I can enhance my equipment or a brewery so I can host feasts that give me a temporary buff to my stats. Like Dutch's camp in Red Dead Redemption 2, the settlement is my home base that I return to frequently in between quests. The anchor of this story is my settlement, called Ravensthorpe, which expands slowly over time as I gather new resources and construct new buildings. Unwilling to give up his dream of ruling, Sigurd convinces Eivor and much of his clan to abandon Norway and sail to England so they can violently carve out a new future. Sigurd was supposed to be made a local king, but the unification of Norway under King Harald leaves him two choices: Bend the knee or leave. Whichever Eivor you play as, the story unfolds in mostly the same way.

Like Odyssey, Eivor can be played as either a man or a woman, but what's great is you can now switch between them freely to test which one suits you instead of being locked into that choice from the outset. Set during the Viking Invasion of England, the story follows Eivor and her adoptive brother Sigurd, two fierce Norse warriors chasing glory. What really impresses me, though, is how consistently great the story is throughout the entire adventure. I had come to love this character and their betrayal was upsetting, but does that justify denying them an eternity in heaven? Ragnarökin'

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But I agonized for almost a full minute over whether to let them grasp their axe with their dying breath or kick it away, denying them entrance into Valhalla. When one of my beloved own clansmen betrayed me and tried to take my life, I had no choice but to kill them in self defense. In Odyssey, my choices sometimes felt arbitrary or confusing, but Valhalla does a great job of introducing characters, concepts, and themes, and then forcing me to decide how Eivor, the main character, relates to them.

What really stands out to me, though, is how much better Valhalla is at telling an engaging story that twists and turns according to my decisions.

Valhalla hills problems