4/5 ★ – WightnNerdy's review of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is long—really, really long. When I finally reached the game’s ultimate conclusion, my game timer sat at 105 hours. Sure, I went out of my way and consumed my fair share of side content, but I can't see anyone finishing this game in fewer than 60–70 hours. I definitely enjoyed most of what Valhalla offers—the combat is fun, there’s a ton of cool side content, some of the characters are interesting and well-acted, and building up the Ravensthope settlement is fulfilling, but the unsatisfying narrative doesn't justify its hilariously excessive length. I obviously wouldn't have played it for over a hundred hours if I didn't enjoy the game, but the story drags on way too long. Like its name suggests, Valhalla is themed around vikings and puts you in the shoes of Eivor "Wolf-Kissed" Varinsdottir, a Norwegian warrior. The game's tutorial starts you in Norway with its arctic waters and snowy mountains, but eventually leads you to the lush fields of England to start anew. Both locations are intricately designed, insanely detailed, and ultimately fun to explore. They're littered with a ton of activities like side quests, collectibles, and mini games, and I really enjoyed the optional legendary animal, Daughters of Lerion, and Lost Drengr boss fights. Your main base of operations is Ravensthorpe, a small settlement that you can upgrade by raiding monasteries viking-style, and it's really satisfying to see the settlement grow into a small town over time. Most of the time you'll be running around the English countryside gaining alliances with its various houses, and this is where you'll complete the bulk of the game's missions. However, there are a LOT of provinces each with their own subset of storylines, and I wish you didn't have to complete every single one to see the game's conclusion. Valhalla is almost identical to Origins and Odyssey in terms of movement, stealth, and combat, but some aspects have been tweaked slightly. Weapons and gear aren't loot based anymore, for example, and can only be upgraded by locating resources around England. Passive abilities are gained by levelling up, but your offensive menuevers are obtained by finding Books of Power, which I found to be a little strange. I ended up sticking with a load-out that I liked and never really found a reason to change it up. Even the stat changes, perks, and runes don't really do that much—by the end of the game I was so powerful that I was basically unstoppable with any gear combo. Graphically Vahalla looks terrific and ran well on my PC, but the game is fairly buggy. I had it crash a handful of times, characters would animate in bizarre ways, and audio tracks would sometimes continue well after they should have already finished. It's a massive game with a ton of various mechanics, so bugs and glitches should come as no surprise, but I experienced more than I would have liked. Assassin's Creed Valhalla's comedically excessive length doesn't justify its unsatisfying conclusion, but I ultimately enjoyed my time exploring England and doing fun viking stuff despite the narrative dragging in spots.