Assassin’s Creed Valhalla For PS5

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla For PS5

Like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Origins before it, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla continues the series trajectory into a full-fledged open-world RPG. Though Ubisoft has dug up some of its stealth-action roots to make that style more appealing, Valhalla’s focus is on the absolutely massive recreation of Dark Ages England, brought to life with stunning beauty and a level of detail I’ve rarely seen. It’s been an impressive showcase for the Xbox Series X (and presumably the PlayStation 5, but Ubisoft only gave us access to the Xbox version ahead of launch), playing in 4K and a near-constant 60 frames per second. You have to put up with some new progression system ideas that don’t quite deliver, and an abundance of bugs, but there’s a staggering number of things to do, explore, and discover in and around Valhalla’s more atmospheric storytelling.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s story follows Eivor, a male or female Norse Viking who grows up with a chip on their shoulder and vengeance in their heart after some particularly dastardly events in the opening cinematic. From those starting moments, the table is set and soon you and your brother Sigurd are off on a grand adventure to England, a land ripe with wealth and glory, and already well-integrated with Danes and Norse from years of Viking invasion and conquest. That sets the stage for your arrival in England as you settle the land and forge alliances to protect and expand your fledgling homestead against the chaos and political dust storm of warring factions across England’s four kingdoms: Mercia, East Anglia, Northumbria, and Wessex.

The last time Assassin’s Creed tried letting us choose to play as a male or female protagonist the results were hit or miss, especially on the male side. Here, however, the performances of both the male and female versions of Eivor are admirable, though some accents drift a bit. (At one point I could’ve sworn female Eivor made a stop in Boston from the way she crushed the word “harbor,” but quickly enough it was back to Norse normal.) These brief moments are absolutely the exception to the otherwise steady and earnest delivery throughout, which is also true of most of the main characters. Outside the main cast, though some random NPCs can be a little… much. But special mention goes out to Sigurd, who channels fiery intensity and flirts with crazy in his performances, and that performance is accentuated by fascinating facial expressions that often lean uncomfortably close to the latter.

Even so, the siblings’ quest for wealth, glory, and power throughout England is darker, sadder, and more grounded than the tones of the past few games had led me to expect. There are moments throughout where the griefstriken, bittersweet, and just plain bitter resolutions reminded me of The Witcher 3’s Bloody Baron delivery. This is a dirty, dingy world where life is cheap and nearly everyone is scratching and clawing to gain power – or to keep it – regardless of who gets burned along the way.

One particular instance found me helping the leader of a nearby shire – regions within the four kingdoms (no hobbits) – who had discovered a traitor in her inner circle and charged me with rooting them out because she loved each one of them as family and couldn’t trust herself to see past their lies. The resulting few hours of investigation brought me to the end of the road, and I made the best decision based on the available information I had. To be honest, I’m not sure I was right; I still don’t know. If the person I accused was guilty, Valhalla never gave me more clarity, and the uncertainty seems very intentional. My judgment was accepted and the consequences were swiftly doled out, and that was that. I’ve found myself thinking about that decision ever since. But that’s the business of eighth-century England, I suppose.