Seems like this series is going through an identity crisis with some of its core systems. Once again, assassinations are stat-based, leading away from the stealth "if you can sneak it you can kill it" origins of the series. Also seems to be a lot of content bloat without the necessary equipment or build diversity to keep the game's combat interesting toward the end of the game. It has all the things you'd expect from a big budget open world RPG, it just seems that they're not working harmoniously together in Valhalla. That fact, combined with the fact that isn't really a stealth entry that I can rely on anymore to deliver that specific experience, means I'll probably be skipping this like I did Odyssey. Skill Up is a good YouTube reviewer who is able to keenly look past a lot of the window dressing that are attached to these AAA games. And I appreciate his review on this one:
While I enjoyed the early AC games, a big open world RPG is what I would much rather have. Given that Odyssey is one of my favorite games of all time, I'm looking forward to when I get the chance to play Valhalla on the PS5.
You should watch that review I posted. It seems like they've streamlined the gear/loot progression, which works great for a more linear experience but does not complement its move to a more open world approach. They've also structured the skill tree very very obtusely.
I'm trying to expose myself to as little beforehand as possible. I want to go in fresh and not spoil anything.
I can respect that. This is clearly an instance of someone who is always on the fence with this series vs. someone who is not.
I almost bought the game until I watched this review. It made me realize that I can wait until the game is on sale with all of the expansions.
Yeah, I've played every mainline game in the series, and enjoyed every one. I can still remember watching the reveal of the game at E3 on G4 back in the day. I felt really old last week when I read an article by someone who said that they "grew up playing the series", given that I was 30 when the first one came out, lol.
I actually didn't mind Origins and actually found myself enjoying a good portion of it. I did begin to feel the fatigue toward the end though and never finished it. I was encouraged that Ubisoft would tighten things up and refine the stealth closer to the original games. Instead, they really doubled down on the adventure RPG aspect for Odyssey. No problem, that direction is not for me, but there are tons of players like @Unlucky 13 that do enjoy that approach, and it's them I feel for with the current entry. There was a lot of talk of looking back to the early entries and streamlining for Valhalla from the devs, but it seems like they've compromised the loot and progression systems that kept Odyssey interesting for fans that had logged dozens and dozens of hours into it. It could be overblown, but it seems like an identity crisis to me.
The last Assasins Creed I played was the 2nd one. The open world aspect seems cool to me. I love those type of games. I think I just got to the point where I hated the story, so I wasn't interested in the 3rd one.
Right, I prefer the more condensed metropolitan settings. Like if you were to ask me if I would prefer to replay the older Unity or the newer Origins, I'd go with Unity every time. But the story was stronger in Origins even though it was a less linear game. Overall, the stories haven't been anything to laud no matter what entry. You can argue 2 coasted on the general charisma of Ezio but there wasn't much beyond that.
For me, the story in the early games was phenomenal. I was extremely into it, and couldn't wait to see where they went with it. But sadly, the overarching story that they developed over the first four games lost steam and came to an abrupt, but not conclusive or satisfying end in the 5th and 6th games. From there, they kind of pretended to have a continuation of it, but it was the most surface, pandering attempt possible over the next two games. But then the last two (prior to Valhalla) have started to reboot the overall story again in a different way, and I like it. Not as good in that aspect as the early ones, but still worthwhile.
It is cool that you liked it. Honestly, it has been so long that I do not remember why I disliked it so much. I just remember getting to the end of the game and thinking, "Well that was stupid."
So has anyone played Vahalia yet? I almost bought it this morning for PC but then decided not to...at least not yet. GodFall looks pretty cool too.
Nope. Waiting for when I can get my hands on a PS5 first, and no clue as to how soon that's going to be unfortunately.
I bought Origins today instead- it was $12 in the Ubisoft store ($14 Deluxe/$20 Gold). Hopefully it finishes downloading by the time the Fins game ends, LOL! I live in the country so a 47 gig download requires a little patience. =)
I totally get that. I couldn't even get broadband until two years ago myself. Now I have Comcast, but downloading things onto the PS4 still take a LOT longer than downloading the same amount of data onto my PC. I think I've bought three games on the PSN this year, and each of them took about three hours. This despite my PS4 being hard wired and everything else on WiFi, and doing it when no one else in the house is using the internet.
Godfall is apparently pretty shallow and gets old fast. I would recommend the two games which gave it its DNA and are both better games by a landslide- Monster Hunter and Warframe.
I'm still playing AC: Origins and it's pretty good- not as fun as Odyssey but I'm still enjoying it for the most part. I heard Monster Hunter was really good too...maybe I'll do that next. I've been in a "cheap" mood lately and not buying anything when it first launches. Oh, has anyone played Control? I wanted that one last year but never got around to buying it. That could be an option as well.
Yeah, Origins was absolutely the rough draft for Odyssey, so playing them in reverse could be a bit of a downer. Its a great game, but they stepped up big with the next one. Control seems like its too fast paced craziness for me.
Yeah, the weapon combos were a lot more fluid in Odyssey....I'm still playing it through but the quests are already starting to feel repetitive. In Odyssey there was a lot more to do, hunt legendries, the epic end-game questlines, etc. I'll probably finish this one out over the weekend, which will make less than 2 weeks total. Odyssey kept me engaged for months!
I did all quests and map markers and it took me around 70 hours. I was pretty exhausted of it by hour 40 or 50 though. I just wanted to finish it.
LOL, I about doubled that play time in my second go, with all of the DLC. It really is one of my favorite games of all time now.
Yeah, I played Odyssey for about 6-7 weeks...and I didn't get the DLC. I'll probably finish Origins in two weeks total.
I know that Ubisoft has deep pockets, but Odyssey is proof that most devs can do so much better and squeeze so much more into their games than they do. The number of unique places to go and people that you can talk to is just mind blowing.
50 hours into AC Valhalla after I broke down and bought it on the PS4. I'm about 40% of the way through the Skill Chart, and I've uncovered about the same percentage of the map. There's certainly a lot of meat left on the bone for me to explore and get into. The game is good. Its solid. But all that being said, its less than Odyssey was in almost every way. The systems for discovering things in the world are more primitive than they have been in an AC game in a while. The player has a raven instead of an eagle, and its far less useful. I guess on purpose? But I find myself wanting to use it for the same things and its frustrating when I can't. The equipment system feels similar in some ways, but to this point there seems to be far, far fewer different pieces and sets than there were before. And the ones that are there don't have bonuses that suit my play style. The game is also much darker. They're clearly trying to be The Witcher 3 in some respects, and doing a mediocre job of it. All in all so far, a solid game. But a downgrade.
https://www.psu.com/reviews/assassins-creed-valhalla-the-siege-of-paris-review-ps5/ The second, and final paid DLC for AC Valhalla is out, titled Seige of Paris. Early reports are disappointing. While most people expected it to be the biggest and deepest DLC for the game, outclassing the first one in most ways, it turns out that its only about half the size and lacks content and depth. Not good. I downloaded and installed it today, because I had already bought the season pass, but given that it was pushed back and had been hyped by Ubisoft quite a bit, its a real downer. Hopefully we get a lot of free content over the next year to make up for it.
They're putting out a big patch tomorrow (Feb 22) ahead of the next DLC, which comes out on March 10. I've been taking time away from the game waiting on something like this before I do more, so I think I'm going to jump back in after the DLC drops. https://www.pushsquare.com/news/202...ing-stealth-fixes-ragnarok-support-more#reply
Just bought Assassin's Creed Mirage in the Epic store for $22 (sale + 33% off coupon). Has anyone played it yet?
There's a solid chance I'm getting it as a gift in two days, lol. My wife has gotten me most of the AC series for Christmas since the start. I'm certainly less enthusiastic about it, because I absolutely loved the bigger action RPG format, but I'll still give it my full attention when I play it.
I'm in the process of downloading now- 2 of 38 gigs so far. I'll give you a non-spoiler review in a couple of days on the mechanics, playstyle, etc.
First impressions, the parkour system is a little clunky...maybe it's just me though in a new system. You have one key that controls jumping, leaping, traversing, etc. and another key for running/walking. You have to hit the run key each time you parkour to something else, which gets tedious. The parkour is not as bad as many made it out to be, there are the typical AC glitches...you can't parkour at a doorway, for example, but you never could in the older versions. I am noticing that the path I visualize is the actual path I take about 50% of the time, LOL. Half the time he's do something completely different but equally entertaining and effective. The graphics are very detailed and the city feels alive (the whole game is in one city). I don't agree with the "old school" reviews since this one looks excellent and feels very fluid. The reviews I read were mixed and it's a shorter game compared to recent titles, but I don't think that's going to bother me. A lot of the missions in recent titles became repetitive anyway. Not to the serious combat stuff yet so can't comment there, but I sprinted around knocking out guards and random people just for the heck of it (it's Christmas Eve and we're doing lunch here, so I only had a few minutes to goof off). There does appear to be a lot more customizations though and that has me excited. So far it feels like it will be a fun game.
I've always played the games slowly and carefully, as is my style, so the whole parquor thing has never really been me anyways. I've confused and even angered a few people on the AC subreddit talking about that, lol. The short play length is one reason I absolutely wasn't going to pay full price. IMO, if a game costs $70, then I want to spend at least 80+ hours on it. If its 30 hours, then $20-30 feels more fair.
I did get the game as well, but I have several other new ones too, and I'm not going to jump into it quite yet.
Ubisoft: "We will never make an AC in Japan! Its so played out!" Also Ubisoft: "That Ghost of Tsushima game did pretty well.. huh?"
I saw an Ubisoft exec quoted today saying they've wanted to make a game in Asia for years. Which is of course contrary to most of what they've said for ages. Regardless, I'm very much looking forward to it. Worried about the supposed smaller scope and being forced to play a certain way more than I like, but good open world games are so rare these days, I'm happy to have it.