Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Complete Edition

Complete edition of the action RPG Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which includes the original game and the expansions Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids, Assassin's Creed Valhalla: The Siege of Paris , and Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok. The main action takes place in East Anglia. The protagonist is a Viking named Eivor (male or female, it doesn't matter).

The game mechanics have been reworked according to the era and popular historical perceptions of Vikings as fierce melee fighters. A gameplay innovation in Valhalla is the relocation of the blade from the wrist to the outside of the hand and the ability to hold a blade or shield in each hand. Graphically, the game uses an updated version of the same engine as Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

Valhalla features a vast, handcrafted open world that includes parts of modern East Anglia and Norway, with the addition of special locations such as Kiev, where the player will find themselves according to the plot.

England occupies most of the game world and replicates the landscape of its real-life counterpart: dense forests and vast meadows, lowlands and hills, rivers and swamps, the North Sea coast. The region system was abandoned in favor of several large Kingdoms, which are at war with each other, and the Viking settlers add a factor of global threat.

Human influence is already noticeable: agriculture and animal husbandry are actively developed, small villages and larger settlements are found everywhere, and there are also a couple of large cities where trade and crafts take place. Fortresses have appeared—well-protected strongholds with many soldiers and bosses.

The size of Valhalla's world is comparable to Odyssey, but there is more land since Ubisoft is depicting the Viking migration to England, and the world's structure is freer and doesn't tie the player to the character's level. There are few sea activities; the longship is mainly used for moving the hero and companions, reconnaissance, and sudden attacks, rather than battles with other ships.

There is also a place in Valhalla's world for the northwestern part of Scandinavia, with its harsh climate, steep mountains, and cold waters under the majestic aurora borealis. This part of the world is mainly used for plot events.

The main character Eivor is a fictional character created using historical prototypes. He is a fierce Viking, raised on legends of great battles and warrior glory. At the time of the game's events, he is both a warrior-conqueror and the head of his small clan.

However, Eivor's membership in the Assassins is more formal: they share common enemies with the Brotherhood, he was given a cool blade, but he is only partially aware of the true purpose of his membership and is focused on personal interests.

Character development in Valhalla is in the spirit of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim: the more you use an ability, the better the character's skill level becomes. There are more RPG elements in the game, allowing the hero to develop in several directions and use equipment of different quality levels. Each piece of gear is tied to a specific archetype—Raven, Bear, and Wolf—each containing its combat style and skill tree.

Unlike Odyssey, Valhalla features a new quality system: each item can be upgraded to the tenth level, solving the loot balancing issue. Previously, weapons and armor dropped too frequently, resulting in tedious management, but now there are fewer items, and they can be developed to your liking. Numerous resources are needed for upgrades.

As always, Valhalla's events unfold in both the past (9th century) and the present. The updated Animus allows Layla Hassan, whose story began in Assassin's Creed: Origins and continued in Odyssey, to delve deeper into the history of the conflict between Assassins and Templars. The timeline of present-day events has been extended.

In the past, in the spirit of early feudalism, there is a fierce struggle for resources. From cold and hungry Scandinavia, local tribes begin migrating across the North Sea to warm and resource-rich England, where a struggle for power is already in full swing.

The settlers are met with suspicion and hatred by the warring Kingdoms, and the main character must ensure the survival of their clan at any cost. By the will of the writers, Saxons and Vikings will encounter both good and bad individuals. Alliances must be formed with the former, and battles fought with the latter, so don't be surprised when Eivor, allied with the English, goes to war against his own Danes who despise him for refusing to conquer lands.

Meanwhile, the main antagonist — Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, who seeks to rule England alone — has called for the extermination of the northern peoples. Players can prevent this by navigating a whirlwind of events, during which they will visit every corner of the game world, unite with other clans and Kingdoms, uncover multiple conspiracies that drive a wedge into the peaceful coexistence of peoples.

The story arcs in Valhalla are more extensive than before, and side quests have been almost entirely eliminated (it would be strange for the foreigner Eivor to start taking tasks from peaceful villagers). Instead, Ubisoft uses "world events" that happen to Eivor while exploring the world, making the game similar to Red Dead Redemption 2, where some stories didn't even appear on the map.

The Templars play a significant role in stoking conflict in eastern England, so staying out of the conflict between them and the Assassins is not an option; over time, Eivor will find himself at its center.

Playing through Valhalla is heavily tied to developing your own settlement by constructing various buildings (barracks, forges, tattoo parlors, etc.) and upgrading them over time. This requires a lot of resources, which the player has little of at the beginning, so raids on settlements and fortresses are necessary. Raiding the former is quite simple — break through the defenses, storm the settlement, and defeat the leader.

Fortresses are more challenging — they are protected by strong walls, numerous soldiers, and several bosses, making their assault grand in scale, similar to sieges in Medieval: Total War and divided into several stages. The player kills regular and elite enemies, defends allies, and helps them batter down gates, thus breaking through to the next levels of the fortress to finally take down the boss. Ресурсов за такой штурм игрок получит больше, а награду лично для Эйвора — лучше.

Другой вариант — заключать союзы и организовывать торговлю с местными поселениями англичан. Но доверие еще нужно заслужить, что отражает система Влияния (репутация), зависящая от выполнения квестов и оказания помощи NPC. Некоторые задания можно будет выполнить, только хорошо укрепив влияние.

На новом месте викингов ждет противостояние с множеством врагов, потому боевую систему переосмыслили. В бою придется активно прикрываться щитом, а также рубить орды врагов налево и направо двойными топорами/мечами. Многие элементы экипировки, например оружие, получили механику долговечности.

Видов оружия несколько и его можно улучшить специальными рунами на урон от огня, холода или молний, что характерно для скандинавской мифологии, В бою игрок должен использовать специальные умения с различным типом действия, коих можно взять до восьми штук: четыре для дальнего боя, и четыре для ближнего.

Влияние Dark Souls достигло Assassin's Creed, в зависимости от уровня сложности будут меняться тайминги, время парирования, уровень здоровья игрока, внимательность и скорость реакции противников.

Нет никакой информации о возможно появлении кооперативного режима прохождения или соревновательных сетевых режимах в духе старых Assassin's Creed.

Вполне вероятно только появление магазина предметов в духе Odyssey, никак не влияющего на игровой процесс.