Assassin's Creed Valhalla: 4 Years Later
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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2025
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There's a 4K option on this vid, would suggest picking it if you can. Build a website for free with Odoo - www.odoo.com/r/tCV
Credits music was also louder than it should've been, that was a project error, sorry about that.
You ever thought about reviewing Dying light 2 cus I’d kill for a video in your style about it.
Christmas came early.
Thank you so much for your videos man. Best long form game analyst on RUclips
@@zaidebtw4438I agree with them, a video on dying light 2 would be a banger. It's the perfect kinda game for these reviews. It's a really fun game moment to moment with amazing parkour and combat mechanics, but the plot is horribly undercooked and the launch was pretty rocky to say the least. That said, they've had a cyberpunk like redemption arc and now it's mostly bug free and stable. They refined the mechanics they had and even added entirely new mechanics (both dying light 2 and cyberpunk added flashy kill animations on low health enemies post launch, they work exactly the same.)
It's such an interesting game to discuss and honestly, despite it's many flaws and pretty bad plot is still a blast to play. I have about 500 hours in it
"Odoo dooes ooverything" is honestly way better than their "real" tagline
4 Years Later: Because that's how long it takes to finish this game
So true i wanted to 100 % it but then my save broke I cant do it anymore.
You probably get bored before completing it.
Over 700 hours
I finished it twice, the first time I went for 100% and some objectives got bugged so I couldn't complete them (so I got stuck on around 98%). Then those supposedly got fixed, but only in new saves, so I tried again. Got to about 70% before giving up that time lol.
What a creative joke right there
Assassins Creed: This Door Is Barred From The Other Side
This almost killed me 😂
😂😂😂
"You don't have the right, O you don't have the right!"
I genuinely think this is one of the major reasons I quit playing the game. I got so tired of being artificially slowed down in this already massive bloated game.
💀💀
I find it hilarious that the game ends with you successfully conquering England and get Alfred the great tell you how you are gonna be a great ruler a couple of weeks before Alfred historically kicks your ass and retakes half of the land you took
They call him Alfred the Great for a reason
Well yeah cause that's what happened. I remember my brother telling me he was surprised there was no choice to kill Alfred. Despite us being English, I guess he doesn't take much interest in our Anglo-Saxon Kings.
Tbh that's what I love about it though. The game recognizes that, and the final ending is a beautiful mix of Eivor's acceptance and choice of not killing his greatest target, combined with our own acceptance of knowing that all of Eivor's work would be torn down by the very man he made peace with.
That's one of the least bad things the game did. And I actually thought the game handled it well. After Eivor discovers she (yeah the female Eivor is canon) is basically a reborn god, she loses interest in the menial squabble over land. So the game doesn't intrude on that part of history, while still suggesting that if Eivor had wanted, she could've gutted Alfred and conquered England. She had more than one opportunity to do so, and Alfred never once succeeded at capturing or killing her despite three attempts.
Vikings fighting peasants, farmers, and clergymen 😈
Vikings fighting an organized army 🤷🏻♂️
The world was the one thing I've always defended about Valhalla. While a lot of the game is of questionable quality, the world itself is absolutely gorgeous. The wide open vistas, the hills, the cliffs, the shores, the swamps. Even the caves are magnificent. I still remember the first time I finally made it to the north map border and looked out over the snowy wasteland. Even that was awe inspiring. The world art team has enormous talent. I don't care if it's 100% historically accurate. I care if it looks epic and draws me in, and it absolutely does that.
I just wish the rest of the game could've been on the same level.
That's one thing in my opinion Ubisoft, no matter which dev team/sub studio or game, always masters for nearly 20 years like only a very few others studios: The World and atmosphere. No matter how bad the games are, the world is just always so incredible beautiful, detailed and full of love, most of the times even just believable as a living breathing world, the atmosphere is just always so breathtaking, lighting is often great and sound design/sound track complete the picture.
I just wish the other dev teams were so talented or free as well, so it more or less feels like the game is just a frame/justification for the world to exist
@@lachmowe1642 Yes!!!
agreed.
I'm doing a second playthrough now on a PS5 and it is one of the best looking open world games I've played. That alone gives you a little inspiration to play. Since it's my second playthrough, I know what's coming even if it's been a couple years. I know that I don't have to do everything and the drive to get everything is not there which takes away the tedium. I can just wander around and do things like you would in RDR2. Don't worry about the story and just enjoy the vivid experience. Then when I've had enough, I'll put it away and move onto something else but I am enjoying this 2nd playthrough more because I'm not grinding.
As incompetent as Ubisoft are, they haven't designed a world I don't love.
Don't like Far Cry 6 or Ghost Recon Breakpoint but Yara and Aurora are gorgeous worlds.
This was a great video. Well done. 👏
only assassins creed where you can go to birmingham
This is what fans wanted from day one
Ah, so that's why everyone hates this game. Understandable
Not nearly brown enough
I want a WWI AC title where Birmingham is one of the cities you explore. Copy and paste Syndicate but refine it. Make London and Birmingham the cities and you can use the Peaky Blinders gang as one of your allies.
@@simonhamelink3590 Justice for Brummieville! I say that as a foreigner living in the UK 😂😂 I genuinely defend Birmingham
Imagine clearing an entire base by yourself, stealthy, and then finding a chest or a door that cannot be open unless you start a raid by blowing your viking horn.
That is pathetic.
So, imagine playing the game is what you're saying?
@@calebmurphy9406 no, imagine playing the game and the game says you can’t get the reward for playing it because you didn’t play the game.
It is possible to raid monasteries on your own, stealthily and pick the guards off one by one. I did that once, then I was hit with the realisation that I can't open the chests. It was beyond hilarious to sound the horn and have all those vikings rolling in for nothing but to help me remove the lid from a chest... 😂
@@calebmurphy9406lol
@@annamari007 Exactly! That was my point.
Wow it’s already been 4 years!!!!!
Times fly when you don’t give a damn
Ya it is crazy I got this 4 years ago doesent seem like it and it's also one of the 2 assassin's creed games I don't like. And I never played mirage so can't speak for that
@ I still remember that little “Odin is with us” meme from the reveal trailer
@@dominicp9296 what’s the other?
The other one is Syndicate, isn't it?
In my opinion, the biggest problem with Valhalla's open world, is that most of the activities DON'T MAKE SENSE in the context of the story and the character you play as. Valhalla does wrong what Black Flag already perfected 8 years earlier. The reason why Black Flag is so fun is that pretty much all side activities MAKE SENSE and feel like something Edward would do. Edward is a pirate working with the assassins, and every bit of gameplay plays into that. You engage in naval combat and plunder ships. You find hidden treasures. You steal from the chests you find. You raid plantations for their loot. You complete Assassin contracts to get some cash. You dive underwater to find sunken cargo and valuable ship schematics. Sometimes you hunt land or sea animals for resources. It just makes sense. Engaging with the activities in Black Flag feels natural, and fits the pirate-assassin premise. And because the activities are varied enough and spaced out properly, they never feel like a chore. With the exception of some Animus fragments or single chests that are located on tiny islands. That feels like a waste of time.
Valhalla, on the other hand, throws too much stuff at the wall and lacks focus. Eivor is a Viking who wants to secure alliances to tame England, and he aids the Assassins in their quest to elimnate members of the Order. That should be the main focus of the game! The Viking raids and upgrading the settlement make sense, but a lot of the other activities are just baffling. Why would Eivor waste time on nonsense like playing with random children or interacting with village fools? I think a lot of this nonsense should have been cut in the early planning stage and replaced with more interesting activities. It would be way more interesting if the game had some structured side assassinations where Eivor is tasked with killing of minor agents of the Order. Random encounters with forgettable NPCs should be replaced with interesting settlement missions that expand on the people of Ravensthorpe and build upon Eivor's relationships with them. You know... like the homestead missions in ACIII... I would also cut all of this paranormal nonsense you can find in the world. I'm fine with visions of Odin and the hallucinations, but all the weird stuff in the real world needs to go. The game would be much better if it took itself seriously and focused more on characters and politics like the show Vikings. Personally, I would also focus more on the fauna & hunting. Valhalla should have taken some inspiration from ACIII or RDR2 and implemented an interesting hunting mechanic. Maybe you could stalk and kill different animals and use their hides for different upgrades to your gear. Maybe there could be some legendary animals that you can kill and then decorate your settlement with trophies.
There are legendary animals that you have to fight (boss fights) that once finished you can go to the hunting shack/merchant in ravensthorpe to get wall mounts that go in the longhouse. But they aren’t really shown off or a focus when up, the first and only one I’ve killed was a white stag that when it was put up in the longhouse I spent an hour looking for before I realized it was this small (the stag was huge) deer mount just coloured white
I didn't mind most of the side stuff but pretty much every single one of those blue dot quests was childish and pointless. Some of the stuff you had to do was ridiculous like giving a woman snake eggs so she can fart and scare people off. It's childish bullshit like that ruined my playthrough. Like the man who won't wash and dips his arrows in shit. You have to carry all the shit out of his house them drop him into a pond. Its dumb as hell.
BLACK FALG MENTIONED!!! MY FAV ASSASSINS CREED
@@lost_witness_8495Oh, give it a rest. Whine whine whine.
Facts! Instead of putting all those wack ass puzzles and door locks
80 hours?! This game is a completionists nightmare..
With all the DLC, it took 237 hours out of my life
tbh its main reason i play games like odysey , rdr2 and valhala, i love to immerse myself for month or more into that world. otehr games are just too short
@@NostalgicMem0ries I get that, but when the map/radar is full to the brim with dots and markers, it starts to be a checklist, and for me this breaks the immersion big time
At the moment I'm playing Death Stranding on the PS4, now THAT is an immersive game, it lets you go at your own pace
@@iustinianbocancea5300 there are options that turns of map and radar, im playing this game second time after 4 years and turned of almost everything, i just explore world as i go, where i want when i want. did same for odysey and it was game changer. radars really kill games immersion
I’m about to start my journey with this game 😂
@@NostalgicMem0ries the problem for me with Valhalla is it has nothing else to offer besides the same basic gameplay loop
In my restless dreams...I see that review. Arkham Knight.
We may get GTA VI before the Knight review.
I can't wait, I love that game
I think he generally works on it primarily around mid-September and October, to get it out IN October, and if he can't get it out in October he moves onto another iron in the fire.
I was just thinking this! Best Batman game of all time
You promised me you’d review that game someday, but you never did.
Well, I’m waiting there now, in our ‘special place.’ Waiting for you…
"Its hard to be a photgraph and a pianting at the same time"
Absolute gold, think it resonates alot with the current industrys focus on photorealism.
I don't really think it's a current thing, industry has been changing photorealism since the early 2000s
And yet most modern phones have a camera that literally does that.
@@JanVerny Your argument is that you can make something look like a photo... When it's a photo taken by a modern phone camera? That doesn't really have anything to do with photorealism in 3d rendering (like games)
@@RioManegos My point was that modern phones literally take photos that look like both a photograph and a painting.
If you watched the rest instead of rushing to comment, you'd see he quickly called it one of the most beautiful games he's played.
1:13:29 "'Off' happens to be the direction in which all this can fuck"
Is maybe the greatest sentence I've ever heard in my life
this hit me out of nowhere xD
I read this right as he said it. Absolutely brilliant.
Had me give a good chuckle which my cat was surprised about LOL
I'm partial to the "structures itself into the shape of its own noose" line (at 1:17:16), as far as banger lines in the video are concerned haha
Oh great, another cliche low effort comment with just a quote getting hundreds of likes
this is by far the best Valhalla critique I've seen. Thank you for being so detailed and honest about it while still highlighting its tragic beauty
probably one of the most beautiful games I've ever played, A lot of times I would just stare in awe at the landscape or architecture when scouting
Nothing says sneaky assassin like a raging yelling Viking berserker
Well to be fair if I saw a raging Viking berserker heading towards me I'd assume I'm being assassinated.
I could say the same about a pirate.
@@ac_nerd9794 Yes. Black Flag is a fantastic pirate game, but a shit AC game.
@@DawnSentinel ac game means story. The gameplay is there, not the best, it is more focused on being a pirate in robes with a few assassination contracts.
Saying it is a bad ac games would place it on the same spot with odyssey, which is not true. But then nothing is true, so i guess you are right.
@@zbeatza9910 reading this makes me think that you thought you were cooking for a second and then remembered what the assassins say sometimes
White light is seriously one of the best video game critiques around
hes the BEST in my opinion
@ there’s definitely a case to be made for that👌
@@GamingSc after Mandalore
Just seems a waste, most games he covers are just triple a nonsense. Looking through his videos and it's all made for console hand holdy soulless games. It's like finding a great film critic. Who's main library is super hero films and the fast and the furious franchise. Its trash either way and honestly doesn't deserve some sort of deeper look. Ubisoft have been utter wank for decades at making games.
@@Schnibs I honestly think that's one of the reason I enjoy him so much. He doesn't choose some indie, super artsy, esoteric game. He chooses, well known, main stream, Triple A flagship series but dissects them some well using a fine balance of humor, wit, and philosophy.
i remember the exact moment my experience in valhalla "broke". The tipping point of no return where the game lost me. It was my first monastery raid, we were all charging in, a monk ran screaming past me and i killed him because i'm a viking and viking's killed monks that's like the one thing we were all told about them.
And then the game warned me i'd desync if i killed the monks.
And i just stopped caring immediately.
Edit: there’s some arguing in the comments so i should better explain myself. It was just such a bizarre moment. The game lets eivor be a stereotypical viking to the point you can actively choose to raid a monastery and kill all active defenders, but not kill specifically the monks. There’s some arguments of “well of course you can’t kill the monks, they’re innocents”. But are the guards i’m fully allowed to kill not also innocents? I am the aggressor. I am pillaging a holy place for nothing but personal gain, this is something that not only did ubisoft decide to implement to fulfil the viking fantasy, but also it therefore means it’s something that eivor was ready and willing to do. The people i am allowed to kill are defending themselves. Why is the line simply drawn at “not holding a knife”? That’s why the game lost me in that moment. It was another case of assassin’s creed tripping over itself desperately holding on to a framing device i don’t think anyone’s really cared for since desmond left. I was sold on the “you can be a viking and do viking things!” But every time the animus showed up it took me back out of the game.
Maybe eivor was the exception
Ubisoft games are like mazes. Your goal is to find a path to fun, and nonsense mechanics, bugs, and a mediocre story are dead ends.
Yeah I don't get how they can produce crap like this. Odyssey was great and gave me a flash of hope. I thought they might be turning it around. I preordered Valhalla and was left severely disappointed. Think I paid about 90 bucks for this game when I usually wait for them to go on sale. Won't make that mistake again.
I used to really love this franchise. Remember when I first played ac 2 and I was completely hooked on the story.
I still had hope they could make a game like that again. But it seems like instead of innovating , they're too worried people won't like the game so they copy stuff other games do and think it'll work. How do they not realize that being a generic cheap versions of other games won't bring in the popularity they so desperately want.
Haha this pissed me off so much I had to turn critical messages off so I couldn’t see it 😂
@@tigerwoods373 I will never understand why people pretend origins was a great game
What's insane about this video is that as long, deep, thorough & well put together it is (it is worded pretty perfectly), it STILL doesn't cover EVERYTHING I was disappointed with in ACV. It does cover about 99% of it, which is amazing & great because it's awesome to have your thoughts validated in such a public & accessible capacity, but there are still some maddening nitpicks that I could point out & add. Which is absolutely nuts considering just how much this video covered
I genuinely wish Valhalla was just Odyssey with a viking coat of paint because I enjoy the world of Valhalla so much, it's so beautiful. It's like a world that has this feeling of there being so much mystery and intriguing things to find despite there not really being any because it's a pretty bad game, but that feeling of intrigue alone made me enjoy myself. If it had more of the light RPG mechanics of odyssey I think I would of loved this game
Completely agree, Valhalla's reward issues was the biggest problem for me. I loved going out of the way for forts and camps in Origins and Odyssey because I'd always walk out with new armor or a new weapon. But in Valhalla I either got scraps or nothing I wanted. If I wanted a new weapon I had to look for the icons on the map and hope it be something i actually wanted. Ubisoft games are far from perfect but their beauty and immersion usually made it worth the issues. Valhalla was the first time I actually really felt the "these games are designed with a checklist in mind", felt the world was empty, and got bored halfway because of that. I still liked the game, but it left me wishing it either had more loot or was half the size it actually was.
Yup, felt way more empty and pointless than odyssey..
What a ride. Your articulation is impecable, as always.
Never click on any video faster than I click on Whitelight videos. This isn't an overstatement. I genuinely feel like my day is about to get better when I see a new upload. It's like a little escape from everything
Thanks for these moments
100% agreed!
They definitely help pass the time when I'm at work
Amazing content everytime
ubisoft's obsession with making their central characters the same kinds of acceptably kitschy quirky heroic-but-not-too-heroic open-minded shallow modern-thinking cardboard cut-outs gets more problematic the more _actually_ problematic said central characters were in history
the fact that the vikings are presented as accepting freemen when their entire thing was raiding and taking slaves is borderline funny, albeit in a sad way
(yes i know there was depth to the vikings, but there's a distinction to me between 'vikings' and 'norsemen' that cannot be understated)
Just modern cookie cutter characters. Cant offend anyone.
They shy away from moral ambiguity which makes me question what is actually going on in the writing room when the idea is “so you’re a Viking during their conquest of England”. Wasted potential is an incredible understatement.
Ubisoft hates acknowledging the political dimension of their games. They made an MMO about being part of a secret police force who mass executes people without trial and said it was completely unpolitical.
Been like that since AC: Syndicate. The more lighthearted tone they went with and almost Marvel levels of jokey dialogue did the game no favors.
@@jo0rd73 Not as much as a black protagonist in feudal japan...
“This door is barred” literally every damn door in the game.
your expression of frustration that these games SHOULD be great is so true - you can almost see it behind the mire of baffling choices - it's within their grasp, but they always shoot themselves in the foot instead - leaving scraps of good food dispersed amongst a table full of dry crusty bread
"off happens to be the direction in which all this can fuck" is a glorious line, i need to write that down
Lame
@@KrianBellyAgreed
Ah yes the game where everyone left at around 30-50% and never finished
Guilty as charged
I did finish it and boy was it a chore
I couldn't even bring myself to finish the MSQ. It's just chores, poorly disguised as fun. AC is indistinguishable from Far Cry, same concept, different timeline. Just dots on the map with a clear path, so you don't have to think at all. Treadmill.
20 hours in and dipped, never returned since release week
I did, took me 127 hours
Who doesn’t love a Whitelight Assassins Creed Breakdown?
Thank you for your hard work and dedication to put these videos together; they are consistently fantastic.
It lacks structure and stretches on for too long for the sake of Whitelight hearing himself talk and seeing his stitched-together gameplay to wonder at his editing skills.
It is an analysis meant to destroy AC Valhalla at every step on the way, strip it of any merit and belittle it in the eyes of possible buyers, it isn't an objective analysis, it is propaganda designed to stop people from buying the game.
It can be okay, because no one with a brain will let a Whitelight video command one's life.
I just started playing Valhalla a week or so ago. I didn't play it when it first came out because everyone was saying how bad it was. I've never agreed with every statement in a video before but this one hits the nail perfectly on the head. Having to constantly hit the sprint button while parkouring is so dumb.
1:21:39 the ending few seconds with that song honestly had me close to tears here and in the game. It’s not perfect but it’s art, in one of the purest forms
Yeah no kidding man talk about beautiful 😢
"Puzzles & Valhalla tend to go together like Asmongold & soap" - OOOOOOOF :P
More like Asmongold and Tutorials
@@parkerheal7049 honestly Cr1tikal is worse, charlie will unironically sit there with the controls visible on screen and still somehow go "yo chat how do i do [insert move here]?"
More like Asmongold & women
@@muninn9674Embarrassing to care about a streamer’s gameplay. Go play the game yourself bud, you’re watching the stream for the streamer.
@@lopamurblamo i dont care about his gameplay, hes mechanically speaking not even bad at games lol. Im commenting on his inability to use his eyes and read you goober.
I loved AC Odyssey, not as an AC game but as an RPG set in Ancient Greece , I’ve tried three times to play Valhalla, and have stopped playing once I reach England three times
England is just so boring. It felt like playing the Witcher 3 but soulless.
Bruh you get to England so early how did you give up there 3 times hahaha I get it tho
@@TheWaxlemon I didn't even reached England. As a person who likes to complete 100% before moving on (on all areas my level allows to), I was burned out before England. Both times I've tried the game. And I've finished Origins fully.
well that's 2 times more then me.
I gave up after ralizing it was becoming a second job, they added everithing wrong in Raven hold, Micro transactions, XP boots in the shop, and the little egyptian kid that gave you tasks that required you do go out of your way fora bit of currency which you could exchange for items from the game shop... add to that that you had to farm for coin and get ingots to upgrade weapons because weapon you looted in the world were always low tier and only specific Ancients weapons were high tier and fully upgraded,
IN short Valhalla to me felt like an MMO in a single player game, worse then DA inquisition, but better then Valeguard :D
Same: I'm a huge AC fan, but I'm an even bigger History Nerd & Ancient Greece is one of my favorite topics, so while I 100% understood what everyone meant by accusing it of not being an AC game, I still thought it was all kinds of great. But Valhalla was just awful. And I went WAY past England so I gave it way more of a chance than it deserved lol
The last part of this video is exactly the kind of review that I love. While hatred and anger are easy to spread, there's nothing like the feeling that comes across when someone describes how something effected them.
The description of a new perspective. The stereotypical line of the kid able to tell you in detail how the sky bends and how the colors stretch across it. It's addicting to a certain degree because I can't even argue why soneone would love something so internally and the way described feels like it trancends past typical review.
I kind of want to download and just wander around England lol
Yh some games will always borough themselves in some people’s hearts, despite their flaws, for certain characteristics that they long for or just throughly enjoy.
*affected
I’m glad you mentioned your situation with abandoning pretence & expectation when going into the game. I loathed my first 40 hours and stopped playing. Went back in a couple of years later, resumed the save and tried to shift my perspective. Ended up rolling credits and managed to find *some* things to appreciate & enjoy.
"Guthren beat Alfred's army... off-screen. 'Off' happens to be the direction in which all this can fuck." I think is my favourite Whitelight-ism to date. You need to compile a book of these.
Can’t remember the last time I came this quick
That's what she said
the only time I coming this quick is when my gf pegs me
Same 😂 I miss his videos fr
🤨
That’s what they all say when they try to remember their first
a genuinely great video, probably one of your best works yet and i think it perfectly encapsulates where the game falls short but also why i keep coming back to it over a year after finishing it
Whitelight uploaded on my birthday what a great present
Happy Birthday my dude
Happy birthday!! :3
Happy birthday, man!
Happy Birthday be happy brother
Bappy Hirthday
Man, that soundtrack sure is something ❤
Great video, bloody well done!
its interesting how no one really spoke about the history of environments being chronologically misplaced in this game, but people made a massive deal about it with the Shadows trailer.
The combination of what might be Whitelight's most unhinged analogy to date with Katamari B-roll gameplay in the background at 37:47 made me laugh way harder than I should have
I read this a minute in advance. Needless to say, lived up to my expectations
Found this channel when I saw the Unity review. And I've loved watching every single one since. As always, well done. Also, love the nod to the Nutcracker background music 26:00
Can you explain the nod to me?
i hated this game after the main ending and didn't bother with anything else in the game, i hated how it wasted my time and how it never answered anything about anything, but this video made me have a fresh perspective on it, i still hate it , but there is beauty still to be witnessed and experienced and i lost sight of that with my hatred; thank you for a new perspective and cheers on another amazing video.
I feel that! I played this game during a lonely time in 2020 (even discounting covid) and finished it as things in my life began to pick up. The song that plays after the Templar ending (which is a conversation you unlock after defeating everyone in the Order of the Ancients) took me by surprise. Suddenly I can't fast travel but I'm moving through this world which looks good even on my PS4, and this haunting song starts playing.
I later looked more into it and they had put actual lines from the Eddas (or one of the other sources for Ragnarok) into the song. It ties together everything to me, the fact that the Vikings would get pushed back by Alfred despite their temporary victories at the climax, the fact that chronologically ACI was close at hand and this was the last of the new prequel trilogy, the obvious connections to the main character's previous life, and the looming threat after moments of calm in the present day story. But it also connected me with how I felt about my time in the game, and the bittersweet feeling of moving on from what felt like almost lost time into a period of something new.
All this is to say that the optional ending was actually stronger for me than the main one, and that I do think there was a strong story and sense of lore buried in the mess of this game somewhere (even if some of the more interesting parts are hidden outside the text).
I still like the subplot where Thor's incarnation instinctually suspects his second in command/lover of being a traitor, and we're led to believe that that guy is the incarnation of the Midgard Serpent who who is destined/was destined to poison him at Ragnarok. But it's been confirmed that the second in command was actually the reincarnation of Thor's mythological wife, and had been tragically pushed to move against him as he became more paranoid (he probably was poisoning him after all). It plays with reincarnation and aspects of the Sci-Fi setting in ways that are fairly clever and work with the mythology. It's just not all of the story arcs had that kind of connection with the larger ideas of the game, or were too clumsy. They should have leaned into it more and made the game half as big while listening to their writers.
At least you finished it. I hated the game after that Asgard part. Holy shit, hated certain things that happened in the story around that part.
How didn’t it answer anything ? We literally learn the history of the relationship between the isu race and the ragnarok dlc explains in a fantasy way of what they were all trying to avoid which was the end of the world. We learn why Loki hates his brethren and decided to betray them. The modern day story is pushed further along as Layla is part of the puzzle to learn how to save the world from essentially another ragnarok aka doomsday event
For someone like me who loves norse mythology I had a blast with this game, I played odyssey, origins and valhalla but after playing Unity recently i can understand assassins creed fans criticizing this game, it doesnt feel like an assassins creed game that much but its a very solid RPG.
I love this channel
I'm glad you talked about the music in the game. You have Sarah schachner and Jesper kyd who are veterans of the assassin s creed franchise. And einar selvik who is a veteran of Norse music. Every song in the game is an absolute banger. But aside from that I know it's an unpopular opinion but ac Valhalla is weirdly my favorite game in the series. And yes I've been playing since ac1. Idk what it is but I absolutely love the game
You must like doing the same thing over and over again with no rewards at the end.
this sounds like videogame edging lol
@@mekacrab no reward at the end as in? What kind of a reward do other games give? Gear, mission complete screens exp points plot progress, what else is there?
@@Kirisapostle12 Okay, I'll have to be more precise apparently, because some people want to take what I say literally.
There is a reward, but they are underwhelming and sometimes almost useless. There, is that better ?
Other games give either a more useful reward, or an interesting and fun way to get to the reward (which is the reward in itself), or they just don't copy paste side content to add artificial playtime to their games.
@@mekacrab at least give us examples bro
@@mekacrab Just admit you have a nostalgia high, "old is better, blah, blah, blah." ACO and ACV may not be good AC games but they are good games in general. Their reward system is much better than the earlier titles and this is coming from someone who has played both. The story and cutscene animations are awful, there’s no defending ubishit on that.
Hate how they never made the cite part of Paris accessible outside that one mission.
I can't count how many times I have searched for your review on this game only to find none. This fills a void in my soul.
01:21:47 - Poor Lex Williams got skipped
The goat has uploaded
🙌🙌🙌
Dude, Literally the DAY i redownload this game after a YEAR, whitelight makes a video on it.
Turn back, there's still time - He says
I’ve been redownloading and downloading this game since it came out, I really want to love it but it’s just so mediocre.
LoL Same here
@@kush6846 Yeah combat is pretty boring also imo
My condolences, common sense is hard these days
This is the best analysis for the game I've ever watched.
It summed up my feelings perfectly it sums up the game perfects. Love and hate and even tolerance. It's a game that is close to my heart yet a game that I can't just forgive for missing such potentials.
Man, thank you, the last minute or so of the analysis felt more of an appreciation for the game, a thank you for what it presented.
Ong I think whatever game white light makes an analysis for ends up as the best analysis for said game
*looks at the arkham city review:the movie*👀
@Elephantsaresupreme I recently watched that.
Can't say it was the best I've seen for the game because there is a certain RUclipsr named Monty, that man does Arkham Batman with such care and analysis I've never seen like it.
Whitelight is fabulous. But Monty speaks to the nerd in You who read the comics before playing the games
Loved the video. They're always wonderful to watch and they often give me food for thought. I am somewhat surprised that you didn't talk about the missions in America (Vinland), but it was a great watch nonetheless. I appreciate the thought you put into your videos.
There is a ranged ability you can use to break the breakable walls, it's in Grantebridgeshire, I always used that, makes the grind a bit easier, it's called exploding powder trap, has an hand icon
I played Valhalla for 150 or so hours and never knew that riding on a road gives you unlimited stamina
No shot it's been 4 years already. I didn't even finished the game and I got it gifted on launch
I love these videos. Theres just something about your writing style thats really unique and unlike other long form videogame essays...
I completed everything in this game, and it took me a few years. I just chipped away at it until it was done because the world, although a bit empty, was nice and pretty, and it was a relaxing comfort after a way.
21:07 for anyone who is going to play Valhalla again, please turn the compass off. You can find markers naturally, plus with your bird.
Ah how about No...
4 years later
and I’m still stacking rocks.
You hit the nail on the head with the feeling this game gives-completing golden markers because I ought to instead of want to. It's the reason I platinumed Origins and Odyssey but couldn’t even finish this mess.
It's the same thing but you are using a different filter.
@@cezarstefanseghjucanthe cognitive dissonance with people is outstanding lol. They are actually trying to convince themselves they aren’t doing the exact same thing because the setting has changed
@marshallman402 You cannot revolutionize the wheel.
@@marshallman402 but it isn't the same thing? Did you watch the video.
In Odyssey I felt rewarded by going around and exploring, so even if we leave the world aside, which I prefer odyssey's regardless, the act of exploring in of itself is less rewarding in Valhalla, it all felt extra meaningless(due to the lack of loot and stupid rewards as stated in the video), hence the feeling of ought to.
@ bro that is ass backwards. I love odyssey just as much as vahalla but the loot system in odyssey was far less rewarding. The problem with that game was that there was to much empty loot. Getting the same sword a million times that doesn’t have any different perk combinations. To say the loot was more rewarding is ridiculous. Valhalla improved drastically on what origins and odyssey set in place by instead of having an abundance of loot giving each gear piece you find its own progression system. So instead of dismantling a bunch of junk, you can build into whatever playstyle you want by leveling up the weapons or gear that you like. So yes there was less loot but it was more impactful overall and the payoff was much better. Not only that vahallla took the fantasy element to another level allowing you to explore Asgard and having some unique legendary weapons that make you feel like a god. The analysis you interpreted is just inaccurate
Hitting the synchronization points in this game gave me a feeling not a lot of games do. The music and the spinning camera always gets me
They will be gone in AC Shadows.
You remain the best writer I've ever listened to. Never once have you delivered a script I didn't adore.
And as an artist, especially one who works on games and in 3D, that final monologue... I'm saving for the future. The share with my friends whenever they get distraught at the state of art in the world. That's the most beautiful description of "presentation".
This must be the most eloquent game review I have seen. Well done!
Poignant, thought-provoking, adventure is what this video felt like to me. Most of your videos do, which is the reason no matter what you are covering, I am always interested because of you at the helm. AC: Mirage video of yours was already memorable, my favorite line "I see what altair could have done here my hands remember the inputs, but there is nothing I can do". Your point about sound design of valhalla, rings even truer throughout the entire video. It feels like the sound design of the video had a lot of time spent on it and it shows. There are powerful moments where just the pair of visuals and audio deliver a moment, a snapshot of time that no words could. You seem to be ever-improving, each video feels iterative in improving aspects then at points such as these they shine as in the audio department. Thanks for another great video and for reading. Have a good day/night.
jasper kyd is insane hitman music was godly
He's the best composer of video game music.
Whitelight and an Assassin’s creed video. Is a match made in heaven 🔥
The ending to the vidoe absolute cinema! You really do outdo yourself everytime great job!
*Just finished the video and that conclusion was fucking fantastic mate!
I will say I honestly quite enjoyed the wrath of the druids dlc and exploring Ireland in this game it quickly grew to become one of my all time favorite locations in the series with how beautiful it was to look at.
I loved Origins, I loved Odyssey even more, I loved Watch Dogs 1, I loved Unity, I loved so many triple A open world that people describe as heartless; but not Valhalla, not even I could justify how it does every single thing wrong except combat, this is probably why the game push you to do combat the most, cause it knows it's the only decent part of the game, but it can work for only so long, and Valhalla is sooo long.
I don't know if you've ever found that part of the game, since you didn't talk about it in the video, but my actual favorite moment of the game is the whole "Vinland" arc.
I was stunned that after dozens of hours with the game, I was suddenly pushed into yet another new map to explore, stripped back of all my gear, all that for a side plot that didn't even matter. I did it because it was there, I did it because it was a beautiful piece of land, I did it because it was hidden, and I don't regret it.
Valhalla at a first glance is huge, but it's when you dig even deeper that you realize that it hides the best part of itself, and that it's even more huge than you thought it could be.
Exactly, it’s a very different arc than the rest
Congratulations, you just made me sad Vinland saga season 3 isn't out yet.
Eventideland
New video let's go!
Also, if we are going the AC path, please do one on Odyssey. It's my favourite game in the entire franchise, even though it's not a good AC game imo
Edit: About main quests feeling like sidequests. Yes, because they are built like that. I remember an interview where a dev said that they took into account the complaints people had with Odyssey's side quests by removing them. Another lie by Valhalla, side quests didn't die, they evolved to main quests.
Yes, Odyssey the last Ubisoft game I throughly enjoyed😢
I played Assassin's Creed: Valhalla from April-September 2023. I averaged about 2-3 hours of playtime per day. All of this was on pc with an RTX 3050. I got all the achievements; and mind you, there is tons of content in the game that is not tied to achievements. I did all that as well. I left no stone unturned. I even bought every in game item with every in game currency (silver, dreams, and raid resources). I played a total of 311 hours. I never wanted it to end. I went directly into the game after finishing Odyssey. To me, Odyssey felt the least like an Assassin's Creed game with it's emphasis on loud combat and MCU type jokes; but that was never a bad thing. All I had to do was put on an assassin-esque outfit and the feeling was back, even though I mostly just ran around with a giant axe. When I started Valhalla, the more serious tone reminder me exactly of Assassin's Creed 1. I felt so pulled into the story. The vibes were tangible. Having the narrative quality of the best AC games, the sailing, the RPG features like the previous 2 titles, the heavy cosmetic customization (my favorite aspect of any video game), and the ever so satisfying assassinations, it was everything I could've wanted. I forget who said it, but in one of the trailers for the game, it showed a quote that said, "The ultimate Assassin's Creed Experience. 5 Stars." With this quote, I couldn't agree more. It's everything good about all previous titles rolled into one. When someone expresses their main problem with the game in a nutshell, they usually say one of two things: "It's too big," and "You don't have to do stealth." I understand that some mechanics were changed since release that I might not know about. For the size issue, I just say "Don't do all the side quests then. You don't have to." (A side note, some people dislike how you have to do all of the Helix glitches to get the true ending. To that I say, play any story game ever.) As for the stealth issue, I say "Then use stealth." When I played in 2023, the stealth was very tense and entertaining. When it comes to the current version of the game, I simply and fundamentally disagree with people's negative feedback. There should be more "It's not my cup of tea," and less "It's defaming it's own franchise." I think it's everything it could be and everything it should be. I'm sorry you may not like it.
I got to admit: the first time I played it, I didn't finish it. The second time, I beat it almost 100% (it was a grind) and got sick of it. I hated it but kept going like I had Stockholm syndrome.
Some time later, it called to me. I played it a third time and then realized: it's actually good. If you focus on the main story and DLCs, and speed run through the filler arcs, it actually slaps. Modern day is the best since Desmond, main story is actually interesting and adds a lot to the lore and is actually cohesive with the overarching plot, and if you choose to handicap yourself and use the """social stealth"""" it's actually a fun challenge.
I used stealth in Lincoln to get the prince to his home, and then I ghosted through the fortress to find his father without killing anyone.
During the Druids DLC there's a Danu in a village, surrounded by guards. I did everything in my power to walk up to them, stab them in the stomach with the "low profile assassination" and walked away without being detected. It's hard as fuck but it's possible and actually fun.
Amazing. All you need is to ignore the bloat and cripple yourself, and it becomes a million times better.
Yeah, people are choosing to play the game the old fashioned way , to grind through everything, and get bored , but I realized too it's best to stick to the main line and trip over the side things from time to time. Who cares about the little things around , do the great things. Priorities.
My absolute favorite thing in this game came in the Ragnarok DLC. I spent far too much time bringing a Dwarf back from the dead and listening to him complain about it
I hope that dwarf was brok... 😞
@LucasFarmer-o7b I don't think it was. I don't remember his name but there's a world event in it that has you bring the dwarf back and if you do it after the event, he has some hilarious things to say
@marcusfowler2562 I know it's not brok, you just mentioned a dead dwarf so I thought of him
In my 90 hours of playtime (did everything except the stinky odin roguelike thing) I really enjoyed the atmosphere, the music and just stomping enemies on the hardest difficulty. The ending draaaaaaagged on and on though, but the revelation to see the isu structures was me shifting forward in my seat after 20 hours of leaning back
is that porn
4 years since Valhalla god damn. Remember its release like it was yesterday
I LOVED Odyssey, and loved Origins even more. At the start I thought Valhalla was pretty nice because it felt fresh, after around 5 hours in England I got bored and laid it off for a while. I started playing it again a few times a month for a few days at once. I learned to really enjoy the game for what it is though, I just like exploring the absolutel stunning world and using the ( though very limited but quite fun) social stealth mechanics. I think that there's definetily some parts to appreciate and just getting lost in medieval Britain.
This video made me pick Odyssey back up. What a good game.
i still have bunch of quests left. you can literally play odessy forever LOL. you will always have someone looking for you
Lol, that's a good one😂
Valhalla isn’t great but Odyssey is a travesty
I really want you to cover odyssey. These videos are always a great watch.
I completed this game, as I do for any AC game, 100%.
I never enjoyed it, but I am someone who must finish a task once set upon it and so I did. However it was quite monotonous and I nearly forsake stealth, which was soul-sucking.
Vikings felt an odd selection for an era and character, as they seem counter to everything as assassin is: quiet, tactical and preferring of the dark over the light of a battlefield. But there was a hope of contrast; perhaps a Vikings learns to be something he is not, and that change is how he grows as an assassin.
This was not the case - for both the story and the mechanics.
What a great video! You have such a calm voice. I am just sad you didn t cover the post launch ending. Wraping every storyline in game.
I love your channel so much dude.
Imma be honest, i loved this game for what it was. The incredible atmosphere of the world (and the AMAZING soundtrack) made me want to stick around in Eivor's shoes till the end
honestly, i loved valhalla
I guess people have a problem running around with mjlnor and summoning lightning strikes. It’s incredible that people don’t actually want to play a videogame and dive into fantasy, at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about
I really wish Ubisoft would release some statistics about Valhalla. If it's one of their best selling games than I wonder just how many people played it. How many fully completed the main story? How many 100% the entire map? How many stopped after just 10 or 20 hours? I'm willing to bet quite a few dropped off before reaching the halfway point in the game.
Oh and why did they decide to not add new game plus? That's almost a requirement for RPGs these days.
There is a way to sort of back door your way into finding player statistics. And it's checking The trophy percentages. I haven't checked in a long time but most of the exploratory and collectible trophies I think sit around 10-30% and the trophies you get for completing parts in the story sit around 10-40% maybe. So we can kind of extrapolate that like half of the people that bought this game made it more than halfway through the story.
"off" happens to be the direction in which all of this can f*** got me so hard lmao, you have such a way with words mr whitelight
really love your videos. Thanks for showing the odin scene.
Bought this game for 17 bucks and still regretted it. Valhalla has made me say farewell to Ubisoft. Just like I did with EA.
Good riddance to you as well.
Still waiting on Darksiders 1: 14 years later
I genuinely really enjoyed Valhalla
Same here, but thought it was pretty good.
also yeah, and lately i'm actually seeing england in the 9th century in my dreams, that's how remarkable this game looks
im playing it rn. I find it amazing. I understand it does not feel like an AC, but i really dc
I’m actually replaying it right now, in my steam deck. I loved it 4 years ago.
Brother you are so good at making videos please never stop lmao
(This is me sharing my memory that intertwined with this game, it went into self-harm and depression too. So be warned)
2020 was the year I was excited for Ubisoft games. Watch_Dogs Legion promised a revolutionary system that made my imagination ran wild, and Assassins' Creed Valhalla looked like Odyssey with better graphics, For Honor-like combat and nostalgic stealth systems like crowd blending and one-shot assassination. It was also the same year I dropped out of law school and decided to enroll in game development for uni instead. I felt pretty bad for dropping years of work to just start again, but it's what I felt was right. Changing uni meant changing the place I stayed. Renting an apartment room was easy enough, but living there alone with no connections or friends was really hard on my mental health. It was to the point I lost all motivations to go to class, and eventually going outside altogether. Days of shutting myself in turned into weeks and almost months. My sleep schedule and eating habits were super unhealthy thus slowly but surely made things in my head worse.
Then Valhalla and Legion released. I dropped like 180$ for gold editions for both of the games. And since I wasn't going anywhere or doing anything, I got to playing.
I remember being impressed by Valhalla during the first hours. The atmosphere was mystical yet grounded and emotional. I was excited to play the rest of it. As I dragged myself through each region of England, I tried to convince myself "Yes, this game is good. You're having a good time. Playing this isn't a waste of time. You're doing okay." I did the same while playing Legion as well. "I might fail my parents for not going to school, but at least I wasn't failing myself by treating myself to good videogames" that's what I thought.
Until it broke, my tolerance and patience broke, like the rest of what I assumed I had. "What's the point of collecting all these loot when Eivor just plays the same?" "What's the point of this story arc when it's self-contained and doesn't contribute to anything?" "What's the point of playing this?" "What's the point of caring about anything anymore?" I remember crying myself to sleep, sometimes I punched myself in the stomach because it was what I thought was right. Going outside and doing what I should be doing were scary and hopeless. But then the videogames that I thought would at least re-light my joy in things, instead took the last droplets of sanity from me. I lost hope in both my real life and videogames, it felt like there was no escape.
New Year came around and dad took me back home for the holidays. My parents didn't know what I was doing for weeks, they thought I was fine, until the grades came out on the website and I got F's across the board. I confessed everything, and we decided to drop out once again (the uni was pretty strict about staying above 2.0 GPA, it was either starting 1st year again or drop out).
Things are better now, though. I got into yet another uni but this time I'm toughing it out, pretty close to graduation now. Got into therapy right after the time cat's out of the bag.
Around the same time I played and finished Yakuza 0. After what I'd been through, that game saved me. Valhalla was vast, but hollowed - pretty, but only on the surface. Legion was disappointing, I felt betrayed. While Yakuza 0 was my wake-up call. The map was small but packed with things to admire, interact and love. The story was about unconditional love and overcoming your toughest battles with an inkling of hope. I felt hopeful about life again. And I found love in videogames again.
Ever since then I've always been skeptical of Ubisoft. I still give their games a shot. XDefiant is surprisingly "not bad". Mirage is the most 6/10 game I've played. Far Cry 6 is literally Ghost Recon Breakpoint but more silly. And I still come back to For Honor and The Division 2 from time to time. I know it doesn't sound fair, but 2 of their big releases brought me down to one of the lowest times of my life, I'll likely never have faith or genuine excitement for Ubisoft games again.
Thanks for the story. Glad things are looking up.
"I hate Valhalla, 7/10" -IGN
Please Mr White i will do ANYTHING for you to tell me what the music at 1:06:08 is cslled i beg PLEAAAAASSSSEEEEE 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
The recently best parts of Assassins Creeds release is knowing that in a few years we'll get a lovely Whitelight video on 'em.
Fantastic discussion and analysis as always! Great video!
I’d like to argue about the story because I kind of liked Valhalla’s story structure, even if it was a bit repetitive. There is a story archetype that’s of the unimportant lone wanderer, travelling to new place to new place, fundamentally changing each for the better or worse, or with a mission on their mind. Each of Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla had their own attempt at it, and while Origins kind of had it down with the vibe you never stayed in a single place long enough to feel it, while Vahalla WAS ALMOST PERFECT to that feel of a game I want (Odyssey had you going back and forth too often to do that).
It gives you a nice little play session or two of a location, its own unique story, then you move onto the next. It isn’t perfect, the wanderer is still important in this case, the main character adds to an overarching goal in mind instead of accidentally stumbling into change but it comes close to a vibe I like.
Also I remember in the red dead redemption video (I may be misremembering another video tho), you praise John for having a complete arc, he doesn’t need to change, being full of wisdom, why can’t Evior have the same praise? Is it because we see the conclusion to his Arc at the beginning of the story? Would it have been better if the story started directly after the arc?