About 8 hours into AC Valhalla. Very frustrating game, because it has a LOT of great qualities. But ultimately, it
should be an improvement over Odyssey and Origins, and sadly, it is not. Is it a bad game? Not at all, but in terms
of game play I think it worse than both Odyssey and Origins.
Pros: *Visually spectacular. Think Witcher 3, with even better visuals. Astounding.
* Engaging storyline
* Viking raids are a lot of fun
* You can reset your skill tree any time, for free, without incuring a penalty. This should
be a standard feature in all games today.
Cons: * Stealth/Assassination is all but non-existent in this game, which is stunning, considering this is an AC game. I'm not really sure why Ubisoft went in this direction. This means that 1/3 of the skill tree (the stealth tree) is pretty much useless.
* While a few of the skills are good (most of them on the melee side), most of them are weak or even useless.
* In addition to skills, you are given "abilities" as well. Sadly, some of these (like 50%) don't even work properly
I think I could live with the absence of a stealth game in Valhalla, but weak / broken skills and abilities is just a deal-breaker for me. As beautiful as Valhalla looks and as great as the storyline is, it feels like you are playing a "broken" or "incomplete" game. In terms of ranking, I'd put Odyssey first (by a long shot), followed by Valhalla and Origins tied for a second (Valhalla with better visuals, Origins with better skills and abilites).