I was a big skeptic when Ubisoft announced the new Assassin's Creed Valhalla. While I've enjoyed most of its previous titles, their effect wore out rather quickly because of the repetitive gameplay and an open world map that are just okay.

But as we ride to Assassin's Creed Valhalla, my perspective of the series has changed and the future of the franchise has never looked so brighter.
Personally, a great open world map would make me want to explore, give me that sense of "Oh, what's over there?" In Valhalla, as I trudge through the snows in Normay, ride on horseback or set sail through the rivers of England, every vista, every nook and cranny I saw, I always wondered what was up there. Most likely it's nothing, just a nice look at the rock, or a view of a vista, something rewarding in its own way.

And the details in Valhalla is incredible, possibly one of the best maps I've seen. Even a single tree sitting alone on a hill can look so impressive. This is a map that every explorer will enjoy.

Previous Assassin's Creed games tried to give players the play either a male or female protagonist. The most interesting comes from Syndicate, with Jacob and Evie Frye, and that seemed a big step forward as we actually got two protagonists, each with their distinct personalities. Then we got Odyssey, where we pick only a male and female character and we're stuck with them unless we begin a new game. In Valhalla, however, you can switch genders on the fly without really affecting the story.

Combat is brutal in Valhalla, which suits me just fine as it reflects the combative nature of the Vikings. And it is definitely the most refined combat experience in Assassin's Creed. You can equip two different weapons on each hand, with the left one having a special attack when holding the L1 button. Later, you can learn a skill that allows Eivor (your Viking) to switch left and right-hand weapons.

I'm happy to report that enemies are no longer sponges. Previous Assassin's Creed games, enemies can take an eternity before they fall. This was chopped off as each enemy you face off can be fallen in a few hits, except those with the gold-plated names, which are the equivalent of a mini-boss. But still they don't take too long to defeat.

You can also learn Abilities from acquiring books from various locations, these help you out in combat, such as shooting an explosive arrow. The acquisition of skill points in Valhalla is very generous. In Odyssey, it would take you hours and hours before you can get one skill point. But in Valhalla, you can get one or two by just completing missions or side quests.
New to Assassin's Creed is building your settlement. Side-missions include raiding camps along rivers for riches to build your houses and shops. This aspect actually gives reason for you to actually go "a-viking" every now and then. And you'd want to do this for sure to unlock more game features.

And by a-viking, what we mean is, sailing around, finding some poor camp or monatestery and introduce its residents to your battle axe. And there are plenty of locations to raid and you can approach these situations in two ways: Do it the Assassin's way, where you creep in and cause as much stealth damage as possible before calling your crew, or you can send all your crew and together lead a frontal charge. Either way is fun. And in some instances you can break down doors for loot or rescue captive allies.

Besides painting the rivers red with the blood of slain foe, Assassin's Creed Valhalla offers a number of other activities that doesn't involve sticking one end of an axe into someone's face. The first up is Orlog, which is my favorite mini-game. It's basically a game that involves dice, attacking and defending yourself from your opponent's own dice rolls. It's a strangely deep game and fascinating. If you enjoy board games like Chess or Checkers, this is something you'd be investing time into. There's also a mead drinking contest and it's hilarious.

There's also flyting. It's also a thing if you search what it seems, especially back then. In the simplest sense, it's a rap battle. You exchange insults with certain characters and victory would mean more money for you, and an increase of Charisma, which will later be useful for dialogue options.
There's also stone stacking, a mini-game that Ubisoft is especially proud of announcing. But despite having over fifteen hours of gameplay, I have yet to see one. But that's an issue on my side.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Ubisoft game if it weren't bugs galore, and there are bugs scattered in around parts of Norway and England. Though these bugs did not cripple my Valhalla experience and Ubisoft will be issuing a patch to fix some minor issues.

There are more things to do in Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Ubisoft is planning to release some free updates to celebrate other Viking culture and festivities.

If you've been looking forward to Assassin's Creed Valhalla, you will not be disappointed. The game is ridiculously fun and the exploration is massive.