Raiding monestaries. With the hero angles, standing like a cool Viking while innocent children and women all around you run for their lives shouting fearfully in Old English.

I know I’m supposed to feel all powerful and get an adrenaline rush killing innocent people because these poor people are supposed to be afraid of their lives for me.

It just doesn’t happen. I realize Ubisoft wants me to feel like an 11 year old boy, all powerful because innocent civilians are screaming away afraid of him. I can’t decide to be an 11 year old boy and feel a sense of accomplishment for something so boring and meaningless. In fact I probably wouldn’t even think “yea coool!” back when I was 11 at this. It’s just virtueless.

This game has none of the honor and virtue of prior AC games (Including Rogue).

Eivor is killing people who WERE YOU in prior AC games.

In Valhalla you are the executioner pulling the lever in Piazza Della Signoria and hanging the auditore family infront of Ezio’s eyes. Causing him to shout: “You have not killed all the Auditore, I AM still here“ and start his revenge quest.

Playing Valhalla, I’m starting to root for the innocent people I’m killing, and hoping one is strong enough to take Eivor out and kill him and his honorless raiders once and for all.

No other AC games (even Rogue and Black Flag) had me (even close to) thinking that.

It’s like the narrative director just thought people wouldn’t notice. It’s the incongruity that is worse of all. Why showcase Eivor to be so heroic and honorable, why not just make him appear as a weasel like Ivarr from the outset so it’s congruent.

@kmarkopl The amount of players running Odyssey just because of this update might actually indicate we might see more Odyssey DLC. The numbers were very significant compared to Valhalla crossover players.

@cawatrooper9

Yeah. I just never thought it would get to me, but it feels like a betrayal by Ubisoft. I have bought all AC games the moment they came out since 2007(!). So I know the overall vibe of AC.

In the first AC’s you play someone who is out to kill evil people for vengeance, people who have killed his family, etc. In Origins and Odyssey you play a Medjay and Misthios who are PROTECTORS of people. People go to them for help.

I’m just 8 or 10 hours into Valhalla so I probably haven’t seen the worst of it yet. I mean when they capture that priest and Eivor and the others stand in front of him when he says he believes in God and they just slit his throat. A priest just standing there.

To be a simple pillager like this who enjoys torturing and killing priests who are praying and burning innocent people’s homes made me feel sick. It reminded me of some of the sickest things on the internet I’ve seen (like the Dagestan video) or read (like the confession of convicted child murderer Pedro Alonso Lopez who I quoted from in my last post). It literally made me feel as sick as those things.

I love the AC franchise and buy the games as soon as they are released but getting players to identify with a protagonist like this really was a punch in the stomach.

And forget me: there’s probably a bunch of kids who are underage who will play this and be affected by it. The entire Valhalla game is like “No Russian” in COD.

It’s like this time you are the person you hated and fought against in all prior AC games.

Anyway I’m done ranting, but I felt Ubisoft should know how some players feel.

On PC there is no notification that the database is updated. Also sometimes the database gets stuck and never updates and you have to start the game from the beginning.

1.02

Is there a list somewhere of the best stories in Story Creator mode? I don’t mean meaningless stuff like:

ULTIM4TE XP FARMMMM!!!!

MONEY HAXXMAXX!!

MAX XP LOOTMAXXX!!!!

Etc. Stuff like that just makes me think it’s made by 10 year olds

I mean authentic Ancient Greek stories

Anyone know of a list?

Edit: before people say "it's just a game, smile, consume, and shut up",... I think it's worth Ubisoft knowing that there are people out there who know and who will call them out on dropping quality standards.
The price is still $60 for every game

The quality of the geographical historical research done in AC: Valhalla surprised me. As compared to Origins and Odyssey it is quite subpar.

It starts with the protagonist. I believe it has been mentioned already that Eivør is a female name only. The male version of this name is Eivar

https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Eivor: (https://nordicnames.de/wiki/Eivor)
https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Eivar: (https://nordicnames.de/wiki/Eivar)

But leaving that to one side.

I can't review all of England and Norway, but I can review London (Lūndonjon / Lūndyn / Lunden).
Much of what would have stood there in 873 AD is missing.

It looks like the Ubisoft historian used this map from Wikipedia as a reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Londinium_400_AD-en.svg: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Londinium_400_AD-en.svg)

Without realizing that map contains a very small amount of the buildings in London at that time.

At this level of historical research a general knowledge site like Wikipedia is insufficient.
If other historians want to chime in with details feel free.

General:

-The game seems to ignore the Saxon social division of the city by the Walbrook, Britons were known to have lived to the east (Cornhill), while the Saxons toward Ludgate Hill to the West (Lundenwic).

-The bustling heart of the city was Lundenwic itself, as the roman ruins of the East were largely uninhabited save for Bretons who lived on the outskirts.

-Why are there so many Persian rugs in every house in every village across Saxon England?

-The Sulis Minerva temple is in Bath, not Lunden.

-The Basiclia and Forum in Lunden was three stories high, but partly destroyed in 4th century. It looks pristine in the game but is too small.


East of the Forum:

-London wall misses the entire Eastern side (Aldgate, etc).

-All Hallows-by-the-Tower church in East London built 675 AD is missing.

-Billingsgate Roman House and Baths in East London built 180 AD is missing.

-Barking Abbey in East London built 650 AD is missing.

-Roman temple in Greenwich Park South East london, built 200 AD is missing.

-Mithraeum is in the wrong place. It was West of the Basilica. The museum is also only underground today.


West of the Forum:

-St Alban's church, 300 yrds North East of St. Pauls, below the north wall. Built 770 AD, is missing.

-St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe between St. Paul's and the Thames. Pre 10th century AD, is missing.

-St. Martin's Le Grand, second largest church in Lunden. 200 yrds North of St. Pauls, below the wall, 700 AD is missing.

-St. Pancras Old Church, North of Cripplegate, built no later than 625 AD, possibly as early as 314 AD, is missing.


Cripplegate:

-Cripplegate Fort Eastern and Southern walls should be square, 200m each side.

-AD 680 onwards confirm that there was a ‘King’s Hall Palace’ although its precise location has never been discovered. Aldermanbury (a.k.a. Ealdorman burgh a.k.a. Palace of the Ealdorman) is theorised to have been this palace,... was by the Eastern Cripplegate wall. Modern name of Aldermanbury is still used there.


Lundenwic:

There is one generic "Lundenwic Abbey" in game. In the 9th century there would have been 5 or possibly 7 abbeys in Lundenwic.

-St Martin-in-the-Fields, South Lundenwic. Built 7th century AD

-St. Bride's church, Lundenwic. 200 yards West of St. Pauls. Built 650 AD.

-St Clement Danes, in Lundenwic. Built 850 AD.

-St Mary Le Strand, in Lundenwic. Unknown date of construction but traces of Saxon remains are found below the foundations of the church.

-St Andrew Holborn, (first wooden version) 200 yds. North West of Newgate. Unknown date of construction but traces of Roman remains are found below the foundations of the church.


Modern Westminster (South of Lundonwic)

-Thorney Island (Trinovantum) / Westminster abbey, a few hundred yards south of Lundenwic doesn't feature the ruins of the Temple of Apollo or nascent Peter's monastery that would have stood there in the late 9th century AD.


Further reading:

If you are interested in this time period of England, you can read further here:

https://www.romanobritain.org/7-maps/map_roman_london.php: (https://romanobritain.org/7-maps/map_roman_london.php) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Londinium_400_AD-en.svg: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Londinium_400_AD-en.svg)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Hallows-by-the-Tower: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Hallows-by-the-Tower)
https://clasmerdin.blogspot.com/2012/07/in-search-of-londons-ancient-temples.html: (https://clasmerdin.blogspot.com/2012/07/in-search-of-londons-ancient-temples.html)
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/3A39B1E4FDC498AC4D01ABC79539DD0E/S0003598X00076845a.pdf/lundenwic-the-archaeological-evidence-for-middle-saxon-london.pdf: (https://cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/3A39B1E4FDC498AC4D01ABC79539DD0E/S0003598X00076845a.pdf/lundenwic-the-archaeological-evidence-for-middle-saxon-london.pdf)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Bride%27s_Church#Origins: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Bride's_Church#Origins)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Martin-in-the-Fields#Roman_era: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Martin-in-the-Fields#Roman_era)
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.gresham.ac.uk/sites/default/files/greshamlec.pdf: (https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/content.gresham.ac.uk/sites/default/files/greshamlec.pdf)
http://www.johnchaple.co.uk/temples.html: (http://johnchaple.co.uk/temples.html)
https://www.thenationalcv.org.uk/rulersbc.html: (https://www.thenationalcv.org.uk/rulersbc.html)
https://www.academia.edu/24037786/An_archaeological_assessment_of_the_origins_of_St_Pauls: (https://academia.edu/24037786/An_archaeological_assessment_of_the_origins_of_St_Pauls)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Dunstan-in-the-West: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Dunstan-in-the-West)
https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=1591: (https://britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=1591)
https://www.standrewholborn.org.uk/history.php: (https://www.standrewholborn.org.uk/history.php)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Londinium#1st_century: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Londinium#1st_century)
http://anglosaxon.archeurope.info/index.php?page=aldermanbury: (http://anglosaxon.archeurope.info/index.php?page=aldermanbury)
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/the-history-of-old-billingsgate/: (https://datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/the-history-of-old-billingsgate)
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/3A39B1E4FDC498AC4D01ABC79539DD0E/S0003598X00076845a.pdf/lundenwic-the-archaeological-evidence-for-middle-saxon-london.pdf: (https://cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/3A39B1E4FDC498AC4D01ABC79539DD0E/S0003598X00076845a.pdf/lundenwic-the-archaeological-evidence-for-middle-saxon-london.pdf)
https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/estatehistory/the-middle-ages/anglosaxon-royal-palace/: (https://parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/estatehistory/the-middle-ages/anglosaxon-royal-palace)
https://www.westminster-abbey.org/about-the-abbey/history/history-of-westminster-abbey: (https://westminster-abbey.org/about-the-abbey/history/history-of-westminster-abbey)
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2017/07/10-roman-london-locations/116068: (https://heritagedaily.com/2017/07/10-roman-london-locations/116068)
www.johnchaple.co.uk: (https://johnchaple.co.uk) › templesWeb resultsPre-Roman London's Temples - Britain's Hidden History
www.thenationalcv.org.uk: (https://www.thenationalcv.org.uk) › rulersbcThe National CV of Britain - Rulers BC
http://www.johnchaple.co.uk/temples.html: (http://johnchaple.co.uk/temples.html)

@thenorfolkian

I’d pay money for this

@thecosmicbob Yeah I agree. Muddy swamps and prehistoric huts or the sunny Greek islands… I know which I prefer

And they fixed so much with the latest Odyssey Korfu 1.5.6 update, including the low volume NPC dialogue. Shame first person camera mode in the Odyssey Discovery mode is still at the height of a child/large dog though. They could have fixed that as well.

@spirantcrayon22 How do you use runes like "Volcanic Fumes". There seems to be no way to socket them in a weapon

@thecosmicbob Yeah I agree. Muddy swamps and prehistoric huts or the sunny Greek islands… I know which I prefer

And they fixed so much with the latest Odyssey Korfu 1.5.6 update, including the low volume NPC dialogue. Shame first person camera mode in the Odyssey Discovery mode is still at the height of a child/large dog though. They could have fixed that as well.

@kmarkopl The amount of players running Odyssey just because of this update might actually indicate we might see more Odyssey DLC. The numbers were very significant compared to Valhalla crossover players.

@olgabaikova

I agree. They did this with a few more islands.

I think it’s done to please people who don’t like ancient greece but would know it as a modern holiday resort.

I don’t really know why they chose to name it that.

@tomius777

Ive not had these problems. AC Odyssey runs just as well after the update as before (60fps pinned at 1080 ultra). Looks the same too.

I don’t use HDR.

i8700k stock
Galax 1080Ti EXOC stock

I’m so glad they enabled Alexios players to use Alexios and not force us to choose the other protagonist.

@hum4nperson

Thanks.

The Fate of Mykalessos is also a historical one. I forgot the authors name. Perhaps he has some more.

We should really make a list of every historical story I think. Especially since Ubisoft limits you to 20 at a time you can have icons for in the map.

@lummers74-0

1000 hours??

I thought I had a lot at 418hrs.

I finished Valhalla at 270hrs and went straight back to Odyssey

@nesquikboy

not everyone hates the Spartans as much as you do probably. You seem to swear at them alot.

most of the world would distance itself from your views