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I'm an hour into AC: Valhalla and I'm already thinking about dropping it..
- Thread starter Marble
- Start date
Valhalla Content could be cut in half and still be more than enough. Didn't need the Halfdan stories. Lunden was good, so was whichever had Brothir and Brodir. And Hundwald was a good story. Cut down the Order stuff, and make all clues accessible via the questline. No wealth. Half the mysteries.
And whichever team is doing the modern day stuff needs to take more time on hair and models.
And whichever team is doing the modern day stuff needs to take more time on hair and models.
I won't say I didn't enjoy it overall. They have some neat mechanics. But the game does have far, far too much bloat. In both side content and especially main story. I would be all for a leaner, more focused AC game in the future. But it feels like every new AC title needs to be THE BIGGEST GAME IN THE FRANCHISE EVER.
i enjoyed origins, too, despite the fact that bayek was such a lame, goody-goody cipher. but, having finished it, i've had no motivation to get into either odyssey or valhalla, which are both fundamentally the same game with fresh coats of paint & even more pointless filler...
Origins with both DLC packs and all trophies took me just shy of 90 hours to complete. That's less than half of what Odyssey took me. I didn't even bother with the plat for Valhalla.
It sounds fine on the other PS5 games I've played, but it is very bad with AC Valhalla.
I'm starting to enjoy the game, with almost 30 hours. The beginning is definitely painful. I'm enjoying the story and characters... really great so far - some really cool lore there. But the true is, the AC series still feels janky as hell and the climbing remains annoying.
The climbing should be more faster and fluid, like in GOT. I absolutely hate when you jump from a short ledge and the character stops for a second before do jump. So annoying... Totally breaks the momentum.
The climbing should be more faster and fluid, like in GOT. I absolutely hate when you jump from a short ledge and the character stops for a second before do jump. So annoying... Totally breaks the momentum.
Not sure but after getting 5ish hours in the game really started to make sense to me. My biggest complaint is how janky the controls can be. But the graphics, audio, and especially the story are great to me. I love this game
Origins and Odyssey are very similar, but nah Valhalla does a good amount of different things with loot/skill trees and the map. And not in a good way either.
I loved the setting of odyssey but I really did the combat in this one. Mission structure seems more streamlined too. It took me at least 5 hours before I started to dig it.
Playing it right now, and I really like it, im 50 hours in. I prefer the setting to oddysey (which i platinumed and played all yhe dlcs). O love the derelic roman ruins in the scenery, the rolling hills covered in flowers with castles here and there, the short optional missions, the fact I don't have to sell tons of loot that I ll never use but just improve the one I like and use. I enjoy being an axe wielding viking cutting heads, flyting is fun. Really love the game, guess i m about mid point. Sound is muted sure but not a big deal for me
It's hilarious that you're a Viking doing Viking things, like raiding monasteries. But heaven forfend you do something a Viking would do during such an event - such as striking down anyone you see that gets in your way.
Also they keep pushing that nonsense future Abstergo stuff on us when it should be optional in all games in the series since Desmond's story finished. Nothing we like better than being torn out of the historical period we are interested in being in so that we can experience Ubisoft's shitty vision of the future where we can't go anywhere or do anything.
AC games have been stale for a long time. They need a real shake-up. But then, I've been saying that for years. I am enjoying the game but it is absolutely Assassin's Creed by rote. Nothing new.
Also they keep pushing that nonsense future Abstergo stuff on us when it should be optional in all games in the series since Desmond's story finished. Nothing we like better than being torn out of the historical period we are interested in being in so that we can experience Ubisoft's shitty vision of the future where we can't go anywhere or do anything.
AC games have been stale for a long time. They need a real shake-up. But then, I've been saying that for years. I am enjoying the game but it is absolutely Assassin's Creed by rote. Nothing new.
OP
OP
Yeah so this isn't working out for me. I am returning it tomorrow. I tried another hour and the game is so dull and unpolished (not in a technical way, but just how everything works). Wolves just stand there while you attack them (also no feedback at all), allies just stand there when dudes next to them fire arrows at you, allies in your boat shoot animals over hills they can't even see, when you want to smash some boxes Eivor takes a ridiculously long lunge so you end up standing on top of them or missing them. And the audio, I can't ignore it. I am constantly irritated by how bad it sounds. Man I am very disappointed now. I really love all the screenshots I see passing on Twitter and I hoped to just fall in love with it just like Fenyx. The game is absolutely stunning, but so lame at the same time. Well, can't have it all. Guess I'm gonna collect all the other stuff in Fenyx Rising and then back to the backlog and maybe start a NG+ playthrough of Days Gone or Ghost of Tsushima to scratch my open world itch.
Valhalla is a slow burn. It's better than Odyssey imo but I still prefer origins. I'm like 20hrs in and still feel super early.
I'm enjoying it a lot but the audio is super disappointing. I don't know why it sounds so flat. I doubt it could be patched without simply replacing the audio with higher quality files.
OP
OP
Nope. I already deleted the game. The audio is game breaking for me.
We've playing Valhalla on the series x since rehearse day and..neither of us have had any problems with the audio.
In fact we thought it sounded pretty good.
It's running through a surround system and my other half is a musician so we'd notice if there were issues.
I totally believe what you are all saying, I just wonder why we can't hear it?
In fact we thought it sounded pretty good.
It's running through a surround system and my other half is a musician so we'd notice if there were issues.
I totally believe what you are all saying, I just wonder why we can't hear it?
I'm in the same situation as you OP, finished Immortals and really liked it, then switched to Valhalla and was confused with the combat. And just to mention, I liked Odyssey.
Anyway, audio doesn't improve but the combat does get a bit better IMO, as you learn new skills and get the hang of it.
Pretty disappointed that I went with Valhalla over Immortals. Immortals got a bad wrap right when it came out but seems like people warmed up to it and then some, lol.
I thought Valhalla started out great but the combat really is clunky and unimpactful. I switched to Ghost of Tsushima now but may go back to it after.
I thought Valhalla started out great but the combat really is clunky and unimpactful. I switched to Ghost of Tsushima now but may go back to it after.
As pointed out in that other linked thread, the 3D audio implementation for this game (the default you will hear on PS5 with headphones) is ostensibly busted. It sounds terrible. I can only guess that they rushed it through a Tempest 3D API without a lot of testing or time for fixes.
I feel the exact same way. Spent many an hour and got the plat in Origins. I think I've reached the conclusion that playing one AC title a gen is enough. As a bonus you can also enjoy other games like GoT or Days Gone without suffering from open world burnout.
It's been a while but I remember Odyssey doing a much better job of introducing their Order system. I ended up doing a misison unrelated to The Order and one of the elites I ended up killing turned out to be one. That was kind of nice I guess but they didn't put up much of a fight.
Playing on PS4 Pro with Astro A40s (optical) and can't say I've noticed any sound issues.
I just finished it last weekend. 220+ hours, got Evior up to lvl 450-something. 400 + about 17-18 mastery points in each of the three categories. What can I say, I've been an AC fan since the first game and have stuck with it since, through all of the ups and downs. I loved Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. As others have mentioned, Valhalla did feel a bit rough in the prologue and maybe up through most of the first chapter. After that, it's not like it suddenly "clicked" for me or anything but I guess I got into the swing of things. My biggest issue is that it's the most heinously buggy AC since Ubi swore they learned their lesson i.e. after Unity. As god is my witness, I have been FAR more impacted by Valhalla's bugginess than I ever was by anything in Unity. There are several subquests that I simply couldn't finish because of fatal glitches and I'm not going to bother trying again until another patch or two. I've always bought AC on day 1 and I've never really regretted it, but I think next time I'll hold off until I know for a fact either the game was released in an acceptable state or enough patches have been released to fix the bugs.
But you know what, here's the thing: for so many years now, there's been so much animus* towards AC and Ubi in general, that I just can't take anyone's criticism seriously except for my own, because it's based on first hand experience. For example- Yes, Unity did have bugs... but in my personal experience it was NOWHERE EVEN CLOSE to being as buggy as the anti-Ubi mob made it out to be. So many Unity glitch memes were so obviously sourced from people playing the leaked early PC version with bad drivers etc. So whenever a new AC comes out and I hear anyone going "omg the new AC is sooooo shitty" it's just white noise to my ears. Sorry.
*no pun intended, I swear
I just finished it last weekend. 220+ hours, got Evior up to lvl 450-something. 400 + about 17-18 mastery points in each of the three categories. What can I say, I've been an AC fan since the first game and have stuck with it since, through all of the ups and downs. I loved Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. As others have mentioned, Valhalla did feel a bit rough in the prologue and maybe up through most of the first chapter. After that, it's not like it suddenly "clicked" for me or anything but I guess I got into the swing of things. My biggest issue is that it's the most heinously buggy AC since Ubi swore they learned their lesson i.e. after Unity. As god is my witness, I have been FAR more impacted by Valhalla's bugginess than I ever was by anything in Unity. There are several subquests that I simply couldn't finish because of fatal glitches and I'm not going to bother trying again until another patch or two. I've always bought AC on day 1 and I've never really regretted it, but I think next time I'll hold off until I know for a fact either the game was released in an acceptable state or enough patches have been released to fix the bugs.
But you know what, here's the thing: for so many years now, there's been so much animus* towards AC and Ubi in general, that I just can't take anyone's criticism seriously except for my own, because it's based on first hand experience. For example- Yes, Unity did have bugs... but in my personal experience it was NOWHERE EVEN CLOSE to being as buggy as the anti-Ubi mob made it out to be. So many Unity glitch memes were so obviously sourced from people playing the leaked early PC version with bad drivers etc. So whenever a new AC comes out and I hear anyone going "omg the new AC is sooooo shitty" it's just white noise to my ears. Sorry.
*no pun intended, I swear
I'm with you OP, Valhalla makes me fall asleep. The combat is soooo boring!
I haven't played Valhalla since Cyberpunk released and I'll probably never go back to it
I haven't played Valhalla since Cyberpunk released and I'll probably never go back to it
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The game has a pretty terrible few opening hours. I'm not going to tell you to suffer through them if you're not enjoying yourself (especially if you're disliking it enough to stop playing and write a diatribe about it). Play something else, there are too many good videogames.
The audio is a well known criticism.
Outside of that, I'd say give it until you reach England and really get the game started before deciding whether its for you - I thought the game left a really bad first impression but once I get out of the starting area and the game opened up, it really got its hooks into me.
Outside of that, I'd say give it until you reach England and really get the game started before deciding whether its for you - I thought the game left a really bad first impression but once I get out of the starting area and the game opened up, it really got its hooks into me.
They hate Ubisoft and the hate trickles down to their projects.
That being said, as someone who actually likes this franchise, I will say I think odyssey is the better overall experience, but Valhalla does a lot of things right. In regards to the Combat note in the OP, i'd argue it's the best combat they've had since they went with this free flowing system back in Origins.
Could not agree more. The game opens up so much more in England. Norway is a bit of a bore.
Yeah, Norway gives a very bad impression of the game. But the game is still way too long, pretty much ignore all the side content and mainline the game and you still get a huge amount of content per region. I also made sure to collect the power ups and armor in each new region too. So unlocking the cartographer in your home base should be a big priority to show those locations.
The PS5 tempest audio can ruin a lot when it comes to sound quality. It lacks "oopmh" and makes everything sound dull and flat, it takes the sharpness away. In AC its even more noticible compared to other games.
Just turn it on and off when you jump in the water, you'll hear a amazing difference.
I turned it off on the PS5, even with first party titles it makes everything sound dull. Not worth the "3D" effect.
Just turn it on and off when you jump in the water, you'll hear a amazing difference.
I turned it off on the PS5, even with first party titles it makes everything sound dull. Not worth the "3D" effect.
I just turned the navigation mode to "easy" and made the game more enjoyable. Dont need the cartographer after that haha.
Doesn't spoil the game either. It just shows the locations.
Maybe it's because I was coming hot off of a Souls game (can't remember which), but Origins' gameplay and world only managed to hold me for a few hours before I got fed up and uninstalled it
They changed up quite a few things gameplay-wise over previous entries, so I don't know what you were expecting. But it definitely took the franchise in a new direction.
So, as an open world fan I finished Immortals Fenyx Rising yesterday and had an absolute blast. I have some more vaults and chests to clear, but I decided to give Valhalla a go.
What the hell is this and why doesn't anybody talk about this: the audio is an absolute nightmare. It sounds so dull and flat like it's going through some kind of filter. It's really killing my enjoyment.
On top of that, the combat is atrocious. It's just as dull and flat as the audio and floaty without any sense of impact at all. I'm a fucking viking cracking skulls. I want my hits to go through the roof.
I am so early in the game, I haven't even got to my longship and have only done one synchronization point. I believe this even is the tutorial area.
The audio is also talked about in this Reddit thread, so it's not my hardware. I'm on PS5 and have a 5.1 system, but I usually play with headphones (Bose QC35 II).
Reddit - Dive into anything
www.reddit.com
Anyone else experiencing this? Can we expect this to get patched?
Similar feelings here... I played maybe for two hours...
I'm still in Norway and my god are you right about it being a pain to explore, sheer cliffs everywhere making traversal agonizingly slow.