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[Nester99]

I'm over 100 hours into Assassin's Creed: Valhalla and really just bored with the game...so much so that I've even started skipping through dialogue scenes as quickly as possible.

I'm probably going to get this today- It just looks so much more charming.

70hours into ACV. Feels like more of the same every single zone.
I don't even know what the story is anymore other than, help the ravens make friends.

 

[Night.Ninja]

How is this compared to botw?

jshackles great OT by the way

 

[Ogbert]

How is this compared to botw?

jshackles great OT by the way

More arcadey combat. Physics is not even close to BoTW. No weather. Light hearted cartoon story.

Tbh, it’s not even close to BoTW, but is still (so far) a fun, easygoing game.

 

[Hendrick's]

How is this compared to botw?

jshackles great OT by the way

Not a fan of BoTW, but this game is fantastic. Also, no weapon degradation and awkward controls.

 

[ManaByte]

Not a fan of BoTW, but this game is fantastic. Also, no weapon degradation and awkward controls.

I didn't like BoTW because of the weapon degradation. This is the next-gen Zelda I wanted that game to be.

 

[ManaByte]

How thrashed will you be if you go after Achilles right when you unlock the vault?

 

[dorkimoe]

I know it was in the videos and everything but god I don’t know why they used that awful Zelda stamina thing

 

[SinDelta]

This is Ubisoft best game since Assasins Creed 2

I didn't like BoTW because of the weapon degradation. This is the next-gen Zelda I wanted that game to be.

Bold words. Very bold words. This game is rapidly rising on my "Get" list.

 

[Hendrick's]

I know it was in the videos and everything but god I don’t know why they used that awful Zelda stamina thing

I like it. Adds a little strategy to the exploration. That said, it's not really limiting like BoTW. You can pretty much still climb anywhere.

 

[hollams]

Really enjoying the game and it does so many little things right. Glad they have an auto-run button for the controller, I wish every open world game would have that feature. Whoever thought of the idea where the last enemy you defeat just goes flying off into the atmosphere is awesome.

I wasn't aware that Adam Jensen was in the game.

 

[Thabass]

To say I'm disappointed in this game is an understatement. It's no where near the level of quality (in terms of fun) as BOTW or Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The combat, while simple and refined...is boring. It's literally "Dodging: The Game". Take a few swings get out of the way. There's no real challenge to the dodges either since the windows are so huge for them. And it's the typical Ubisoft open world game with icons everywhere so you know exactly where to go and what do.

The "Shrines" (forgot what they called them here) aren't really that insightful either. But, I think it's just cause I'm so early in the game.

And for the love of holy, stop mapping the combat buttons to RB (R1) / RT (R2). It's terrible.

Other than that, the dialog and story seem pretty fun and I'll try to stick around for that. But if this was trying be a BOTW-style game, it misses the mark.

 

[bargeparty]

The only thing I'm a little bummed about right now is the UI. It's not nearly dynamic enough, and if you turn certain things off it's just harder to play.

But so far it's fun and that's what matters to me.

 

[Kenpachii]

no spoilers here so u can read it

19 hours in, completed the first starter area and the next one which is basically the first real big area. ( hard mode, as nightmare is locked until u complete hard mode )

Experience so far:

- Story is great, doesn't overstay its welcome and doesn't hinder exploration. The dialogue that does take place is short and snappy and that's how i like it. Gameplay in this game comes first that's for sure.

- I like the base where u upgrade and level everything in, absolutely lovely made isn't in the way and in someway is basically a mini vallhalla settlement camp with all the stuff that u need close together. really reminds me of that.

- The game is basically a mix of different games:

Here's a list of what i reminds me off.

-- kingdom hearts: the character kind of animations really look like that same as with dialogue, maybe even the fight style of it ( never really played the game much myself so yea can't say for sure )
-- zelda breath of the wild: map shows the idea, the stamina meter, the upgradeable weapons, no leveling, climbing, swimming, gear kinda and to some limited extent shrines. however one difference tho, far better worked out in immortals, its straight up a evolution of it. It will be hard going back to breath of the wild after this game
-- Older zelda's, bigger dungeons ( puzzles, encounters, puzzles, end boss, meaningful item out of it ), more puzzles and actually solving stuff with limited tools but combinations of them to move further with it. keeps it simple but still interesting.
-- ac odyssey, map design ( layout is botw ), with teleporting, icons on the map, etc etc but enhanced ( no longer u gotta synchronise with 70 teleporters, only 1 for each area so that's probably 5-6 total for the entire game, the teleports unlock the moment u in a new area or near a objective that u can teleport towards so no hassle here anymore
-- ac valhalla, settlement, kinda quest system.
-- kid icarus, never played the games but flying around kinda feels like that game.
-- ragnarok online, proc on weapons anybody? that's how my bow feels right now with its armor.

Example of it in gif style: ( grouping mobs up was never as fun as what i got going on right now )

Lots of things are fine tuned like.
- simple upgrade system ( u upgrade for example bow mastery at a armory kinda, and if you hit level 4, all bows no matter which one u pick up will have there second bonus 4th skill unlock unlocked. So u can swap gear whenever u want and not be holded back. ( big issue in valhalla where leveling is done on the gaer itself which locks you into choices and simple endless upgrading of gear or simple u can't because no materials

- talents that are interesting instead of bloating shit that nobody cares for like 1% hit, 2% dmg x400. ( didn't like the system in valhalla on this front oddysey and origin where better on it ). This game takes it to the next level, just 3 bow skills 100% headshot, guided arrow, mid air jump done. Want more? the bows themselves u pick up have all there own 2 skills with it which still makes the experience deep but more about finding gear etc instead of sitting in boring talent tree's.

- Over the top attacks. But not to much. Feels really like kingdom hearts kind of something but fun. here's a example in a gif. Would never work in ac games but in this game absolutely and makes fight that otherwise would be more of the same really interesting because it all depends on how the enemy stands and what compositions they have to what attack u will be launching or try to launch. Gives it a bit more depth something i missed with ac games.

- puzzles, lots and lots of puzzles holy shit. From bigger puzzles to smaller puzzles to whole area's that are engulfed into one massive puzzle. Absolutely like it. It's something i missed in breath of the wild the shrines got old fast and this game is packed with them with all kinds of different ones. The rewards are also interesting something with zelda and oddysey often could be argued really.

For example after doing one dungeon i got a armor and it changed my fight style completely because of the bonuses. no upgrading or leveling needed just equip the armor and go and adjust.

- map is packed with content, but unlike odyssey which is riddled with marks everywhere same for valhalla ( vallhalla is fine tho they pruned it a lot ) this game has puzzles everywhere, u turn your ass around there is something. the world is far far from death like breath of the wild was. Its probably the most tightly packed content wise game i ever played. And none of it is boring but actually interesting because it keeps you thinking and unlocks more powerful skills + get gear that can make your playstyle completely different a hour later ( for example i was shooting boring arrows that just did dmg this morning its now one big explosion lightning show when shit procs lol what i got going on right now so good ).

- Bird is far from useless like in ac games and actually adds towards the gameplay now in a meaningful way i like it that u get a different skill from each bird and basically can really add it towards your gameplay.

- Game is hard. Really really hard in lots of encounters i faced. I got my ass handed to me so hard i simple just bailed on it until i get stronger lol. Mythical fights are insanely hard ( wind island ). But also some mobs have endless health to the point they hit u once u get combed or just instant killed while u gotta raid that boss for 10-15 minutes lol.

Example: ( i got basically deleted instantly ) and this is not a rare sight i get smashed a lot. The game is pretty darn hard in fights as u need to keep your surroundings in check.

Mobs HP pools are also something else, in ac valhalla u can pretty much same with origin and odyssey 1 shot people, here sometimes u gotta 100 shot a mob because they ain't going down and they hit like trucks here a gif ( ending milisecond get deleted instantly "hard to see but cant find the fragment anymore in my 12 hour recording and its late u get it )

Also fun fact, was a 10 minute fight so yea.

conclusion.

Got a absolute blast so far, hope the game keeps up and the content keeps up, cant wait to jump in it tomorrow again.

 

[Bkdk]

So Ubisoft bringing back some mid tier titles, and surprisingly at least you can make female characters that at least doesn’t look ugly. Though enemy health bars seem far too long, plus way too heavy on one color tone for some scenes. I remember this is the only Ubisoft title that I have some interest on and looks to be this way, will check it out sometime in the future.

 

[Serviam]

-- Older zelda's, bigger dungeons ( puzzles, encounters, puzzles, end boss, meaningful item out of it ), more puzzles and actually solving stuff with limited tools but combinations of them to move further with it. keeps it simple but still interesting.

SOLD!

 

[TexMex]

Four hours today, really loving it. Some really minor quibbles but that's it.

Also - Walmart has the PS5 version of this for 49.99. If you can't find it there, the PS4 version is 49.99, and includes a free PS5 upgrade. Well worth it.

 

[AV]

Put in my first five hours last night, quite enjoying it so far. Nothing hugely negative to say about it. It's not trying to hide the fact that it's a completely shameless BOTW clone because frankly, there's nothing wrong with that when most big games are just reskins of others. As long as it's a good BOTW clone, and so far, it is. In fact, it does a few things better than BOTW, like the melee combat, although that's an incredibly low barrier.

Probably the worst thing about it thus far are the character animations in cutscenes, they're just plain not good, but it's very easy to look past that. I'm especially surprised at how good some of the back-and-forth between Zeus and Prometheus is, lots of meta humour about video games, I was surprised to see a joke about MTX in a single player game that has MTX.

 

[Ogbert]

Really starting to get into it now.

God, it’s so much better than AC.

Best Ubisoft game in years.

 

[TexMex]

It really is. Game throws a lot at you at first but once you get past the late title card and it lets you start going off on your own it’s fantastic.

 

[Ogbert]

It really is. Game throws a lot at you at first but once you get past the late title card and it lets you start going off on your own it’s fantastic.

It’s as if the team sat down and said ‘rather than create a massive, gritty world with a serious story, let’s try making a game that’s simply.........really fun’.

They should do it more often.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I thought about selling Godfall for this. I can’t seem to find a buyer.

 

[dorkimoe]

It’s basically an animated ass creed with more puzzles haha. Funny how much they used for AC. Having fun so far

 

[#Phonepunk#]

so are there for real dungeons in this? cos if this is BOTW but with real dungeons.... hmmm...

 

[dorkimoe]

Anyone else when you land a triple attack when an enemy is slow hear “eye of the Tiger” intro?

 

[#Phonepunk#]

ok. it is my PTO day off. i have a frozen pizza and a case of beer. it is rainy outside. think i will buy this on a whim! it sounds hella fun =)

 

[GymWolf]

How is this compared to botw?

jshackles great OT by the way

Better for some things, worse in others.

this one lack a lot of enviromental physics (there is still a lot of physics for puzzles, combat etc.) and genius and creative solutions you can make up in botw, but it has better combat, better graphics, better performance, no breakable loot, more present story and characters, more classic sidequest with cutscenes etc, a skill three, better controls\inventory system (for me at least).

I don't know about puzzles, dungeons and bosses, i only played 3 hours but for now puzzles are similar to botw\darksiders, nothing mindblowing.

Like i said before, i kinda like this one more and i think it's gonna be the same with people that didn't liked botw that much, the things it does better are the things that you usually hear in ever botw topic from people who don't like the game, mediocre combat, more present story, more dense world filled with things to do, dated graphics, breakable loot etc.

The only streamer i watch is cohhcarnage and he already like the game more than zelda after like an hour of playing (doesn't means anything, just an anecdote)

it's not a better game than botw, but it does enough things differently to aim at people who like the genre but didn't liked botw.
It's a similar concept to genshin impact.

Edit: tbh the combat seems pretty easy even on hard but i'm still 3 hours in, the mongoloids at ubisoft locked the ultra hard difficulty behind finishing the game at least once.

 

[Deleted member 471617]

Looking forward to playing Immortals in a few weeks as I bought the digital gold edition.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

ive played about an hour so far. yeah it's pretty cool! definitely not as polished as BOTW in so many ways, but still very fun, a cool Clash of the Titans-style take on that game. combat is fun! in place of shrines you have psychedelic outer space temples which i think look far better. it's definitely an Ubisoft game tho, with all the random popups and glitches that entails. they still can't get walking up the stairs right lol and some cutscenes look very low budget indeed. then again some of them look very nice, it's a bit unbalanced. but the minute-to-minute gameplay is fun and the game looks great running at solid 4k60 on PS5.

i can tell it's doing it's own thing in many ways and will be fun to play through cos of that. the story so far is pretty well done and the comedic take still doesn't get in the way of treating the mythology and source material with respect.

 

[Pejo]

I'm a little confused. Is the playable character a create-a-character, or is it the redhead in the promotional material? Originally I thought it was only the redhead, then I saw some videos of someone paying as a girl that looked kinda like Cassandra from AC:Odyssey, and then a hooded character that was built like, and grunted like a male character. I'd be all for a custom created character if possible.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

main character is create a character, can be a man or woman.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Thanks for the OT jshackles and great work!!

I have really been enjoying the game. I am playing it using Uplay + and so far it as has been awesome.

 

[ExpandKong]

OK finally got the game installed and played it for the first hour (Switch version). Game seems pretty good so far. The customization options for the character creator were a bit limited I felt, but it's fun that Zeus comments on anything you change. In fact, a lot of stuff in this game is just kinda... fun.

As for the Switch version specifically - it's okay but it's pretty obvious that the textures have been downscaled for this release, and the draw distance is obviously horrible. Button inputs / timings seem really good and precise though.

As for the draw distance, has this improved for you after playing some more? I heard elsewhere that the introductory area is a bit more foggy than the world at large or something like that, and that the view improves once you're out of there.

I'm eyeing this game on the Switch pretty hard ngl.

 

[Hendrick's]

Still my GOTY. Game continues to delivers, and even enjoying some of the more complex puzzles.

 

[Janezcky]

My wife is really enjoying this. She was sceptical as she saw it as a Botw rip-off. She loved Botw. Combat seems actually good for a game like this. Really surprised by this game.

 

[aries_71]

I’d like to be wrong, but this sounds like an Odyssey reskin/cartoon. Maybe not exactly a reskin, but pretty soulless.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

Anyone know how this would run on a 1660ti / Ryzen 5 3600 / 16GB DDR4 at 1080p? Canyourunit says recommended specs requires 8GB of VRAM but that site isn't particularly reliable.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

i like the bits in between the rifts and the open world, where you are flying through space. what's with the shooting stars, can you catch those?

 

[DispatchNinja]

Liking this game a lot, good to have to pass the time until Cyberpunk. Going to take me a while to finish though. I’m 11 hours in and I’m still going through the 2nd area that opens up.

 

[Hendrick's]

I’d like to be wrong, but this sounds like an Odyssey reskin/cartoon. Maybe not exactly a reskin, but pretty soulless.

It's not at all. 10X more enjoyable.

i like the bits in between the rifts and the open world, where you are flying through space. what's with the shooting stars, can you catch those?

You like the load screens?

 

[TexMex]

I’ve spaced out with this all day. It’s just constantly getting better.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

i love these load screens! they only last a second or so and they look really cool.

once you beat the first hour and get to the title screen the map suddenly looks dramatically nicer. the opening area feels really sparse in comparison. this is kind of like as soon as you get off the plateau in BOTW as far as .

some screenshots from PS5 in performance mode.

 

[smart_brazileiro]

I want to play this, but I feel so burned with AC Valhalla that I'm a little cautious.

For those who played both, what are your thoughts? Does it feel like two different experiences?

I sold Valhalla and got meself this instead and what can I say... I'm damn happy I did. I really wanted to like Valhalla as I am a massive Vikings and Last Kingdom fan but it's just more of the same old loop that burned me out too many times. This time i finally had enough. I just can't anymore. Sold it, got this instead. It's colorful, it's cartooney, it's arcadey and I love it. Apart from the combat this is more of a Zelda type game. If u dig that u can't go wrong.

 

[spartan30gr]

Nice to read good impresion for this one
Mιght try it in the near feature

 

[Hendrick's]

Just tried this on quality mode. Holly crap is it awful. Absolutely no one should be playing this in that mode.

 

[mhirano]

LOL at the Stadia physical box in the OT!

 

[retsof624]

Just tried this on quality mode. Holly crap is it awful. Absolutely no one should be playing this in that mode.

I tried it within the first hour. Looks crisp but it's not like the performance looks bad. So I'll just stick with that

 

[ShivinN]

Just tried this on quality mode. Holly crap is it awful. Absolutely no one should be playing this in that mode.

In what way? I've been playing it on that mode for 4 hours or so and haven't really noticed anything negative. I'm just curious as to what you're seeing.

 

[Hendrick's]

In what way? I've been playing it on that mode for 4 hours or so and haven't really noticed anything negative. I'm just curious as to what you're seeing.

Something is wrong with it. The FR may be at 30, but it's really juddery. Just feels so much worse than performance mode and looks nearly the same.

 

[Deleted member 471617]

Kenpachii - Reading your impressions makes me wish that I already had my Series X. But im not getting it until the 23rd.

 

[Max_Po]

Man this game is definitely the surprise of the year.

- On PS5, stick to Performance mode. Quality mode is 30 ? jittery ? and quiet frankly I have not noticed anything different.
- Superb Art style, really relaxing.
- Humorous story.
- I have started and finished BoTW 3 times, and for the poeple comparing and shitting on this.. the game is nothing like BoTW(for most part).

The reason I might be enjoying it more ... is

- I finished and platinumed Days Gone and Ghost of Tsushima.

I had preordered both Watch Dogs 3 and AC V but I returned both of them ....