This review contains spoilers
Yes, spoilers discussed, but this takes place at the very end of the game, so what did you expect?
This is a standard review of Valhalla's final story DLC. For the main review of just the base game, see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368448/
For a comprehensive breakdown of the game as a whole, please see:
https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368458/
For the first DLC, Wrath of the Druids, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368450/
For the second DLC, The Siege of Paris, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368452/
For the third DLC, Dawn of Ragnarök, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368455/
The Last Chapter is literally an assemblage of six cutscenes you have to trigger at certain points in the world, the framing being Basim wants to witness how Eivor’s story ends, and for a low-budget rushed resolution, it’s surprisingly fine. I know from reading Darby’s responses on the Reddit AMA that the writers wanted to do more in terms of granting extra final interactions between Eivor and her compatriots, and that inability to succeed is definitely TLC’s biggest drawback. You’ve got Hytham, Aelfred, King Harald, and Guthrum, the four representing different factions that try and draw Eivor back into the fold (Hidden Ones, Templars, Norse Vikings, Danish Vikings respectively), and while it was thematically well-intentioned, it can’t help making no sense for goodbyes to be dedicated to loose characters like Harald and Guthrum but not close comrades like Randvi, Styrbjorn, and Sigurd.
The general synopsis of Eivor deciding to come to terms with Odin’s memories and embrace them was a nice twist, but even then it’s treated as a rushed framing device that simply caps the beginning and end of the DLC, denying players a look at a fascinating concept in AC history wherein a Sage opts to coexist with their Isu brethren over being completely taken over.
Still, I’ll give The Last Chapter props for somewhat addressing qualms I had with a number of Valhalla’s finales: Eivor acknowledging Odin is another entity; Guthrum and Aelfred explaining the post-Edington peace treaty/Guthrum converting to Christianity, and a surprisingly-introspective explanation from Eivor as to why he won’t join the Hidden Ones.
The modern-day, however, is where The Last Chapter truly shines -- seeing Basim mess around with the Animus, his commentary throughout the ordeal, and of course the ending convo with William Miles made for some really fun content, and while the conclusion doesn’t end up going anywhere (Basim uploads his genetic code presumably for Miles to relive in the Animus, only for Mirage to not have a modern-day portion), I did enjoy Rota’s performance.
Please keep in mind, however, that Ubisoft was a bit lazy with regards to certain narratorial facets, namely that there’s no differentiation between male and female Eivor for the abovementioned intro-and-outro, and not only was there no differentiation, they didn’t even bother putting in the Odin model from the Confessions (nor let Magnus use his Odin voice)! Female Eivor is Eivor, while male Eivor is Odin, regardless of who you chose initially, so that may come as a surprise to players like myself who spent hundreds of hours playing as one gender.
My final quibs are two-fold: first, having the player run around trying to find the memory units felt like a cheap way of artificially elongating the content; and two, they apparently recast Aelfred’s VA in his dialogue (no doubt scheduling conflicts as Ubisoft is famous for bringing back prior actors). When all is said and done, though, The Last Chapter was a good move by Ubisoft: yes, a story finale shouldn’t be produced years later in a hasty manner, but at least we got something proper (not to mention hearing the opening chords of Ezio’s Family play at the end is always awesome).
This is a standard review of Valhalla's final story DLC. For the main review of just the base game, see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368448/
For a comprehensive breakdown of the game as a whole, please see:
https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368458/
For the first DLC, Wrath of the Druids, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368450/
For the second DLC, The Siege of Paris, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368452/
For the third DLC, Dawn of Ragnarök, please see: https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1368455/
The Last Chapter is literally an assemblage of six cutscenes you have to trigger at certain points in the world, the framing being Basim wants to witness how Eivor’s story ends, and for a low-budget rushed resolution, it’s surprisingly fine. I know from reading Darby’s responses on the Reddit AMA that the writers wanted to do more in terms of granting extra final interactions between Eivor and her compatriots, and that inability to succeed is definitely TLC’s biggest drawback. You’ve got Hytham, Aelfred, King Harald, and Guthrum, the four representing different factions that try and draw Eivor back into the fold (Hidden Ones, Templars, Norse Vikings, Danish Vikings respectively), and while it was thematically well-intentioned, it can’t help making no sense for goodbyes to be dedicated to loose characters like Harald and Guthrum but not close comrades like Randvi, Styrbjorn, and Sigurd.
The general synopsis of Eivor deciding to come to terms with Odin’s memories and embrace them was a nice twist, but even then it’s treated as a rushed framing device that simply caps the beginning and end of the DLC, denying players a look at a fascinating concept in AC history wherein a Sage opts to coexist with their Isu brethren over being completely taken over.
Still, I’ll give The Last Chapter props for somewhat addressing qualms I had with a number of Valhalla’s finales: Eivor acknowledging Odin is another entity; Guthrum and Aelfred explaining the post-Edington peace treaty/Guthrum converting to Christianity, and a surprisingly-introspective explanation from Eivor as to why he won’t join the Hidden Ones.
The modern-day, however, is where The Last Chapter truly shines -- seeing Basim mess around with the Animus, his commentary throughout the ordeal, and of course the ending convo with William Miles made for some really fun content, and while the conclusion doesn’t end up going anywhere (Basim uploads his genetic code presumably for Miles to relive in the Animus, only for Mirage to not have a modern-day portion), I did enjoy Rota’s performance.
Please keep in mind, however, that Ubisoft was a bit lazy with regards to certain narratorial facets, namely that there’s no differentiation between male and female Eivor for the abovementioned intro-and-outro, and not only was there no differentiation, they didn’t even bother putting in the Odin model from the Confessions (nor let Magnus use his Odin voice)! Female Eivor is Eivor, while male Eivor is Odin, regardless of who you chose initially, so that may come as a surprise to players like myself who spent hundreds of hours playing as one gender.
My final quibs are two-fold: first, having the player run around trying to find the memory units felt like a cheap way of artificially elongating the content; and two, they apparently recast Aelfred’s VA in his dialogue (no doubt scheduling conflicts as Ubisoft is famous for bringing back prior actors). When all is said and done, though, The Last Chapter was a good move by Ubisoft: yes, a story finale shouldn’t be produced years later in a hasty manner, but at least we got something proper (not to mention hearing the opening chords of Ezio’s Family play at the end is always awesome).