This was my second time playing this game, didn’t bother with watching the cutscenes cause I had recently beaten it and this run was for the hard playthrough trophy. I really enjoyed this game both narratively and gameplay wise. The characters were memorable and I loved their stories, Cid being one of my favorites but obviously Clive as well. Before this game came out it wasn’t on my radar at all but, I had picked up the deluxe on release day cause Final Fantasy and I needed to distract myself from some real life things. Me playing a game on day of release at the time was such a rarity and I’m glad I did with this one. The combat was super fun and unique with the Eikon switching. The only thing that dragged for me with this game was some of those Eikon fights lasted way too long. Other than that, give this game a play. I know I probably will at some point. Tearful ending for me as always with this franchise.

At the time of writing this I’m about 36 hours into this game with only three trophies left and I’ve had nothing but good experiences with this game. There’s nothing like going to a different planet and blowing up a whole ecosystem of animals with rockets and missiles with your friends. An absolute sleeper game for this year, I would see it time and time again on YouTube and would look it over every time until a day or two after release. Picked it up and played with some friends and every time has been a blast, tons of funny moments and memories being made every time I launch the game. Although off to a rocky start with server issues, this is a real game of the year contender and I can’t wait to see what comes with it in the future.

Assassins Creed Valhalla for the most part was an enjoyable experience. The characters were interesting, the story overall good, and the core gameplay mechanics felt just like Odyssey which I absolutely loved. I think where this game started to lose a small amount of luster with me was when I realized how long all of those things take. There’s tons of collectibles and story bloat, which based on the type of gamer and length of experience you enjoy, that could be a great thing. It has your samey elements every open world game has, towers, enemy camps and the like. I really enjoy those things just in a slightly smaller package than what’s offered here. That being said, I still thoroughly enjoyed my time here and the landscapes from Norway to Vinland were all beautiful. Some of the side quests were also absolute tear jerkers and I took a large amount of satisfaction with them not being “kill this” or “do that” every time. Time and time again these quests would have deeper meanings like the blind man and deaf man or the child who built statues with their sibling or the man giving the ring to his daughter. There’s a lot of good main and side story here, and while I don’t suggest everyone go out and 100% this game, you should at least try out the story.