Assassin’s Creed Dawn Of Ragnarok DLC Review: Good but clunky

Ubisoft isn’t done updating and expanding yet Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The latest and greatest expansion, Dawn of Ragnarokis now available on all major platforms. And unlike the previous DLC packs, Ragnarok focuses entirely on the more fantastical elements of the game. It tells a new story about Odin, Loki and all the other Norse gods and monsters previously seen in the main game’s side quest. While this new expansion sometimes feels like a whole new game, it also feels clunky and creaky. It’s almost like the base game is ripping at the seams as Ubisoft stuffs in another massive world and DLC.

This basic setting is that you play as Odin, who is also Eivor, the main character of Valhalla. (No, sorry, I won’t explain that here. Read this instead. It might help to understand all this.) Odin is looking for his son Baldr, who was kidnapped by Surtur, the leader of the fire demons. Surtur, his children, and his army of magma warriors have invaded Svartálfar, home of the dwarves. After a failed attempt to save Baldr early in the expansion, Odin allies with the remaining dwarves to help them rid their world of the demon army, kill Surtur, and rescue Baldr.

I’ll be honest with you all, (unlike I usually lie to you on most of my blogs) I wasn’t thrilled with this new expansion. After already completed Valhallas main campaignmost of the page content, and two previous DLC expansionsSo the idea of ​​going back to the Viking Stabbin simulator Valhalla seemed a terrible future. but igamesnews resident Assassin’s Creed Expert, I knew I had no choice. The curse of being a video game blogger.

Continue reading: Let’s summarize the messy modern history of Assassin’s Creed

At first I wanted to rip my hands off and tell my editors that I can’t play this DLC. Ragnarok starts out with so much boring walking and talking and walking and talking. Eventually I just ran ahead past the slow moving NPC gnomes and other Viking gods because I was so bored! Not a great first impression. But after this bleak and terrifying intro, the game opens up into a massive fantasy adventure involving dwarves, ice giants, lava warriors and new magical powers.

If you have played Assassin’s Creed Valhallayou will be familiar Ragnarok. They run around, sneak into places, stab some people, climb towers, and use various abilities to fend off enemies with axes, swords, and shields. The big new addition Ragnarok

For example, you can find a power that allows you to turn into a raven and fly around a bit, allowing you to get to unreachable places without having to climb. A more useful ability is that you disguise yourself as a lava-covered demon warrior, allowing you both to slip into their camps undetected and also walk across lava without taking damage. (This is very useful as lava pools and rivers dot the large new open world environment found in Ragnarok.)

You can only store a few of these powers at a time. So when you need a new power, you need to find an enemy with it and grab it again. It’s a bit annoying, but luckily the game offers you a lot of powerful enemies to kill. You’ll always have a few forces within stab range.

The thing is, even though this new expansion offers a beautiful and fantastical world and new magical powers, it still is Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The plot of the expansion and even the side quests don’t break much new ground. And similarly, the gameplay feels a bit old and tired. I also ran into a lot of small issues where Eivor would get stuck in the landscape, enemies wouldn’t migrate properly, and powers didn’t seem to work as intended. The whole experience feels tense yet barely contained. I swear if Ubisoft adds another sword or mount to this game, it might actually explode into a digital mess of code and splattered quests.

If you haven’t played one yet Assassin’s Creed Valhalla…well, I would still recommend playing the main game first. Then maybe this expansion after that. Jumping into this expansion first without the main context of the original game seems doable, but I would advise against it. And if you’re someone who, like me, has sunk into it for over 150 hours Valhalla, then seek your own feelings. If the idea of ​​playing more of these sounds awful or tiring, trust your gut. You will not be paid for this.