Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok Review – Into the Muspel Frying Pan

Dawn of Ragnarok is the third major expansion to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. That bombastic name is somewhat of a precursor to the content that awaits, because it’s easily the biggest one, a size that can rival a standalone Assassin’s Creed game with a potential 30 over hours of gameplay. Do check out our earlier preview here.

As you might expect, this review will contain spoilers if you haven’t finished the base Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Compared to the previous expansions, Dawn of Ragnarok is much more of a standalone experience. From the menu itself, they give the option for you to jump straight into Ragnarok. The story itself features an Eivor who’s become Odin, so new players are definitely recommended to play through the base game first. Besides all the late-arrival spoilers, there are also restrictions if you’re solely playing the Dawn of Ragnarok as a standalone.

You’re only allowed to start from Svartalfhheim at Power Level 340, without access to the open world of the base game and a limited selection of weapons, besides missing out on any key plot points. Still, despite the limitations, it’s still a welcome feature especially if you’re someone who has yet to complete the main game. Power Level 340 is pretty high up there itself, with almost all of the Skills and Abilities unlocked.

Dawn of Ragnarok is the latest chapter of Eivor’s adventures as Odin, the Norse God of Battle and Wisdom. We start off with Eivor travelling to the realm of Svartalfheim in order to confront Surtr, an immortal giant king who kidnapped their son, Baldr. Despite all their power, Eivor finds themselves powerless against Surtr, who’s backed by an army of ruthless Muspel people. Taking on the name of “Havi” for this story, Havi must learn of Surtr’s weakness, while aiding the displaced dwarves in the realm.

The story picks up quite quickly and is quite easy to follow even if you haven’t much context. Depending on your tolerance for some cheese and cliches, it feels like the more emotionally charged moments can fall flat, which is unfortunate.

IN SVARTALFHEIM

In this beautiful – and hostile – kingdom, this realm is home to dwarves currently being invaded by Surtr’s Muspels. There’s plenty of surprises awaiting even veteran players, allowing for some freshness to the gameplay structure as you work to adapt to the environment. Earning the dwarves’ trust is key as you need their knowledge to rescue Baldr, and the war has scattered them across the realm in exile. It’s up to Havi to be their beacon of hope.

Since they are invading, get used to seeing the Muspels standing in your way. The living magma aren’t especially tough, but they still pack quite the punch. In the mix are archetypes like Flame Keepers who can resurrect their fallen allies, or manifestations of Surtr’s fury that will rush at you and explode. Individually, they’re manageable. As a group, their aggressiveness could potentially combo you into death, so watch your step.

Svartalfheim is absolutely gorgeous as a set piece. Exploring it, however, doesn’t have the same majesty. The structure may have changed up a little, but the things to actually do haven’t really differed from clearing enemy camps, finding settlements and other things that already exist in the main game. It is nicer to have a smaller map regardless, as navigation is easier even without overt hints or waymarkers. Work those observation skills!

GAMEPLAY

The basic gameplay loop and controls remains the same: good for veterans, but there are no tutorials for anyone opting into the standalone completely fresh for whatever reason. The hazards like lava pools in combat areas add wrinkles to the same old systems, since stepping into them by accident as you’re trying to strafe is pretty much saying goodbye to your health.

The dwarves will be your BFFs when you help them out, as they’ll gift you a new toy in a bracer early in the story. This unlocks Hugr-Rip, letting you steal your enemies’ powers. Peruse your fallen foes to add new tricks to your combat repertoire, and you’re highly encouraged to do so since they’re incredibly useful. Those lava pools? Unlock Power of Muspelheim and become immune to them and avoid embarrassing deaths, while also transforming into a Muspel yourself to help you blend in with your enemies. Other powers can further aid this sneaky assassin play, such as teleportation and animal shapeshifting. Maybe this might feel too “high fantasy”, but considering the setting and the franchise’s action stealth roots, it’ll do just fine.

Hugr powers can be activated at any time, at the cost of a blue “energy” meter, shall we say. This bar needs to be refilled manually, which you can do so by sacrificing a portion of Havi’s health at a Yggdrasil Shrine, or obtaining Hugr Bloom essence from the flowers scattered all over the world. Naturally, the skill tree sees an expansion with more abilities to learn, including strengthening your Hugr-Rip. It won’t be easy as the materials asked of you are quite rare – Silica, for one – which is obtainable only from dangerous Raid missions.

Depending on how you choose to play, the skills can definitely fudge the difficulty some, besides reacclimating to the controls. Revisiting this from, say, Elden Ring, can make it feel easy, hampered a little by slightly more janky controls like when dodging. The lock-on can disappear if your target is moving too fast if you were dependent on it. The parry has a very generous window in Valhalla, and it can even allow you to stun-lock foes. That’s not even mentioning how absurdly strong the bow seems to be even with a mere flick. Nonetheless, there is still fun to be had in the “easy” and “messy” combat.

IN CLOSING

Assassin’s Creed has come a long way from its humble beginnings, and the direction the series is taking right now appears to be staying. It can be tough to balance the elements your old time fans have come to love, while still adding distinct flavour to keep it fresh. They’ve still managed to pack a lot of stuff into Dawn of Ragnarok on top of an already massive open world game, qualifying it for one of the biggest of its kind yet, with hundreds of hours to trawl through.

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Release Date: 2020-11-10

Epic Games Store, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Become Eivor, a Viking raider raised to be a fearless warrior, and lead your clan from icy desolation in Norway to a new home amid the lush farmlands of ninth-century England. Find your settlement and conquer this hostile land by any means to earn a place in Valhalla. England in the age of the Vikings is a fractured nation of petty lords and warring kingdoms. Beneath the chaos lies a rich and untamed land waiting for a new conqueror. Will it be you?

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