Good evening from Greece and happy new year to everyone!
I wanted to discuss a topic that has not got as much attention as it should, in my opinion at least. Now that every personal view on ac valhalla has been written and discussed, I wanted to address my personal opinion not only for valhalla, but for ac in general.
IMO the biggest problem with assassin creed, is it's fanbase. Up until 2012, everybody hated Desmond.Every forum, comment, review, captured Desmond as a boring and blunt character. Ubisoft listened to the fans and killed him. After this decision, ubisoft didn't have and idea what they were doing with the franchise. We had like 5 games that the present day didn't progress a bit, and they 'finished' it in comics!!
Another issue the fanbase triggered, was the repeating tone of every new game. Even though I agree on some level, this made ubisoft changed the formula of the games, turning them into RPG. I am rpg game addict, I love playing them, but this is assassin's creed. You can't make a proper assassin's creed game with rpg elements. And we can see this in the last 3 AC games. Even though I enjoyed origins and loved Valhalla, this doesn't feel right. I want to feel like assassin, everybody wants to feel like assassin.
Unity is the most assassin's creed game we will ever have (speaking only for it's elements). Apart from its bugs and glitches, still the fanbase wanted a change, they didn't like it back then. But NOW you can see that everybody wants a game JUST LIKE IT!
Another example of this, do you think back to AC 3, they planned on bringing Desmond back as the Reader? Of course not. They did it because apparently he is likable again and we all miss him. The Grey thing Juno said, the 'find Eve' , the 'awaken the sixth' , were not meant to come back in any game! They killed her in comics! They brought these stuff back (and in a stunning way), because we cried out for a change, again! A change to a previous tone of AC. So we, as a fanbase, are also responsible on this issue. I hated ubisoft for so long killing my favourite franchise. But now I realise that we also are to blame for their decision. They should have never listened to any of those wanting Desmond removed. Let me know your view on this topic. I believe with Valhalla they did a first step of fixing their mistake. Only thing we can do is hope that they will continue with this story, and don't throw it away like they did with the previous one.

@assass_gr7 Well, thats another opinion, other people like me like Odyssey as can be seen in the forum, also I think rpg and AC doesnt go against each other. This one(Valhalla) is smt in the middle, disappointing both fan groups.

@petrnev12 for me, Odyssey is a great rpg in particular, but it is far away of being considered a great assassin's creed game. This is another topic though that I believe it has been discussed at the forum.

I would agree that problems when reading forums comes mostly from the fanbase. The AC games themselves have to evolve, or give way to other games. Valhalla has been the number 1 selling game this holiday season to my understanding. Sounds like the game is just fine. Sure it's got some issues to fix but what massive game with high demand don't now a days. So ya, you can make a proper AC game with RPG elements. I would put money on the loss of fans and or sales if they went back to the old format.

@quor321 the sells this games have, has nothing to do with "how good the game it is" the reason of the game being a succes this holidays is because of the settlement their use, vikings, people where expecting this, for long time, but now people is releasing how badly made this game is

@karloz1995 The complaints on various forums/ social media are a small percentage of the people that have bought this game. So sales can be one indicator for a good game. All " good " games will have forums filled with negative comments, that's what people do. Those comments are definitely not an indicator for a bad game. I admit I wish I waited like I usually do to buy a game but there is nothing game breaking that I have seen so far in my 100+ hrs. Overall it's a great game and has me excited for future patches and DLC.

@quor321 I tried to speak for the franchise in general. I have Valhalla in my top3 AC games, storywise of course. Satisfying this big audience- fanbase is really demanding, it is not possible making them all happy. My issue is with the developers who took notice of some complains from previous games, and changed the story almost completely, making the og fans confused and worried about the continuation. I wish they continue with the current one, which looks really promising.
Other than that, it would the first AC game that I'm gonna get the DLCs, they seem interesting.

@assass_gr7 What complete story change are you talking about? I have not played all the games but from what I gather for the most part it has skipped around history following the Assassin's creed or brotherhood and their enemies. Hidden in the back ground was the story of the Isu or gods or creator race, whatever you prefer. After Odyssey that side of the tale has come into the light, really a far more epic story then simply following some assassin's. Valhalla defiantly is short on the brotherhoods story for good reason. If you remember early in the game they say they have not had a presence in England for a long time. So at this point in the tale our assassin's are starting over in that part of the world, leaving little to really talk about. As this game is new it may change as DLC gets released.

now for the games. I've always based the games off the story of the assassin we're reliving. the top 3 games for me for the story would have to be

1. Assassin's Creed II
2. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
3. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Valhalla is a good game. I still prefer stories based on being an assassin in the assassin brotherhood.

In terms of desmond, I've always liked and understood the position his character was in. I wouldn't be surprised if in the next game they hint at a way for desmond and Layla to use the staff of Hermes, A Shroud of Eden & some other Isu device to get out of the grey, or maybe. I prefer desmond far over Layla.

I do prefer the old style of storytelling they had in AC II over the current RPG style. I do like the unique weapons and gearing system though. i do like the puzzles in AC II for the subject 16 memories vs the animus glitches in Valhalla as well. I do like both for adding some flavor to the Isu history.

@quor321 it has mentions from previous titles. The arc at America connects Eivor with Conor. You see the cutscene from 'Ragnarok' that it was first shown in Revelations, Adam and Eve reference, and many more that I can keep writing, you get the point.

I prefer having both Isu story and assassin's one. Odyssey broke the lore of the franchise and having not even one assassin, in an assassin's creed game (I don't count the dlc). Everyone has his opinion, and mine is that Odyssey is a great rpg game as a stand-alone, but a terrible attempt of making a game that continues the story of assassins. Darby McDevitt is the last good writer the studio has for AC games, he wrote Valhalla and his writing was epic, in my opinion at least.

@sii_frederic AC II is my favourite as well, I think AC I is underrated due to the gameplay mechanics and the repeating tones in some phases. I would put Valhalla to second place, because it is the only one which connects the dots from previous entries.
Laya wasn't interesting for me, I wanted to learn more of her back story. She was mediocre character at best. Desmond and Altair are my favourite characters. Miles didn't deserve the ending he got, there is a video of Nolan North addressing his arc and how they wanted it to continue. If they did it they way the wanted at first, we would have gotten a masterpiece.
I believe the best way to play an ac game is with the mechanics of unity. This ain't gonna happen though, we will continue with the rpg elements, but I'm glad they removed the never ending gear we had on odyssey. The gears on valhalla are unique and this is a plus for me.
I agree on the style of storytelling as well. If they give the studio as much time as it needs to produces a good sequel, I can wait as long as it takes.

@assass_gr7 Understandable. I only have played the first AC game then started up again with Origin. I can see how Odyssey seems like a huge curve ball in both story and game play, but such an epic game. I was not a big fan of how Odyssey told the story but enjoyed the big picture.

@quor321 believe me, if you had played all the titles and invested time about their story, you would have loved valhalla's one.

@assass_gr7

i cant be bothered to play games that are super outdated.
The story is fine as is though, u dont need to play previous games for that imo.

@asgardian02

Playing previous entries isn't mandatory for sure, but it gives other feeling to your walkthrough. I had goosebumps hearing the reader and all the Isu members we know.

Someone who does not know the previous characters and stories will not be able to experience this. First time I played an AC entry that the story progresses, and that the previous ones matter. Nevertheless, someone who hasn't played them, will still enjoy this one.

@assass_gr7 I am enjoying Valhalla so far, but am only 65% or so into it. So far it seems to be told better, looking forward to seeing how it ends.

@assass_gr7
all of the isu stuff is the one thing i hated most in Odyssey and here in valhalla.
I just like playing games where there is an option for melee combat.
So that attracted me to odyssey and draw me to valhalla.

@asgardian02
This is the issue I address, that the audience is so big and everyone prefers something that the other does not. Like you, who want to play games that have melee combat and not interested in the isu arc.

@assass_gr7

I can agree with AC1 being underrated. I have my GF playing AC1 since she loves Valhalla (Her first AC Game) and she hates the mechanics. I like the story and Importance of AC1 but gameplay wise it has a lot to desire in comparison to other titles but at the time it was an amazing game.

I'd love an AC1 reboot (w/ them adding chronicles & bloodlines stories as well) just my opinion though. it'd be like a fan service game. maybe removing all the flags to collect & just put 500 templars

I agree with odyssey's gear system being endless and rather annoying to continually cleaning out my inventory. Valhalla has the best gear system so far. I rather liked Unity's Mechanics as well.

I can also agree on I'd rather wait for the studio to take 3-4 years for every follow up like the gap between AC1 & 2.