Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids Review, A New Fantasy Adventure in Ireland!

Maintaining its status as Ubisoft’s most successful franchise to date, Assassin’s Creed is arguably in a position that is increasingly diverging from the original series. The responses given by fans were quite diverse, but in the end the fact that Ubisoft is still trying to overhaul the series in a different and more massive direction cannot be underestimated. This is further proven through the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla series which was built with the most ambitious open world setting, and this is especially still not added from the new DLC content entitled Wrath of the Druids.

We mention the DLC because more than just the usual additional content, Wrath of the Druids feels more like a massive expansion that can even be compared to a full game. After playing this latest DLC for the last few days, we finally decided to summarize the impressions obtained in the review below.

Welcome to Ireland!

Wrath of the Druids tells the continuation of the story of Eivor who must stop the plans of a kind of evil cult called Children of Danu, who are trying to overthrow the king of Flann. His new adventure this time brings Eivor to Irish soil, where in addition to having to eliminate the new targets on his list, he must face the dangers of enemy types that this time are made more mystical and feel like he has entered another world.

Unfortunately this concept ends up as “just a dream”, like how mystical-type enemies like werewolves and others are just visions or hallucinations that Eivor feels. Actually, this is not necessary, because since Origins the direction of the theme of the Assassin’s Creed franchise has been thicker with fantasy elements and leaves a realistic impression. We actually don’t really like the approach with fantasy elements like this, but the fun that is offered is quite different from the original game when it comes to the variety of enemies you fight. For example, with the more brutal gameplay concept in Valhalla, facing enemies with unique abilities such as being able to shoot fire from their mouths and executing complex combos is enough to make us enjoy the gameplay more.

As a new open world map that can be explored, Ireland ends up still the same as the main map that already exists in Valhalla, especially from a smaller size. Ireland is also lacking in interesting places to explore, which makes most of the main missions we take on end quickly because we are not very interested in getting off track to appreciate its world. Of course this is not Ubisoft’s fault, because the land of Ireland and other islands in that era was not much different in terms of the environment. But it would be much better if at least Ubisoft would add an element that makes exploration more exciting and motivates players to explore the world in full.

Solid Content, Still Same Playing Experience

The biggest credit we can give Wrath of the Druids lies in its density of content itself. Although the design of the new Irish map is not too different including the gameplay mechanics offered, at least you are still presented with solid story content that can even take more than 30 hours to complete. It immediately reminds us of what CD Project Red did to The Witcher 3, like how they didn’t compromise on the DLC content that made the game even more massive.

This time, Ubisoft doesn’t even put a limit on how to access its new content, so players who have just played Valhalla can already taste Wrath of the Druids. It’s just that we don’t recommend it, because there is also a warning that this DLC is more suitable for players who have Power Level 55. Not to mention the type of Druid enemy that you will face has skills and tricks that make them tougher to beat, so you can imagine how difficult it is. the challenge.

If that’s not enough, Wrath of the Druids also adds a random-generated-based quest called Royal Demand. This is a series of missions made with an extra level of difficulty compared to other types of missions, where you are required to play stealth / stealth, not being hit by attacks or other additional demands that are ready to frustrate you. The extra challenges it offers are enough to satisfy some players, but the structure of random-generated missions like this is precisely the one we feel is the most repetitive and can bore you in no time.

Post Trading System

Another addition to the most dominant and well-implemented new content is the Trading Post system. This is a replacement feature for the old Settlement system which is now more refined. By helping a mysterious merchant named Avar, you will be asked to visit various Trading Posts that focus on different resources in Ireland. After successfully mastering it, you will be given the option to upgrade to accommodate more of the specific resources needed.

Overall the system is packaged more simply, but there’s still a retained formula like missions that require you to occupy certain areas and how the patterns always feel identical. Even so, at least Ubisoft is responsive in responding to player complaints about the Settlement system and we have to admit it managed to fix it quite well in this latest DLC. Setting aside time to complete Trading Post missions is also more rewarding, because you can get access to various attractive prizes such as Armor sets with designs from the previous Assassin’s Creed series.

Conclusion

If I’m honest, Wrath of the Druids doesn’t actually offer a different and unique gaming experience than we expected. The portion of the story content is indeed quite dense, not to mention the variety of enemies with extra challenges to the refinement of the Settlement system through the Trading Post, but on the other hand there are also quite unfortunate shortcomings such as the Irish map design which is not much different and the Royal Demand mission which is too big. repetitive and boring. This is a DLC that we think is much better suited for Valhalla fans looking to revisit the adventures of Eivor, or players looking to dive into the game for the first time.

The biggest appreciation we can give is Ubisoft’s effort to offer an even longer portion of playtime than the classic Assassin’s Creed games of the past, and surprisingly this is compared to DLC alone. This certainly makes us more impatient to see how dense the content they will bring in the next DLC, namely The Siege of Paris.

For those of you who are interested in the game, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, and also PC. You can monitor the development of new content from the game’s official website HERE.

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Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft

Release Date: 2020-11-10

Console, PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series

The newest game in the Assassin’s Creed franchise that focuses on Norse mythology and the era of Viking rule. Taking the best elements from the previous series while bringing a variety of new changes, this game successfully offers a more epic playing experience with the widest world setting in the franchise, a more brutal combat system, and the return of stealth elements from the classic Assassin’s Creed series.