This week, after 300 hours of play, I came to the end of the Ubisoft game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla game. During those hours, I spent my time as a Viking, pillaging and looting, building my settlement, raiding enemy camps, and exploring across a massive map of England, with side trips to Norway, the Isle of Skye, Francia (France), Ireland, Asgard, and Vinland (North America). I hunted game, fished, upgraded gear, went on quests, sailed a longship; boxed opponents; trades insults in flyting contests, assassinated enemies (hence the name…), solved puzzles, delved into underground labyrinths and dungeons, battled monsters, went into dream sequences, hunted treasures, upgraded equipment, petted dogs and cats, romanced non-player characters (NPCs), swam, rode horses, climbed cliffs and cathedrals, bought and sold goods, recruited mercenaries, played dice, drank mead, met with kings and warlords, engaged in politics, and raged through massive battles and sieges of forts and cities.

AC Valhalla is an open-world game (OWG), part of the Assassin’s Creed franchise that includes several other games set in various periods and places, including Ancient Egypt, Renaissance Florence, Victorian England, Medieval Japan, Classical Greece, 18th century Caribbean pirate strongholds, Dark Ages England, and Classical Baghdad. I wrote about playing open-world games back in 2025, and have since played others, including AC Valhalla. Because of the investment of time and focus required, these can absorb a lot of my life. There are different OWG games from Ubisoft and other companies, too, including those set in contemporary and even future times (Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption II, Witcher III, Starfield, the Just Cause and Far Cry series for example).

Every game I’ve played in the AC series has been beautifully rendered, with cities, houses, roads, animals, forests, mountains, lakes and rivers, oceans with waves, rain and snow… birds fly in the sky; sheep and cows graze in the fields; the sun rises and sets; night comes and goes; people walk about and gather in towns and cities, flags and pennants flutter in the wind, fish swim in the rivers, smoke rises from fires and chimneys. Some have Greek temples, Roman ruins, or Egyptian pyramids. Others have streets in gritty 19th century London or Revolutionary France. These places feel alive and real. These are gorgeous games to simply walk around in. And you do a lot of walking in all of them (and scrambling over rooftops in the cities).

I should add that you can play as either a male or a female protagonist and some of the games switch the player between men and women for specific quests or sections of quests.

When I say I came to the end, I meant I finished the main story arc, as well as all the core story arcs in the various maps (France, Ireland, etc. provided as separately purchased add-ons called downloadable content, or DLCs) But the game wasn’t really over. There were some minor side-quests I hadn’t taken towards the last third of play simply because I wanted to get to the end, and some activities like fishing and drinking games I only did a little of, but could have done in many locations across the maps. There are ‘mysteries’ to explore that can involve puzzles, offerings, defeating enemies, and breaking evil spells; plus more river raids and dream sequences; many of which I completed, but I could probably still spend another 20-30 hours completing them all. Maybe more, but my enthusiasm flagged.

Initially I really liked this game. It reminded me a lot of the popular Witcher III: The Wild Hunt game and its massive DLCs and open spaces, albeit without the magic. Well, there’s a sort-of magic in AC Valhalla, mostly in the dream sequences, but the player doesn’t control it as a weapon. By the 100th hour, I was starting to feel overwhelmed by all the things there were to do, not just the many things that were necessary just to progress to the next level. But I played on. For me, there was always joy in raiding abbeys, stealthily breaking into enemy strongholds and assassinated their soldiers, and in finally building my character up enough to tackle the bigger, stronger opponents (the boss fights).

Plus, there were still a few places on the map left that I wanted to see but had not reached because the game is huge. The starting map of Norway is 22 sq. kms of mountainous terrain. The map of England where the main story takes place is 120 sq. kms (94 sq km of land; the rest is in rivers and the coastal ocean); Vinland is 2.85; Ireland 15.8; Paris (Francia) 7.5; plus the fantasy/dream realms of Jotunheim (1.2) and Asgard (1.55). This provides a total traversable (playable) space of about 179 sq kms. And that does not include the spaces underground or inside buildings or the Isle of Skye DLC (I have yet to find a site that says how large it is, but I suggest at least 10-12 sq. km. and maybe more). All of this can be reached by the player on foot, swimming, riding a mount, or sailing a longship.

Completionist players want to make sure no part of any of those maps remains unexplored, no quest left unfinished, or treasure or mystery left undiscovered. That can add many more hours to your play time. In the end, I just accepted that I had done as much as I wanted to (or wanted to sink my time into). Given that I picked the game and all of its DLCS up for under $40 during a Steam sale, I’d say I got my money’s worth. Who knows? I might one day return to tidy up all those incomplete bits.

Valhalla this is only the third largest map of the AC game franchise. The maps for Odyssey (Classical Greece, approx. 256 km²), and Black Flag (18th century pirates in the Caribbean, 235 km²) are larger. Admittedly, those two have much larger space dedicated to water, so there’s more sailing in these games than riding. Odyssey is roughly half water; Black Flag even more. The latest game in the franchise, AC Shadows, has 80 km² of playable area; smaller but still a lot. Playing an open-world-game on such a large map requires dedication and plenty of free time (fortunately, I am retired…). So, what’s next?

I recently started playing Assassin’s Creed Mirage, a much smaller map centred on the city of Baghdad in the Caliphate era, with limited actions for the user-played protagonist compared to Valhalla. It was Ubisoft’s attempt to return the franchise to the older style of AC game, with fewer side quests, fewer activities to complete, and reduced combat ability. It was meant to refocus the player on the stealth aspect of the series (recent games in the series had a stronger combat element) and provide a much shorter game overall (15-20 hours for the main story, up to 40 to complete all the side quests and exploration tasks).

I’m not sure if I like Mirage yet. I’ve only got about six hours of play in it. I have had to unlearn some of the things I had practiced in Valhalla, since the emphasis is on stealth rather than on combat. In Valhalla, I usually stood my ground and battled it out against a stronger enemy. In Mirage, I die. Easily, Instead, I have to run away, scramble over rooftops, get away to recover, look for another, sneakier way to accomplish my tasks, including assassination from behind or above. I’ve died a lot to learn that.

In Valhalla, I had a bow to shoot arrows at enemies from afar and sometimes clear a whole bandit camp without raising an axe; in Mirage I have throwing knives with limited range and accuracy. In Valhalla, I could carry 30 arrows; in Mirage just four knives. It’s a different sort of game that forces players to think about their inventory and resources a lot more.

In Valhalla, I could boldly challenge groups of three to six enemies and usually fight my way to victory; in Mirage I have to sneak around and look for ways to get to them one at a time. I can usually win a sword fight against one guard, sometimes against two, but not if one or both are armoured. Those I can only beat through assassination.

In Valhalla, killing enemies in a city didn’t affect the way the NPCs treated me; in Mirage doing it in front of people affects my reputation: when it falls too low the NPCs start calling for the guards when they spot me, which and I have to run away. Improving my reputation so I don’t get outed all the time is a tedious chore. Valhalla has a charisma rating that is raised by winning flyting (poetry) contests but never falls. In Mirage reputation rises and falls with your actions. In Valhalla, I could steal from crates and chests or pickpocket characters with impunity even in front of NPCs; in Mirage if I am seen doing it by an NPC, they can call the guards or lower my reputation.

I’ll keep at it, though. I may decide to start it anew, and avoid the mistakes I’ve made and apply what I’ve learned. I’ll let you know in the comments how I progress.

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