Game review
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
6.5 / 10
- Developer
- Ubisoft Montreal
- Publisher
- Ubisoft
- Released
- 10 November 2020
- Platforms
- Windows
- Genre
- RPG
- Monetisation
- One-time purchase; DLC expansions and an in-game Helix Credits store for cosmetics
- Players
- Single-player only
The short version
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is Ubisoft Montreal's open-world Viking action RPG, arriving on Steam on 6 December 2022, two years after its original November 2020 release. It sits at 68% positive ("Mixed") across 16,186 English-language Steam reviews, and this review read the 100 most-helpful negative reviews alongside the 100 most recent English reviews.
The single largest, most consistent complaint across every year sampled is content padding: "Assassin's Creed Valhalla is the ultimate example for a decent 15-20h game that's artificially bloated to last the player at least 65+h," reads one representative review, and versions of that exact argument recur from 2022 through 2026. A second, more historically specific controversy dominated the Steam launch: Ubisoft shipped the port without basic Steam achievement support, prompting an organised player campaign this review found documented in the negative sample itself. That specific problem was eventually resolved — this review confirmed via the game's own Steam news feed that achievements were added on 8 October 2024, almost two years after the Steam launch. What hasn't fully resolved is stability: reviewers were still reporting frequent crashes as recently as November 2025, more than three years after the Steam release.
Biggest strengths
- A large, visually striking recreation of Viking-age England and Norway that reviewers on both sides of the score credit for scale and atmosphere
- The notorious lack of Steam achievements at launch was genuinely resolved — this review confirmed achievements were added on 8 October 2024 via the game's own Steam news feed
- A dedicated Windows 11 compatibility fix shipped in January 2025, addressing a specific, documented technical issue
Biggest weaknesses
- The single largest, most consistent complaint across every year sampled: reviewers describe a genuinely 15-20 hour core story artificially stretched with repetitive filler content into a 65-plus hour experience
- Reviewers were still reporting frequent crashes as recently as November 2025, over three years after the Steam release — "released 3 years ago and it's still crashing," reads one
- The Steam version launched in December 2022 without basic Steam features including achievements, and reviewers document Ubisoft initially declining to add them before an organised player campaign helped change that roughly two years later
Who it's for: Assassin's Creed and open-world RPG fans prepared to invest significant time and skip or rush optional content — series veterans specifically should be aware this entry departs from the stealth-first design of earlier games in ways some longtime fans call a step backward.
Our recommendation: Worth it for the setting and scale if you enjoy long, content-heavy open worlds and are willing to be selective about side content — go in expecting real padding, and check current crash reports for your hardware given the game's ongoing stability issues.
6.5 / 10
Introduction
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is Ubisoft Montreal's open-world Viking action RPG, published by Ubisoft. It originally released on 10 November 2020, arriving on Steam over two years later, on 6 December 2022, at NZ$99.99. Players take on Eivor, a Viking raider building a settlement in England amid a hidden war between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order. It sits at 68% positive ("Mixed") across 16,186 English-language Steam reviews. This review read the 100 most-helpful negative reviews of 5,197 total, plus a sample of the 100 most recent English reviews.
A short story, artificially stretched
The dominant, most consistent complaint across every year of this review's negative sample concerns length and padding. "Assassin's Creed Valhalla is the ultimate example for a decent 15-20h game that's artificially bloated to last the player at least 65+h even when rushing the main story, resulting in an incredibly draining experience that seems to drag on forever," reads one detailed review. Another, with nearly 60 hours logged: "It is a very grueling experience. I am not even half way through the main stor[y]." A third calls it "a pretty bloated game... a lot of it is grinding and the same few mission[s] repeating over and over. It seriously took me 12 hours to get through the prologue." This isn't a complaint isolated to launch — this review found nearly identical arguments made independently in 2023, 2025 and 2026, describing the same shape of problem years apart.
A notorious launch, and its eventual fix
A second, more specific controversy defined this game's Steam debut. "Comes 2 years late to Steam without basic steam features implemented. When asked about it they double down on their decision," reads one of the most-upvoted negative reviews, referring to the port's initial lack of Steam achievements. Another documents an organised community response: a review updated with "[UPDATE, UBISOFT RESPONDED]" walks other players through submitting a support ticket specifically to request achievements be added. This review checked whether that campaign worked: the game's own Steam news feed confirms "Achievements Added to Assassin's Creed Valhalla" on 8 October 2024 — nearly two years after the Steam launch, but a genuine, dated resolution to a documented complaint.
Crashes that outlasted the fix
What hasn't fully resolved is basic stability. This review found a Windows 11-specific compatibility patch dated 14 January 2025 in the game's own news feed, addressing one specific technical issue. But general crash reports continued well past that: "I'm 100+ hours in, and it's literally unplayable right now because it crashes every 30 mins. The game was released 3 years ago and it's still crashing!?" reads a November 2025 review. That gap — a specific fix landing while general instability complaints continue — mirrors a pattern this outlet has found in several other older titles, where a targeted patch resolves one named issue without resolving the broader complaint.
Verdict
Assassin's Creed Valhalla offers a genuinely large, visually striking open world that a meaningful share of even critical reviewers credit for scale and atmosphere. What holds the score down is a remarkably consistent complaint spanning the game's entire Steam history: a story reviewers describe as 15-20 hours' worth of content stretched into 65-plus hours through repetition, plus a notorious two-year wait for basic Steam features that was eventually resolved, and crash reports that persisted well past that fix. Worth it for players who enjoy long, content-heavy open worlds and are comfortable skipping or rushing filler content — series veterans specifically should know this entry departs meaningfully from the stealth-first design some prefer in Origins and Odyssey.
Pros and cons
Pros
- A large, visually striking recreation of Viking-age England and Norway that reviewers on both sides of the score credit for scale and atmosphere
- The notorious lack of Steam achievements at launch was genuinely resolved — this review confirmed achievements were added on 8 October 2024 via the game's own Steam news feed
- A dedicated Windows 11 compatibility fix shipped in January 2025, addressing a specific, documented technical issue
- Combat and settlement-building systems draw real praise from a meaningful share of reviewers, even those who ultimately don't recommend the full package
Cons
- The single largest, most consistent complaint across every year sampled: reviewers describe a genuinely 15-20 hour core story artificially stretched with repetitive filler content into a 65-plus hour experience
- Reviewers were still reporting frequent crashes as recently as November 2025, over three years after the Steam release — "released 3 years ago and it's still crashing," reads one
- The Steam version launched in December 2022 without basic Steam features including achievements, and reviewers document Ubisoft initially declining to add them before an organised player campaign helped change that roughly two years later
- Series veterans specifically argue Valhalla is a step backward from Assassin's Creed Origins and Odyssey in design, feeling less alive and more mechanically repetitive
Screenshots
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Assassin's Creed ValhallaImage: Ubisoft via Steam -
Assassin's Creed ValhallaImage: Ubisoft via Steam -
Assassin's Creed ValhallaImage: Ubisoft via Steam -
How the review scores each part of the gameWanderer Editorial -
The essentials at a glanceWanderer Editorial -
The short versionWanderer Editorial