I completed a marathon of all AC games last year, from the very first title, all the way up to Valhalla.
The games serves as a good reflection of Ubisoft over the years. The issues in the series and Ubisoft’s approach are amplified when one plays the games back to back.
The first title from 2007, albeit with clunky movements, had a promising story which was only elevated by its sequels.
The titles post-Revelations experimented a lot but the series settled at Origins, which was the last playable game, all aspects considered.
Valhalla is the worst of the series. It offers nothing new in terms of gameplay or story. It is just more of the same. Mundane and boring. It kept painfully reminding me that I am playing a video game.
Yet, I firmly believe that Shadows will be a lot worse with its live service mechanics.
A sidebar on AC 2007
I would be remiss if I did not mention that nostalgia might be compensating for some of the game’s flaws. I still remember reading the full/multi page spreads about the game in the local computer magazines.