I'm deep into AC: Valhalla and it's a real goddamn pleasure and I'm having so many thoughts as to why!

The more RPGs I play, the more I've come to recognize that the features that make them good to great (as opposed to mediocre to terrible) need to be far less dramatic than you would think.

The expansiveness of the RPG is one of its main selling points, but like any longform piece of art (TV show, novel) the sense of scale is an illusion. Part of the job of the thing is to make you feel a sense of immersion and completeness.

So the actual size/scale/scope of a world is less important than the way the way it's portrayed/populated.

Obviously Cyberpunk 2077 was a huge mess for a lot of reasons (I got a refund because it crashed every five minutes and took fifty years to start up again), but even what I played I could see the mistakes they made in trying to create this completely customizable world.

Like, you could change the size of a character's penis or areola but you couldn't make them fat, and their gender/pronouns were pegged to the pitch of their voice.

Or, like, you could drive—but driving was tedious and insanely difficult. I couldn't appreciate the scope and scale of the city because I was constantly crashing into people and cars or trying to turn around. And the weapons mechanics were ridiculously complicated.

So it was both weirdly narrow & blinkered AND finicky in the extreme. And there were no moments of joy or sexiness or levity; it was self-serious and badly written.

AC: Valhalla, on the other hand, has a ton of detail, but gives you ways to moderate it. Like, the skill tree is complex but you can choose to let "fate" direct it. Or you can ride your mount/longship wherever, but also let it take you along the road/shoreline & enjoy the scenery

The writing is great. The characters are good, even the small ones. The sex/romance arcs are sweet/funny/hot/plotty. The combat is highly customizable. And you can, like, jump from really high locations into piles of flowers.

One measure of success of a game for me is if my sweeties can watch me play it. Both of them really love this one—they pop in & out of the room & ask me for updates on various storylines. They say it's like watching a movie. (The last games I heard this about was TLOU2 & RDR2.)

This means that it has good moments—moments that are worth watching/playing. Even small ones like jumping from a really massive height or helping a viking warrior process his grief or fucking your brother's wife on a table.

(There are actually several beautiful little mini-quests/mysteries that involve helping people process their feelings, it's very @whyaredads.)

(I should add that I don't think a game *has* to be watchable to be good. One of my favorite games is Bloodbourne, which is imo unwatchable but incredibly satisfying to play. It's just an indicator of a certain kind of quality and attention to detail.)

Also, ACV is a game with a ton of queer and female characters that—at least so far—doesn't traffic in misogyny/homophobia in a way that a lot of designers/writers would be tempted by.

Oh, and also, the orlog minigame is SO FUN. I can't remember the last time I found an in-game minigame so enjoyable and playable. (I also assumed it was real, but apparently it was designed for this game, which is amazing to me.) https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/orlog/news/assassins-creed-valhalla-orlog-physical

Also, it is honestly fucking joyful to raid and plunder monasteries for their wealth. Just so good to watch monks scattering in terror. *chef's kiss*

So yeah. This is my first Assassin's Creed game but it won't be my last. Highly recommend.

Oh and also the butch rep in this game is OFF THE CHARTS, that's another huge selling point. I'm obsessed. I love huge women beating the shit out dudes. I could watch it all day long.