Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Siege of Paris Review
I’ve seen a lot of content creators and interviews about the latest Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla DLC, Siege of Paris, that seemed to be a bit tunnel-visioned in its critiques around what wasn’t included instead of what was. So I am going to just give my personal opinion of what I like and didn’t like. To prepare you, I enjoyed it and I am a big fan of Eivor and Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. So if you’re expecting a negative review, this isn’t a helpful read for you.
ALSO, SPOILERS…..LOTS OF SPOILERS!!!
What I liked about Siege of Paris
Music: The soundtrack is the first thing I want to mention. This game, from base game through all the DLCs, has absolutely amazing soundtracks. Siege of Paris is meant to be on the dark side (I mean, you can be eaten alive by rats and there are bodies EVERYWHERE and there is a plague district) and the music sets the tone throughout.
Armor and weapon sets: We really had so many people begging for one-handed swords, but what I did not expect them to deliver with some historically linked weapons like Joyeuse and an Ulfbehrt sword (Egbert). Joyeuse is a gorgeous looking sword. And the scythes, while not my preferred weapon, are pretty powerful and work well with the content. What I enjoyed most about the armor was they truly felt like unique sets specific for the style of play you chose, and they ALSO felt historically significant in some way — whether due to legend, or realistic armor. The reaper set perfectly fit the dark tone of the DLC and the Paladin set looked fantastic, had some solid melee stats, and also fit the game. It was interesting how Odo’s set looked so similar to Eivor’s ….even he even makes a comment about how they’re more alike than he realized.
Environment: Francia, like every other area in ACV, is gorgeous. It was interesting how the map itself reflected Francia’s current state — beautiful elements, with its deep reds and blues and greens, but also afflicted with a darkness that Eivor couldn’t quite put a finger on the source. It reminded me of how they approached England, only even more stark. Again, the rats REALLY brought that darkness to life. Man, those freaked me out.
Enemy difficulty: The difficulty level was pretty elevated compared to other zones in England/Norway/Vinland/Ireland and I felt genuinely challenged at times. My first playthrough I died quite a few times, while my second I had to be very smart in my armor sets/runes, health & rations, and mechanics. Charles was actually a bit of a pain, almost too much of one at times. But even the minor soldiers could get some impressive damage on me if I did something wrong. I wasn’t just going through motions in my fights at all.
Writing/Dialogue: OK, I’ll be totally honest. I actually thought the dialogue was almost better than base game at times. From the cut scenes with really thoughtful conversations between Odo and Eivor to the NPC barks. I LOVED that they made Eivor actually feel like she was post-game and more developed as a person. Less about glory and raiding and death, more about diplomacy. Also one thing I noticed — kudos to them — was that she talked more about her mother than her father in base game. I attribute that to less of a fixation now that she doesn’t resent her father anymore, but nonetheless it was refreshing to hear her speak about the other important figure she lost. The best part was how truly tired she sounded from everything she’s experienced, as shown by the video above.
Main story: I personally loved the main story. It was to the point, had a clear arc, the NPCs were all fantastic (especially Charles, Odo and Toka) and I was drawn in from start to finish. I know many didn’t like it because they did not make clear connections to the Isu, assassins/templar, or modern day. But I have reasons why it wasn’t too upsetting for me:
- Assassins/templar were not avoided entirely, it was just a minor narrative. Just like base game. I see no reason to force it into the DLCs as the primary narrative when that was not the original devs’ intent. I also really like their take on this. The Hidden Ones respected her desire to not join their brotherhood, such is her freedom of choice. And yet, they follow her and support her path — including delivering her powerful armor and weapons — and I speculate this is because they identify common core values she has. THEIR freedom of choice was to remain in the dark so she can work in the light. Which, her dialogue proves she respects THAT choice rather than trying to chase them or force them to reveal themselves. The Hidden Ones do not have to be directly involved with every historical event to influence them. I find that to be a brilliant take.
- While Isu was not directly connected, they used classic AC devices to hint at that connection AND even gifted us a really cool Easter Egg I will not spoil for you. (Two words: Saint-Denis). Was it left open to interpretation? Yes. Am I ok making that interpretation without it being explicitly said, knowing they wanted to focus on the historical moments most? Also yes, though see some criticism below.
- Modern day was only about 20–30 minutes of base game and I appreciate that it isn’t forced into the DLCs unless it makes sense.
Eivor: This game was truly about Eivor’s story and I really thought her complexity and development was represented so well. She really thought more about life and death and didn’t treat either one in such a trivial manner. She wasn’t chasing death. She would infiltrate and assassinate instead of slaughter soldiers to get to her target. She tried to prevent a siege, not encourage it. Also, Cecilie Stenspil did such a great job shifting Eivor’s conversational tone away from that almost cocky and impulsive dialogue into something a little more somber, thoughtful and soft….And I chuckled at her French accent she applied in one particular scene.
Toka being Eivor’s mirror: If you missed this, go play the DLC again and make sure you’re canon female Eivor. Eivor plays the role of mentor and the parallels between them are obvious. I really enjoyed that mentorship story, INCLUDING a moment of showing their parallel queerness. Don’t think this was intentional? See the cut scene at the end with Randvi. Eivor is canonically queer and they had an actual quest with dialogue that Toka is, too. It was nice to see Eivor advising a young woman she knew would come into power soon.
Randvi: They didn’t have to include her and show that Eivor and Randvi rule Ravensthorpe together, but they did. A subtle scene or two that meant so much for continuity purposes.
Religious themes: This entire game has been about religious conflict during the Viking era and I thought the differences between Christians and Norse Pagans/Heathens was shown well. Like, barks calling them sinners, possession being seen as something to burn and remove instead of being touched by the Gods, etc.
What I didn’t like about Siege of Paris
Pacing/game length: I saw the devs repeatedly say they wanted quality over quantity with this DLC. I genuinely think this was them addressing some of the complaints of base game being “bloated” and “too long” (I disagree, but I digress). I think they overcompensated. The game could have easily been another 10 hours and fleshed out some pieces a little more, and/or the map could have been a little meatier or larger. I found myself a little shocked at how quickly I wrapped main story and some of the base game elements seem too casually added with not a huge amount of point to them, i.e. cairns, duels, and even artifacts. There are huge swaths of the map that have nothing to them, which I think is a missed opportunity. I also think this would have allowed for more direct integration of the Isu elements they kind of hinted at. Oh….and no Orlog?!?! :-(
Rebel Missions: I hated them. Can’t even sugarcoat it. The only thing in this DLC I blatantly did not enjoy. I recommend getting through these first and spending your first few hours completing to get them out of the way within a smaller section of map to navigate. I thought it was a step back from the Wrath of the Druids trading posts and I was SUPER annoyed at what they locked behind the levelling on these. You really shouldn’t need to spend hours completing these to get the DLC hairstyle. Just….why? And unlike Wrath of the Druids, you didn’t really get much out of them. Wrath of the Druids you got like 3–4 cool armor sets, and quickly!
Randvi’s voice: I will not harp on this for long because they couldn’t help it — voice actor had a scheduling conflict. But I really, really hope she’s back in future DLCs because it was jarring to hear her sound so different with a different voice actor. (And kudos to the new voice actor for being brave enough to fill in!)
Not tying up any base game loose ends: It seems as if the DLCs may be limited to not doing anything that directly affects what was done in base game, including adding too much to it. As such, a lot of plot device connections are not direct, open to interpretation, etc., and I think the DLC suffers for it. Is Charles just mentally ill or possibly a sage? What are the Bellatores, how are they connected to the order if at all? Why does Eivor come off so dark in this game and sound so ominous about her doom? What does this mean for Ravensthorpe? What impact does her choices make and how does that impact how she ends up in Vinland?
My hope for this is that the 2nd year DLCs are not held to this same limitation and can actually tie up all the loose ended narratives in base game. What happens with Sigurd? What about Basim? Eivor said her bones are tied to Vinland and we find her body there….why? Does Odin stay banished from her mind? How does she finally realize she is Isu reincarnated? What is Ravensthorpe’s fate given so many ominous prophecies about Eivor (Valka’s included)? Does she end up a Hidden One, Templar (please no) or neither?SO. MANY. QUESTIONS. If the 2nd year DLCs do not tie these loose ends up, I then have to step back and say base game left a little too much open-ended at the end for a story as compelling as Eivor’s….and I would be bummed to say that, given how much I absolutely loved base game.
Conclusion
I had so much fun playing Siege of Paris and I think it was so much better than I expected for a DLC. Eivor has truly been such a fun protagonist to play and I’ve grown attached to her full story being told. The game is gorgeous, the gameplay is fun, the music is phenomenal and the story/writing had me hooked the entire time. I would give it an 8/10 for a DLC!!!! I just may play it for a third time.
That said, I think they overdid the “quality over quantity,” and the lack of clear connection to lore and base game takes the edge off what could have been a mind-blowingly fantastic DLC. They still have my full, enthusiastic attention to Eivor’s story going into year 2 and as we head into the Viking Discovery Tour this week (I CANNOT WAIT…VIKING NERDS REJOICE!). I just really want them to stick the landing for Eivor’s story and Siege of Paris could have been just a little more about her eventual conclusion.
