Assassin's Creed Valhalla

I just got to the gates of Lunden, go me! Yes, I'm slow and easily distracted.

I think AC: Valhalla is a nice game to meander around in. The story isn't really grabbing me and I'm mostly killing those Order people because Hytham thinks it's a good idea. The fact that so much of the game's economy is based on raiding - i.e. taking what someone else worked for - is something I don't like and it made me detach myself from the story, making it more a game I' playing and less of a story I'm experiencing. But I do enjoy trying out different weapons and see how they work for me. I lost count of often Gunnar upgraded and downgraded my stuff because I felt like trying something else and I'm not even that far in the game.

Combat seems a bit of a mixed bag. I don't like how the power difference is factored into damage received and damage dealt (as opposed to simply being the difference of actual health and skills). It made the fights at against the witches a bit of an embuggerance, with almost every mistake resulting in near instant death. WTF was that 350 something lady doing in East Anglia? Like I'd remember coming back for her later, thank you.

Also at least part of the combat mechanics must have been designed by pike salesmen. Pikes hit you even when you should be too close to be stabbed, can be swung like axes and warhammers and have an integrated force field for parrying two handed axes and the like. Not sure what they were thinking here. On the other hand, once you've killed the first pike guy you can enter a chain of Throw weapon -> Stomp -> Throw weapon until there's peace and quiet again.

Now I'm sitting pretty at power level ~200 and I don't really know what to spend my skill points on anymore. But as long as there's fun stuff to find and try out I will go and enjoy that just fine.