When huntress Petra asked me to help her look for her missing brother, for example, we ended up accidentally tripping on some magic mushrooms we found and chasing forest creatures instead. As the settlement expands, it draws new characters, sidequests, and even the opportunity for romance. New buildings unlock new upgrades, like a forge so I can enhance my equipment or a brewery so I can host feasts that give me a temporary buff to my stats. Like Dutch's camp in Red Dead Redemption 2, the settlement is my home base that I return to frequently in between quests.
The anchor of this story is my settlement, called Ravensthorpe, which expands slowly over time as I gather new resources and construct new buildings. Unwilling to give up his dream of ruling, Sigurd convinces Eivor and much of his clan to abandon Norway and sail to England so they can violently carve out a new future. Sigurd was supposed to be made a local king, but the unification of Norway under King Harald leaves him two choices: Bend the knee or leave. Whichever Eivor you play as, the story unfolds in mostly the same way. Like Odyssey, Eivor can be played as either a man or a woman, but what's great is you can now switch between them freely to test which one suits you instead of being locked into that choice from the outset.
Set during the Viking Invasion of England, the story follows Eivor and her adoptive brother Sigurd, two fierce Norse warriors chasing glory. What really impresses me, though, is how consistently great the story is throughout the entire adventure. I had come to love this character and their betrayal was upsetting, but does that justify denying them an eternity in heaven? Ragnarökin' But I agonized for almost a full minute over whether to let them grasp their axe with their dying breath or kick it away, denying them entrance into Valhalla. When one of my beloved own clansmen betrayed me and tried to take my life, I had no choice but to kill them in self defense. In Odyssey, my choices sometimes felt arbitrary or confusing, but Valhalla does a great job of introducing characters, concepts, and themes, and then forcing me to decide how Eivor, the main character, relates to them. What really stands out to me, though, is how much better Valhalla is at telling an engaging story that twists and turns according to my decisions.
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