"Assassin's Creed Valhalla" is the latest installment in Ubisoft's long-running "Assassin's Creed" series and the first for the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Like "Origins" and "Odyssey," "Valhalla" features a vast world with customizable protagonists and much more open combat than previous "Assassin's Creed" titles. Valhalla features a vast world with a customizable protagonist and much more open combat than previous "Assassin's Creed" titles. However, Valhalla is a bit more streamlined than its immediate predecessor, and the story also seems to have more ambitious themes.

I'm not sure if Valhalla solves all the problems I had with the first two games, but I didn't get bored once during the very long demo, and I know I would have played it much longer. Here's what I really liked about Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and what I'm still hesitant about.

If there is one thing critics will never agree on, it is the combat system of "Assassin's Creed". The earlier works are too simple, the later ones too repetitive. Alternatively, one could say that the earlier works were clean and streamlined, while the later works were brilliantly customizable.

Whichever way you look at it, "Valhalla" is closer to "Origin" and "Odyssey" than to the earlier works. Equipped with a variety of weapons, from axes to spears to flails, the players can pummel their enemies with light or heavy attacks. Most enemies have shields, which prevent them from attacking until they break their guard. Because multiple enemies attack at the same time, combat requires a delicate balancing act between defense and attack.

First, the combat is gruesome. You play as the Viking warrior Abor, who shows no mercy to his enemies. In my demo, he chopped off limbs, separated enemies from their heads, and sometimes stomped them to obliteration; even by the bloody standards of Origins and Odyssey, the combat in "Valhalla" is brutal. How much you enjoy that depends on who you are. I thought it was cool at first, but by the third hour I thought it was excessive.

Still, I enjoyed trying out the different weapons, especially now that I can use two swords. Parrying enemy attacks is more important than ever. Breaking enemy shields is also more intuitive than in previous games, which helps keep the combat a bit more streamlined. There were not many enemy types in most missions, mostly mediocre British soldiers, but some of them had shields and some had spears, so the tactics had to change a bit.

We also tried a couple of boss fights, all of which felt appropriately challenging. One was a fight with Black Shuk, a legendary animal that required a lot of parrying and constant recovery. In Valhalla, you no longer regenerate your strength, so you have to scavenge for food in the overworld and save the excess for recovery food. The timing of recovery is a lifesaver, but it also means that health is a very limited resource during a tough fight.

The two are against Cordelia and Regan, who may look familiar as the daughters of the semi-fictional King Lear. Each daughter used hallucinogenic drugs to convince Avor that he was fighting a skull-faced, flame-wielding demon not unlike the creatures in the myths of Origin and Odyssey. Parry and dodge were key, but in Valhalla you could no longer dodge indefinitely. Parry is more important than ever, as it takes longer to recharge when you run out of dodge stamina.

We have previously discussed how pushing open combat to the fore was not "Assassin's Creed's" first goal. However, the combat in Valhalla is fast-paced, fun, and perhaps varied enough to sustain a long open-world game.

I also had the opportunity to earn skill points and assign them in the game's character advancement system, which bears little resemblance to Final Fantasy X's sphere grid. Avor has access to three different skill trees: raven, bear, and wolf. Each corresponds to a different gameplay style: stealth, melee, and shooting.

Every time you unlock any of the skill trees, you receive a small boost (such as increased melee damage or a boost in strength), bringing you one step closer to learning a new skill, such as leaping in the air and slashing at your opponent. Also, sometimes you have to choose between two different skills, each unlocking a different path. It's an interesting system. However, the skills can only be improved by books found in the overworld and not by simply assigning points. This is an odd two-tier system, which can make it difficult to prioritize your favorite skills.

Thinking back to the early "Assassin's Creed" games some time ago, the tension between religious and secular societies was at the forefront of the story: the first game examined whether Christians or Muslims had a claim to the Holy Land, while the second and third games were basically a corrupt papal office It was a long exegesis on the Valhalla is likely to take a critical look at religion again, which is appropriate given its setting.

I played three story missions in Valhalla, centered around Avor's mission to rescue Oswald, the captured king of East Anglia. Assassin's Creed Valhalla is set in 9th century England, where conflict between the invading Danes and the ruling Saxons was an everyday occurrence. But the game does not simply portray the Danes as righteous warriors and the Saxons as cowardly aristocrats. Oswald is an intelligent, kind, and courageous ruler who holds his Christian faith very dear. Avor is quick to point out that some Danes are simply bloodthirsty bandits. No character is defined by race or religious background. Exactly like the first game, it is a nuanced portrayal of a complex period in history.

Aver, like the best "Assassin's Creed" protagonists, is a likable mix of pragmatism and principle. Unlike the proto-assassins of "Origins" and "Odyssey," I would have liked to know more about his connection to the Assassins, who were in full swing at this point, but that will be revealed in the main game.

One of my major complaints about "Assassin's Creed Odyssey" was that I found the conquest battles aimless and repetitive. Thankfully, the raids in "Assassin's Creed Valhalla" addressed many of my concerns. While there are still large battles to be fought in Valhalla, there is no repetitive movement across the crowded battlefield. Instead, each assault begins with a longboat ride down the river to the fort and a horn blowing to rally allies.

Together with his companions, he advances by reaching new areas, not simply by watching the progress bar as he defeats the fort's enemies. It is satisfying to watch the fort's defenders dwindle from a horde to a mere handful, and to realize that once a fort has been raided, it never needs to be raided again. Unlike the endless repetition of conquest battles, it only needs to be plundered once for its riches.

My expectation for "Assassin's Creed Valhalla" was that stealth might be a viable option in almost every situation, as it was until "Assassin's Creed Unity". Instead, it is still very easy to fail the stealth approach and find yourself in a situation where it would be easier to simply hit the target; 9th century England is flat and open, and there are not many opportunities for stealth, even in forts and churches. Also, there is a bit of a timing mini-game involved in assassinating a stubborn target, and it is easy to botch an assassination.

Perhaps the character build I was playing was simply not optimized for stealth. But Valhalla seems to be taking the Origins/Odyssey approach: "Feel free to try stealth, but you'll probably have to fight your way out."

"Assassin's Creed Odyssey" has too much to do; by the time you hit 30 hours, you'll see absolutely everything the game can throw at you, but if you want to do it all, it's 80 hours or more of gameplay. Assassin's Creed Valhalla" seems a bit more streamlined, since you don't have to look at the list of tasks in each optional location. But there is still a great deal to do, most of which seems repetitive.

The game categorizes side activities into three types: mystery, wealth, and secrets. Mystery has interesting possibilities, with legendary beast hunts, optional boss fights, and character-driven side quests. But "Wealth," as the name implies, is a game about finding money and secret stashes: finding money and rare item stashes. You often have to sneak through enemy fortresses and fight. After one or two of these missions, you have seen everything you want to see.

(I didn't find any secrets in the demo. That means I'll have to look for more in the full version.)

There were about 10 different areas to explore on the map, with over 30 side activities in East Anglia alone.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla was a lot of fun for three hours. I enjoyed the combat, admired the story, and got a good look at medieval England. My big question is whether or not this game will be enjoyable for the majority of my playing time. From the small chunks I played, it looks like this game could easily hold up for 50+ hours.

In any case, I've been playing Assassin's Creed since the first installment and have no intention of stopping now; Valhalla is quite similar to Origins and Odyssey, which is both promising and something to note. When this game is released later this year, I will give it a more solid evaluation.