[c] The game also includes a framing story, set in the 21st century, which follows Layla Hassan, an Assassin who relives Eivor's memories so as to find a way to save the Earth from destruction.

Similarly to Origins and Odyssey, the team conducted extensive research into the time period to make the game world as historically accurate as possible, and drew inspiration from Norse mythology for certain narrative elements.

The team also sought to address some issues found by players with Odyssey, such as its over ambitiousness, small focus on the Assassin-Templar conflict, and the absence of traditional Assassin's Creed gameplay elements like social stealth.

It received generally positive reviews, with praise for the narrative, characters, voice acting, visuals, soundtrack, world-design and the interconnectivity of activities, while being criticized for its length, technical issues, and repetitive structure.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is an action role-playing video game structured around several main story arcs and numerous optional side-missions, called "World Events".

The "social stealth" concept from earlier Assassin's Creed games returns: Eivor can hide from enemies not only in stationary environmental objects but can pull down the hood and slip into certain crowds to use them as cover.

Most of the game's enemies, through specific combinations of approaches, tactics, and weapon selection, are able to be assassinated through a single attack, with the notable exception of bosses, but still can be defeated through numerous other routes.

[6] The development team aimed to introduce a wider range of enemy archetypes to Valhalla than in previous titles as they wanted the player to be continually surprised by the game even after playing for tens of hours.

[6][25][26] The clan comes into conflict with the kingdoms of Wessex, Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia over the next several years,[25][27] as well as the warring sons of the legendary Viking warrior Ragnar Lothbrok, who made up the Great Heathen Army.

In 855 AD in Norway, a young Eivor Varinsdottir witnesses warlord Kjotve the Cruel sacking her hometown and killing her parents before she is rescued by Sigurd, son of King Styrbjorn of the Raven Clan.

At Hytham's request, Eivor also tracks down and eliminates Order members operating in Lunden, Jorvik, and Wincestre, following tip-offs from a "Poor Fellow-Soldier of Christ."

Hoping to avert his own fated death during Ragnarök, Odin imprisons Loki's son Fenrir, who is foretold to kill him, and retrieves a magical mead from Jotunheim that will allow him and the other Aesir to be reincarnated.

Layla realizes these are actually visions of the Isu shortly before the Great Catastrophe, and that Loki, who was forbidden to reincarnate himself after betraying Odin, found another way to ensure his survival.

Fulke, an Order agent and servant of King Alfred of Wessex, captures Sigurd, believing him to be an Isu or descendant thereof, and tortures him, removing his right arm.

Eivor learns that the Children of Danu, a cult of druids who seek to oust the Norse and Christian faiths from Ireland, are responsible, and begins hunting down their members.

Afterwards, hoping to avert war, Eivor seeks an audience with the Frankish emperor Charles the Fat, who agrees in exchange for the return of his missing wife Richardis.

According to Ismail, this was based on how Eivor and the Vikings may take uncommon events to be signs of their gods' involvement rather than the more overt role that mythology played in Origins and Odyssey.

[10] In researching the time period, Ismail and McDevitt said that the development team found that most historical records of the Viking expansion into Britain were written decades, if not centuries, after the event.

This research, in turn, led the team to make the settlement a focal point of the game and gave Valhalla more of a role-playing flavor, according to lead producer Julien Laferrière.

[35][36] In June 2020, among other issues related to sexual misconduct within Ubisoft, Polygon reported that Ismail "said he would step down from the project following accusations of multiple extramarital affairs with younger fans.

McDevitt said that in writing the story, Ubisoft wanted to give players the ability to select the gender of the player-character of the game, and thus had built this aspect since the start of the narrative development.

Ismail said that Valhalla represents Ubisoft's "flagship" game for these next-generation systems, and has been developed to take advantage of faster loading times both new consoles offer.

[46] Ubisoft's 2019 title Tom Clancy's The Division 2 included an Easter egg in the form of a poster that appeared to tease the next Assassin's Creed game as named Valhalla.

[52] The third story expansion for the game, titled Dawn of Ragnarök, was released in March 2022, and focuses on Norse mythology; it introduces the dwarven realm of Svartalfheim, where Eivor must step back into the role of Odin to rescue his son Baldr from the fire jötunn Surtr.

[53] In August 2022, a free rogue-like game mode titled The Forgotten Saga was released, which again follows Odin as he travels to Niflheim to confront Hel and demand that Baldr be resurrected after his death in Dawn of Ragnarök.

"Each installment hits different sweet spots for different players with varying degrees of success, but for the first time in the series, the balance feels perfect in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

Like Eivor scaling the snow-covered mountains of Norway, Valhalla achieves new heights for the RPG era of Assassin’s Creed, and I’ve never been more excited to see where the series goes next.

"[75] GameSpot gave the game 8/10, praising the story and conclusion to several plotlines from the franchise, but noted the lack of character development, ultimately saying "Valhalla is a confident Assassin's Creed title that takes a few narrative risks which, as a whole, pay off.

Valhalla's unnecessarily inflated hour count, limited stealth mechanics, disconnected story, and overwhelming sense of familiarity all point to a series once again on the decline because of its inability to focus on its strengths.

Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Assassin's Creed Valhalla for "Adventure Game of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Character" for Eivor Varinsdottir.