Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Wrath of the Druid DLC Review
Assassin's Creed Franchise usually relies on the story-based DLC to increase the narrative of the game. This is usually done with one of two ways: as a way to fill a clear hole in the game plot or as a method to continue the protagonist's story to explain further how they are connected to other games in This series.
The first of the two DLCs based on the post-launch story of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Wrath of the Druids, did not match the two camps. Without a lot of tying it back to the main story of Valhalla or the franchise as a whole, the DLC did not serve a different purpose and it was very bad for it.
In the Wrath of the Druid, Eivor received a letter from his cousin Barid who said he wanted to meet him again - at that happened, he became King Dublin, the main port city in Ireland. Upon arrival in Ireland, Eivor learned that Barid was trying to protect his crown by securing the trust that would soon become the Supreme King of Ireland Flann Sinna, a man who wants to unite the entire country whether they are Catholic or Druid under his government.
Eivor agreed to help his cousins, also in collaboration with the Lihai Azar Economic Head to improve Dublin's financial status and by working with mysterious poets and Ciara poets to stop Children of Danu, a very strong cult in preserving druid people by destroying the people Catholics are increasing.
This story feels strange, even though the Wrath of the Druids was released a few months after Valhalla, the story was intended to fit somewhere in the main game campaign, not happening afterward.
The ideal power level for DLC is 55, making it a good story to play in the middle of the road through Valhalla to strengthen Eivor if needed. But Valhalla did not have a clear gap in his campaign, so the Wrath of the Druid story was arranged to fit it anywhere. So, there is little momentum or character growth in this particular storyline.
When I played DLC after completing the Valhalla campaign, it was actually like Eivor suffered a setback in his development, he did not say and agreed to things that were not following the Eivor I made during the main campaign.
This certainly doesn't help, besides Ciara, there is no character on the interesting DLC. I have never cared to try to improve the relationship between Barid and Flann or study the background of the Azar and how they lose their business partners.
Barid and Eivor should have deep bonds, because his family brought his parents to their home when no one else would want, allowing Eivor to be born safely.
This is a background story that is fully delivered through rigid exposition, losing a sign in building trustworthy kinship between the two Vikings. The same type of exposition regurgitation is used for Flann and Azar - Wrath of the Druid tells you to care for these people, but never give a strong reason why you should do it.
Ciara, once again, is the only exception. You spend a lot of DLC with him, learn why he, a Druid, chose to side with the High-King Catholic like Flann. In addition, he and Eivor share some common moments that form a repertoire between the two women.
Both of them left their homes to avoid unwanted fate, only to settle among people who viewed them as a savage. The best music on the Wrath of the Druids also comes from Ciara, which displays Eivor's back and other characters with very beautiful songs at certain points on DLC.
Unfortunately, more characters are not like Ciara, and most are not too pleasant to talk to and follow, because the background of this conflict is interesting. Eivor found himself living through a moment where the mysticism of Druids and Catholic faith struggled for supremacy over Ireland while triggering war where the underlying question was whether it was feasible for two different cultures to coexist.
Similar to the other first DLC from the Prequel Trilogy (Origins'the Hidden Ones and Odyssey Legacy of the First Blade), Valhalla's Wrath of the Druid is presented to players as an event that has an impact that plays a role in shaping how the protagonist comes to help establish Assassin Brotherhood. But DLC never followed what he had prepared, instead delivered a very smooth story.
However, the battle at the Wrath of the Druids is very satisfying. The new type of druid enemy presents interesting challenges: they all behave in one direction normally but turn into a strong and terrible form when embedded in mystical green mist.
For example, wolf wizards that install the trap will grow more aggressively and issue a stronger spell while under the influence of Druid's fog, even rubbing his dog's friend who will change the shape of a wolfman. The enemy is very strong and somewhat sucks that you want to avoid, encouraging you to find a way to prevent transformation. As a result, there is a little aspect of Crowd Control to handle druid enemies. This is assisted by several new capabilities that can only be opened when you are in Ireland.
Some of them are directed to defense as opposed to offensive capabilities spread around England and Norway. Smoke Bomb Arrow is my favorite because installing smoke bombs to the arrow offers a new way to deal with the enemy both in the battle clandestine and open. This helped me many times in slowing down the enemy of Druids or causing disorders that were very much needed as long as possible.
In addition to addition, all the mechanics and features of Valhalla are still the same. You still Robb the monastery, help the king, fight unreal monsters, find booty, and hunt secret organizational members. However, the latter was changed disappointing.
Valhalla was built on the hunt for Odyssey for Cult of Cosmos with a closer binding of the hunting of Order of Ancients to the main campaign, including members of the order throughout the story and displaying the recognition scene after each killing to get more insight into the motivation of members.
Wrath of the Druid removes most of it, only a few members of Children of Danu who enter the DLC story and no those who have a sinful confession scene. Hunting Danu is a shallow and very unfavorable story experience.
If Valhalla is a love letter for the Assassin's Creed series, connecting each of the previous 11 mainline games and brings together their storyline which hangs into a cohesive story, Wrath of the Druids is an additional note that is not needed and, frankly, unwanted, It does not add anything valuable for the story of the Eivor and the grooves of its thorough character in learning that there are more things in life other than damaging destiny.
And in terms of mechanics and features, it is not satisfying the method on every existing Valhalla gameplay, provides a dozen hours of the same activity that you have got from the main gameplay 60+ hours available. Those who still play Valhalla might benefit through the Wrath of the Druids for some additional XP to increase the level of Eivor's character and find some amazing booty and combat capabilities.
Good things
- New ability to open attractive strategies, both for stealth meetings and all-out battles
- The demands of the kingdom add a pleasant challenge above side activities, encouraging you to approach the battle in a new way
Bad thing
- Wrath of the Druid does not feel suitable naturally anywhere with a thorough story of Valhalla
- Eivor is very static in its development, and many other characters are also not so favored
- The hunt for Children of Danu stripped of what makes the hunt for the Order of Ancients in its main game so interesting
- Need to travel back to Dublin to claim this trade postal prize disrupts the story flow and can feel like a side quest after a while.