Your squad of Einherjar warrior spirits does add much-needed levity, personality, and exposition through their companionship and support to the battle-maiden, but much of it is for naught in the grand scheme of the story. One of the biggest reveals in the final hour is completely missable if you don’t happen to explore a certain part of the map, and if you miss that you’re also locked out of one of a handful of potential endings. Even when larger reveals play out in the climax, the impact of the plot is dampened by its overall predictability, and moments that should be eye-opening and emotional simply aren’t earned. The main plot is slow to unfold, with Valkyrie and Odin being the only real characters in the opening hours, and yet it takes about half of the 20-hour campaign before it starts to crawl towards Valkyrie’s character development and for the central conflict to come into sight. Though the setup of Valkyrie Elysium deals with a war between gods and mythical creatures with figures like Odin, Fenrir, a rival Valkyrie, and a looming apocalypse in the form of Ragnarok in the mix, Valkyrie Elysium’s story has the potential to be an exciting Norse epic, but its story falters from the start. Valkyrie’s ever-present mission on Midgar is to cleanse the spirits troubling the human world and claim its salvation in the aftermath of a disastrous war. Valkyrie Elysium's story has the potential to be an exciting Norse epic, but its story falters from the start. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of crates to smash for gems, treasure chests with valuable loot, or minuscule lore drops called Hollow Blossoms to find, but I would have liked more reasons to stray from the critical path and spectacular sights to seek out. The locations you visit are vacant of activities and life, offering an overly linear path to adventure down with little else to seek out. Unfortunately, the regions of Midgard, while more expansive than the godly domain, are far less fun to look at. Once she descends to the mortal realm of Midgar, the environments are much larger than Asgard. Their base of operations is the opulent yet sparse Asgard, which looks wonderful, but is very small with little to do besides choosing the next quest. The obedient and straight-laced deity warrior known as Valkyrie meets with her creator, the All-Father Odin, before each chapter.
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March 2023
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