14 DAY TRIAL // 
Dawn of Ragnarok is the first major expansion for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. After a few DLCs that offered limited story content and activities, Ubisoft is returns to the latest entry in the action-RPG series with a full-fledged expansion that promises at least 20 hours of gameplay.
Players who have already finished the base game will have no trouble jumping into Dawn of Ragnarok, which requires a power level of 340. However, even those who didn’t will be able to comfortable tackle the new expansion since Dawn of Ragnarok lets you boost your character to the required power level before starting it.
Either way, to begin Dawn of Ragnarok you must head back to Ravensthorpe and start tracking a new quest called “Restless Dreams,” which will send you to meditate under a particular tree to the east of your settlement. Keep in mind that you’ll need to have the Seer’s hut build in Ravensthorpe, which should be upgraded to at least level 3 to be able to start Dawn of Ragnarok.
After a short back and forth with Valka the Seer, you’ll find yourself in Svartalfheim, one of the nine realms branching out from Yggdrasill, also known as the Tree of Life. In Dawn of Ragnarok, Eivor once again impersonates being Havi aka Odin, in a race against time to free his kidnapped son, Baldr.
Those who’ve already went through all of Eivor’s Viking saga in the base game will find the new realm of Svartalfheim a breath of fresh air. The new environments are akin to a mix between Greenland and an active volcano region, so there are definitely some impressive vistas to visit if you’re interested in the scenery.
Dawn of Ragnarok introduces new type of enemies and several new powers that you “borrow” from them. With the help of a new relic made by the dwarves, Havi is can now steal the powers of his victims and use them to his advantage. However, these powers will only work for a limited time and require a special resource that can be gathered from fallen enemies, sacrificial shrines and plants. It’s an interesting new mechanic that will help you reach areas otherwise unreachable or slip undetected in guarded areas.
Personally, I think just two of the several new powers are worth having ready all the time. The rest are either situational or not powerful enough to worth using. One of the most powerful new abilities allows Havi to disguise into a fire giant or Muspel, which makes it very easy to chain several assassinations before either he’s discovered, or the ability runs off. The second most useful power allows you to turn into a crow and fly to hard-to-reach areas. It’s perfect if you want to cut down those times needed to climb some of the synchronization spots, and you’ll definitely want that considering how high the new ones are.
Story-wise, don’t expect any miracles, this is still a Ubisoft game we’re talking about. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy Dawn of Ragnarok, it’s just that the pacing is completely off about half-way through, and the ending is very abrupt. Although the expansion starts off quite nicely, it slows down to a halt about mid-way through by tasking players with some errand missions that feel more like side content rather than main story.
Despite having an enjoyable story, Dawn of Ragnarok fails to explain the motives of the main antagonist, Surtr, the immortal fire giant guarding Muspelheim, for kidnapping Havi’s son and conquering Svartalfheim. There is a little bit of an epilogue to the story, but you’ll only get that if you head to a certain underground shelter before the credits roll. I believe that should have been part of the main story because many players will assume that they’ve finished Dawn of Ragnarok and will close the game after the credits roll.
If you don’t close your game as soon as you see the credits roll, make sure you pay attention to what Havi says once you’re teleported back into the game, and do visit the underground shelter mentioned to get a little bit of context of why you’ve tried so much to prevent Surtr from getting his hands on a very powerful relic. Well, not really, but you’ll learn what happened in your absence from Asgard and get a glimpse at what I believe will be the next Assassin’s Creed Valhalla expansion.
The Good
- Enjoyable story
- Some of the new powers
- Stunning landscapes
The Bad
- Bad pacing ruins the story
- Same dull grind mechanics
- Brings nothing new to the series
- Unsatisfying ending
Conclusion
Despite all of that, Assassin’s Creed fans will find Dawn of Ragnarok an enjoyable experience. There are plenty of new activities and the main story is decent for the most part. The new powers look more impressive on paper rather than in-game, but props to Ubisoft for trying. My advice is to play this like a brand-new game rather than an Assassin’s Creed expansion, although it will be hard to get past the series’ dull grind mechanics, which are quite present in Dawn of Ragnarok too.
Review code provided by the developer.
