From a certain perspective, the pursuit of Nordic style by our generation of young people is no different from being despised by you to bloom and bloom with wealth, but it is just a different form of presentation. When it is defined by the words "simplicity", "Morandi" and "sexual frigidity", it becomes a misunderstanding.

It was not until two days ago that my old friend at Ubisoft gave me the activation code of "Assassin's Creed: Valhalla" to let me ride the wind and waves in this virtual world that I realized that the real Nordic style is not about making articles, not about paintings and embroidery, not so elegant, so calm, gentle, respectful, frugal.

The real Nordic style is both bloody and violent and brilliant, and its core is the romance of an era named by the Vikings with axe and keel warships.

Picture source: Ubisoft China

The Vikings are like Mongolians on the sea.

The Mongols are on the plateau and in the fjords. When the barren and narrow environment cannot support the huge population, the only way to kill each other and grab resources is to leave their hometowns together to go to the prosperous Western Europe to start plundering. The meaning is the same as the fact that the nomadic peoples in northern China often break the country.

The history of the Vikings' robbery was first seen in 789 AD in "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", when three warships loaded with Vikings drove to Dorset, England to plan to rob. But the humorous thing about the local officials thought they were savages who came to trade, and they were chopped by an axe as soon as they spoke to collect taxes from them. The Viking Age has begun since 277 years.

《Anglo-Saxon Chronicle》 P1

Image source: pinterest

When the Vikings crossed the three continents from the Volga River to Constantinople and then to Abbas, these wild robbers who had seen the world evolved into conquerors and began to conquer the world.

The story of "The Valhalla" began at this juncture, starting from the first step in the construction of a huge empire in 865 AD, narrating the legendary story of the Vikings.

Screenshot of the game "Assassin's Creed: Valhalla"

The influential figures of that era, such as the Viking leader Blonde King Harald, the Boneless Ivar, and the Great Alfred, who was known as the founding father of the UK because of his successful resistance to the Viking conquest, will appear in the game to become ally and enemies with you.

But this point is also considered an old routine in the Assassin's Creed series and is a regular operation. Therefore, what really replicated the "Nordic style" and gave me a deeper understanding of this is not a praise of these great kings, but a portrayal of every ordinary person's life.

The Blonde King Harald in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

First of all, what makes me feel cool is the realistic tattoo system in "The Palace of Valhalla". Traveling in the Islamic world as early as the Middle AgesHome Ibn Fadlan and Al-Tartushi are impressed by the appearance of the Vikings:

First, Vikings can wear eye makeup, including eye shadow and eyeliner. The second is tattoos. In 921 AD, they met the Vikings in the Volga River - "They had tattoos from their toes to their necks, including various patterns and a big tree (Tree of the World, Askr Yggdrasills)."

The tattoo on the top arm, this is the tree-shaped tattoo mentioned by two Islamic travelers

In the Cyber Viking World, the tattoo shop covers almost all the Viking local patterns, from expressing the worship of Odin in Norse mythology to the amulet rune compass (Vegvisir) to the tribal logo.

As the best way to express spiritual externalization, tattoos undoubtedly reveal the spiritual outlook of the Vikings of that era. They were brave and ready to die, and vowed to die in battle so that Valkyrie would take him to the glorious temple of Heroes to participate in the dusk of the gods.

The tattoo system in "Assassin's Creed: Valhalla" should be the prototype of the rune amulet on the abdomen

The second is the exquisite Viking braid. The so-called Viking braid can be simply understood as a super upgraded version of the Northeast veil. Rub both sides and then turn the hair on the top of the head into patterned braids.

In Nordic in that era, this hairstyle was equivalent to an ID card, a class symbol, exclusive to free people and slaves did not deserve it. Perhaps because it is too classic, this hairstyle has been passed down to this day and is called Danish; it is even given a political meaning, and is regarded as a standard for right-wing parties in some Nordic countries.

In addition to hairstyles, there is another thing that can see through the fashion story of the Vikings at that time, that is, accessories.

Note that the circular clasp of the protagonist's shoulders in the picture is also a small signal that shows his status in that era.

As the game deepened, my misunderstanding of the Nordic style was only monotonous and frigid, which was also broken in the game.

From the fundamental Nordic style, except for the crumbling IKEA multilateral deer head in your bedroom, the only common feature that connects with the Nordic style is "all living".

The Vikings' bedroom in the game is gorgeous and brilliant

In addition to these exquisite little details, many details of beard, outfits and food can allow you to deeply immerse yourself in this cyber world. From this we understand the appearance of the Vikings in the 9th century AD.

So, from a certain perspective, in this era when humans cannot turn back time, it can indeed allow you to feel the charm of distorted time at a certain moment.

The Viking Age reached its peak in the 11th century. The Viking leader Knut the Great built the North Sea Empire, traversing all over the world.

Image source: deviantart

The reason why Emperor Knut became the ruler of the four kingdoms was his military strength:

That is, the two specialized arms of the Vikings in "Age of Empires", the Berserker and the Viking Warship.

Viking special arms in the era of the Empire

Let's talk about the Viking warships first.

The Vikings, as the greatest navigators and explorers of their time, led Columbus to discover the North American continent over 500 years. The reason why they can achieve such a great achievement is that in addition to the geographical location of the Vikings, the most important thing is that they have pointed the right technology point.

The Vikings were the first to point out the keel technology point in the 8th century, which not only allowed their warships to sail more firmly in the wind and waves, but more importantly, they also had fixed masts that could load "old-earth turbocharged" on the ships and ride the wind and waves on the water.

With the support of technology, their largest warship can carry 100 people and travel 40 miles a day. It was the most flexible and fastest means of transportation in Europe of that era. It not only navigates the sea, but also enters the inland rivers to raft.

The warship restored from the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo

Therefore, this kind of ship traveling freely in the sea and river became the Vikings' war horses. This kind of technology empowered them to always escape without any loss before the local troops arrived.

The Valhalla faithfully shows the details of the Vikings riding a long boat in the inner lake at that time. Whenever the leader sounded the horn, the Vikings on the ship rushed into the town and began to rob, just like a shark smelling blood.

Picture source: B station

The core goal of the Vikings' robbery was also arranged in a church with the highest average wealth density in accordance with the facts. When the manipulator rushes into the temple, the magnificent treasure and the blood-stained military uniform can clearly express strong tension.

As for the combat effectiveness of Viking warriors, I believe that anyone who has watched "The Legend of Viking" can understand the awkwardness of the big axe when flirting with people.

In this generation of Assassin's Creed, combat once again emphasizes the rhythm, inspiring the use of multiple weapons and skill coordination in combat. After all, for the madman who is like a chicken blood in the historical description of Viking warriors, a single anti-anti-combat scene cannot improve the sense of substitution and pleasure.

Picture source: B station

In terms of pleasure, this generation of Assassin's Creed's brutal skill system makes the combat style more varied, and the adjustable method is as flexible and varied as SCAR, allowing players to adjust at any time as needed. The effect of using the mirror gives the viewer a movie-style viewing feeling.

What's even cooler is that in terms of execution, more violent aesthetics similar to those in "The Witcher 3", the slow motion of broken limbs and execution can not only dispel the fatigue of players in endless combat operations, but also make people better understand the way of Viking combat.

Picture source: B station

In this generation of Assassin's Creed, the open world is more perfect. Not only does it have world tasks with more exciting narratives, cats and dogs that can be masturbated at any time in the town, but it also has extremely complete traditional Viking games.

For example, you can find someone in the town to play Viking dice similar to the Gent card, and you can also pick up the horn cup and fight with people after a busy day of robbery. However, what we are fighting for is not the soulless coward, but the Nordic Moutai - honey wine.

What's more interesting is that the game also designed a traditional entertainment from the Vikings in the past - fighting sentences.

You can understand him as a relationship between Guo Degang and Yu Qian or an underground rap arena. What you compare is who can scold people more elegantly and rhymely. Although it is inevitable to say something swearing, it does not prevent you from gaining more charm values from your own group.

In addition, this work cancels the level and changes the term "power". Although power still plays a level role, at least in your daily battles, there will be no scenes where there is a level on the top of your head when you experience the Viking Conquest.

In terms of design, there is no longer the endless and mind-blowing question marks in the past. In addition to the main tasks, important strongholds, and bird's eye view points, the past map prompts have been turned into light spots, which have tried their best to reduce the visual fatigue of the players, which is quite simple.

On the picture, this work still maintains a high level. When I showed the beautiful view of my first stronghold in Leicestershire, England to @Changjiang Apartment, who had graduated for 4 years, her tearsy eyes and red cheeks showed her touching return to her second hometown. And this sense of reality seems extremely precious in this year when I can’t go abroad due to the epidemic.

In fact, whether it is the picture performance of cold Norway or the geographical characteristics of England, it is better improved compared to "The Palace of Valhalla", and the light and shadow effects and detailed display are more refined.

Nevertheless, some problems still affect my experience of this game:

For example, the photo mode on PS4 cannot be stored in the local album, and the genetic problems of navigation mode repeatedly pointing to me 800 meters and buying bugs and getting games still exist.

Picture source: B station

The above is my simple review of this game from the perspective of the player