This year, we’ve been given an absolute treat in the Assassin’s Creed Crossover Stories. These are two free updates for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Valhalla respectively. The story starts in Odyssey with Kassandra taking a holiday and is easily the better of the two. Then, it continues into Valhalla, where Kassandra and Eivor meet and undertake a journey to clear up the effects of a mysterious artifact in the Isle of Skye. I love how both expanded the worlds of its game, and had the best time playing through them. They’ve got so much going on, and I really do think that they’re worth some sort of game of the year award combined.
These expansions are not as good as their base games, but they add something to the Assassin’s Creed franchise that you can’t really get anywhere else. There’s a touching story that you can feel flowing throughout all of them. It pulls you in and doesn’t let you go until the final mission is done, and then you’re just dying to go back and see more of it. I love how short the story segments are, and how much each brings to the lore of the main game. If you’re a fan of either, these are worth playing.
This goes without mentioning that each crossover story adds in loads of new content on top of the story. There’s new armour and weapons to find, and I like how they play into each other. You can get Kasssandra’s weapons and armour in Valhalla, and Eivor’s weapons and armour in Odyssey. It’s a really nice way to blend the games together, and has sparked a renewed interest in the older Assassin’s Creed title all over the game. Of course, this has now gotten everyone thinking about what this could mean for the rest of the series, with Kassandra traveling around all of the regions and timezones in the franchise. However, I think that’s wishful thinking more than anything. Still, these crossover stories are worth a look in as best free add-ons in 2021, and I hope that they get the recognition that they deserve from major press sites.