In Assassin's Creed Valhalla's base game, players must go to territory after territory completing quests to acquire alliances. These sagas compound to deliver multiple stories in one, but they are not created equally. The stories that involve the Ragnarssons, Oswald, and more fan-favorite characters make up some of the best story arcs, while other areas could be best described as filler. They didn't tend to take away from the experience, but they did not add to it either.

Unfortunately, that's where Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Wrath of the Druids DLC finds itself. It's a fine experience, but not one that adds much to the overarching game. In it, players leave England behind and travel to Ireland where they get caught up in the politics of the region. Once again, players must help a king with his crown, but it's not the familiar story alone that hurts the DLC's narrative. At every moment where it seems the story is rising, it just falls flat.

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The Wrath of the Druids DLC tries to make players feel invested time and again, but for one reason or another, nothing really connects. It introduces interesting new characters just to give them underwhelming endings, and the same can be said of the primary antagonists. Despite the Children of Danu being heavily featured in all of Wrath of the Druids' trailers, art, and even title, the role they play is relatively minor. Sure, they can be hunted down and players get a unique reward, but every mystery they introduce, their secret behind-the-scenes leader, and their role in the story is just as underwhelming as yet another king struggling with his crown.

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While the reaction to this may depend on who is playing it, there is also no development on the modern day story in Assassin's Creed Valhalla with this DLC either. In general, there is no lore-building or new developments at large, effectively making this entire DLC self-contained, and most of everything players see in the DLC has been seen in the main game too. That's not to say there is nothing of value, though, as Ireland itself is the DLC's most redeeming quality.

The beauties of Ireland stand out in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. There may be moments where it feels very similar to England, but the distinct feeling of traveling the roaming hills of Ireland cannot be understated. This is only compounded by the constant rainbows seen while traveling, by the bogs where cultists lie in wait, and by the encampments of a world brought to life. Wrath of the Druids gives players plenty of time to stop and smell the roses, and the beauties of the world come out in those instances. If the story is comparable to the basic filler arcs of the main game, Ireland itself is comparable to some of the base game's best set pieces.

There are not many major changes in terms of gameplay, though new weapons and skills are added in this AC Valhalla DLC. Ring Forts are just fortresses like the main game, and hunting down the Children of Danu is less taxing than hunting down the Order of the Ancients. Two new additions do stand out, though, if for different reasons. This DLC introduces a new resource management system, by which players are expected to raise the trade status of Dublin. It's different enough from raising the levels of Ravensthorpe that it is both engaging and unique.

Essentially, Assassin's Creed Valhalla players must clear out trade posts across Ireland, improve them with specific loot obtained from raids and wealth caches, and use them to generate resources to complete specific trades in Dublin. Completing these trades unlocks new armor and other beneficial items, while raising Dublin's status as a hub of trade. The gameplay loop here can be quite addicting, as the resources are generated by playtime. After an hour or so, players can return to Dublin, make some trades, return to the main story, or go and find new Trade Posts. Certain posts are only dedicated to specific resources, so finding them all is key here.

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At the same time, the other addition comes in the form of Royal Demands. These reward the aforementioned resources in small supply and can be played repeatedly to amass them, which isn't as entertaining as building trade posts. Perhaps the biggest oddity of the Royal Demands, though, is the fact that they are essentially stealth missions in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. King Pleas are added modifiers to these, all of which emphasize some element of stealth. Players are tasked with going to one location and clearing it without being seen, another location for stealing something, another location for killing specific people there, and sometimes all of these without any unnecessary killing for extra rewards.

It may not be intended this way, but these missions can feel oddly out of place, almost minimized compared to the game's stealth roots. It doesn't help at all that the Royal Demands are made available by Pigeon Coops, which delivered assassination contracts (and the like) in early games. It feels a lot like those, but as an attached mini-game instead of something substantial. For example, after stealthily clearing out a camp, we couldn't loot the chest there without calling a raid, despite no enemy being there and thus putting the Royal Demands into conflict with core gameplay at times. It's an attempt at bringing even more classic mechanics into Assassin's Creed Valhalla, but far from perfect one.

Overall, Wrath of the Druids is not a bad addition to Assassin's Creed Valhalla. It's even a good one for those who want any reason to step in Eivor's shoes again. But for those who have turned their attention elsewhere, it doesn't do much to bring them back.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Wrath of the Druids DLC releases May 13. Game Rant was provided an Xbox code for the purposes of this review.

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