Vikings: Battle for Asgard is a surprisingly fun, addictive hack n slash role-playing game. Definitely worth playing.
As another poster stated, the water is gorgeous even though you can't go splashing around in it. You can however, drown so don't go swimming off to any islands in the beginning of the game.
In some places you can't fall off the cliff because the game will display an animation as if you were catching your balance to prevent from falling. In other places, such as the hill in the first part of the game (north of your starting location), when you kill one of the guards, you can push him off the cliff and if you go to far you can join him by falling to your death.
The game might grow on you if your a fan of regular non-Japanese RPG's. The combat is real time similar to Conan and God of War and the enemies descend on you quickly. Once combat starts, it's difficult to tell who is who but at least he game won't let you attack your own comrades.
I didn't consult the manual because when I rented it, there was no manual so of course I spent all of my money on runes not knowing that there was a store that sold potions and other useful items further on in the game.
The camera gives me a headache and I get an uneasy sensation in my stomach from it while playing this game. I didn't really see a problem with the mini-map other than the fact that it doesn't show your enemies but then either did Gears of War and it just wouldn't make sense as to how you would see your enemies on "radar" to begin with so I don't fault the game for that.
The game play is fluid. I didn't have any problems learning combat and you can improve your character's combat skills buy purchasing them. Immediately after your purchase, you can begin practicing the move so you know how to use it.
It's almost impossible when you are surrounded by multiple enemies on both regular and difficult mode. Sometimes holding left trigger works to block and other times it doesn't.
Overall it's a surprisingly fun and addictive game. I haven't finished the game yet but I'm considering buying it. It's just that fun. I haven't gotten bored of it yet like I have with Conan and there's a bit more going on in this game than something like the Dynasty Warriors series of games.