Immortals Fenyx Rising

Ubisoft’s tried-and-true open-world exploration formula returns in Immortals Fenyx Rising, the legendary publisher’s new IP. Immortals is a story set in the Greek world of myths and legends, where the gods interact with humans and mythical monsters roam the lands. Unlike Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (another Ubisoft game with a similar setting,) Immortals takes things more lightly. Although its attempts at humor could fall flat for many gamers, the solid gameplay and engaging exploration mechanics might be more than enough to win this new IP some fans.

Breath of the Gods

If you’ve seen any screenshots of Immortals Fenyx Rising, you might immediately notice that the game takes more than a little inspiration from another very popular adventure game. There’s no denying that Immortals’ visuals seem more than a little inspired by those of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

That alone isn’t a problem, though: the history of video games is full of examples of newer games taking inspiration from successful predecessors. After all, it could be argued that some gameplay elements from Breath of the Wild come from Ubisoft games, like the game’s Sheika Towers. With that out of the way, Immortals’ gameplay could actually be considered a step up from BOTW’s in some key aspects. There’s an emphasis on movement and flow, with the possibility to combine fast and slow attacks and also to use your bow for ranged approaches.

Myths and Legends

As we mentioned before, Immortals’ story takes place in the world of Greek mythology. When the giant Typhon escapes from his prison, he takes revenge on the Olympian gods. Zeus and Prometheus enlist the help of a mortal: Fenyx, a young shield-bearer whose brother has been turned to stone.

Fenyx is entirely customizable and not just at the beginning of the game. At any point during the story, players can go back to Aphrodite’s Beauty Chair to completely modify their looks. Since customization is an integral part of Immortals, there are some cosmetic parts available for purchase. These items can be unlocked through gameplay, or players can purchase them through the game’s microtransactions.

The Fun is up to You

If you’re a fan of adventure games, you’ve probably heard of the Fable series. As you might know, games like Fable III are infamous for their questionable attempts at adding humor to their somewhat dark storylines. The same thing happens to Immortals Fenyx Rising. This is a game that’s intended for younger players than Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, both in its tone and its visuals. To achieve a less serious tone, the game’s writer (Jeffrey Yohalem, who also wrote Assassin’s Creed II) added some goofy personalities to most characters. Although some of the jokes are good, the stilt character models fail to translate the gags well enough to be effective.

Fortunately, Immortals’ open approach to storytelling means that you can progress the story at your own pace. It also puts exploration on a pedestal, and the game’s world is a beautiful place where you’ll definitely want to spend a few dozen hours finding everything there is to see.

Pros:

• Beautiful visuals
• Excellent world design
• Satisfying combat and exploration

Cons:

• Unoriginal art style
• Humor might not be to everyone’s liking
• Some repetitive tasks detract from the overall fun