The idea of creating a game within the mysterious world of Ancient Greek mythology sprouted while Ubisoft Quebec was researching Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. In a way, without Assassin’s Creed, we wouldn’t have Immortals Fenyx Rising and we would have missed out on a lot of fun. Immortals Fenyx Rising is an entirely new game set in a painterly world filled with gods, myths, and monsters. It’s up to you, Fenyx, the conquer the lands of the gods and defeat evil once and for all. Prepare for the adventure of your life!
Wake up Fenyx
Our story begins with Fenyx, an unlikely human hero who suddenly awakens on an unknown island. Fenyx is no veteran warrior but a young storyteller and shield-bearer with a fascination for the old gods. Not long after the brutal awakening, Fenyx discovered the remaining of the ship and its crew, who mysteriously turned to stone. Among the crew was Fenyx’s brother, a legendary warrior, set to stone. Vowing to save his brother and the rest of the crew, Fenyx starts to discover these strange lands. Guided by an old prophecy about an unknown hero of Olympos and the strange mythical presence of Hermes, Fenyx goes on the adventure of a lifetime. It’s up to Fenyx to bring back his friends and get rid off the evil that is Typhon. Typhon made the gods disappear, corrupted the demi-god heroes and turned the world of the humans into stone. He’s a force to be reckoned with and quickly becomes Fenyx’s main antagonist. The only way to defeat Typhon is to bring back all gods to their true selves. Since Fenyx has been a fan of Greek Mythology all along, he’s beyond thrilled to be part of this history and runs into combat without really thinking it through.
This epic story isn’t told in any traditional way but is narrated by Zeus and Prometheus themselves. In order to destroy Typhon, Zeus reached out to his cousin Prometheus for help, who agreed to help if Zeus wins a bet. The bet? If a mortal defeats Typhon, Prometheus will help Zeus but if the mortal dies, Zeus must set Prometheus free. In fact, you’re just hearing the story between Zeus and Prometheus who are describing the epic adventures of the mortal Fenyx. Throughout the entire game, the story gets narrated by Zeus and Prometheus and this results in some original dialogues. The game doesn’t take itself too seriously and often mocks other games or certain elements of adventure games during this self-aware narrative. It’s a fun way to discover the story and thanks to its outstanding humor, it’s a joy to discover the story and solve all its mysteries. The narration certainly is one of Immortals Fenyx Rising selling points.
Create your own Fenyx
Before you start your epic adventure, you’ll be able to create your own Fenyx. Just like in other modern Ubisoft games, the hero can be male or female, depending on your preference. It doesn’t stop there, you can truly alter the looks of your hero to match your vision. Ranging from body type to the color of hair and eyes, in just a couple of minutes, you’ll have the Fenyx of your dreams. Customizing and updating your hero is of crucial importance during your adventure as well. Fenyx entered a world filled with dangers and although it’s free to explore, you’ll often face off with enemies you simply can’t take down. By grinding and discovering new and better gear you’ll eventually be a match for the tougher enemies but it’s something you’ll constantly have to keep in mind. Yes, Fenyx is chosen by the gods themselves and can wield some of the most legendary weapons. Fenyx is even granted the power of the Wings of Daidalos to soar the skies. But, if you don’t upgrade the equipment and the skills of Fenyx, you’ll often find yourself struggling to survive. It’s a fun mechanic that feels a bit harsh at first but once you understand this premise, you’ll constantly be searching the lands for better equipment and challenges leading to better skills. This isn’t a linear game where you go from quest to quest, you’ll need to explore the land and its secrets in order to remain unbeaten.
Breath of the Fenyx
Once you’re playing Immortals Fenyx Rising, it’s hard not to compare it with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as it clearly took a lot of inspiration from Nintendo’s system seller. Just like in Breath of the Wild, you’re exploring a vast open-world filled with secrets, often hiding on top of cliffs. Climbing is one of the most popular ways of traveling in Immortals and really resembles how you scaled the cliffs as Link in Breath of the Wild. Just like in Zelda, Fenyx has a little stamina meter that might break off your climb if it runs out before you reach the top. The similarities don’t stop there, however. In order to get better gear, Fenyx has to clear the Vaults of Tartaros, which highly resemble the Shrines from Breath of the Wild. A Vault is a micro-universe inside the gorgeously created world of Immortals and challenges you with a wide variety of puzzles. Each puzzle leading to items needed to upgrade your skills or other high-value objects. These Vaults offer some needed variation from the main adventure and can really be difficult to beat. Just like in the Zelda Shrines, you’ll need to crack the code or defeat a set amount of enemies to become victorious. It all starts pretty easy and straightforward but soon after the prologue, you’ll run into Vaults that are too hard to beat, forcing you to return to them once you’re strong enough. This reminded me of Breath of the Wild but Immortals did manage to put its own stamp on the concept. It’s not just copying and pasting, it certainly is its own game, although clearly inspired by Zelda.
That’s not the only inspiration it took. In order to keep track of your health and skills, you’re able to craft and use several potions using the resources you’ll find in the open world. Using potions to boost your health, stamina or defense can really change the way you play the game and can even mean the difference between life and death during some of the more extreme travels in this thrilling world. It’s fun that the game constantly pushes you to get better while giving you tons of opportunities to upgrade your hero. From potion crafting to the upgrading of your skills, it’s all there so you can reach the goal you’re working for. But, you’ll always have to fight for what is yours.
Fast-paced acrobatic combat
Traveling and upgrading your hero isn’t the only mechanic in Immortals Fenyx Rising. During your adventure, you’ll end up facing tons of enemies that you need to defeat. In order to do so, Ubisoft created a fast-paced acrobatic version of the Assassin’s Creed gameplay. Meaning you’ll attack using your shoulder buttons and you’ll have to dodge the attacks of your enemies precisely to gain an important advantage during combat. The combat is extremely fast-paced and rewarding as it’s a joy to take down small groups of enemies using your divine powers. Combining your mythical wings with legendary weapons to take down even the biggest of enemies really gets your adrenaline rushing and is by far one of the better mechanics in the game. It’s incredible how fluent and easy combat flows during battles since the controls aren’t hard at all. I found myself challenging each and every enemy I faced during my first hours in the game since it’s just so rewarding. To make it even better, the game throws in some fun extras like a remote-controlled arrow to inflect precise damage on your enemies. Combining your short-ranged weapons with your bow and arrows is a match made in heaven and really works pretty well. The game often reminded me of the crazy combos that you can find in games such as Devil May Cry. It’s clear that a lot of thought and time went into the battle mechanics and the team really succeeded in delivering a fun and rewarding experience. It feels like Assassin’s Creed on adrenaline, which works surprisingly well.
To make combat even better, the world is filled with new and unlockable weapons, all with their strengths and weaknesses. Some of those legendary weapons are well hidden in treasure chests that will test your puzzle skills if you want to reach them. Exploring the lands and looking for those legendary weapons adds another layer to the game, encouraging players to discover every pixel of the gorgeously created world. Besides this, you can also access the shop to get some impressive looking skins for your gear and weapons. Those are purely cosmetic and won’t alter your stats. It’s also good to know that you can unlock everything with in-game currency if you’re willing to put in the hours of work. A nice extra bonus for the completionist among us.
Discover the lands
Besides the combat and environmental puzzles, exploration is the main part of the game and this works extremely well. This isn’t the first time Ubisoft created an open-world game so they have a couple of tricks up their sleeve to make exploration as fun as possible. The best way to explore your environment is by climbing on top of several statues of the gods, which are towering above the landscape. This reminded me a lot of the synchronization of Assassin’s Creed but serves more purpose than just unlocking the map of the area you’re currently in. If you’re on top of such a statue, you can use the shoulder button to scan the environment for secrets. This way you’ll spot extra Vaults, treasures, or items that boost your stats. It’s an easy way to discover more secrets and get stronger fast. I like the way Ubisoft tackled this as it really feels like a natural way to discover your environments and its secrets.
Although it’s a fun mechanic and the lands are filled with secrets, it’s not always that perfect. During my first hours in the game, I had the feeling I was constantly walking around without really progressing. The world could have been a bit more interactive and perhaps even a bit more filled. Just like in Breath of the Wild, there are sections without real points of interest, which makes it a bit more boring to travel through them. The more you advance, however, the more and better travel options you’ll eventually unlock but it’s certainly something to keep in mind while playing this game.
Conclusion:
Immortals Fenyx Rising is a great adventure that certainly resembles The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild but manages to put its own stamp on the genre. It’s a fun and humorous adventure filled with unforgettable moments, dangerous monsters, epic treasures, and a lot of exploration. It’s a fun new game that really shines bright and is packed with hours of content to keep you entertained. If you’re a fan of adventure games, you’ll love this game for sure.
