Immortals Fenyx Rising
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it thousands of times: I love Greek mythology. So when I first laid eyes on the then-titled Gods and Monsters when Ubisoft announced it during E3 2019, I was in awe. A less-realistic take than their other titles, it has this wonderful painted aesthetic that really sets it apart as its own entity. A name change in the latter half of 2020 rebranding as Immortals Fenyx Rising - a title that, admittedly, doesn’t quite pull me as much as the original despite being more unique - and a confirmed release date of December 3rd 2020 reignited the interest I had in the game, after so long without much in the way of news (aside from that Google Stadia leak).
You play as Fenyx (a character who can be played as either male or female), a Delian League shield-bearer who must aid the Gods of Olympus after a curse is placed upon them. You must learn and master wielding the powers the Gods have granted you as you make your way across the vast open-world of the Golden Isle, on your way to defeat the deadliest Titan in Greek mythology: Typhon. The story is well written, unfolding as Prometheus foretells Fenyx’s adventure to Zeus. As Fenyx sets out on their quest, they gain a companion bird named Phosphor who, much like in Ubisoft’s other series - Assassin’s Creed - can scout out areas in search of points of interest, or to attack enemies. The charm of Immortals kept us both interested throughout with the humour as well as the depth of the characters. Cutscenes are engaging, and are filled with lore and humour so really keep your attention - and with fantastic narration of Prometheus talking with Zeus peppered in, it’s one of the most entertaining stories we’ve encountered for a while.
The world of Immortals Fenyx Rising is absolutely stunning, with seven regions each inspired by different Greek Gods. You’ll come across impressive stone structures, from beautifully carved statues of the Gods, to magnificent rock tortoises. It has a lot of similarities to Breath of the Wild, from the world and its general feel, to the puzzles and Vaults feeling very similar to the Shrines in how you complete them. Even picking up items in the world, for use in puzzles or otherwise, is done using beams of energy from your gauntlets, a Skill known as Herakles’s Strength, which is visually very similar to picking up stuff with Magnesis in BOTW. All of this has led to many people describing it as being a BOTW clone which may be a valid point to some degree, but it also doesn’t give Immortals enough credit for the things it has innovated, adapted or even improved upon. It’s not flawless, nothing rarely is, but most of what it does is enjoyable. Simple things like opening chests are impressively animated, with different animations such as drumming on the chest or karate chopping it, to prevent this from appearing repetitive. The design of all of the creatures is striking and I really love how they all look, with a huge variety to come across as you explore the world, including Legendary beasts such as Medusa or the Cyclops.
The view from the Hall of Gods, as shown above, is jaw dropping. Seeing lightning strike atop Olympos behind the horrifying Gates of Tartaros, whilst hearing the mystical sounds of the Hall and the gleeful chirping of the birds flying around really immerses you in the world. The music fits beautifully within the game, from calming tones in the menu screens to atmospheric chimes when exploring, and powerful, heroic melodies in battle. Voice acting is fantastic too, with well delivered lines and perfect comedic timing which makes the story far more impactful and enjoyable to witness. The world feels a tad silent at times, due to the fact that you are the only person walking around wherever you go. The monsters roaming the Golden Isle, as well as malevolent Titan, Typhon, have killed and/or turned everyone to stone, so you will often come across stone bodies and spirits of the dead, but no living people. It would have been cool to have other NPCs to interact with, but it would have gone against the whole story so I understand this choice as much as I would have liked the world to have little functioning, lively agoras.
Aside from the gliding which feels a little awkward to control, the controls feel surprisingly robust. You have a variety of mounts at your disposal, ranging from horses to deer and even Lady Rainicorn from Adventure Time (via a premium DLC pack); summoning your mount whilst running feels fluid, allowing you to effortlessly transition to riding. Combat feels thoroughly enjoyable, with light and heavy attacks that look visually pleasing and are fun to pull off. Utilising the wide range of abilities available to you from the Gods’ powers is fun and taking down all manner of creatures encourages you to test out all of your skills, making you feel like a God yourself (almost to a fault, as you feel particularly OP at times). Upgrading Fenyx’s stats can be done in the Hall of the Gods. Stamina can be increased at the Bench of Zeus using Zeus’s Lightning (gained through completing Vaults); Health at the Kylix of Athena using Ambrosia collected in the world; and Potions can also be crafted here, via the Cauldron of Circe. You can also purchase items from Hermes himself, using Elektrum coins which can be earned doing live tasks from Hermes’s Heroic Task Board. These tasks can be completed alongside the main story, with extra daily tasks added, giving so many additional hours of playtime, especially if there’s certain items you want to pick up without spending additional real-world cash, as these coins can also be purchased via microtransactions - something that really frustrates me as it usually locks the most attractive gear behind a paywall. Luckily the coins don’t seem to be overly difficult to gain through tasks, so all you’ll need to hope for is that you’ve got enough when the stuff you want is available via Hermes!
Weapons are varied, and don’t get damaged through use. Looping back to my earlier point of this being very Breath of the Wild-like, that is one thing I am grateful that they took their own path for, as having to minimise use of weapons you particularly like is never good. Here you can choose whichever weapon you want, and it’ll do you the whole game if you so choose - although it’s unlikely you’d want to with the variety of weapons on offer. You can take qualities of one weapon (or armour) and the aesthetic of another, which is a fantastic addition too - all too often in games do you get an absolutely killer weapon, but it just doesn’t fit with the look you’re aiming for with your character. Learning skills is slightly different from the usual Skill Tree format, where you have 17 main skills to choose from, each with their own lineage of upgrades within. These initial skills can all be chosen independently of one another, with no need to go down a specific line to get a particular skill set unlocked, allowing you to gain all skills before upgrading single ones further.
A Season Pass is available, priced at £32.99 on the Xbox Store, which gives additional content in the form of 3 narrative DLCS: “A New God” has you, as Fenyx, overcome the trials of Olympos as you try to gain a seat among the Gods. "Myths of the Eastern Realm" has you take on a new role, in a story based on Chinese mythology which we are both super excited for; and "The Lost Gods": Another new hero this time, but with another twist - the game now has a top-down view and plays like a brawler. The variety of content included in this Season Pass has me really intrigued due to the different flairs on the story as well as a different playstyle. You’ll also get access to a bonus quest called “When the Road Gets Rocky” when you purchase, and other in-game rewards. The price seems quite steep for the Season Pass, at more than 50% of the base game’s price, but the content included looks fantastic so I’m really excited for each of these as they are released.
Throughout our time playing, we haven’t come across any real issues but funnily enough Allan stumbled upon a terrifying Save File Corrupted issue as I’m writing this exact paragraph. It seems to be linked to Quick Resume but thankfully we quickly found a fix for this online. Definitely would have been gutted to lose so many hours of playtime! There’s plenty to keep you busy in Immortals, from finding all of the secrets, completing all of the Challenges available (the Harp Challenges being some of my favourites), to even just the time spent exploring the world and taking on all of the monsters you come across, it’s a whole lot of fun. If you’re looking for a game that combines all of the best parts of Assassin’s Creed and Breath of the Wild, you’ll definitely enjoy Immortals Fenyx Rising. At £59.99 on the Xbox Store for the base game, or £84.99 for the Gold Edition - which includes the game, Season Pass, plus additional bonus in-game content - it’s quite a pricey title. Thankfully, you can get the physical Standard Edition for around £30, which makes for a fantastic saving for such a brilliant game.
In the end, we decided to give Immortals Fenyx Rising the Collecting Asylum rating of 9/10.
Have you played Immortals Fenyx Rising yet? What did you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Ubisoft for the Immortals Fenyx Rising Xbox review copy!
