Last week, Ubisoft gave me a chance to play the upcoming Immortals Fenyx Rising, which was originally known as Gods & Monsters. To be quite honest, it was a game I knew very little about, and even going off its previous reveal, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. But after a solid four hours, and being able to explore a couple of the game’s large, sprawling areas, I think I’m fairly certain I know what Ubisoft is going for here, and I’m quite surprised it took a studio this long to do it.
Immortals Fenyx Rising is at best described as Ubisoft’s take on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It’s not a reductionist comparison, because Nintendo’s flagship Zelda title was clearly an inspiration behind a lot of the mechanics and gameplay loops that Immortals Fenyx Rising brings to the table. But I’ll get into those a bit later.
What immediately caught me off guard was the tone and comedic take on the game’s storytelling. The entire game is being recounted by Prometheus, who is serving his eternal punishment for stealing fire from the Gods and giving it to humanity, thus ensuring their survival, while Zeus sits on and listens to the whole thing.
Their bigger problem stems from the god Typhon being back, wreaking havoc upon the world, and stealing the other God’s powers. Prometheus then suggests Zeus look to the mortals for help, but this is when we learn that Zeus isn’t quite the guy you remember from other popular media. Zeus has kinda had it with mortals, and doesn’t think they’re reliable. Enter Prometheus’ hero, Fenyx.
The four hour demo started me off from the beginning of the game, where I was able to create my own Fenyx, with a relatively simple character editor, and also give her a voice, since thankfully, Fenyx is not a silent protagonist, and boy does she or he have a lot to say. Though, that seems to extend to pretty much every character. As you play the game and accomplish various tasks, maybe come across a secret, or even tame a wild animal, Prometheus and Zeus will usually comment on it in some sort of comedic way. I enjoyed it, though I do wonder how much that would grate on me 20+ hours in.
After the short tutorial section that has you exploring a relatively small island where you can gather your equipment, consisting of a short sword for quick attacks, an axe for powerful but slow heavy attacks, bracers to manipulate objects and, of course, wings to be able to glide around, you’re then thrust into the game’s massive open world, which in the full game, will allow you to tackle it however you want.
It was after collecting all the main equipment and upon reaching the game’s hub, appropriately titled the Hall of the Gods, that the comparison to Breath of the Wild dawned on me. I’ll give a brief example of each similarity, but right off the bat, the game has a huge focus on exploration, coming across secret locations, finding hidden collectibles, completing environmental puzzles, clearing out enemy camps, and more. On a surface level, those are core tenets that are shared between the two games.
The game also has various special locations called Vaults of Tartarus that are scattered around the map. These, just like Zelda’s shrines, always have some sort of challenge to overcome, usually a puzzle of sorts, and always ends with an item that raises Fenyx’s stamina. And just like Link had to carefully approach a wild horse in order to tame it and then be able to summon and ride it anywhere, so too can Fenyx. I already mentioned gliding, which is a great way to reach locations quicker from a high vantage point, but Fenyx can also climb pretty much anything, and heavily relies on her stamina to do so.
What I’m trying to say is that if you enjoyed the core gameplay loop of Breath of the Wild, then you’re certainly in for a treat with Immortals Fenyx Rising.
The world of Fenyx Rising is split up into various sections, each one looked over by a particular God that needs help, and each one with a distinct look and feel. In the demo, I was unfortunately only allowed to explore Aphrodite’s domain, but even that section felt massive and absolutely jam packed with activities and secrets.
What I loved about Breath of the Wild was its restraint in giving the player too much info on their map, something a lot of Ubisoft games are guilty of. And while Fenyx Rising definitely does dot some points of interest, the rest can be discovered and subsequently marked by the player, meaning that your map won’t just be filled with activities as soon as you uncover a new area. There’s emphasis on making you whip out your spyglass and marking these locations yourself, and I absolutely love that.
But what sets this world apart even more is just the density of stuff to do. There was something beautifully peaceful and serene about Hyrule’s giant map. While there were certainly plenty of activities to partake in, I wouldn’t call that world densely packed. Not counting Korok seeds, I could easily wander around that map for 10+ minutes until I came across something I wanted to do. In stark contrast to that, Fenyx Rising’s map seems jam-packed with activities to do, whether they’re clearly seen from far away, or need to be discovered. Then again, Ubisoft has mastered the art of ensuring players are always a stone’s throw away of something to do in their open worlds, and Fenyx Rising certainly proves that once again.
I know many of you were on the edge of your seats to find out whether the worst part of Breath of the Wild is also in Fenyx Rising and I can now assure you that no, weapons do not break. In fact, the game’s inventory system is much closer to what you’d find in recent Assassin’s Creed games. Each slot can be equipped with new items, which will visually change Fenyx’s look, but also provide numerous bonuses. For example, the axe I chose to use provided a 40% attack buff for 6 seconds after a perfect parry.
Even cooler, your proficiency with these items could be improved by leveling up at the Hall of the Gods, which is a system I really appreciated. That meant that instead of upgrading a single weapon, only to later find a different weapon I liked better, was never an issue. Upgrading your proficiency with axes, for example, raises the damage of every single axe you have in your inventory.
The four hours I had with the game absolutely flew by, and while I know that sounds cliche to say, it’s absolutely true. What I can say is that after my four hours were done, all I really wanted was to jump back in and explore some more, complete more Vaults of Tartarus to raise Fenyx’s stamina, scour the map for Ambrosia to raise her health, pick up various flowers to mix them up into potions, and discover what other wildlife could be tamed so I could explore the game’s gorgeous open world on its back.
Basically, I wanted to keep playing, which is quite possibly the best compliment I can give to a game that I just dumped four hours of my evening into, and I am quite excited to dive into the full game once it launches on December 3rd.
However, if you can’t wait that long, Ubisoft and Stadia teamed up for an exclusive demo on the service that only requires a Gmail address, and doesn’t require any sort of subscription. And if you’re worried about spoilers, that demo will contain a completely unique island specifically built for it. What’s more, that demo is available right now, so go give it a shot!
