Immortals Fenyx Rising Review – Divine Intervention

Immortals Fenyx Rising is Ubisoft’s latest open-world romp based on Greek mythology. When a devastating threat proves too difficult a challenge even for the gods, the survivors turn to Fenyx, one of the last remaining mortals, to restore humanity–and the gods–to their former glory. Immortals Fenyx Rising features stunning environments, numerous puzzles, and plenty of humor to lighten the mood.

As Fenyx, you will explore a vibrant fantasy world where the Greek gods once reigned. After a vicious Titan named Typhon escapes to unleash a curse upon the gods, it becomes your duty to find a way to restore not only the gods, but also your own family. Fenyx must set out to lift the curse put on the gods and take out Typhon once and for all.

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Immortals Fenyx Rising begins when two Greek gods, Zeus and Prometheus, agree to a bet. The bet leads to Prometheus retelling the story of a brave mortal-turned-demigod named Fenyx, who is the game’s main protagonist and player character. Zeus regularly chimes in with snarky comments as Prometheus recounts your tale. The pair’s witty, self-aware banter is incorporated throughout the story. While the humor can come across as somewhat cheesy at times, this narrative levity did help to maintain an air of lightheartedness throughout the game.

The open world features gorgeous scenery and breathtaking vistas that encourage you to slow down and take in what’s around you. Whether day or night, the game’s bright, colorful scenery made for a visual feast that prompted me to take many screenshots. Fenyx has the ability of Far Sight, which allows players to scan the landscape from a high vantage point and mark various objectives including chests, collectibles, puzzles, and dungeons. The world is parsed into regions and is filled with enemy encounters and environmental puzzles, similar to the world layout of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

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Using weapons and gear that once belonged to gods, Fenyx gains special capabilities that come in handy when traversing the environment. When you aren’t slaying monsters or gathering resources, you will most likely be climbing up the side of a cliff face, statue, or other climbable structure, reminding you that you are indeed playing a Ubisoft game.

However, the climbing in Immortals differs from that of Assassin’s Creed in that it uses up Fenyx’s stamina, meaning there is a limit to how far or how long you can climb for before needing to replenish your stamina meter. If you run out of stamina while climbing, Fenyx will fall, which can be lethal depending on the height. The added stamina management forces players to consider their climbs more carefully.

Thanks to a special god-tier set of wings, Fenyx can fly and glide across short distances. Flying is subject to stamina management as well. Gliding is best used for clearing short gaps or for softening landings. Flying over long distances will quickly deplete your stamina, so you’ll want to do so sparingly until you have adequately upgraded your stamina level. Fenyx can also tame animals to turn them into rideable mounts that can be summoned on the spot. Fast travel is available as well between certain points of interest.

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One detail that I appreciated was how Fenyx would perform even the simplest tasks with pride and gusto. Whether lightly drumming on the top of a chest before busting it open or eagerly plunging an arm into a dark void for some extra cash, I appreciated how fervently Fenyx would perform such minor actions.

There are plenty of ways to take out enemies in Immortals. Fenyx can perform light and heavy attacks using melee weapons, as well as ranged attacks using a bow. Fenyx can also pick up and toss rocks or other throwable objects at enemies when available. There were a few times where enemies would get stuck on objects in the environment, but this would usually end up working in my favor as it usually gave me the chance to get in a few more swings.

There is no shortage of puzzles in Immortals Fenyx Rising. Most puzzles will come in the form of underground chambers called Vaults of Tartaros. There are also environmental puzzles scattered throughout each region. Solving the physics-based puzzles often requires a bit of trial-and-error. Although the puzzles become increasingly tricky along your journey, it never felt like a puzzle was impossible to solve.

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Open-world Ubisoft games tend to have a lot of recognizable features in common, such as climbing to the top of a statue to reveal part of the map. This game is no exception. Immortals adopts familiar gameplay systems from Assassin’s Creed and combines them with physics-based puzzles reminiscent of Breath of the Wild. As beautiful as the vast open world is, I felt that there was a lot of open space that could have been utilized better. But between the stunning visuals, humorous storytelling, engaging combat, and abundance of puzzles, there is certainly an enjoyable experience to be had in Immortals Fenyx Rising.