Immortals: Fenyx Rising is a surprising new project from the developers of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. Unlike its big sister, Fenyx is a much smaller, more guided experience, sprinkled with humor, side activities and more.
A bit of trivia: Immortals Fenyx Rising is an open-world action-adventure from Ubisoft available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC.
In the game, you play as Fenyx, a young wannabe hero who knows – and frequently tells – the stories of the Greek gods and the biggest heroes of her time. You can customize the gender and the appearance of Fenyx to suit your wishes, even including some very whacky options. In my game I have played as female Fenyx and I will refer to the character as she in the review.
Put on your Hercules’ Bracers of Strength, and dive right into our Immortals Fenyx Rising PC review!
The story is set up as a tale recounted by Prometheus to Zeus, as the leader of Olympian gods seeks a way to defeat the titan Typhon as everything seems to teeter on the brink of destruction. Prometheus’ answer is not the one that Zeus seeks, and the god is quick to interrupt the storyteller with his witty retorts and sly comments.
From the first cinematic, it feels like the game has two protagonists: Fenyx, whom you control, and Zeus, who is affected by Fenyx’s adventures and grows as a character from a witty jerk to something more, sometimes going through pretty wholesome moments.
At the beginning of the game, the ship Fenyx was on with her heroic brother Ligyron sunk by the mysterious Golden Isle. Our protagonist finds her friends turned to stone as unknown – but very angry – creatures start popping out of thin air, attacking the heroine.
Fenyx swears to return her comrades to life even if she finds herself doubting she can pull it off and sets out on an epic adventure: a tale of courage, of overcoming your fears, of owning up to your mistakes and making amends. Her journey takes her to other gods: Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus, and Athena.
The titan Typhon locked away their essences, the very core of their powers, leaving the gods helpless in the wake of his corruption. It is up to Fenyx to save them and, perhaps, teach Zeus that there is more to his children and comrades than he was willing to believe.
As the story unfolds, the two protagonists change and grow: Fenyx learns to take a step out of the shadow of her brother, even if she is still plagued by doubts and Zeus admits to his misdeeds. How would they act on it? Play through the game to find out!
Those who have tried out Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild would feel immediately at home in Immortals: Fenyx Rising. The gameplay might not be as deep and involved as in Immortals’ big sister franchise, Assassin’s Creed, but it is a pleasant enough loop to engage players for the 20-40 hours it takes to beat the game.
Fenyx has two main characteristics: Health and Stamina. Health reflects how much of a beating the heroine can take while Stamina is used pretty much for everything else. Climbing? Stamina. Heavy blows? Stamina. Flying? Stamina. Gliding? Stamina.
Thankfully, collecting Ambrosia, Zeus’ lightning, and finding certain pieces of gear can improve the stats. The more Stamina you have, the more fun and smooth it feels.
Players have access to a variety of weapons, all usable at the same time:
- Swords deal relatively low damage but allow Fenyx to weave together quick combos and restore Stamina
- Axes deal heavier damage and spend a lot of Stamina
- Bows allow you to stick your enemies with arrows from afar and solve certain types of puzzles. A special guided arrow you unlock early in the game takes Stamina.
Unlike AC, in Immortals weapons do not have stats on their own. Instead, you can use the Forge to upgrade the stats of the entire category of weapons, be it Axes or Swords. However, all the gear and weapons still have their own bonuses such as restoration of Health on headshots, extra Stamina from perfect evasions, etc.
This system allows you to pick the gear with the bonuses you find the most useful without having to look at how it performs compared to the pieces you already have. Additionally, with the transmog system in-game allowing you to use any unlocked visual for your appearance, you can make sure Fenyx looks just the way you want her to while playing the way you like.
Fenyx also has access to a variety of mounts that can be tamed across the Golden Isle and a battle companion, a bird named Phosphor.
The world of Immortals: Fenyx Rising is filled to the brim with things to do, from little side-quests to puzzles, boss battles with mythical beasts and Typhon’s lieutenants, Tartaros Rifts and more.
Some examples:
- On the Island, you will find many Treasures scattered around. Some can be opened right away, while others would require you to defeat guards, come back at night or solve a puzzle
- Odysseus’ challenge will require you to fire and guide and arrow through an obstacle course made of axe handles to hit and light a brazier at its end
- In Speed challenges, Fenyx must reach the end point before the time runs out
- Fenyx can also stumble on Constellation puzzles. To complete one, you must find enough hidden orbs to recreate a constellation from a nearby star chart
- Block picture puzzle will have you recreate a famous moment from the Greek mythology
There are many challenges that reward players for exploration, usually offering gear or Charon’s coins. They can be spent to acquire new active or passive abilities.
Immortals: Fenyx Rising takes Ubisoft in a new direction, different from that of Assassin’s Creed. While the game still utilizes an open-world, the way it goes about it is very different.
While it doesn’t bring anything new or innovative to the table of action-adventures, Immortals is a short and charming colorful journey into Greek mythology. Although I’d like to have words with whoever came up with some of the main story puzzles to acquire the gods’ essences. Looking at you, Ares.
Similar to: Leged of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Genshin Impact
Note: the game is a verified purchase by the author
