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Review | Immortals: Fenyx Rising

"The game where the open-world is not boring, repetitive and where you can enjoy your time. I really love this approach for the genre and I hope we get more games like this."

by Foggy, 04-12-2020, Edited by: Jim

While many are still looking for their favorite on the new generation of consoles, Ubisoft released 2 titles of similar recipes. They have already delighted many with Vallhala. Where in that calculation is Immortals: Fenyx Rising, the former Gods and Monsters? Well, he's there somewhere, but he snuck in in a slightly different, but familiar way.

It should be noted that this title is the product of the Ubisoft Quebec studio credited for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Oddysey. Although Fenyx doesn’t come to us from Ubisoft’s main machinery, it offered a very entertaining adventure that bounces off the stamp that accompanies this company. I’m the first one who just doesn’t like vain missions and those go-and-fetch derivatives that often lowers our blood pressure. Some titles have convinced us that open-world games can really offer the player that ultimate experience. Many Ubisoft games often bored me quickly. I’m glad I got this one for a review, because Immortals: Fenyx Rising is the exact opposite of boredom and anything some might expect (me first).


Prometheus will have to listen to Zues for some time

Let's go in some order. I followed this title through several trailers and even through an early gameplay display which I don’t normally do. Apparently it was another clone of the generally positively accepted Zelda, and as I fell in love with such a world even through Genshin Impact, I decided to give it a chance.

With a dose of caution and at first, at the very least, the strange settings of the picture, I panicked a little. By no means i didn't manage to adjust the colors and contrasts to make everything fit. I played the PS5 version of the game. Performance and cinematic mode are on offer, the former is pure 60 FPS and the latter 30 with slightly better graphics performance. Remember to check the HDR settings; I had HDR turned off on the TV (and thus my PS5 had the HDR option turned off) and just turning on the HDR was the reason I pulled out a much wider and more faithful range of colors. Fenyx Rising looks much better with HDR on, if you have an option on your TV be sure to take advantage of it. I hope you will have more luck if you don’t, I was by no means fully satisfied.

The menus have voice interpretation by default. Turn it off. When you bypass the start (with possible additional registration on Ubisoft Connect), the character creation starts. The options are pretty weak, and when it comes to the gender of the future hero, I opted for a long-haired heroine who will defy the Greek gods. Somehow Fenyx sounds like a name for a woman, what can I tell you.


There are few options for each category. You can also be a female with male voice, why not.

The story begins with a conversation between Zeus and Prometheus on a distant mountain. Prometheus was captured, and Zeus stopped by and decided to tell the story. The whole game follows the narration through the two of them; so as you discover the world and follow the story, it partly always starts from them. They comment as you solve puzzles, travel, always have some anecdote and I liked that part. A dose of humor is definitely a good approach to narration. Some may not like forcing that humor, but it didn't bother me, I liked the atmosphere of the game.

Fenyx (henceforth, Fenyx is a woman) is a young Greek girl stranded on a golden island. Her brother - petrified, everyone she knows has been turned to stone. Soon you are attacked by a horde of mythological creatures and evil soldiers and you are forced to fight. If the beginning the game doesn't peak at first, continue by force if necessary, because it gets better the more you play it. The fights start simply and without too much complication, and the world you are moving in doesn’t look very impressive. The start is definitely the weakest point of Fenyx Rising. The secondary parts of the initial part of the map look pretty bad, I even had the feeling that at times I was looking at a PS3 game. Add to that the movements of your character in the scenes and everything will be clear (and the accents are in the style of Origins, but that didn't bother me that much).


First game impressions get boosted quite soon, just keep playing.

As you get to know the game you will realize that there is a lot more to it than it seems at first. The world is conceived in such a way that every now and then there are some boxes and puzzles, some temples that are a set of puzzles, some upgrades tower peaks or something else eager for your attention. I'm very sad that the game isn't more graphically impressive, because this way it all gives a slightly sloppy impression, but still a lot of effort has been put into making all these points to make sense and, above all, to entertaining you.

I have to admit that I like this type of open-world game more and more. There is not a single fetch quest in the game, all the content is interesting in its own way, it entertains you without exaggerating the way it approachs. When you close your eyes to the occasional ugly landscapes and the worst controlls underwater ever, the world of Fenyx Rising is ready to spread its arms and hold you so you can both have fun.

Best of all, the flow of the game is natural and if you don’t explore it you can comfortably hit the main story. Normal difficutlyis just optimal, and if it becomes difficult for you, you can always lower it in the options. I recommend staying at Normal and dosing activities as you see fit.


The world is big enough to satisfy your exploring hunger, but at the same time it will not bother you with any of its own content.

As you gather more powers the main story unfolds. Hermes will be your faithful companion and help you reunite an army of gods to fight Typhon who has ruled the golden island. By traveling through various regions, you will thus solve the demands of the gods and strengthen yourself in the central temple, which will also be your central point. I will just mention that the activities you perform in the temple when upgrading weapons are really silly (in a positive way). The animations of exercising and cooking potions never bothered me. And yes, if at some point you wanted to change gender, there is also a makeover chair in the temple, so feel free to throw yourself into one makeover (re-customization of your character).


The hub is the place which you will call your home.

The story was solid, although nothing special. The narration is good and the game doesn’t bother you too much. It all comes down to puzzles and the occasional fights, which becomes so juicy that you will wish for a stronger opponent and more meat. From a simple fight, to still simple but damn fun. I enjoyed the fight. I really enjoyed it. Sword or ax attacks (heavy attack), combo attacks, dodges - the time slows down a bit more, special attacks from which the haptic vibration goes wild - are just clues that you remember while playing. You’ll use them all and it’s really not complicated, but it’s so fluid at times. When you fire the opponent 3 kilometers away with the last blow, all problems just disappear. I loved to charge a special attack with a sledgehammer and then firing enemies in the middle of the head sending them to another planet.

The dosage of the duels was moderate and I didn’t mind as much as I fought, the more skills I learned the better the fight became. I welcome simple but fun approaches, nothing special or innovative, but just solidly done.


You really need to experience the fight. Everything is in controling the situation. Also, each enemy comes with their ahilios feet.

Interestingly, Fenyx Rising has almost no RPG system, which I didn't miss at all. So, there are 2 types of weapons and variations of them are mostly makeup. New weapons come with new visuals and a few perks that can be useful (regenerating stamina on every successful dodge, for example), and what's great is that you can choose any skin for weapon / armor you find, while still having the desired equipment (wear armor A, but use skin from armor B, your armor looks different while perks are from the first one).

The wings  are definately a star of the evening. There are beautiful flame wings with which I flew around the world as if it were my first time (in games). By collecting crystals, either through boxes or through the world, you can upgrade your defenses or strengthen your weapons. It is recommended that you invest everything in the sword and you will be the strongest Fenyx in the Golden Kingdom.

That's what I want to emphasize, everything starts kind off weak and then with a double jump and the possibility of flying, then fast flying - everything becomes fun and fluid. There is stamina that serves as endurance when you climb (I often see Zelda within this game) and by strengthening you open up the possibility of access previously inaccessible heights, distances and depths. That’s what saves the mediocre in the game. The balance is really good and the game makes you want to finish it.


The choice of wings satisfied me, some variations are just wonderful. The world itself sometimes seems quite simple.

All the quests you will come across offers unique story. There aren’t a large number of them and I’m glad because they all benefit in importance. Everything else is up to challenges and hidden boxes just waiting for you to open (solve) them. Immortals: Fenyx Rising does not suffer from repetition and artificial prolongation. Instead, it seems relaxed, cartoonish and fun.

Then the riddles set in, which I immediately thought would bore me. They never did. Each temple you explore is a web of various puzzles or mechanics that you will have to use to reach the goal. I loved controlling/navigating arrows from bows in the style of Heavenly Sword (remember one of the first PS3 games?). It’s one of my favorite mechanics here, especially when you slow down and accelerate the arrow so the music changes to relaxing. You feel just kind of comfortable.

I won’t reveal the puzzles to you, but only one was frustratingly difficult, while all the others were damn fun. It has everything and just when you think you have enough with temples with puzzles, the game surprises you with fights and balances the gameplay nicely.


Temples and puzzles never seems to get dull. They always amaze me.

I really liked Fenyx Rising. Which I never expected, especially after a bad start, but the game pulled me out with its ingenuity. This showed me how games can still offer something other than nice graphics and empty worlds. Add to that the fact that throughout the entire transition I had no major bugs and only one crash. Everything else flew at an almost always stable 60 FPS. And so did I. Loadings in the form of 5-9 seconds definitely do not hurt the impression. I haven't tested it on other platforms, but the PS5 version works fine. However, if you expect the next-gen from Fenyx Rising, unfortunately this game is not that.


Through fast loads you won't even have time to read hints

After about 30 hours and finishing the game, I am ready to take a short break and return to the world of gods and Greek mythology to peek into the remaining boxes. I would love more games like this. Ubisoft Quebec has shown that they can and do have an idea for good games. It was certainly not easy to devise all the challenges and puzzles offered by Fenyx Rising.

Fenyx Rising has something worth your time and all it has to offer is enough that we don’t have to draw comparisons from obvious inspirations. Give the game a chance and if you get over certain flaws (above all a bad start) you will have 25-30 hours of fun in my personally most fun Ubisoft game so far (I haven't played Vallhal yet). Fenyx Rising is an open-world that is not the “Ubisoft” open-world we are used to. Instead of bombarding you with quests and tasks, Fenyx Rising will bombard you with fun and that’s exactly what we all need.

I want a sequal. Ubisoft Quebec definitely deserved even more support from Ubisoft and a bigger budget.

"Really fun game with enough own ideas to stand by itself, even though Zelda was the big inspiration."
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