Immortals Fenyx Rising is a beautiful and relatively relaxing action-adventure game published by Ubisoft in 2020. I wanted to share my first ten hours playing the game with you, to give you an idea of what to expect from the game should you wish to pick it up and give it a try! If Greek Mythology, exploring open worlds, or third-person games sound like your cup of tea, the game is currently on Xbox GamePass as of June 25th 2024.
There are some of those spoiler-things below!
I have played and enjoyed several Ubisoft games. Equally, I’ve played and really not enjoyed several others. The last Ubisoft game I played was Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and as an Ancient Antiquity nerd I was excited to sit down and get lost in an era I had studied and loved at university. However, I was disappointed. I couldn’t get into the game, even after spending more than 15 hours roaming the beautiful landscapes. Years later, I sunk into over 100 hours into Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, finding that game’s open world, quests, and roaming far more engaging than that of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. So, after somehow missing that Immortals Fenyx Rising was even a thing, and realising it was a Breath of the Wild and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey combo, I was apprehensive to give it a go. Was it going to be another yawn-fest like Odyssey, or a borderline too-open world game like Breath of the Wild?
First Ten Hours
I began Immortals Fenyx Rising at the beginning of June 2024, and immediately loved it. Sure, the mechanics are sometimes a little janky, and I’m not really a fan of how many combos I had to learn to make combat more effective. I do wish that the controls were a little more intuitive, as I have had issues with the fact that some of Fenyx's abilities cannot be used alongside the flight mechanic seamlessly. But I cannot deny that the game makes time fly, in the best way.
This third-person action-adventure game is a large open world consisting of several regions inspired by Greek Mythology. Managing the protagonist’s health and stamina to navigate through the world, learning new godly abilities in their pursuit of defeating Typhon, and going toe-to-toe with enemies like cyclops and minotaur’s are just some of the things I have done in my first ten hours of the game. As someone who studied Ancient Greece at university, I can fully appreciate the references to Greek Myth, and find a lot of humour from how they are portrayed. However, even if you have never touched Greek Mythology, the game provides enough information about the stories to allow you to enjoy and learn as you play.
Opening Moments
The protagonist gets shipwrecked on an unknown land, later learning it is called the Golden Isle. They soon learn that their squadron and brother had washed up and were seemingly petrified by an unknown force, and several strange monsters roam the land. The story ramps up quickly, with combat breaking up the roaming lulls.
We are playing a soon-to-be Greek hero, Fenyx, whose travels are being told as a story by Prometheus to Zeus after the lightning god came to Prometheus asking how to defeat Typhon, son of Gaia and Tartaros - ironic given the gods imprisoned Prometheus after he stole fire from them and gifted it to humanity in the form of technology, civilisation, and knowledge. The narration and banter from Prometheus and Zeus contribute to the humour that is littered throughout the game, which I really appreciate given Greek Mythology can be quite tragic at times (given Zeus turns many of his romantic ‘pursuits’ and enemies into various creatures, often without their consent).
Vaults of Tartaros
Like Breath of the Wild and other open world games, Immortals Fenyx Rising has several points of interest and named locations to explore. Fenyx gathers resources and new equipment as they move towards each goal. Some of these POI include rifts that have torn open, allowing Fenyx to explore various Vaults of Tartaros. These are the rare resource and equipment looting areas, each fit with different challenges, puzzles, and/or arenas that you need to beat to complete the vault. The loading screens between these areas have Fenyx gliding down to the Vault, wings outstretched. You can control Fenyx during this time, giving you a boredom-breaking opportunity to collect a small spattering of resources whilst you wait.
I think the Vaults are possibly the most exciting part of Fenyx Rising so far, with only the banter between Prometheus and Zeus and the spattering of Greek Mythology beating them, in my opinion.
My Issue with the Game
I have found that I’ve been struggling with several areas on the Golden Isles where the enemies are tougher, indicated by their different colourations. This is an issue with every open world, in which you may inadvertently stumble into an area in your exploration that will kick your butt. I’m a bit of a stubborn gamer, who likes to challenge themselves with plucking away at an enemy’s health bar even when you know that a single attack from them will end you on the spot. After learning the hard way that I cannot defeat the purple-coloured enemies, which are, I believe, two steps up from the basic enemies, I decided to return to the main quest line, ending up at the Hall of Gods.
Hall of Gods
We had previously met a strange thief during the main storyline, a cheeky blonde-haired man who has a knack for disappearing. The man asks us to meet him at the Hall of Gods, where we learn that he is actually Hermes, god of finances and thieves. Hermes introduces us to the various upgrade stations dotted around the Hall of Gods, and it is then I discovered how ill-equipped I was.
Upgrading various aspects of Fenyx is fun and humorous. Upgrading your health has them crushing some ambrosia and kicking the bowl into the air to then catch the ambrosia in their hands and sip from it, whilst upgrading your stamina has Hermes spot Fenyx as they work up a sweat. My favourite upgrade animation is actually the simplest one, where you upgrade your potions at a Cauldron of Circe (although there are actually several Cauldron’s of Circe throughout the Golden Isle). Circe is known for her potion and herb knowledge and for magically transforming Odysseus’ men into pigs in Homer’s Odyssey. I think the fact that Fenyx brews up some potions, goes in for a smell and then coughs at the stench is humorous as it reminds me of the fact that Circe’s potions and enchanting ways often caused the downfall of others.
Fenyx acting all confident as they brew and ending up coughing at the smell brings them down a few pegs, which is an important thing for Greek heroes to experience during their stories, as their confidence often is their own downfall (looking at you, Achilles).
Conclusion
I’m definitely going to keep playing Immortals Fenyx Rising, and it will be a game that I will see to its end (unlike Assassin’s Creed Odyssey). I’m looking forward to meeting and freeing the other gods and seeing how they are portrayed. I currently don’t trust Hermes and wonder why he hasn’t been transformed and locked away like the other gods (unless he just ran away when Typhon escaped and began his corruption of the land). I guess the only way I will find out where this story is going is to play it. Wish me luck, and maybe consider joining me in playing the game for yourself!
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