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Imagine Zeus and Prometheus having a podcast while sitting at Ubisoft Quebec headquarters exactly. Immortals Fenyx Rising is all about the humor-filled adventure, backed by the awesome Greek pantheon a beautiful love-child of Assassins Creed Odyssey and Breath of the Wild, and much more. And, of-course too many dungeons filled with puzzles which will make you feel somewhat like Einstein, only to get 1% of Zeus’s blessing every time.

It’s 2021, and I’ve been playing a lot of RPGs this holiday season. But here’s a gem that you might have missed out, and should consider if you have a soft corner for open-world adventures with RPG elements. Here’s our review for Immortals Fenyx Rising.

Seriously Zeus?

Our story starts off with a storm that consumes the ship of an army of Spartans. Our hero ‘Fenyx’ washes ashore on a mysterious land called the Golden Islan. Fenyx regrets the thought of being awake only to find out that all humans have been turned into stone and corruption rules all over the land, and danger throughout the 7 districts. After exploring and collecting legendary Greek artifacts, Fenyx manages to save ‘Hermes’ who then helps Fenyx understand the threat that the gods are facing. Years ago, Typhon decided to fight against the gods, only to be banished and imprisoned permanently by Zeus. Until now, his rage is slowly making him stronger, and his chains are breaking. Typhon poses a threat to the gods, and have already managed to steal the essence from the children of Zeus. Ares, Aphrodite, Prometheus, and Athena are locked away from their powers and hope. Zeus aims to ask Prometheus for help, but Prometheus tells Zeus that only a mortal can save them from this corruption.

Fenyx is blessed by the gods and aided by the legendary artifacts along her journey and is joined by a legendary bird known as Phosphor. Along her journey, she helps the gods know their true role, and give them back hope against fighting Typhon. The story is narrated by Prometheus and Zeus but, as Fenyx explores more about the gods and their pasts, it also reveals how Zeus treats his kids, his creation and why everything that is happening is his fault. Now this section can go on forever because it not only is narrating the story of the gods but their legends and mistakes.

Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice

You’re a walking war machine, and the most powerful spartan the world has ever seen (sorry Kratos). You wield multiple legendary swords and heavy weapons, along with the rarest of armors, some belonging to demigods, a burning phoenix bird who is your sidekick, and a set of bow and arrow blessed by the gods themselves. Not to mention, godly abilities – the hammer of Hephaistos, Athena’s Dash, Herakles’s Strength, Apollos Arrows, and much more. As hard as their name is, they hit the enemies harder. You can also unlock various perks and passive abilities by spending Coins of Charon. You can earn these coins by proving yourself worthy in different activities spread throughout the massive Golden Island. Now, I’m not a fan of collecting these coins after I have actually collected 90% of them, due to various reasons. Number one, some activities take serious time and effort to do and you are not equally rewarded every time. For example, I did a puzzle that took me 15 minutes only to earn 4 coins. Number two, after purchasing 40% of the skill tree, I easily defeated Typhon. So, what’s the point of getting more abilities? The only viable reason I found was that – it added more flow and combos to the combat, facilitating in defeating the legendary beasts. (which are only challenging in Hard Mode). However, what’s the point in putting 20 Hours in completing every challenge, only to defeat legendary beasts in 5-10-minute combat just for better-looking armor whose equal variant you can find in a dungeon?

 

No, thank you. Speaking of armors, Fenyx Rising has done a really smart job in allowing players to wear armor while actually wearing another armor. Okay, let me simplify. Let’s say you like the visual aspect of Athena’s Armor but prefer the perk’s in the Traveler’s armor. You can wear the Traveler’s armor for the perks while wearing Athena’s armor for visuals. It’s not a new feature in games but damn, it’s appreciated. The cherry on the top of this feature includes the feature to hide-unhide equipment like helmets, swords, etc.

Boss? Dungeon, Armor? Dungeon, Hotel? Dungeon – Ubisoft Quebec

Immortals Fenyx Rising mostly involves around only 2 things – puzzles and dungeons. These dungeons are known as ‘Vault of Tartaros’ and are spread across the map. Every Vault contains enemies and puzzles that you need to clear. Rewards are mostly rare chests and Zeus’s Lightning. You further convert Zeus’s Lightning as your stamina, to run more, fight more, swim more, and fly more. But is it really worth uncovering every vault? Who knows? Maybe you can have more fun solving puzzles more than I did. Apart from normal vaults, you will be visiting vaults of the gods, which are longer, harder, and a bit tricky than others. Here not only you will be finding the lost essence of the god, but also uncovering their other side of the coin.

You will often face challenging enemies for which I recommend you to stock up on potions. And hey, talking of potions, there is only of healing resource, that is pomegranate. You can find these blessed fruits on trees (of course), or in offering baskets. You can consume these fruits to generate your health over time or craft them into a health potion to grain instant health. Similarly, you can also craft Stamina Potion, Defense Potion, and Attack Potion. Also, you can upgrade your potions capabilities by upgrading your cauldron. These upgrades include better effects and more perks. Talking of upgrading, you can of course upgrade your weapons, but this means upgrading your overall weapon slots. This basically means you don’t need to upgrade each weapon specifically, which again is not new, but good job!

Immortals Fenyx Rising does an amazing job in the level design. The environment is fun to explore and offers amazing visuals. You can also summon a mount whenever you wish to. The storyline drives the game in an engaging pattern, and it is up to you if you wish to work on improving your character. But for me, once you’ve acquired your items that suit your playstyle, you can focus on the main story only. There aren’t many side quests but many-many side Vaults. Which made me once again come across the infamous trope that is present in all Ubisoft open worlds – quantity over quality. While I can still proudly say each puzzle, challenge and side quests are different from the others, I do not wish to see a Tartaros vault in every block of the map. There are too many vaults, which discouraged me to grind the game at 100% and is definitely a drawback to the game. Apart from that, Fenyx Rising has overcome my expectation in all forms.

To be or not be a Fenyx

Immortals Fenyx Rising is probably the most fun I’ve had in an open-world game this year (sorry Valhalla). It continues to deliver the goals of what Ubisoft wanted to do with Assassins Creed Odyssey but in a more engaging way. I can recommend this game for the story and storytelling itself, but the combat, flow, map, and puzzles are a combined essence that makes this game a gem most people are bound to easily overlook.

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