Immortals Fenyx Rising
Review Date: 28/01/2021
Math time kids. Can you solve the following addition?
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild + Assassin' s Creed: Odyssey + hint of God of War=
Well if you said Mortal Kombat, you’re a freaking moron, and you need to get your head checked for a possible concussion. Buuut if you guessed Immortals Fenyx Rising, then ding ding ding! You just won yourself approval from a nutjob like me, and you should probably get your head checked out because you may be just as nuts!
Yes people, Ubisoft’s BOTW-like Greek game is probably one the best they have released in 2020, and that’s saying a lot especially after releasing a killer game like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. So let’s not waste time, let’s get into this review!
A Tale Like No Other
Immortals Fenyx Rising is a tale about Fenyx, and him rising to the top … no I’m talking crap. This game has such a wonderful storyline and the reason I say wonderful is because of the way it is presented. The entire game is told and narrated by Prometheus to Zeus, and this is what makes this game AMAZINGLY AWESOME! The constant humour, dad jokes, dirty jokes, subtle innuendos, the bickering ... all of that and more between Zeus and Prometheus constantly had me smiling like an idiot and laughing throughout the entire game.
Coupling these two nut jobs with the likes of Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, Hephaistos and Hermes, Immortals Fenyx Rising gives us the tale of the Titan Typhon taking over the Golden Isles and punishing all these gods in various ways. I want to tell you how they are punished, but honestly, it would spoil it, and this is a SPOILER FREE ZONE!!!
Golden Isles, more like Rainbow Nation
Yes, the map is huge as it should be, and absolutely gorgeous. With five different regions, each housing a different god. But the regions are nowhere near the same. Aphrodite is in the most green, lush environment; Ares in a barren, war-ridden savannah; Athena in a developed area with more buildings and Hephaistos in a mechanical wasteland. All over the map, you will move from mountains to rivers to lakes, and if you think traversing this sounds a bit tedious, fear not because you have your choice of mounts, after you tame them off course, or Daedalus’ wings, which are the coolest, most funnest thing you will ever use. And for those who played BOTW, you know what I’m talking about.
Throughout your time walking the map, you’ll find an environment that is quite interactive and destructible. You can cut down trees and use the logs as weapons (obviously you’ll have some sort of godly power, but we will get to that later), rocks and boulders can be broken and a truly interactive world. But enough of the landscape, let’s get down to some combat.
Hack, Slash, Godly Powers … No This Isn’t God of War
Like most single-player games, Immortals is an RPG game, that gives you the ability to truly level yourself up and be a total badass. Fenyx can swap out his/her weapons based on their stats, but not the actual weapons. Ok, wait that sounds confusing, let me say this. You have a sword for light attacks, an axe (or hammer) for heavy attacks, a bow and arrow for strangling … wait what … no dumbass, bow and arrow for range attacks and your set of godly powers.
Now the godly powers can change the name of any battle and truly turn the tides in your favour. You have Herakles’ bracers for strength and lifting heavy objects, a bird companion Phospor with an amazing ranged attack, Ares Wrath which is a bunch of spears coming up the ground for great AOE and stun damage and Athena’s Dash for so bulldozing action. BUT, as evident from this game and the huge influence it took from BOTW, there is a stamina bar that will deplete for every activity, climbing, flying, using your godly powers, sprinting. It is safe to say stamina management is key in the early stages of the game.
As you progress through the game you’ll find ways to level up all these abilities, your stamina and health and begin to create some mind-boggling combos that can hit some hyper combo numbers. But combat and traversing aren’t all what this game is about. No at the heart of Immortals is a bunch of side activities with most having puzzles to them.
The puzzles all have a basic premise, move the blocks to make the picture, place a weighted object on the panel, use your godly powers to traverse a Vault of Tartoros. All of these are seen as side activities and is what makes this game a true RPG. You can choose to make your play through easier by solving the puzzles, upgrading everything, or go through it all step-by-step following the story missions and completing a side quest if you come by it. The way you play is completely up to you, but trust me when I say this, you’ll want to do all those quests and vaults and puzzles, because they can be fun, challenging and give the game more depth and gameplay hours than anticipated.
Final Bolt
Overall Immortals Fenyx Rising is a brilliant game loaded with a gripping story, many twists and turns, puzzles that make you think and gameplay that is all around a complete joy to experience. Across my 40 hours of playing, I found myself wanting to play the game more and more, and enjoying the light-heartedness of its visuals, and story-telling while being engaged in some combo-busting combat that felt basic and easy at times. Ubisoft have taken a tale of Greek mythology and spun their own way with it, and is without a doubt one of the best games they have produced in 2020.
As always, stay safe people. Wear a mask, wash your hands, follow social distancing and for the love of god stay sane. Till next time, JoKishler out! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻)