It would be an understatement to say I’m nothing but a Greek mythology diehard. But when Immortals: Fenyx Rising was announced back at the 2019 E3, it’s original name (Gods and Monsters) was all I needed to know before submitting my pre-order at EB Games.
As someone who’s played similar mythology-themed games including Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and Hades, as well as many open world RPGs such as Ghost of Tsushima and Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, there wasn’t much stopping me from playing as the little redheaded demigod the day it was released.
While many reviews have heralded Immortals as Ubisoft’s equivalent of Breath of the Wild (which is true), there’s so much more to this game that makes it epic.
Here’s a few tidbits that I enjoyed and why Immortals: Fenyx Rising should be yanked straight onto the top of your shame pile – aside from the fact that I mostly just want more people to froth over it with.
Hilarious storytelling
In Immortals: Fenyx Rising, you assume the role of the titular protagonist Fenyx, who can be played as either a male or female. Most of the people I know prefer to play as a female Fenyx, just as the gods (read: Ubisoft) intended, so for the purpose of this article, I’ll be referring to Fenyx as she/her. Therefore, she washes up alone on the shores of the Golden Isle, a bright and beautiful island that’s home to the gods of Olympos and looks a helluva lot like the world in Breath of the Wild.
Fenyx discovers that all of the humans on the isle have been turned to stone and the Greek gods have either fled or been captured by the titan Typhon, who has escaped Tartaros. After helping the sassy messenger god, Hermes, Fenyx agrees to rescue four of his siblings in order to go up against Typhon. Along the way, Fenyx befriends a phoenix and earns herself a pair of magical wings made by famed inventor, Daedalus.
I don’t think I would have enjoyed Immortals: Fenyx Rising without Zeus and Prometheus’ verbal sparring and amusing narration. While I expected a more serious, or even darker tone throughout the game, I was pleasantly surprised again and again by this light change of pace. If we reflect back on other mythology games such as Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey or God of War, it’s common to see sex and murder permeate those games.
Oh and in case you’ve got zero inkling about Greek mythology, let me hash over these two key characters super quick. Zeus is the horny king of the gods who can throw down lightning bolts if he’s in a bad mood (more so when his wife Hera figures out he’s having an affair, again). Prometheus on the other hand is a nice dude who made us wee humans from clumps of clay and then gave us fire to keep us warm. OG Zaddy was peeved, so he chained Prometheus to a rock and sent a vulture to peck out his liver every day for the rest of (checks watch) forever.
Anyway, back to the game. While the comedy duo’s narration is quite heavy at the start, rest assured if you’re one of those types that don’t play for story their commentary dies down soon. As you adventure through the Golden Isle and attempt to restore the lost gods to their former glory, the two will reappear here and there. Most of the time, Prometheus will attempt to recount Fenyx’s story and Zeus will interject by yelling out, “Boring!” or some other wry comment.
My personal favourite interruption happens early on into Fenyx’s story when she jumps into the first vault. I won’t spoil it, but you really need to experience it firsthand to earn the full belly laugh.
Put on your puzzle-solving cap
If you love puzzles, then boy do I have news for you – this game reeks of them. Everywhere you look, everything you see and everything you need to do is dominated by puzzles, much like Breath of the Wild (if not more).
While roaming through the Golden Isle, you’ll stumble across all sorts of brainteasers including frescoes that you’ll need to solve like a sliding block puzzle, or constellation puzzles that involve fetching galaxy-like marbles and placing them in the correct slots of a puzzle and even a memory game where you need to hit the chords on a giant harp in the right order to play a specific tune.
Meanwhile, one of the key drivers in the game involves leaping into Vaults, which are portals into Tartaros. Once there, you’ll need to complete the challenge within in order to close the rift. Most of them are puzzle-like obstacle courses that involve moving heavy objects around or guiding an arrow to a faraway mark. Once you reach the end of each Vault, you’ll find one of Zeus’ lightning bolts which you can use to upgrade your stamina back at the Hall of the Gods.
Once you complete the game, guess what? There’s more puzzles. Honestly, I have no clue who was the brains behind all these head scratchers – possibly, the fabled Daedalus – but if you can’t get enough of Immortals: Fenyx Rising, you can download the three additional DLCs once you’ve completed the main story. One is a continuation of Fenyx’s story, another delves into a new one a new hero named Ash and the third DLC is a whole new arc focused on Chinese mythology.
Whomping monsters into oblivion is really fun
Personally, I found combat pretty tricky in the beginning and even though you can adjust the difficulty levels at the start of the game, I had to run but mostly climb my way out of any monster battle when I was ganged up on. Thank the gods for Fenyx’s sticky fingers.
The greatest thing about Immortals is that you have so many different ways to beat up the mythical creatures roaming the isles. Aside from a bunch of stunning, ombre coloured weapons, you can shoot down harpies with your bow as well as call your phoenix pal, Phosphor, to cloak you or restore your health. I especially love the abilities that are bestowed on you after saving some of the gods, namely Hephaistos’ Hammer that lets you wallop your enemies with a giant mallet and Ares’ Wrath which lifts you and your enemies into the air before impaling them with a hoard of spears.
Ultimately, it’s all about the battle combos you can tee up in this game and once you’ve collected all of the special abilities and maxed out your stamina, you’re pretty much unstoppable. The most satisfying part during combat is when you’ve completely obliterated your enemies’ health and get to witness a short animation of yeeting them back to Tartaros in a Team Rocket-esque fashion.
Collect all the ponies
I may have wasted an obscene amount of time traipsing through the Golden Island after discovering a map that tells you where to find all of the mounts in the game.
A winged horse that can’t fly (lame, I know) looks pretty damn cool, but when I discovered I could giddy up on a glowing amethyst-coloured stag, you best believe I stayed up til 3am to find the glorious beast.
And not to sound like a crazy horse girl, but there’s also a winged rainbow one, a golden one and a zebra. Yeah, there’s a few super cool ones, and that’s only including the ones you can find organically in the game. The rest you can buy if you don’t mind trading in some real money to the bank of Hermes.
To tame a mount, you have to creep up on them from behind without them noticing you. The mounts with three stamina bars (a.k.a. the rarest, coolest looking ones) are very skittish so you’ll have to be extra slow and careful to avoid scaring them off. Once you’re close enough, you’ll be able to mount it and claim one as yours. You can exchange your noble steed at any point in the game, such as when you’ve decided to change up your outfit… I mean, armour.
Where to buy Immortals: Fenyx Rising
I knew the magical ponies would convince you and great news, chums! Immortals: Fenyx Rising is on sale for under $25 on most gaming consoles right now. If you want to grab yourself a copy – and remember, I will summon Zeus to make good on my threat headline – here’s where you can grab it for cheap:
- Nintendo Switch: Amazon ($24.98) | eBay ($24.98)
- PlayStation 4: eBay ($20)
- PlayStation 5: Amazon ($19.98) | eBay ($19.98)
- Xbox: Amazon ($19.98) | eBay ($19.98)
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