Immortals Fenyx Rising has looked like an interesting experiment on Ubisoft’s part and even though the game has clearly gone through major changes during development, it’s still looking like an exciting new open world IP. There isn’t long left until we actually get to play the game ourselves, so as we count down the days to its launch, in this feature, we’ll be talking about some important things that you should know about it.
PREMISE
Immortals Fenyx Rising is going to take players to the world of Greek mythology, which, frankly, is a setting and backdrop that video games have been using extensively for years- but the way Immortals is approaching it is still interesting. You play as Fenyx, a Greek soldier who’s stranded on the Golden Isle, and you’ve been tasked with going against the titan Typhon, who’s hellbent on revenge after Zeus and company banished him and sealed him away in Tartaros. Zeus and Prometheus are both co-narrators of the game’s story, and Immortals is said to be approaching things with a rather light-hearted tone- which is a rather interesting combination.
WORLD
As you’d expect from a modern-day Ubisoft game, Immortals Fenyx Rising is going to let players loose in a vast open world setting. The Golden Isle is divided into seven distinct regions, which is teeming with mechanical structures, forges, and automaton enemies. With volcanoes, snowy mountains, lush green fields, and more, Immortals’ world is promising to be quite diverse.
CUSTOMIZATION
Though Immortals has a set protagonist in Fenyx, the game is still going to give players plenty of control over them in terms of customization. There is a character creator, for starters, and players will be able to choose and customize Fenyx’s gender, appearance, and voice. This, in fact, is something that you can change at any time during the game, which means you’re not going to be locked into whatever choices you make for your character in the beginning.
PHOSPHOR
Immortals Fenyx Rising started development as an offshoot of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and that shows in several ways. For instance, similar to Bayek’s Senu and Kassandra or Alexios’ Ikaros, Fenyx will have a companion bird named Phosphor, which you will be able to take control of and fly across the map to spot points of interest in the map. How similar this system will be to Assassin’s Creed remains to be seen.
TRAVERSAL
Traversal is going to be a major focus in the game, and it’s looking like a cross between Assassin’s Creed and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. For starters, you can climb virtually anything you can see in the game’s world, but while climbing, you’ll also have to keep an eye on Fenyx’s stamina, similar to Breath of the Wild. Also like Breath of the Wild, or more specifically its paragliding, Fenyx will also be able to fly using the wings of Daedalus- this combination of climbing and flying promises to make traversal in the game quite interesting.
EXPLORATION
As you’d expect from any good open world game, Immortals Fenyx Rising is promising a vast amount of things to do in its map- and exploration, it seems, is going to be crucial for all of them. From rifts to puzzles to vaults to side objectives to what have you, everything will have to spotted by you in the world itself, rather than following a marker or an icon on the map or a compass. Players will have to climb to vantage points in the open world and use Fenyx’s Far Sight ability to identiy and pinpoint points of interest- which, again, sounds like a cross between Assassin’s Creed and Breath of the Wild.
VAULTS OF TARTAROS
Those rifts that we just mentioned are going to be the gateways to a very particular type of activity in the world. Tartaros Rifts are scattered throughout the world, and using them will lead you to Vaults of Tartaros. What exactly are these? They’re dungeons, in simple terms. Each of them is filled with puzzles to solve, obstacles to overcome, or enemies to fight.
Speaking of enemies…
ENEMIES
It seems like enemy variety is going to be another area that Immortals Fenyx Rising is devoting a lot of attention to. From lions and harpies to minotaurs and cyclopes, players will be coming up against all manner of enemies in the game, varying in sizes and appearances, but also in strengths and weaknesses. Making use of various abilities and weapons to juggle multiple enemies during encounters promises to make for fast-paced combat- let’s hope it plays as good as it sounds.
CORRUPTED HEROES
Corrupted heroes is one of Immortals’ most intriguing mechanics. As you play more and more of the game and progress further and defeat more enemies, you will regularly invoke the rage of the titan Typhon. This will result in the skies growing red, and one of several fallen Greek heroes being corrupted and sent out by the titan to hunt you down. It seems like this is something that will often with various different corrupted heroes throughout the course of the game.
COMBAT
We’ve spoken about different enemy types, and how combat is going to be fast-paced and frantic, but there’s still plenty more details to cover. For instance, it seems aerial combat is going to be a pretty big focus, which makes sense, given Fenyx’s ability to fly using Daedalus’ wings. On top of that, the game also has a couple of mechanics that are pretty much taken straight out of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. The perfect dodge will slow down time and allow you to hit enemies with a flurry of attacks, while the perfect parry will knock your enemies of balance and allow you to do the same.
WEAPONS
Something else that’s going to define combat in Immortals Fenyx Rising is the weapons you’ll be using. The game will have three unique weapons for players to use. Your light attacks will come from a sword, your heavy attacks will come from a massive axe, while Fenyx will also be able to use a bow and arrow. Oh, and stamina management is something that you’re going to have to juggle during combat as well, which is likely going to be used to prevent things from getting too button mash-y.
ABILITIES
On top of Fenyx’s multiple weapons, combat abilities, flight, and the enemy variety, abilities are also going to play a crucial role in defining combat. Players will be graining new abilities throughout the course of the game, each of which will present unique combat advantages. There’s Hephaistos’ Hammer, which deals heavy damage to enemies; Herakles’ Strength, which grabs on to foes and slingshots you straight at them; Ares’ spears, which can thrust enemies into air or attack aerial foes; and many more.
UPGRADES
Fenyx will be coming across plenty of gear and armour throughout the course of the game, and as you might expect, all of this will be upgradable. Upgrades will rely on collecting crafting resources in the game’s world. How extensive and deep the upgrade mechanics are remains to be seen, but at a glance, it seems (once again) like it has plenty in common with the gear and upgrade systems in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
NEXT-GEN
Immortals Fenyx Rising is launching on just about every current platform that matters (and also Stadia). That includes next-gen consoles as well, of course- so what exactly can you expect from the game on the newer systems? On PS5 and Xbox Series X, the game will support HDR and feature faster load times, on top of running in 4K at 60 FPS. Meanwhile, on Xbox, the game will also feature Dolby Atmos support, while on PS5, Ubisoft have promised full implementation of the console’s 3D audio as well as the DualSense’s haptic feedback.
SEASON PASS
Why, of course this open world Ubisoft game is going to have a season pass. Ubisoft have confirmed that more new content will be added to the game following its launch, including a bonus quest, in-game rewards, and “new gameplay experiences” in the form of three post-launch single player expansions.
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