Preview: First 3 hours set tone for ‘Immortals Fenyx Rising’
During my first hands-on session with “Immortals Fenyx Rising,” I got a sense of the gameplay. With its cartoony visuals and emphasis on puzzles, the project exuded a “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” vibe. The big difference came from the combocentric combat that felt like a Platinum Games title done in slow motion. The demo gave a general sense of what the project played like.
That time with the game acted like an amuse-bouche. The second preview session with “Immortals Fenyx Rising” was more of an appetizer, showing off the open-world title from the beginning. It offered a better sense of what players are walking into.
The game kicks off with the Olympian gods in a precarious place. Freed from Tartaros, Typhon rampages across their realm of the Golden Isles and he has incapacitated most of the gods. The heroes the Olympians sent to defeat the titan have been turned against the,, and all that’s left for the remaining leader, Zeus, is Prometheus. The god of lightning commands the titan to stop Typhon, but instead of doing that, Prometheus makes a deal with the god. He says a prophecy predicts that a mortal can defeat the menace, and he begins narrating the tale of the titular hero.
To my surprise, Fenyx is a character that can talk. At the beginning of the game, players find the character shipwrecked on the Golden Isles, and they can customize the looks and sex of the hero. (Players shouldn’t worry if they can’t decide at first. They can switch up the looks later in the campaign.)
A NONSILENT PROTAGONIST
From there, players discover that Fenyx is a shield bearer who never saw combat. The protagonist has an older brother named Ligyron, and the first piece of gear that players grab is his sibling’s weapon, the sword of Achilles. Grabbing the blade, I remembered the line: “It’s Dangerous to Go Alone! Take this.”
“Immortals Fenyx Rising” starts players off with a limited number of moves. Achilles’ sword only provided a normal attack. The hero’s only defensive maneuver was dodge and a parry. As players venture through the world and explore Vaults of Tartaros, which act similarly to shrines in “Breath of the Wild,” they acquire key items such as Daidalos’ wings that enables Fenyx to double jump and the the Axe of Atalanta, which gives players a strong attack.
Much like “Zelda” or even “Metroid,” these items act as a gating mechanism. Players can’t advance from the Clashing Rocks island until they gain the full power of the wings and glide over to Aphrodite’s Valley of Eternal Spring. Stamina acts as a barrier early on but as players gain access to potions they can overcome some limits. With limited stamina, players can’t scale enormous mountains, fly long distances or swim across to far-off islands.
One of the ways to improve survival chances and increase stamina is by finding collectibles scattered in the world. To boost health, players will have to grab ambrosia, which is often hidden in the open world. If they want to increase stamina, they’ll need to acquire thunderbolts of Zeus, which is given as rewards for completing Vaults of Tartaros. Both of those can be found when players scale a vista point and use the Far Sight ability to scout around the locale.
RESOURCES TO UPGRADE THE HERO
While taking in the land, they’ll come across environmental puzzles such as lyres with instructions for songs that can be played on the bigger counterparts or they can find a Navigation challenge that tests players’ traversal skills. Players will also run into other tasks testing archery or flying. Completing these sidequests rewards Fenyx with Charon Coins needed to unlock or upgrade skills or godly powers.
Gems are collectibles that upgrade swords, axes, bows, helmets, quivers and the potion pouch. They’re often found in treasure chests, which are hidden in the land and often the reward for environmental puzzles. The goody boxes may also contain armor pieces that offer Fenyx some perks. Meanwhile, Golden Amber is harder to find as it turns up inside trees or other environments. The resource is used to boost the effectiveness of potions.
The progression is tied to the Hall of the Gods, which is found in Aphrodite’s realm. It’s essentially a base where Fenyx can change up his or her looks. It’s a central spot where players upgrade Fenyx’s stats. Interestingly enough no matter how boosted the protagonist is, the enemies level up with them so players always encounter a challenge.
I learned to appreciate how Ubisoft Quebec ramped up the powers in “Immortals Fenyx Rising.” As I grew accustomed to the tools, they added new ones and my battle options widened. The bracers of Herakles allowed me to pull myself to flying harpies so that I can slash them with the sword. The Hammer of Hephaestus allowed me to deal heavy damage to foes or knock them out of the air. Although it’s not exactly “Assassin’s Creed,” Fenyx even has the ability to crouch and sneak up on enemies to backstab them for massive damage.
These moves allow players to tackle puzzles and battles with differing tactics. After finishing a quest that required Fenyx to roll a pearl down a mountainside, I faced a Wraith of Achilles. These foes are shadows of the real corrupted Achilles, and players have to defeat them before battling the real corrupted version in a lair. It was a strong foe and I relied on perfect dodges that activated a bullet time so that I could pull off several Hephaestus Hammer blows in a row.
A FINAL PERK
This in turn required a lot of stamina potions because using this special move uses up a lot of it. I’m sure an expert player could handle wraith confrontation with perfect parry moves and winnow its health down. They could have also carried hurled boulders at it for extra damage. The flexibility of the combat is one of “Immortals” biggest strengths. That aspect of the title and the puzzles appear to be the best parts of the project.
The reward for defeating the shade was a Blessing, which is the final upgrade shown in the demo. By helping out other Greek gods, players earn perks that helps them out in the campaign. In the case of Aphrodite, I had three blessings as part of her tree:
Aphrodite’s Embrace — It restores Fenyx to full health when the jerp should have died. It has a 20-minute cooldown.
Aphrodite’s Kiss — It helps keep the Combo Meter going after Fenyx gets hit once.
Aphrodite’s Rapture — It lets Fenyx to Ignore damage from the first hit taken after using a buff potion.
Meanwhile, The humor and action narrated by both Zeus and Prometheus potentially give the project a distinct personality. The humor early on is hit and miss, but Ubisoft Quebec does have fun breaking the Fourth Wall and poking fun at the subject matter. This is a a game where knowing Greek mythology will play a huge part in the enjoyment.
“Immortals Fenyx Rising” is scheduled for release Dec. 3 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Stadia, Nintendo Switch, PC and Amazon Luna. A demo for the game is available now on Stadia.