Ubisoft’s open-world games usually aren’t terrible. They often have some flaws here or there, but they can usually be depended on for a bit of fun. Immortals Fenyx Rising has some good ideas on paper, and when it came out, I was intrigued by the Greek Mythology theme. However, there are some issues with the game, namely that it just doesn’t feel all that inspired.

Immortals Fenyx Rising puts you in the role of Fenyx, a human who sets off on a journey to free the gods of Olympus after the Titan Typhon is freed. Typhon wants to destroy the gods and remake the world in his image. On top of that, humanity (aside from Fenyx) has been turned to stone, so Fenyx wants to save his brother, who is a Greek soldier.

I normally don’t compare games to other games in reviews. However, there are a lot of people who criticize Immortals Fenyx Rising for how similar it is mechanically to Breath of the Wild. I can’t disagree here. Almost every piece of gameplay has its roots in Breath of the Wild and not in a subtle way either. For example, across the map there are Vaults of Tartaros, which give you new abilities, weapons, items, or armor after completing puzzles.

This is an almost identical concept to the Shrines in Breath of the Wild, and the puzzles can be very similar in places, almost jarringly so. Even some of Fenyx’s traversal abilities feel ripped out of Breath of the Wild, from the Daedalus Wings (glider) to the stamina on his climbing. Granted, the puzzles and small additions to the gameplay formula (such as bow puzzles) make for a decent experience. However, these similarities add to the feeling that Ubisoft didn’t quite feel inspired and just took certain ideas to wash with a fresh coat of Greek paint.

Standing on a high enough point will allow you to mark points of interest, and there are all sorts of things to find and do. However, another problem with Fenyx Rising is that other than the gods you find, there are no NPCs to interact with. As such, you’re just traipsing through an empty world, fighting enemies and solving puzzles, for the most part.

The full open world is accessible from the start of the game, though certain things won’t be accessible until you follow the main quest for a bit. There are side quests based on Greek Myths, but you don’t get to meet most of the figures in the myths, Zeus and Prometheus just narrate about them. There are also just some gods that are strangely missing from the game like the developers had no desire to include them. That may change via the DLC that I haven’t played, but it was an odd little element.

I’ve been hard on Fenyx Rising so far, but the truth is, the game isn’t bad. In fact, it has a little bit of lag here and there, but it plays well. The puzzles are clever, even if some of them are yanked from another game. The combat is smooth, and there are a variety of difficulty options for players. The progression systems and amount of cosmetics you can unlock are also pretty diverse and deep.

It’s just that Immortals Fenyx Rising is bland. It has all the right ideas, and it hits all the right notes, but it never goes deep enough with any of the good bits to elevate it beyond just being decent. The characters try to be interesting, but in a lot of cases, Zeus and some of the gods are just annoying.

I think if you haven’t played Breath of the Wild or a superior game of this type, this is actually a decent entry point to that style of game. Namely, because weapons don’t break and the Greek Mythology stories in the side quests are pretty interesting.

However, I have played a ton of superior games to this, Breath of the Wild included. There are some accessibility options though that Breath of the Wild didn’t have. So again, this isn’t a bad experience, it just isn’t one that I personally think sets itself apart from the other open-world games of its kind. I would argue that some of Ubisoft’s own other open-world games are better than this one, which says a lot, I think.

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Immortals Fenyx Rising

$59.99

5

Score

5.0/10

Pros

• Variable Difficulty
• Smooth Controls and Gameplay
• Decent Puzzles
• Solid Traversal Elements
• Lots of Customization and Cosmetics

Cons

• Bland, Lifeless Open World
• Very Few NPCs to Interact With
• Blatantly Ripped off Elements
• Zeus and Some of the Gods are Annoying
• Minor Bugs and Lag