Immortals Fenyx Rising is a cliche-reliant game that really doesn't stand out

I guess some things just don't turn out the way you expect them to. But that's life - "C'est la vie.", as they say. 

However, life, in this case, refers to Ubisoft's new action-adventure title Immortals Fenyx Rising, a game which I had reasonably high hopes for...until I actually started playing it. Developed primarily by Ubisoft Quebec, this Greek mythology-inspired title follows the tale of an unassuming demigod named Fenyx as she travels across the land to take down the monstrous Typhon.

Of course, she'll need some assistance to accomplish such a daunting task, and as players make their way through the narrative, they'll come across various artifacts used by Greek divinities, such as the sword of Achilles, the Axe of Atalanta, so on and so forth.

Straight off the bat

Wow. Sounds like a real Greek epic, doesn't it? I wouldn't blame you for thinking so, because I had a similar impression. The first thought I had when I saw the game's trailer was "baby's first God of War", minus all the gore and family-murdering bits, of course. Needless to say, that's already a very high bar to set for an action-adventure game, but hey, if Ubisoft could pull off a more kid-friendly version of Sony's PS4 masterpiece, then there's no reason to complain.

However, that couldn't be further from the truth, because by the time I finished watching the intro cutscene, I already had one metaphorical eyebrow raised, and that's as red a flag as any for a game. Two things: first, the graphics don't look like something you'd expect from a 2020 holiday title, even if it was meant for younger audiences. It felt..."meh", even shoddy to some extent, and I might have been okay if this was meant to be a PS3 title. But it isn't.

As for the second takeaway, it's the delivery of the narrative. It feels awkward and forced, like the developers taped the most common narrative tropes they could find together with duct tape and called it a day. Spoiler alert: Fenyx's oh-so-glorious tale starts off with two old men talking on a snowy mountain. There are Zeus and Prometheus, the latter of which is chained to a rock as punishment for stealing fire and gifting it to mortals as his legend dictates. That sounds perfectly fine, but then you find out that Prometheus's way of helping Zeus with his little Typhon problem involves him simply telling Fenyx's story. Following that, it's just how she travels around killing monsters, collecting artifacts, and doing other miscellaneous crap. 

Now, I have no idea how story-time helps anyone defeat a monster running amok killing gods, but that complete lack of narrative logic isn't the part I've got beef with - it's the developers' attempts at injecting humour and the utter simplicity of the characters as a whole. Simply put, not only does Zeus constantly make daft comments throughout the entirety of the playthrough (which I found amusing at first but quickly got annoyed by) but to make matters worse, Fenyx, not to mention the other NPCs, are characters that really don't grow on you in the same way many of their counterparts do. The dialogue is extremely simple and you don't feel even the slightest nuance of inspiration in the interactions, which is to say that this isn't a modern action-adventure game narrative - it's a funeral rite. 

Once upon a Greek demigod...

When it comes to aesthetics, there really isn't much to say, either. Sometimes that's a good thing - the entire package, namely graphics, audio, and design are bundled together so flawlessly it leaves you speechless. But more often than not, not having much to talk about when it comes to a game's aesthetics package is a big red flag. 

As I've hinted at above, Immortals Fenyx Rising doesn't really have the look nor feel of a next-gen game (and it isn't). It's not exactly bad, but it does give off a "been there, done that" vibe. The character animations feel stilted, while the environments themselves are rather bland - they're run-of-the-mill fantasy environments you've probably seen a dozen times over. Generally, it feels like the entire game was released for the sake of getting it off the to-do list - the detail on the characters and the monsters aren't outstanding, the speaking animations don't sync up very well with the voiceover, and the conversations lack any real impact or engagement for the most part.

Put together, this makes for a highly generic aesthetic package, and when you factor in the attempts at spicing up the story with humour and the overly-used "unassuming hero beats evil guy and saves the world" trope, it's actually a little sad to see it turn out like that.  

When it comes to gameplay...

It's like every other fantasy action-adventure title out there. Only worse. 

In fact, I can literally spell out what the game will have you doing three-quarters of the time. Run to quest location, solve one or two puzzles, jump into a mystical hole to Tartarus, acquire a new weapon or skill, go back to the surface, and repeat. The first two or three hours of the game weren't just exhausting to play - they were painful. Not only are the puzzles rather simplistic and straightforward, but it's repetitive as heck - for the first thirty minutes of play, the only puzzles I encountered involved moving boxes around, with the instructions basically written on the screen.  

Next, let's talk about the combat mechanics, which I will admit is probably one of the more decent bits about the game. Fighting baddies are always fun, and the usual checklist is here: weapon variety, blocking and parrying, dodge timings, and sneak attacks. There is some small degree of satisfaction to be had in dodging perfectly too since it nets you a small bullet-time window to retaliate. Meanwhile, the control scheme does take a while to get used to - your attacks are mapped to R1 and R2 by default, and you'll need to alternate between them quite often to take down tankier or shielded enemies. 

However, the weapon variety isn't as extensive as I would have liked. You're stuck with the same few weapon styles throughout the game, and they're all handed to you within the first hour or two for little to no effort - you get them just by completing one or two block puzzles. And while I do appreciate being able to customise your playstyle further once you unlock the River Styx Cistern later on in the game, it still means you need to trawl through the first few dreary hours to do so. 

Exploration? How about no?

As we follow the snowball rolling downhill, it's worth noting that the developers have shot themselves in the foot when it comes to the adventuring and exploration bit of the game.  

In what sense? Well, let's paint a scenario - take a look at games such as Horizon Zero Dawn, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and maybe Assassin's Creed Valhalla. What do they all have in common? Magnificent environments that leave players bewildered, entranced, and excited to check out right from the start. Now imagine if I told you that how much you could explore was heavily limited by a "stamina" bar until later in the game.

If you've put two and two together, that's exactly the problem here - the game takes way too long to "charge up". Now, I certainly get the logic behind having a stamina bar, but what I don't understand is why they had to limit their own game in such a frustrating way, especially when it comes to exploring what the world has to offer. Case in point, Fenyx is able to climb up most structures and rockfaces by default, and one of the first few missions was to ascend a statue of Hermes to get a good look at your surroundings. "Fair enough.", I thought, but what I didn't realise was that halfway through my ascent, my stamina bar ran out and I just dropped from the rock face like a sack of potatoes.

The whole stamina bar is kind of counterproductive, in that sense - why would you let your character climb up basically anything if you can't actually finish most of them? At least not until you acquire the Climb Leap ability down the line, but that is its own problem. Essentially, it's like the game punishes you for wanting to explore at the start - what gives?

Speaking of exploration, the game does have some extra stuff for you to do apart from killing monsters and toppling bosses, but like Zeus' humour they do feel like they were largely thrown in for the sake of it. These mostly include simple movement challenges, puzzles, and treasure hunts, among other tasks, and the only reason you'd probably want to go for them is that some of them award Coins of Charon, which can be used to purchase upgrades.

The end?

In a nutshell, I feel Immortals Fenyx Rising compares to God of War the same way Fenyx herself compares to her counterpart in Kratos, especially in terms of complexity, narrative development, and aesthetics - they're at opposite ends of the spectrum, and unfortunately, it's perfectly obvious which is where. 

Between a heavily cliched narrative, only-decent gameplay and aesthetics, and generally one-dimensional characters, it's really difficult to find something to love about the game. Sure, I admit that most of its shine can take a while to emerge, but even at that point, it's not that spectacular. Plus, it might have trouble retaining players' attention and patience until then. Suffice to say that this title isn't so much a Greek demigod's epic as it is two old men arguing over last weekend's soccer game at their local coffee shop - there isn't as much depth to it as you'd expect. 

As such, if you're on the hunt for a smash-hit holiday title, I think there are better options on the market.

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