Hands-on Preview of Immortals Fenyx Rising, or Assassins' Creed Meets Zelda

Among the most hardcore gamers, Ubisoft's reputation is, to put it mildly, tarnished. Many people believe that the French studio makes highly repetitive games, often cannibalizing large portions of their previous installments. Personally, I'd argue that, for such a huge studio, Ubisoft isn't afraid to take the risks with many of their games. Sure, the next Assassins' Creed won’t be a breakthrough, you can expect another Just Dance to come out sooner rather than later, and R6: Siege, despite commendable support, doesn't change that much over the years. At the same time, though, we get great games like Anno 1800, some really quirky South Parks or Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Last year, however, Ubisoft faced another backlash, this time after the release of Ghost Recon: Breakpoint – a game so derivative it would be hard to guess which Ubisoft game you're playing if you didn't know. There was a moment of contrition, some of the upcoming releases were postponed to focus on the games closer to the end of production, and the result was a complete severance of any news regarding Gods & Monsters.

It was quiet because this production had undergone huge changes. First of all, it's no longer called Gods & Monsters, and now the title is, at least for me, even more meaningless – Immortals Fenyx Rising. The artstyle has been changed slightly, some of the systems have been rebuilt and the game will be released in December, to the delight of... Well, it's hard to say who's actually the target audience of Immortals. So, let me tell you a little bit about my impressions from the two hours spent playing Ubisoft's (another) Greek adventure, and then try to determine who should be interested in this game.

A brand-new adven... Oh, hi Leonidas!

Immortals Fenyx Rising is a production set within the Greek mythology. As a mortal girl named Fenyx, we get to the Golden Isle, which is made of seven areas/biomes ruled by various deities. In each of the regions, we will have to aid the gods – in the demos I played, we were sent to light a fire in Hephaestus' Forge to restore the mythical blacksmith's memory. Of course, it turns out the troubles in paradise are the making of a malevolent creature. The demo suggests that it's Typhon, son of Gaia and Tartaros, and for some reason his appearance really reminds me of Dragaux from Ring Fit Adventure. There's a very good reason for that.

The story, however, is only an excuse for exploration and elaborate environmental puzzles. This game is a sandbox full of mythical creatures and brimming with puzzles, riddles, challenges and all sorts of activities that require an able mind. We'll be able to travel on foot, ride our faithful mount, or fly like the mythical Daedalus. Now know why Gods & Monsters is sometimes referred to as Ubisoft's answer to Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The game also features some combat, of course – after all, no genuine mythical conflict can be resolved with intelligence alone. The primary weapon of Fenyx is a sword; then, we also have an axe, for heavy duty fighting, and a bow. In addition, during the fights, we will use various "divine" skills, which look an awful lot like resemble used by Kassandra and Alexios in 2018's Assassin Creed. And you know what, when I think of it like that, the interface looks like it was snatched right from Odyssey. Same as the equipment system. And the ability to manually control arrows in flight. And our flying companion, called, if I remember right, Phosphoros. And if you look at last year's trailer, it says it's made by the studio responsible for the Greek installment of Assassin's Creed. Ah, Ubisoft…

MYTHOLOGICAL RECYCLING

Of course, we're still quite some time ahead of the release. I'm almost certain, though, that Prometheus (next to Zeus, one of the narrators of the fragment I played) was voiced by Mr. Elias Toufexis, known as the voice of Adam Jensen and Leonidas/Nikolaos from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Two Greek roles in one go? Zeus, on the other hand, is played by... Socrates. Nothing goes to waste!

Fenyx: Breath of the Wild

If we can manage to shrug off the fact that certain solutions are derivative, Ubisoft's new adventure game works quite well in gameplay. Exploration is enjoyable, although flying required a bit of getting-used-to. Our actions use up the heroine's stamina belt – whether for climbing, double jumping, or flying.

The puzzles are varied, or at least it seemed so during the two-hour gameplay. During the play, I had a good occasion to rack my brains, trying to access the hidden treasures. The puzzles test our perception, accuracy or basic understanding of gravity (which to this day many people don't understand, judging by the levels with the pendulums in Fall Guys, right?). Immortals sometimes requires us to use skills that allow interacting with objects that sometimes need to be flipped, moved or set on fire with an arrow. The person who led the presentation also mentioned the need to find notes scattered throughout the area, which will then allow us to unlock more treasures in the region. Sounds interesting, but I didn't have time to properly check it out.

Challenges or trials in different corners of the world will be a real test of our dexterity and precision. I had a chance to fly, which required navigating through thermal columns; jump on poles protruding from water as fast as I could to make it in time to the end, or clear a course of red "corruption," and then exhibit some precision in directing an arrow through a few hoops.  Those who enjoy this kind of entertainment should be really pleased, as long as each region provides new challenges.

Attack, defend, use skills

So, what's up with combat? Well, this pretty much is a slightly tweaked combat system we've known from the latest Assassins' Creeds. Movement is smooth and satisfying, the punches land as they ought to, and only the opponents seem bigger sponges than in Odyssey. It also seems we're able to run into more types of enemies at any given occasion, which renders the combat a total ballet. The game will obviously emphasize divine powers of the protagonist more than any Assassins' Creed, and they will often be the only way out of trouble. My build included quite a few area-of-effect abilities, allowing for some rudimental crowd control, once I got the hang of it.

The game features a sort of an adrenaline bar, filled as we deal damage to enemies. Once it's full, our attack will stun the enemy, leaving them vulnerable for a few moments. This comes in particularly handy in boss fights, which we can encounter both when performing quests, as well as during normal exploration – I had a chance to spar a mythical cyclopes, who didn't pose a serious threat – I simply stayed as near his ankles as I could, and he didn't seem able to do anything about it. The key is good timing of dodges, which slow down time when executed perfectly. Using the bow is also a good idea, since it's OP in this game as well. Immortals also uses a system that (fairly quickly) replenishes a single arrow after you empty your quiver.

Although I couldn't poke around with it in the demo since we got a complete build of Fenyx ready to play, the production will also offer a character development system. It will let us unlock new skills, enhance them, and personalize the build to match our play style. In between the fights, we will also collect ingredients such as fruit, mushrooms, and such, and use them to prepare potions to use during fights or when the heroine exhausts her stamina.

What's up with the narrative?

There's a thing about this game that puzzles me, especially in the context of the game's target audience. Let's sum it up: the game gives us exploration straight from Zelda, and combat derived from Ubisoft's flagship series about assassins and templars. Hence my initial impression was that the game is addressed to the generation of players who are still a tad too young to play Assassins' Creed. And that would surely be an idea for the audience. But then, there are all those dialogues between Prometheus and Zeus. Let me quote one here:

You might enjoy this kind of humor or not; I, even though I chuckled a few times, I also couldn't help but see a fragment of the TV show Rockefeller Plaza 30, with Steve Buscemi saying "How do you do, fellow kids?" That's not the kind of humor, however, that a fourteen-year-old is going to enjoy, I presume, and so I'm not quite sure whether Immortals won't suffer an identity Crysis. The game offers a bizarre mixture of mythical Ancient Greece, and some pretty quirky humor. It's as if someone wanted to make Deadpool but didn't quite know how to go about it so that kids will be into it.

Are we hyped?

Immortals Fenyx Rising definitely needs more definition in terms of identity – right now, it could go both ways: either it will be universal to appeal to a very wide audience, or it will be so bland it won't win any niche. I'm not saying it's bad – combat is proper, exploration is quite enjoyable, and if anyone liked Breath of the Wild, I'm sure they'll be satisfied this experience. I am not a huge fan of role-playing games that rely entirely on gameplay and do not have engaging story, so I'm already pretty sure this game won't be my GOTY candidate.

This is a pretty game, the sound design is very good, but the dialogs are somewhat cringeworthy at times. It's hard to convey that in a few quotes taken from the game, but when you hear that narrative as you're solving the puzzles and complete quests, it may just start to be annoying. Or maybe Immortals just isn't a game for me.

I guess you just have to go search the Internet for more previews and impressions, and make up your own opinion. I mean, Breath of the Wild itself wasn't really a game for me, so there's that. I might be a bit too harsh on this game, since it's otherwise completely fine – there might as well be millions of people who will enjoy Immortals Fenyx Rising. I would like to commend Ubisoft for trying a new IP, but they admittedly haven't been very bold in introducing fresh, experimental ideas in their new game.