Hands-On with Ubisoft's New Epic: Immortals Fenyx Rising (October 2020)
Release Date: December 3rd, 2020
Developer: Ubisoft
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Stadia, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Price: $59.99 (Standard), $99.99 (Gold Edition)
Back in September Ubisoft graciously invited me to see a glimpse of what the world had yet to know as Gods & Monsters under its new name Immortals Fenyx Rising. Ever since its announcement back in E3 2019 it's one of the games that has stuck with me since whenever I thought about upcoming titles I was excited for, and, though it went dark for a while, it not only met but exceeded my expectations in every possible way with my hands-on preview. I got to see what was known as The Forgelands - only a small piece of what Immortals Fenyx Rising's stunning and inviting open-world would be, look like, and become - with a barrier set around the side of its region teasing the beautiful landscapes around it, each themed with its own sort of climate, atmosphere, and setting that would give players an imaginative sense of the immersive and magical world of Immortals Fenyx Rising's approach and interpretation to Greek mythology. My demo back in September lasted a little over two hours, but I recently got to spend well over four hours with Ubisoft's upcoming epic that took me well beyond The Forgelands and to the rest of its map, which was so big that, despite my freedom, I still wasn't able to see everything in the time allotted to me.
My time with Immortals Fenyx Rising this time around gave me the opportunity to start right form the beginning of the game to see how things would start out, progressing me through a main quest line with a narrative by Zeus and Prometheus that was both telling and humorous. It gave Immortals Fenyx Rising even more charm that complemented its more serious moments throughout its adventure that gives you a feeling of being laid back when you actually do want to lay back and relax both in the real world and virtual. This was very different compared to my time with it back in September, where members of the press were starting more than halfway through the game with increased stats, unlocked abilities, mounts, much more challenging puzzles, but with quests that felt more sporadic and disconnected due to the story being mostly withheld at the time (presumably due to the restricted region). Now, we've started at the beginning with no weapons, upgrades, items, and the like, however there was one thing that excited me right out of the gate that hadn't been shown during the previous hands-on event and wasn't unveiled until the following Ubisoft Forward event: character customization.
While I'm not sure exactly how much will be available at launch to make players have a unique character for their playthrough of Immortals Fenyx Rising, not much was there to choose from to get into a heavily detailed and customizable character, but it was enough between the choices you had for eyes, face, hair, body type, and make up with associated palette swaps within each to get a feel for what they were trying to do to make the adventure feel more attuned to the player. I personally love the default character for Fenyx that you see on marketed gameplay, press shots, and the box art, but I wanted to try something different just to see how it would go or "feel" having someone that *wasn't* the character being marketed, yet still be Fenyx all the same. It wasn't until I had finished customizing my character and woke up beached next to my semi-submerged and broken ship that I had unintentionally created a more CG version of Kassandra from Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which was fitting given the same team here is responsible for both epics. Once my character was created, I was able to begin my journey through Immortals Fenyx Rising with the first glimpse of its story, taking me through newly opened regions of its massive world that players will all get to experience this December, ranging from various types of terrain and each having its own subset of quests that complement a larger picture to Immortals Fenyx Rising's vast and beautiful narrative.
After awakening, the game cleverly puts you through a tutorial amidst the narrative without making it feel like a stop-and-go repetition some games have with invasive textboxes and the sort - everything happens fluidly as Zeus and Prometheus narrate, humor, and surprise the player as you essentially learn to wield weapons and become a warrior again, trying to figure out what happened to the people around you as most have been turned to stone. A looming evil peers over the Golden Isle, and throughout your time of restoring things back to where they were, you'll meet other gods and goddesses along the way to aid and guide you to becoming more powerful and acquire enough strength to bring things back to normal. The opening 1-2 hours of the game will take you through various battles and getting acquainted with how the puzzles work and what various icons and locations do and are for, but eventually this all leads up to you going to an area known as the Hall of Gods, which is where you'll be able to do most of your customization and upgrading, as well as being able to change the character you've customized once again at any given moment so you never have to stick with one look in case you'd like to change things up a bit. The game is designed well enough also where you'll want to come back here periodically for upgrades, and you'll naturally be visiting the place thanks to its location which will seamlessly connected majority of the regions.
Due to this being the beginning of the game, we got a good look about how the progression would feel compared to where we started in our gameplay in September, and it made me incredibly happy that everything went extremely smoothly and never once felt like a chore to get through. The "grind" that slightly plagued Assassin's Creed Odyssey and felt almost unnecessary due to the game's level-scaling is practically gone, and you're usually able to figure out which enemies you can and cannot handle rather quickly by clever design choices similar to Breath of the Wild that would have some enemies contain different hues or be a lot more adept to combat. While in theory you could just hack-and-slash your way to victory in most cases, the game does put more of an emphasis on the player being more strategic in their fights and utilizing all of the abilities made available to them to ensure the most optimal chance of survival and overcoming your foes. While I felt somewhat invulnerable to most combat scenarios during my playthrough in September, starting from the beginning undoubtedly gave a better sense of how things would feel once you started out as well as an appreciation for the design choices, making this - while still a work in progress - already one of the best action RPGs I've played in ages thanks to so many quality-of-life enhancements compared to other games of of this nature that further gives that sense of fluidity that was even more apparent this playthrough than in the hands-on in September. Hidden caves, abstract puzzles sporadically placed, and mini-bosses all give a chance to unlock new items and equipment, and the best part of the equipment is the freedom to equip one but have the design of another as you wish for just about anything you can apply to yourself. After the first hour or two, you're basically up and running and the world is yours to take as you wish, though of course it's highly recommended to keep following the storyline, but even if you don't all the sidequests made available to you don't feel like filler and actually complement the world around you, making the entire game of Immortals Fenyx Rising constantly feel rewarding and never containing a dull moment so far from what I've experienced. Even with well over four hours this time around, the time passed by and I was still unable to see everything I wanted to see, which I'm fine with because rather than running through and sightseeing, I really wanted to delve in and immerse myself in this gorgeous world filled with magic in every corner. The cutscenes you experience also are equal parts wholesome and lighthearted, while of course having that sense of drama and adventure to help drive the narrative more. Fenyx is an amazing character that, even though customizable, feels truly unique and a nice follow-up to the charisma that Kassandra has in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Fenyx can be as cute as she is ferocious, as caring as she is protective, and as welcoming as she is unstoppable.
As we once again were invited to play the PC build of the game, which looks as stunning as ever, one can't help but wonder what the Nintendo Switch version of the game will be like as we still have no insight as to how it looks and performs, though this is the case in general with the other platforms as well. Without a doubt Immortals Fenyx Rising will be an incredible game, but with each hands-on impression making the game feel and seem bigger than its last exposition, you can't help but wonder what sacrifices will be made on the Switch in regards to its visuals and benchmarks. The Switch is no stranger to detailed open-world games like Breath of the Wild and The Witcher, but those are only a few examples of a much larger problem that involves The Outer Worlds and even Nintendo's own Xenoblade Chronicles 2 which saw visual mutilation when in handheld mode. When Immortals Fenyx Rising was originally unveiled as Gods & Monsters, I had little to no worry about it more or less having parity with the other platforms, but as it's grown and evolved and seen a drastic change in its ambitions and technical prowess, you can tell this time around they're rather aiming for something that sticks out as a must-have title for the next-generation rather than the current generation, really being at its absolute best on PC and the upcoming next-gen consoles rather than current generation. There's just certain ways the visuals flow and the shading with the added particle effects and environmental detail, draw-distance, dynamic weather, colors, reflections, ambient-occlusion, and the overall fluidity of it that, sure, can be achieved to some degree, but what I've experienced between my two sessions both felt and looked different from what we have now, and while you could easily argue there are games that are clearly more photorealistic - which Immortals Fenyx Rising is *not* trying to do - that would push the boundaries of what we have now and could even be considered next-generation in terms of the tech used like in The Last of Us Part II or Cyberpunk 2077, Immortals Fenyx Rising looks and feels spectacular. It's hard to dictate and convey through basic screenshots and videos, but I think once people end up playing the game for themselves they'll understand that there's a level of programming and intricacy here that aims to be more than what we can do on current-gen hardware, and this may end up being a slight issue for the Switch, though Ubisoft has had a mostly solid-track record, so I remain cautiously optimistic. It's not about the photorealism, it's about what's all on screen at once and the varying facets that are all coming together to create that sort of immersion and intricate design to create everything you're seeing and experiencing on screen at once. Upcoming titles like KENA: Bridge of Spirits or Black Myth: Wukong are in that category of not necessarily making something photorealistic but having such an ineffable art direction with breathtaking graphics that's absolutely utilizing all the possible power an engine can give while still making something playable.
Immortals Fenyx Rising takes the best parts of Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Breath of the Wild and meshes them together in a beautiful amalgam of Greek mythology, stunning visuals, and just overall intuitive and immersive design. They've trimmed the fat from both Assassin's Creed Odyssey (especially) and Breath of the Wild to create a more concise experience that I truly believe will stick with tons of players once the game officially comes out and everyone has had time to really sit and dive in. It will be a game that's talked about for years and I'm hoping, so long as it makes sense and isn't milked, that the game sees future success growing into a multitude of other mediums like books, toys, apparel, and the sort, while also containing sequels that delve further into the endless imagination and history of Greek mythology and everything that can be done within it. Immortals Fenyx Rising not only feels special but IS special, and it's the sort of game I believe Ubisoft has needed for quite some time, bringing back the magic and wonderment of what made them so great in the first place.
A heartfelt thank you to Ubisoft for inviting me out to check out an early preview of Immortals Fenyx Rising.
Immortals Fenyx Rising releases on December 3rd, 2020 on Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Stadia, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.