Skip to content
Immortal Fenyx Rising: Sometimes games can have great stories, lovely vibrant graphics, but just end up not being as great as you would have hoped. Unfortunately, this is one of those games. Why? Well, simply put, the game is caught between trying to be a mix of The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild / Assassins Creed and doesn’t quite find its place.
This does have some stand out features though. Firstly, it has to be one of the most stand-out visual games that I have played on the Playstation 5. The colours draw you in to every area. I must admit, at times, it felt a little too much like Fortnite for me, but I could appreciate the style. Personally, I found Zelda BOTW a little dull-looking, and it seems like IFR decided to pack their game with stylish looks and bold colours. I have said this a number of times in a review, but they have used the colour palette that I have always believed to be Nintendo’s style (playing this on the Switch must be the way forward).
Each character has its own unique style and look, even though they all may well just have the same face. As you stand at the top and look down at it all, you can only appreciate how stunning it all looks. If you liked the vision of Zelda, then you will definitely like the looks of this. The areas are vibrant and the more you explore, the more little secrets you find. I was pleasantly surprised about the amount of detail the developers had attributed to the smaller places. I still recall when cell-shaded used to mean that everything would just be one colour and deplete of any detail. Immortal Fenyx Rising certainly doesn’t fall in line with these previous titles, and there are a number of little hidden details which can impress a studious mind.
The other stand out area of this game is the story telling. Greek mythology is cool and this is an undisputed claim which, if you disagree, with you may as well give up reading and give up with computer games. However, even though we know it is cool, we also know that it is an area that has been over told far too much recently. That being said, the story writers have really thought carefully about this one and it epitomises the humour from the Thor movies. Each character has a their own unique comedic approach, with Zeus reminding me of the Zeus portrayed in “Who Let the Gods Out”. If we have seen plenty of an area then always turn to comedy.
In fact, the story line is quite gripping and it will teach you a side to the Greeks that you probably haven’t seen before. Overall, you are probably wondering what my first paragraph was really about. Well…
The biggest problem with Immortal Fenyx Rising is that the puzzles are all a little bit too boring. It is worth getting this straight, though. They aren’t poorly designed, nor do they lack a challenge (although they are relatively easy) but they just aren’t particularly fun. They don’t offer you anything to get you really excited, and make the game feel too much like Assassins Creed and less like Zelda.
Another slight problem is the voice acting. It doesn’t quite seem right, but I am not going to dwell much on that area, because I couldn’t quite pinpoint what the problem with it really was. The sound in general was okay, so I am not going to be too critical here.
Gameplay often determines whether a game is good or not – just look out how The Order worked out, and in no way shape or form am I saying that Immortal Fenyx Rising is awful because it is far from it. I think the disappointment is that it probably could have been amazing. However, even with a great story, fantastic graphics and a decent length, this just lacks that extra something. This game really got me thinking as well. In a time where every game tries to be open world, are we going to be in an era where story-led games with a lack of choices no longer become available. If this title had stuck to this and added slightly more exhilarating puzzles, then it really would have been a great game.
Overall, this is in no way a game to sleep on but just don’t expect to be blown off your feet.
Immortal Fenyx Rising is out now on PS5, PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
Important info:
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Developer: Ubisoft Quebec
- Players: single-player
|
GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
9 7 7 7 |
| OVERALL | 7.5 |
I have been a video game player since 1993 and a music fan since I can remember. I studied Film and Journalism at university and ended up becoming a Primary School teacher. Video games changed my life and sent me on the right track and have stayed with me ever since.