When Ubisoft first unveiled Immortals Fenyx Rising, albeit under the title of Gods & Monsters, the game drew a lot of comparisons to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Aesthetically, the games appear very similar. But now, it seems like Immortals Fenyx Rising has a lot more than looks in common with Breath of the Wild, so does that mean Zelda fans will love it?
In terms of gameplay, there's a lot Immortals Fenyx Rising has in common with Breath of the Wild. Both have large open worlds for exploration, and both have combat that includes melee and ranged attacks. Items and weapons can be found scattered around the Golden Isles of Immortals Fenyx Rising, much like Link could find a variety of useful items and weapons scattered around the ruins of Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The similarities don't stop there, either.
Players in Immortals Fenyx Rising are given wings, a mechanic which feels quite similar to Link's glider. In fact, most of the travel and exploration mechanics in Immortals Fenyx Rising feels a lot like Breath of the Wild. Wild animals can be ridden, players can swim and dive, and characters can scale pretty much any surface they want. For anyone who fell in love with Breath of the Wild for its exploration and gameplay, Immortals Fenyx Rising should be great. However, that doesn't necessarily mean Breath of the Wild fans will adore Immortals Fenyx Rising completely.
How Breath Of The Wild & Immortals Fenyx Rising Are Different
While the gameplay feels very similar, there are some noticeable differences that may turn away some Breath of the Wild fans. The hero is fairly generic and made through character creation, as opposed to having a well-established (but silent) protagonist like Link from The Legend of Zelda series. Immortals Fenyx Rising's story also leaves a lot to be desired. For fans who loved Breath of the Wild for its story, Immortals Fenyx Rising may be a disappointment.
The tone of the games are also noticeably different. While Breath of the Wild had plenty of humor, it was set against a heart-breaking and harrowing narrative. Immortals Fenyx Rising, however, went the strange route of trying to be '80s slapstick, with Leslie Neilson comedies like Airplane and Naked Gun serving as inspirations. That tone, probably unsurprisingly, doesn't necessarily work as well as Breath of the Wild's does in an open world, so The Legend of Zelda fans may not like it as much as they do the tone of their own games.
Overall, the similarities between Breath of the Wild and Immortals Fenyx Rising are so strong that many people who played the latest mainline Zelda game will like this new IP from Ubisoft just fine. If nothing else, it's a nice way to spend some time before Breath of the Wild 2 releases.