Immortals Fenyx Rising is an action-adventure game developed and published by Ubisoft Quebec, which takes the gameplay style from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and transplants it into the realm of Greek mythology. Immortals is a lot of fun to play and it outstrips Breath of the Wild in a few areas, but it falls just short of matching its quality.
Immortals begins with Zeus visiting Prometheus and seeking his aid in stopping Typhon the Titan. Typhon has cast down most of the Greek gods and transformed them into mortal beings. A ship is blown off-course and a soldier named Fenyx crash lands on the mysterious Golden Isles, where they discover that their brother has been turned to stone. It's up to Fenyx to free their brother, return the Greek gods to their original form, and discover a way to defeat Typhon.
It's clear from the first moments of gameplay that Immortals is heavily by Breath of the Wild. The player designs the appearance of Fenyx, and after a tutorial, they are thrown into the Golden Isles proper. Fenyx is given a set of wings that allows them to glide for extended periods of time, so the player can take to the skies and explore the island. The player can scale pretty much any surface, dive beneath the waves, and capture mounts that can be ridden across the plains. The Breath of the Wild comparisons aren't a criticism of Immortals, as it does an amazing job of capturing the things that made that game fun, and it's evident in moments like these.
The Golden Isles are jam-packed with things to do outside of the main quests. There are Vaults of Tartarus, which are mini-dungeons that contain treasure and items needed for permanent stat upgrades. There are different kinds of puzzles that can be solved on the overworld, including slide puzzles, constellation puzzles (where the player has to find jewels and shape them like the stars), and navigation & archery challenges. Monsters stalk every corner of the island and Typhon can even send powerful spirits to hunt down the player, or call down meteor storms to wipe them from the face of the Earth. Immortals perfectly captures the best of open-world sense of wonder, where the player has a set goal in mind, but they see something awesome on the way and decide to go check it out.
Unfortunately, storytelling in Immortals Fenyx Rising is a major hindrance to the title's overall feel, and falls well short of the lofty bar it sets for itself in its environmental design and gameplay options. The game goes for a comedic tone that is supposedly inspired by movies like Airplane and Naked Gun. The writing is rarely funny, however, and the voice actors sound like they're doing caricatures for a Greek yogurt commercial, with Zeus/Prometheus narrating the story beats growing old fast.
The character design and game world of Immortals uses a style that is reminiscent of the kind used in Fortnite, and it matches the comedic tone of the game. We played the Switch version of the game, and it's clear that some concessions were made to get the game running on Nintendo's hybrid system. When compared to the Google Stadia version of the game, the quality of the character models has taken a hit, as do the textures on the overworld. There is also a lot of texture pop-in, especially when flying over the overworld. It's clear that Ubisoft prioritized performance over quality, and Immortals was a mostly smooth experience on the Switch, but it can be an ugly game to behold as a result.
The combat system in Immortals Fenyx Rising is pretty, though, and it's excellent on top of that. Fenyx has access to light attacks with their sword, heavy attacks with their axe, and a long-ranged weapon with their bow. It's possible to parry enemy attacks for a counter, or dodge enemy attacks instead, which can even temporarily slow time if performed at the last possible second. Fenyx unlocks a number of special abilities over the course of the game, which slowly adds to their arsenal of moves, including a magical bird that can cast spells or divine attacks that eat up the stamina meter. Combat is fast and thrilling, and it never grows dull. The main reason to complete dungeons & puzzles in Immortals is unlocking gear and upgrades for Fenyx, and this never feels unnecessary.
Outside of the standard health and stamina upgrades, there are tons of weapons and items to find. It's also possible to switch the appearance of Fenyx's gear to another item just for its aesthetic without taking on its stats. The biggest misstep in Breath of the Wild was a lack of substantial rewards for finishing quests, but Immortals Fenyx Rising is filled with satisfying payoffs for exploring the island.
The dungeons in Immortals have some fantastic puzzles that make use of Fenyx's ability to telekinetically move items. The storyline dungeons are massive affairs that are filled with brain-teasers, and these are some of the highlights of the game. It would be nice if all of the overworld puzzles had a reset button handy, especially when it's so easy to lose track of necessary items, but that's a minor gripe. The only real problem with the dungeons in Immortals Fenyx Rising is the bosses. The storyline bosses are all letdowns, as they're just damage sponges and don't require any special strategies to defeat, nor do they possess interesting gimmicks to throw at Fenyx. The bosses are more exhausting than exhilarating to fight, and they feel tacked-on in comparison to the rest of the game.
Speaking of boss fights and potentially difficult content, Immortals Fenyx Rising should be commended for a number of accessibility features. Outside of the difficulty options, there is Aim Assist for the bow and arrow, and several helpers for the puzzles in the game, which make it easier to keep track of things that changed in the game world. It's easy to tailor Immortals Fenyx Rising to the player's personal skill level, so people should never feel overwhelmed by its different interlocking gameplay systems. The controls are generally fine, but Fenyx has a problem in sticking to surfaces like Spider-Man whenever jumping, so the player needs to be careful when leaping in combat, lest they become problematically glued to a wall when they don't mean to be.
Immortals Fenyx Rising is an excellent game that wears its inspirations on its sleeve. People who don't own a Nintendo Switch should check it out, as it offers the closest approximation of Breath of the Wild that doesn't require resorting to the gacha elements of Genshin Impact. Switch owners of the world might not rate Immortals Fenyx Rising as highly as Breath of the Wild, but its more structured nature and tangible rewards make it a great alternative for the people who are waiting for Breath of the Wild's sequel. The story can be hit or miss and the bosses are a letdown, but the world of Immortals Fenyx Rising is a lot of fun to explore, and uncovering its slew of secrets will keep players entertained for many hours.
Immortals Fenyx Rising will be released for Google Stadia, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X on December 3, 2020. A digital copy of the Nintendo Switch version of the game was provided for the purposes of this review.