https://www.cybersport.ru/games/articles/obzor-prevyu-versii-immortals-fenyx-rising-shutki-bogi-vorovstvo

But the company does not stand still and listens to gamers. And the first big swallow of the changed approach can be safely considered Immortals Fenyx Rising – a game in which the “formula” of Ubisoft has been changed beyond recognition, even if it did not work out to get rid of borrowings completely. We played for four hours in the preview version and share our impressions based on it.

“Odyssey” by Prometheus

Zeus was left alone on Olympus. Typhon, a mighty titan, escaped from captivity and managed to curse the Olympians, depriving them of their strength. Phoenix, a reluctant hero, whose body was carried to the shores of the Golden Island after a shipwreck, will have to save the gods.

The plot is served through the conversations of Zeus and Prometheus: the latter takes on the role of the narrator, while the god of thunder and lightning most often acts as a humorous release, giving out gags and breaking the fourth wall.

Who exactly Phoenix will be is up to the player to decide: at the beginning of the game, you are offered the opportunity to change the physique, choose a voice (male or female) and customize the appearance – from skin color to the desired hairstyle. Customization can not be called deep, but it is presented in sufficient form: creating a character “for yourself” is quite simple. According to the standard, we are offered to play a girl who is represented in all promos, so further in the text Phoenix will be referred to in the feminine gender.

After editing the appearance, the player is invited to plunge into the prologue for several hours, gradually expanding the Phoenix’s skills and features. The heroine has a rich arsenal: if at first she has nothing but the sword of Achilles, then in a couple of hours they will add Atalanta’s ax, Odysseus’s bow, Daedalus’s wings and other items that previously belonged to legendary heroes or gods. Some items will be useful in battle, others will help with solving local mysteries or in exploring the world. For example, Hercules’ bracers make it possible to carry heavy objects, which will allow you to create a platform for a more comfortable ascent, and in battle, load a cobblestone in the face of an annoying enemy.

Gifts of the Gods

Local battles are in many ways similar to those in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, up to a similar control. The Phoenix arsenal contains a simple sword strike, a strong ax blow, long-range attacks, dodge, deflecting attacks and other techniques familiar from the ancient Greek RPG studio. An innovation is the system of divine blessings: helping the gods pays off in the form of special skills that become available to the heroine.

Another innovation is the ability to reduce the stamina of enemies: when hitting with an ax, the player fills a special scale. When it is full, the opponent loses his balance for a short time and cannot attack. A very effective item for battling large enemies like the Cyclops.

But what is very different is the loot system. If in modern Assassin’s Creed you need to constantly look for weapons with high damage (or spend resources on pumping it), then here all the items found give only passive skills. Whichever sword is chosen, its damage will not change much – although, of course, the bonus in the form of an additional 20% damage while jumping can be very useful. To increase damage, you need to use special resources in the forge and improve the type of attack itself – with a sword or ax, which will be applied to any weapon chosen by the player.

There are a lot of pumping here: you can improve health, stamina, damage of various weapons, potions (there are a lot of them here). A separate mention is made of such a resource as coins of Charon: Phoenix spends them on acquiring new abilities. What is important, pumping really changes the feeling of the gameplay a lot: the heroine at the beginning of her journey and closer to the end feels different, and the game perfectly conveys the feeling of the accumulated power.

Theseus paradox

In many previews of Immortals, Fenyx Rising is often compared not so much with Assassin’s Creed as with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The games really have a lot in common, and this is literally striking: the general style, approach to the open world and other details came as if straight from a Nintendo game. And this, oddly enough, is the biggest plus of Immortals Fenyx Rising: instead of the usual copying from itself, Ubisoft this time decided to take all the best from one of the main titles of recent years.

Of course, watching these places is strange: the tutorial section ends at the moment when Phoenix receives Daedalus’ wings – just like Link is released into the open world after receiving the glider. Both games have a kind of “towers”: in each vast location you need to climb to a high place, from where you can inspect the area and mark interesting spots. Moreover, some of the labels are set intentionally (for example, points of interest or chests), and some can be set manually as direction indicators. No auto-highlighting of “questions” on the map. Even the climbing system here is not from Assassin’s Creed, but from Breath of the Wild: you can climb almost any surface, as long as there is enough stamina.

There is also an analogue of sanctuaries: if Link descended underground in search of spirit spheres, then Phoenix goes to Tartarus in search of Zeus’ lightning, which Typhon stole. The essence is the same: the heroine has to either solve puzzles based on logic or physics, or participate in skirmishes with opponents. The puzzles, which is nice, are different, and besides the main goal, there are also side ones. Often there are hidden chests in Tartarus, which can only be reached after careful thought. In the four hours that I spent in the game, only one riddle seemed illogical to me – and later I found a normal solution to that one. As it turned out, the clue was simply not where I was looking for it (which did not prevent me from solving it myself).

Another interesting “borrowing” I would like to call animation inserts: as in Breath of the Wild, Fenyx Rising periodically gives the player a part of the background in the form of drawn cut-scenes instead of cutscenes on the engine. True, the local animation looks traditional, while The Legend of Zelda boasted rollers made in the style of ancient drawings on parchment.

Almost Argonauts

It’s a pleasure to explore the local open world. Rather than mentoring the player, Fenyx Rising offers a sense of discovery and literally forces you to explore yourself. Viewing the terrain from the highest point is not a panacea, and it is always better to insure yourself by studying locations from other angles. Plus, it’s often worth trying to climb into hard-to-reach places: climbing a high ledge, you can find a chest, plants for potions, or some more useful item like ambrosia, necessary to improve health.

Apparently, the developers approached the issue with love: for example, once I unsuccessfully fell into a crevice leading to a lava river, but thanks to Daedalus’s wings I glided onto a ledge, finding there … a full-fledged riddle that otherwise I simply would not have seen. And another time, going to a lonely looking temple, I found his guard in the form of an elite monster. It wasn’t easy to win.

Perhaps it is this freedom, coupled with a variety of gameplay, which never ceases to amaze even after four hours, and captivates in Immortals Fenyx Rising. When it starts to seem like you’ve seen most of what is going to surprise you, the game throws in something new, whether it’s opponents who require a different approach, or another puzzle you’ve never seen before.

It remains an open question how long the game will be able to maintain a given pace before entering a loop of routine. To diversify this, by the way, the tasks of Hermes are called upon: the swift patron of thieves will gladly give out a couple of daily quests that give interesting bonuses.

Of course, judging a huge RPG by a short session is wrong, but you can still make a first impression. And it turned out to be very positive: a simple but interesting combat system, a truly fascinating exploration of the world and a wide variety of activities leave a very pleasant aftertaste from passing, and successful borrowings from other games are combined with their unique atmosphere and clever humor. If the final version keeps pace, then players will return to the days when Ubisoft was truly loved, and not scolded for stamping. Chances are there – the Golden Island is huge, and each new location is very different from the previous one.