REVIEW : Immortals Fenyx Rising (XBOX Series X)
It’s difficult to say why humans are so attracted to gods, regarding as it rarely ends well. “Please bless these crops with a plentiful harvest” seems adequate right up until a random deity chooses to get his freak on as a swan. Which ends in Leda giving birth to Helen and then the entire Trojan War kicks off years later. Gods personify aspects of the world, many of which people need to survive, but there’s a price for their attention far beyond a tithe to the local temple. Myths and legends say an unending story of people who met a terrible fate after confronting their gods, with the only relief being the few times the fate was justified.
The titan Typhon, born from a Gaia angry at the gods’ destruction of the giants has broken free of the jail Zeus caged him in and this time has chiefly succeeded at his intentions. The dilemma is that while the gods are destroyed the world is more critical under his evil reign and it requires someone to put things back as they were. Fenyx may not be the knight her brother was before being transformed to stone, but as it sets out that’s OK. Warriors are useful but Fenyx has the makings of a hero, as proficient with weapons as she is with her mind and with a kind nature to boot. Hopefully, that’s enough to overcome Typhon, because there’s a giant open island of experience in Immortals: Fenyx Rising perilously in need of heroic invasion.
Immortals: Fenyx Rising is an open-world action-adventure starring an upbeat hero walking boldly into the activities of the Greek gods. A little exploring unveils her brother, who she regards as the properly capable one, has been transformed to stone along with the rest of the surviving squad. Fenyx’s brother was the fighter who could do anything, while Fenyx is well-trained but totally untested, aside from her narrative skills and deep understanding of the legends that moulded her world. For someone so fresh she gets very capable very fast, only slightly aided by finding top-notch weaponry before the struggle begins.
The first island where Fenyx washes up is a large tutorial, including the basics of travel, puzzle-solving and fight. All three are evenly significant to go further and Fenyx has a strong variety of skills that come in handy for all of it. The first major task is rising a statue of Hermes, which removes away the fog on the map of the first region.
The secondary vault rewards Fenyx with the bow, which is nice enough for killing beasts but also an incredible tool in its own right. You can decide to fire a normal arrow, which needs the usual judgement on its arc of flying as force takes hold, or shoot a controlled arrow that can fly as long as Fenyx’s strength holds out.
The prizes for all the puzzle-solving tend toward battle improvements, which not only incorporate new sorts of weapons and armor, but also the resources essential to improve them. At first, Fenyx has a sword for fast, light strikes, an axe for heavier slow strokes that also break an enemy’s guard, plus the bow for mid-combat sniping. She can also do a fast block, flashing gold for acceptable and blue for perfect, plus a dodge that denies all damage plus sets the world into a short moment of slow-motion if timed right. Every motion uses up a bit of strength but a thriving hit with the sword heals some, so powerful combat is an equilibrium between multiple types of the strike and then the godly powers kick in.
One of the primary islands, Fenyx requires to make her path to the Hall of the Gods, and while it’s easy to get sidetracked on the way there, it may be best to make a beeline towards it. The one that changes up battle the most, though, is spending the coins gained from solving problems on new skills and godly skills.
There are four godly abilities to play with, all of which are fueled by the stamina gauge. Ares Wrath shoots up a load of spikes around Fenyx, damaging all opponents and killing everyone including Fenyx into the air. It takes a bit to level everything up to that point, but once you’ve got a few skills plus the expertise to use them well, each new combination of enemies can be its mega-combo playground.
All of this activity takes place in a big and wonderful island separated into seven zones, each overseen by its god. The first one, Hermes’ Clashing Rocks, is small, but it still takes a good bit of searching and numerous hours of play to find everything, including the areas that require more skills from later in the play. Scaling cliffs, soaring through the skies on Daedalos’ wings or running over the panorama on the back of a pegasus all feel good to do because of the strong art design that makes every section worth taking a while to see. Hoping you can get where you’re going rather than be puzzled by a stray treasure chest along the trail.
REVIEW : 9 Monkeys of Shaolin (PC)
