Like вЂGod of War,вЂ™ youвЂ™ll sometimes have hulking beasts to contend with.Your IP address has been temporarily blocked due to a large number of HTTP requests. Parrying lets you stun your enemies or send projectiles back at them while dodging at the right moment slows down time for a few seconds. The general hacking and slashing has an oomph to it, making it all the more satisfying to string together moves in flashy combos.ДЇenyx can also parry or dodge attacks. Fenyx has a wide variety of moves that let you stylishly dispatch your foes. Powering up your abilities come into play in what is arguably the gameвЂ™s strongest aspect, combat. You donвЂ™t want to skip too many of them, though, as the game has a great progression system that lets your abilities become more powerful at a good pace. When it comes down to it, most of the puzzles are completely optional and are just there to give you extra loot that you can use to unlock new moves and boost your stamina bar. TheyвЂ™re still enjoyable in quick short bursts, but are rarely elaborate enough to challenge your thinking skills. ThereвЂ™s not a whole lot of variety in what the puzzles ask you to do, which sometimes makes them feel like theyвЂ™re overstaying their welcome. Immortals also feature a lot of physics-based puzzles, most of which involve pushing blocks onto pressure plates on the ground, hitting targets with your bow, or finding hidden objects in the environment. Sure, you can always choose not to use the feature, but itвЂ™s inclusion in a way suggests that the game is not as confident in letting you explore without any sort of guidance.

You lose that feeling of wonder and awe of uncovering a mystery on your own.

It, of course, helps that nearly every structure, statue, or mountain in the game can be scaled as long as you have enough stamina to reach the top, much like in Breath of the Wild. ItвЂ™s just that much of the core gameplay loop shares uncanny similarities to Zelda and can feel familiar for people whoвЂ™ve played that game.ДЄs Fenyx, you spend most of your time exploring and traversing the gameвЂ™s map. ThatвЂ™s not to say the game is a direct copy and paste. A link to the pastДЇrom the opening hours of Immortals, itвЂ™s apparent that developers Ubisoft Quebec was heavily inspired by NintendoвЂ™s 2017 masterpiece, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. ItвЂ™s also a stark contrast from the muted look of UbisoftвЂ™s other open worlds, helping this newly launched intellectual property stand out from the companyвЂ™s other franchises. TheyвЂ™re gorgeous to look at, pushing you to keep exploring as you progress through the game. Much of the Golden IslesвЂ™ beauty comes from its use of a vibrant color palette to paint the many vistas, dungeons, and temples you visit in your journey. The open world itself is a feast for the eyes, with the game incorporating a cartoony art style that works well with evoking the lightheartedness of the story along with giving environments and characters a distinctive charm. The game features a cartoony take on Greek mythology. The jokes donвЂ™t always land, but the self-aware storytelling seemingly lends well to this type of game. Zeus and Prometheus quip at each other and poke fun at things that happen in your journey, reminding you that the story doesnвЂ™t take itself too seriously. Your adventure is narrated by Zeus and Prometheus, who on the onset establishes the gameвЂ™s comedic tone. These gods, however, have been stripped of their powers by the monstrous giant Typhon, and itвЂ™s up to you to make things right. You play as the titular Fenyx, a lowly shield-bearer washed ashore in the Golden Isles, the land of the Greek gods. Immortals Fenyx Rising sometimes falls into those same trappings, but offers a fairly interesting 30- to 50-hour adventure bolstered by fun combat and an open world that exudes charm. The majority feel like theyвЂ™re there to pad out the map and extend the gameвЂ™s length. The large, sprawling maps of those games are littered with things to collect, outposts to liberate, towers to climb, and quests to take on, yet only a fraction of them feel rewarding to complete.

ThereвЂ™s an argument to be made that the last few AssassinвЂ™s Creed entries have taken a вЂњquantity over qualityвЂќ approach with its open world formula. (Disclosure: Ubisoft provided a copy of the game for this review.

Immortals fenyx rising length