Unleashing the Immortal Franchise Potential in Fenyx Rising

Highlights

Immortals Fenyx Rising successfully imitated Breath of the Wild with its open-world design and emphasis on player-made adventure.

Ubisoft has reportedly decided to cancel the speculated sequel of Immortals Fenyx Rising in order to prioritize its larger franchises. It is unfortunate, considering the possibility of releasing multiple Immortals games that explore diverse mythologies.

Despite being six years old and having a recently released sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild continues to have a profound impact on the gaming world. Its innovative approach to open-world game design, unique cel-shaded art style, and focus on player-created adventures are gradually influencing other major video game projects. Ubisoft's Immortals Fenyx Rising was one of the earliest games to attempt to mimic Breath of the Wild and came remarkably close to succeeding. Released in December 2020, Immortals Fenyx Rising unabashedly embraced Breath of the Wild, featuring a vast open world ready for exploration, diverse regions, the ability to climb any surface, and challenges reminiscent of Shrines. However, Immortals Fenyx Rising also had its own distinctive features, and despite the slim chance, it truly deserved a proper sequel.

Immortals Fenyx Rising May Be Gone Too Soon

Immortals Fenyx Rising proved to be an enjoyable open-world action-adventure game, even with its similarities to Breath of the Wild. The game offered solid combat mechanics, a wide array of weapons and gear to discover, and a vast and immersive world to explore. However, the true highlight of Immortals Fenyx Rising was its captivating premise, which fully embraced the wonders of Greek mythology. Transporting players to the Golden Isles, the game allowed them to assume the role of Fenyx, a mortal endowed with wings. Throughout their journey, players encountered numerous elements drawn directly from Greek mythology, unlocking abilities inspired by the gods of Mount Olympus, battling formidable foes such as minotaurs and cyclopses, and utilizing legendary weapons and tools showcased in Homer's Iliad, like Daedalus' wings. While Immortals Fenyx Rising may have incorporated elements reminiscent of other games, its rich Greek mythology backdrop ensured a consistently enjoyable and captivating experience.

Naturally, Immortals Fenyx Rising's concept lends itself well to expanding into a full franchise, with potential sequels and spinoffs easily foreseeable. It is likely that Ubisoft can simply follow the same formula it uses for the Far Cry series, by translating the mechanics and gameplay into a new setting, possibly a different mythology. The groundwork for this has already been laid with Immortals Fenyx Rising's DLC, which introduced a new playable character and an open-world based on Chinese mythology. However, disappointingly, it seems that Immortals Fenyx Rising will not be receiving any form of follow-up or franchise treatment.

There were rumors about a year ago that Ubisoft Quebec was developing a sequel for Immortals Fenyx Rising, centered around Polynesian mythology. However, it appears that Ubisoft has now decided to cancel the project altogether. About a week ago, an article from VGC revealed that Ubisoft had indeed scrapped the rumored sequel in order to focus its resources on its bigger franchises. Ubisoft later confirmed this, stating that the team at Ubisoft Quebec has been reassigned to work on undisclosed projects related to their "largest brands." While this move may make sense from a business perspective, considering that Immortals Fenyx Rising only gained significant popularity after its price reduction, it is unfortunate that a series with such potential for future installments is being halted, possibly indefinitely.

Immortals Fenyx Rising is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.