The DLC updates for Immortals Fenyx Rising have come quickly and generally expanded on the best parts of the game. The first, A New God, was a continuation of the already great story and featured some of the most difficult and complex puzzles in the game. The second, Myths of the Eastern Realm, was essentially a bite-sized sequel with an all-new setting based on Chinese mythology.
The latest DLC, The Lost Gods, tries its hand at remixing Rising‘s base gameplay, shifting things from a third-person action game to an overhead brawler.
It’s certainly a big swing and an odd one.
The combat in Immortals Fenyx Rising is perfectly fine already. Though it’s fast-paced and well animated — if a little simplistic — the core centers on well-done climbing and exploration mechanics. Tackling the massive world of the Golden Isle as Fenyx pulls players into the excellently silly story, and the perspective brings it all together.
Sadly, The Lost Gods’ new take on things isn’t quite up to the level of the base game and the other DLCs released so far. It still tells a strong subplot, but it’s ultimately a step back.
Immortals Fenyx Rising: The Lost Gods Review — Something (Kinda) Different
The Lost Gods returns to Fenyx’s storyline after it shifted to a new protagonist in Myths of the Eastern Realm. The newest addition to the pantheon is struggling, as the world continues to suffer from all sorts of natural disasters.
Fenyx and Athena think it’s because Zeus alienated some of the other gods, including his brothers. The Olympians themselves can’t interfere directly, so they recruit a mortal champion named Ash to bring Poseidon, Hades, and the rest of the gods back into the fold.
Ash is likable enough, but she’s far too much like Fenyx, especially if you played the female version of the character in the base game. It feels a bit like a retread; she’s clever, sarcastic, and completely dumbfounded by the task given to her by the gods.
A New God was all about Fenyx’s transition from mortal to joining the pantheon, and The Lost Gods is her first foray into flexing her new powers as an Olympian. She’s just as well-acted as ever, and she has some strong banter with Ash.
Beyond that, the writing and voice acting are still pretty darn excellent all around. If you’re fascinated by the way Immortals Fenyx Rising handled its characters and depictions of Greek mythology, there’s a lot of new content to unearth in The Lost Gods.
However, by essentially starting from scratch with a new mortal character, The Lost Gods feels like starting all over again, especially considering the combat hasn’t evolved much from the base game despite the perspective shift.
The DLC slowly doles out upgrades once again, something that leads to a bit of frustration after you’ve played the main game through. Movement feels slow for quite some time since you have to re-learn abilities like double jump and reclaim your mount, and everything that made the “new beginning” of Myths of the Eastern Realm work is completely ignored here.
There are some customizations you can make this time around; as you work your way through the DLC, you obtain different “blessings” that focus on certain combat areas. Enemies drop items you can pick up and use to further enhance these abilities, too. For example, an item can be added to your sword fighting blessing to let you swing in midair. Additions get a little more complex as you work your way through the DLC, but it’s a system that, in theory, allows you to beef up the weapons and styles you like to use.
In practice, however, it takes far too long to get to the same point you are at the end of the base game. You do get a few fancy tricks up your sleeve as you work your way through, but it’s just a really odd thematic choice to completely de-power your character in continuation to the game.
Ultimately, that’s The Lost Gods biggest downfall. The other two DLCs find ways to build on the successes of Immortals Fenyx Rising, but this expansion feels like a simplified retread of things. The Lost Gods feels too similar despite its deviations to really come together.
Immortals Fenyx Rising: The Lost Gods DLC — The Bottom Line
Pros
- Changes up the gameplay formula
- Continuation of a strong story
- Excellent voice acting and introduction of new, likable characters
Cons
- Feels like a simplified version of the main game
- Also feels a bit like a retread of the main plot
- Overhead camera makes it difficult to appreciate the world or orient yourself in it
- Combat gets a bit mind-numbing, and there is a lot of it
The other DLCs for Immortals Fenyx Rising are nothing spectacular, but they add significant value to the game and provide new ways to explore the world. The New Gods takes the biggest risks of any of the post-release content by completely changing up the way things play, but those risks ultimately don’t pay off.
It’s commendable what The New Gods is going for, but this isn’t something most people will be interested in unless they’re very interested in seeing the story of Immortals Fenyx Rising through to the end.
[Note: Ubisoft provided the copy of Immortals Fenyx Rising: The Lost Gods DLC used for this review.]
