Immortals: Fenyx Rising wasn't that good, which might be an odd thing to say about a game I'm clamouring for a sequel to, but it's true. Immortals: Fenyx Rising was only okay, but for a mid-budget open-world new IP with some fresh ideas, made by a studio most used to developing DLC packs and whose origins stemmed from a bug in Assassin's Creed's code, 'only okay' is a solid benchmark. I think the first Mass Effect game is only okay, and I think the second is the greatest video game ever to exist. Wonderful things can start from only okay. Immortals is perhaps not at Mass Effect's heights, and I doubt the sequel will reach Mass Effect 2's, but still, it deserves another attempt.
The word that most comes to mind for Immortals is 'charming'. Its softer design mixed with its bright colours and mystical dungeons gave it a unique texture that I find myself wanting to return to more and more as triple-A games incessantly chase photorealism. It felt like a game with a new take on things that, in an effort to keep its corporate bosses happy, also had a bunch of Ubisoft map markers and some climbing mechanics from Zelda thrown in. These appeasement tactics might have helped Ubisoft Quebec get its weirder ideas over the line, but they made it forgettable too. Ubisoft called its sales "healthy", but it failed to gather the sort of fervent fan-base we're used to in gaming.
There were rumours last year that a sequel was in development, with focus shifting from the Greek pantheon to the Polynesian gods. If that's true, it's a sensible decision. We've seen a lot of Greek gods in popular media, but it's a nice recognisable ground for a new IP. With Immortals more established, taking us somewhere new gives it a sense of confidence and freedom. Throughout the first game, we picked up new powers as we met new gods, and it was this sense of progression that made the gameplay constantly rewarding and saved the game from getting stale. It also follows the Assassin's Creed pattern of jumping to new settings each game too, so the audience is prepared already.
Finding the Gods was the main narrative loop, aided by the voiceover narration. While these new gods each had interesting personalities, I don't think any of them are crucial to what Immortals is. Giving us four new gods to find, free, and gain powers from means we can experience new means of combat and unique powers, offering something different to players who remember the first game while having the comfort of a somewhat recognisable IP to experiment with a new approach.
These major studios are a double-edged sword - the whole game came about because a bug in Assassin's Creed made characters giant, which led to the idea that they should make a game all about Gods. A publisher like Ubisoft has the ability to sign off on ideas like that, and can get "healthy" sales from a relatively minor game (compared to AC itself or Far Cry), where another studio would be blowing the budget and praying with a game of Immortals' high-end double-A scope. But at the same time, had a smaller studio seen success with Immortals, it would not have then put a sequel on the backburner - Ubisoft Quebec has since made the Luna ports for Syndicate and Origins, and is currently working on Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mobile.
Immortals: Fenyx Rising was a solid game that deserves another go. We get so wrapped up in labelling any game that looks realistic and works a masterpiece that we often overlook games that get the job done. Immortals is the kind of game we should be seeing a lot more of as prestige triple-As take longer and cost more. These sorts of games are perfect at plugging the gap in the release calendar, if only publishers will let them.