Immortals Fenyx Rising

Immortals Fenyx Rising

game

2020, Puzzle, Role-playing (RPG)

WISE
86%

WISE Score

74%

IGDB

Greek mythology meets Saturday morning cartoons in an open-world playground where you solve puzzles, fight monsters, and listen to Zeus crack dad jokes.

Screenwise Verdict

Think of this as the PG version of Assassin's Creed. It borrows the best parts of the 'open-world adventure' genre—climbing anything, gliding across valleys, and upgrading gear—but swaps the gritty assassinations for bright colors and slapstick humor. It's the best Zelda alternative available on platforms that aren't the Nintendo Switch.

The real win here is the puzzles. They don't treat the player like they're five years old. You'll have to guide arrows through hoops, roll giant spheres into sockets, and manage stamina while climbing. It's a solid, engaging experience that manages to be educational about Greek myths without ever feeling like a textbook.

Age Fit

Best for ages 9 and up. While the ESRB says 13+, the 'Story' difficulty setting and the cartoonish nature of the violence make it a great fit for upper-elementary kids who are ready for more complex puzzles than Minecraft offers.

WISE Breakdown
Wholesome
82

The tone is lighthearted and adventurous, modeling classic heroism without the grit usually found in Ubisoft's other titles. The banter between the narrators adds a layer of humor that keeps the stakes feeling manageable rather than dire.

Imaginative
88

The Isle of the Blessed is a vibrant, stylized sandbox that rewards curiosity. Its puzzles are genuinely clever, requiring players to think about physics and environment manipulation in ways that go beyond standard combat.

Safe
85

It's a single-player experience with no online chat risks. Violence is frequent but bloodless—monsters disappear in puffs of smoke. There are some suggestive jokes in the dialogue, but they'll fly over the heads of younger kids.

Enriching
84

It serves as a fantastic, if irreverent, primer on Greek mythology. Beyond the lore, the 'Vaults of Tartaros' function as complex logic and spatial reasoning exercises that challenge the brain as much as the thumbs.

Parent Info

Why It Might Be Great

  • Logic-heavy puzzles found in the Vaults of Tartaros require genuine spatial reasoning and physics-based problem solving.
  • Vibrant art style makes exploration feel like playing through a storybook rather than a gritty historical simulation.
  • Mythology primer that introduces kids to the pantheon of Greek gods and monsters in a memorable, humorous way.
  • Customizable difficulty allows you to tweak combat and puzzle assistance, making it accessible for younger or less experienced players.

What to Watch For

  • Mythological innuendo pops up in the dialogue between Zeus and Prometheus, though most of the 'adult' humor is subtle enough for kids to miss.
  • Puzzle frustration is a real possibility; some of the later dungeons are surprisingly complex and might require a parent to step in or a quick YouTube walkthrough.
  • Map bloat is the standard Ubisoft experience, with hundreds of icons and collectibles that can feel like a chore list if your kid is a completionist.

Conversation Starters

  • "Which Greek god's powers would be the most useful in real life, and which would be the most annoying?"
  • "Zeus and Prometheus argue a lot—who do you think is actually telling the story more accurately?"
  • "If you had to design your own 'Vault' puzzle, what kind of obstacles would you put in it?"
  • "How does the game's version of these myths differ from the stories you've heard in school or read in books?"

Deep Dive

The Zelda Clone That Actually Works

When Immortals Fenyx Rising launched, everyone called it a Breath of the Wild clone. They weren't wrong, but for parents, that's actually a selling point. If your kid is on an Xbox or PlayStation and feels left out of the Zelda craze, this is the closest they can get to that experience. You have the same 'see a mountain, climb it' freedom, the same gliding mechanics, and a world packed with environmental puzzles.

A Different Kind of Mythology Lesson

The game is framed as a story being told by Prometheus to Zeus. This narration runs throughout the gameplay, and it's surprisingly funny. Zeus is portrayed as a bit of a bumbling, ego-driven dad, while Prometheus tries to keep the story on track. It makes the 'learning' part of the mythology feel incidental. By the time they finish the game, your kid will know the difference between Ares and Hephaestus not because they studied, but because they helped them get their 'essence' back.

Managing the Grind

Ubisoft games are famous for having maps that look like they've broken out in a rash of icons. For a kid, this can be overwhelming. The best way to play Immortals is to ignore the 'checklist' mentality. Encourage them to just head toward whatever looks interesting on the horizon. The game is at its best when you're stumbling into a hidden cave or a combat challenge, rather than systematically clearing every single marker on the map. If the combat gets too repetitive, you can bump the difficulty down to 'Story' mode and just focus on the exploration and puzzles, which are the game's strongest features.

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