A month ago, we published our impressions on the second DLC of Immortals Fenyx Rising: Myths of the Eastern Kingdom. Although we criticize the lack of novel content and certain aspects concerning the execution of the story, we applaud that it made room for a mythology that has hardly been explored in popular culture and the potential of the Heavenly Seal system as a basis for expanding the combat system. At the end of the day Myths of the Eastern Kingdom it is more of the same for those who enjoyed what the base title offers.
However, given the lack of novelties in Myths of the Eastern Kingdom, we couldn’t help but be expectant about what the third DLC would offer: The Lost Gods. Unlike the previous downloadable content, this one would opt for a completely different genre. It would adopt an overhead camera to offer an experience similar to that of games like Diablo.
Unfortunately, even with the gender change, The Lost Gods it’s still more of the same. Even worse, it is a much more tedious gaming experience.
As in the prints of Myths of the Eastern Kingdom, we interview the team in charge of The Lost Gods. Throughout these prints, we will supplement with quotes from Julien Galloudec, director of the DLC for Immortals Fenyx Rising.
Why not start by talking about the strengths of The Lost Gods? With the return to Greek mythology, Galloudec’s team was able to include those gods that were not present in the base game. Among these, Poseidon and Hades stand out, but they are not the only ones who make an appearance. This new campaign not only allows you to become familiar with the interpretations of these characters, which do not pale in comparison to those presented in the original title, but also expands the universe of Immortals Fenyx Rising.
“We wanted to include gods that were not so well known. That would open up new opportunities for more varied history and personalities. We focused first on the Olympian gods and chose Hestia and Demeter. Their personalities also lent themselves to making their regions different.
We also wanted a god who was not an Olympian, but who had a lot of potential. In the end we chose Boreas, the god of the cold north wind. That gave us several ideas for his personality.
Julien Galloudec, Director of the DLC for Immortals Fenyx Rising
These characters are not the only novelty. This DLC also boasts a new protagonist: Ash, a champion recruited by Fenyx to bring back the aforementioned lost deities. After a conflict with Zeus, the group of gods led by Poseidon left Olympus and settled in the Isla Pirita. Similar to the Golden Island, the map of the third DLC is divided into regions dominated by a specific god. However, here is the problem: The Lost Gods did not abandon the open world model when it should have opted for a more linear and characteristic design of dungeon games.
“The main challenge was to maintain the pillars of the base game and translate them into a zenith experience. We wanted to keep the DNA of the original game, but change it a bit.
Keeping an open world with exploration was the biggest challenge. Change how you do the ‘assets’, the appearance of the artistic style… All that was new for us ”.
Julien Galloudec, Director of the DLC for Immortals Fenyx Rising
Unlike the base game and its first two DLCs, Ash’s scrolling options are very limited. Although he does acquire a horse, this means of transportation proves to be quite slow given the extent of the map. As if that wasn’t enough, Pyrite Island is crawling with waves of enemies. The latter wouldn’t be so bad if Ash could recharge stamina by hitting opponents with light attacks. In a decision that hurts the pace of combat, you must collect orbs from fallen enemies to recharge. Ironically, the original intention of Julien Galloudec and his team was to make the combat system feel more frantic.
Faced with these limitations, the The Lost Gods introduces its first novel mechanic: the offerings. It’s a shame that this system ends up being one of the main shortcomings of the DLC. Offerings serve multiple purposes, such as advancing the plot and receiving stat bonuses. However, this also includes basic actions such as saving and using fast travel. Since these require specific resources, this mechanic forces players to ‘farm’ resources. This unnecessarily extends the gaming experience.
Despite the overhead perspective and the implementation of modifiers for all abilities, the gameplay mechanics are exactly the same as in the original title and its first two DLCs. Ash’s abilities are no different from Fenyx and Ku’s, which contributes to The lost gods feel very lazy. Although this was not the intention of Julien Galloudec and his team, this ends up being reinforced by the origins of the project:
“While we were working on Immortals Fenyx RisingWe had something called the “Fenyx Days.” Every two weeks, we had a Friday where the team could work on a personal idea. It could be anything, as long as it related to Immortals Fenyx Rising. During one of these sessions, a small group built a prototype that allowed them to play from an overhead perspective ”.
Julien Galloudec, Director of the DLC for Immortals Fenyx Rising
While the desire to get out of the comfort zone is respectable, The Lost Gods ends up feeling like what it is: the first attempt by a team to make an action game with an overhead perspective. Instead of taking game lessons with the same perspective, the third DLC of Immortals Fenyx Rising it doesn’t make the necessary changes to make it feel like a new adventure. On the contrary, it feels like more of the same and worse executed.
Prints made with a digital copy of Immortals Fenyx Rising for PC and its respective season pass provided by Ubisoft Latin America.
