I think it's because I'll stop playing a game if I'm not enjoying it. So I never get far enough with < 7 games to rate them. And on the other end, I think of a 10/10 as a near-perfect masterpiece, and in 20 years of gaming, I've never played one of those. 9/10 is about as good as it gets, for me.
Yeah, I've said it before but for me these puzzles and vaults just drain the fun out of the game. Though I get some people dig this kinda stuff, it's a shame that like half the content in this game just "isn't for me" - anyway I did a good amount of exploring the four main areas and had fun, but kinda lost interest and haven't gone back to the game in a couple weeks now. Destined to be just one of those games I never get around to finishing.
I didn't want to end on a sour note (the last vault and story ending), so I'm hunting down remaining chests and challenges in King's Peak and Gates of Tartar Sauce. I agree about the vaults, but otherwise, I enjoyed the basic gameplay loop of Immortals, and it never really got old for me. Not sure what the point of further upgrades is, but what the heck. I'd rather end with what I enjoyed.
It was a good game, a game I enjoyed more than any other in recent memory. Here is my brief overview of the pros and cons.
Pros
Fun, energetic, colorful combat
Lighthearted tone that mostly works
Traversal mechanics are easy and enjoyable
Weapon and armor upgrades make sense
Customization options in gear
Good loot
Most of the above-ground puzzles were satisfying (though this was an acquired taste, not immediate)
Plenty of stuff to find, collect, and do, but not overstuffed
Lots of improvements over its source material (BotW)
Visuals were pretty good
Fun to fly around and explore, collect, find stuff
Cons
The vaults -- too many; more irritating and time-consuming than fun
The above-ground puzzles were overdone. Combined with the vaults, there was just too much puzzle-solving. Too often, it interrupted what I enjoyed most about the game -- combat, exploration, collection, upgrading, etc. I could've done with about half as much.
Humor fell flat sometimes
Shallow characters
The story and its ending
Overall score: 8.2.
I enjoyed the overwhelming majority of my time with the game. One of the better games I've played in the past year. I'm a picky gamer, but this one scratched an itch for me. That's why I played it 90 hours. It's not perfect by any stretch, but I hope there's a sequel.
Those. fucking. vaults. That last one destroyed any love I had left for the game. They're just long and tedious for the sake of it. There's a relatively big, beautiful world to explore and fight beasts in but Ubisoft haven't utilised it at all. There's nothing to do - no NPCs to engage with, the same enemies over and over again. Oh - here's another chest locked behind the same tedious puzzle.
...snip
And that penultimate quest where you have to climb the mountain was just the worst.
I wonder if this (the last vault, the ending) was part of why it got modest review scores. The last couple hours were more a chore than fun, and it failed to stick the landing. It left a bit of a bad taste.
One other criticism about that final vault. It wasn't just that I dislike vaults, or that this one had annoying/frustrating bits. It's that putting a vault there, at that point, just completely killed the tension of the final act of the game. I mean, you've just had a long trek up the mountain (which I enjoyed). You've seen some major character reveals. You've battled big baddies. The world is hanging in the balance. You're about to face off against the final boss. Dun dun dun! But wait, first, move these crates around. lol. It just kills any dramatic build-up.
I'd argue the first part of the game is the best. I thought to myself "here we go, we've got a BOTW lite without the weapons breaking every 5 minutes, this seems cool". By the end of my 30 ish hours with it I was drained. It felt like a Ubisoft game at the end - everything was a grind and repetitive, for me anyway.
Yeah I always score every game between 7 and 9 too
About 10 hours in I was really enjoying the game. Enjoyed the lighter tone, combat was fun, some of the BOTW annoyances were remedied. By the end of my 30 hours, I was drained too, and had gotten to the point where I actively disliked the game and just wanted it done. Partially my fault, I already know I don't love puzzle games, but some of the positive reviews by people whose opinions I trust convinced me I'd enjoy it. Too...many...puzzles...holy crap. And yeah, the vaults just go on and on after awhile. And I didn't do the vast majority of them.
Hated the mountain quest at the end, it went on forever. And yeah, that final vault is the absolute pits. Kills the pacing, just frustrating, too long, final battle goes on far too long, felt like torture at that point.
10 to 15 hours in I would have recommended this game and thought a sequel would be cool. By the time I finished it, I wouldn't recommend it and have zero interest in a sequel. My enjoyment of this game fell off a steep cliff.
I'm now in the final vault, and yes, I completely understand the criticism. As a matter of fact, will put this on hold - I have still a lot of side content to clear, but planning to do that once I finally receive my PS5 preorder (which should happen any day now, right? Right? Pretty please?).
But regarding the puzzles in general, I think they're fine. Not as intricate and devious as you'd find in a proper puzzle game, but those wouldn't work here, the difficulty is proper for this type of game. The overground puzzles I'm completely ok with - I never went specifically out my way to look for them, but if I happened to stumble upon one I did it if I felt like it at the time. Never felt like I had to grind them, always was upgraded enough for my current part of the game. The regular vaults, no major complaints either. I feel they're of proper length, wouldn't want them to be just a single box or such.
But then there are the major story vaults, and yes, there are issues. But to me, length is not the issue, or it's not the main issue. For me the problem is, we are introduced to a new mechanic (it may not be entirely a new thing you interact with, but at least a new way of interacting). And then the game completely goes overboard with that mechanic. I think the best example of this is (this is about a single vault in very generic terms, but I'll spoiler-tag it just in case):
Vault of Ares. At the beginning our hero is presented with a new type of cube - it's huge and can't be moved, but there are these crystals stuck to it. And in the background there are similar cubes with the crystals glowing. So... what if you hit it? Oh, now the cube floats. Hit it again and it returns back to the ground. Using this knowledge our hero must first reach higher ground and then navigate across a void using those cubes. This is good game design, you can't just introduce a new mechanic out of the blue - here, it has been established how to toggle the cubes and how that they have inertia when dragged while they're floating, that's all the player needs to know. So far, so good.
But then our hero enters a large room with a statue in the middle of it. The statue is held down by a bunch of huge chains, so our hero does what any hero would, starts immediately to break those chains because who could guess what will happen. And this is where things start to go downhill. It's not that the floating cubes would be annoying, I quite enjoyed them at first even. But there are five chains to break. The laws of video games state that you can make the player perform the same action up to three times, but no more. Jump three times on the head of a boss in a platformer and so on - it's been established ages ago. But here, there are five chains to break. And it's not like breaking a chain consists of just going to the next room, it's a series of puzzles using those floating cubes. Each one in a slightly different fashion, sure, but in the end you are repeating the same action five times. That's more than three, if you weren't counting, so it's against the law. By the time I was getting rid of the fifth chain I was completely over the floating boxes, just wanted to get to the boss battle.
I suppose by making this open world the designers kind of painted themselves in a corner. No assumptions can be made about what the player has learned so far, so in that regard focusing on a single mechanic makes sense. But if it's only a single mechanic, they should be shorter. Oh well, I have a doubt I won't enjoy the ending much anyway, so that's it for me for now, more on PS5.
I'm now in the final vault, and yes, I completely understand the criticism. As a matter of fact, will put this on hold - I have still a lot of side content to clear, but planning to do that once I finally receive my PS5 preorder (which should happen any day now, right? Right? Pretty please?).
But regarding the puzzles in general, I think they're fine. Not as intricate and devious as you'd find in a proper puzzle game, but those wouldn't work here, the difficulty is proper for this type of game. The overground puzzles I'm completely ok with - I never went specifically out my way to look for them, but if I happened to stumble upon one I did it if I felt like it at the time. Never felt like I had to grind them, always was upgraded enough for my current part of the game. The regular vaults, no major complaints either. I feel they're of proper length, wouldn't want them to be just a single box or such.
But then there are the major story vaults, and yes, there are issues. But to me, length is not the issue, or it's not the main issue. For me the problem is, we are introduced to a new mechanic (it may not be entirely a new thing you interact with, but at least a new way of interacting). And then the game completely goes overboard with that mechanic. I think the best example of this is (this is about a single vault in very generic terms, but I'll spoiler-tag it just in case):
Vault of Ares. At the beginning our hero is presented with a new type of cube - it's huge and can't be moved, but there are these crystals stuck to it. And in the background there are similar cubes with the crystals glowing. So... what if you hit it? Oh, now the cube floats. Hit it again and it returns back to the ground. Using this knowledge our hero must first reach higher ground and then navigate across a void using those cubes. This is good game design, you can't just introduce a new mechanic out of the blue - here, it has been established how to toggle the cubes and how that they have inertia when dragged while they're floating, that's all the player needs to know. So far, so good.
But then our hero enters a large room with a statue in the middle of it. The statue is held down by a bunch of huge chains, so our hero does what any hero would, starts immediately to break those chains because who could guess what will happen. And this is where things start to go downhill. It's not that the floating cubes would be annoying, I quite enjoyed them at first even. But there are five chains to break. The laws of video games state that you can make the player perform the same action up to three times, but no more. Jump three times on the head of a boss in a platformer and so on - it's been established ages ago. But here, there are five chains to break. And it's not like breaking a chain consists of just going to the next room, it's a series of puzzles using those floating cubes. Each one in a slightly different fashion, sure, but in the end you are repeating the same action five times. That's more than three, if you weren't counting, so it's against the law. By the time I was getting rid of the fifth chain I was completely over the floating boxes, just wanted to get to the boss battle.
I suppose by making this open world the designers kind of painted themselves in a corner. No assumptions can be made about what the player has learned so far, so in that regard focusing on a single mechanic makes sense. But if it's only a single mechanic, they should be shorter. Oh well, I have a doubt I won't enjoy the ending much anyway, so that's it for me for now, more on PS5.
My eventual dislike of the game and exhaustion are mostly a "me" thing. I knew from reading impressions and watching some reviews that the game was puzzle heavy. I also know I don't really like puzzle heavy games. I talked myself into playing because it seemed like a nice departure from the games I have been playing, which all had a much more serious tone. This one looked whimsical and the combat looked fun, both of which turned out to be the case. I talked myself into thinking that I'd just do puzzles that seemed fun and just enough to get powerful enough to enjoy the combat/story.
By the time my brain got tired of the puzzles and I knew I was pretty close to completion, I stuck to my plan and decided to finish up. So by the time I got to the end sequences of scaling the final mountain and then the final vault, I was very ready to just be done. Unfortunately (for me), that final ascent and final vault were extremely puzzle heavy. I get fairly OCD about finishing games, but lately I've done better about dropping a game when I just get tired of it. But I still struggle to do that when the end is in sight. It was easier for me to drop Valhalla (for instance) when I realized I was getting bored and still likely had 50 hours left even if I tried to mainline it. But when I feel it's just another few hours, I really struggle to just stop (unlike Humdinger
, who was able to stop right at the very end ).
So, for anyone who is considering playing and likes (or doesn't mind) puzzles, this may very well be a game you'll enjoy. If, like me, you don't really enjoy puzzle focused games but are thinking maybe you'll enjoy this anyways, perhaps think twice before committing. Those final sequences burned me out something fierce.
Love the game. Truly stunning on PS5 and love the art style. If protagonist and story would be even better a 9 would be a 9.5. They have borrowed a lot from BOTW but in my opinion its a better game.
Truly a sleeper hit and bought in on a sale the other day.
Only 10 hours in so might change my opinion later but right now it’s some of the most fun I’ve had with a game for the last 5 years.
Having finished the game I give it a solid 8. I had a lot of fun with it, but reaching the end some of the magic of encountering something entirely new disappeared. Still love flying over Valley of eternal spring and just admire the beautiful world.
I was very confused about the final boss that was surprisingly easy. Only to get thrown into a final puzzle and another end battle. I mean - who the actual fuck thought that would be a good last impression of the game? Jesus fucking Christ. The end battle was kinda fine and worthy of final encounter but that puzzle just destroyed the pacing entirely.
I love the game but it's an example of too much of anything is bad as in puzzles that last way too long. I don't mind the amount as long as it's short.
Yeah, I'm 23hrs in and I'm close to being burnt out, there is just too much and vaults are starting to piss me off. I have only freed two gods so far so I'm not done yet
The game isn't well balanced either, I'm absolutely crushing my ennemies, be it mythical creatures or bosses.
Yeah, I'm 23hrs in and I'm close to being burnt out, there is just too much and vaults are starting to piss me off. I have only freed two gods so far so I'm not done yet
The game isn't well balanced either, I'm absolutely crushing my ennemies, be it mythical creatures or bosses.
I have been on a break from this game. Its the vaults that did it for me. I like the other puzzles, exploring and combat, just the vaults can be tedious.
I will eventually comeback and finish this though.
Played for 6 hours, gone from really enjoying it to meh pretty quickly. Don’t know what it is that’s making me lose interest. Seems a bit formulaic; go here, get transported to the outworld from Mortal Kombat, do a quick platforming segment/roll the balls on to the switches, rinse and repeat. Does it get more varied?
Played for 6 hours, gone from really enjoying it to meh pretty quickly. Don’t know what it is that’s making me lose interest. Seems a bit formulaic; go here, get transported to the outworld from Mortal Kombat, do a quick platforming segment/roll the balls on to the switches, rinse and repeat. Does it get more varied?
Not really. Those vaults will get longer and mix up the puzzles with added elements and greater difficulty. If you’re 6 hours in and there’s no magic in the game that’s grabbing you, I’d suggest you bail early and not waste your time. I’m not saying it’s an inherently bad game, but just going by your impressions so far, I can’t imagine you’ll enjoy continuing. I was still enjoying the game 6 hours in but eventually my enjoyment faded and later dropped off a cliff due to the tediousness of the puzzles and length of the vault portions.
Played for 6 hours, gone from really enjoying it to meh pretty quickly. Don’t know what it is that’s making me lose interest. Seems a bit formulaic; go here, get transported to the outworld from Mortal Kombat, do a quick platforming segment/roll the balls on to the switches, rinse and repeat. Does it get more varied?
Tried this for a few hours. It's like a shittier AC game with the terrible BOTW stamina system thrown on top and more annoying puzzle bullshit than anything else.
Huge disappointment. A 7/10 game with the depth of a teaspoon.
So the combo trophy is bugged for me, it actually popped in-game but when I check the game's trophies it shows locked, I tried hitting max combo again but that didn't fix it, man fuck Ubisoft and their buggy games.
I played the demo for this on PS5 and felt happy that I didn't buy it when it came down to $30. To me it still feels like it started off as a game meant for mobile but then someone decided to expand it for console. This game would have been great in the PS3 era but it feels very dated in terms of combat, design, graphics and dialogs (whatever was there in the demo).
So the combo trophy is bugged for me, it actually popped in-game but when I check the game's trophies it shows locked, I tried hitting max combo again but that didn't fix it, man fuck Ubisoft and their buggy games.
It fixed itself and here we are, Platinum 3 on PS5 (have had the system for like a month), it's a good game but as with most Ubisoft titles these days it feels bloated and bigger than it should be.
Played for 6 hours, gone from really enjoying it to meh pretty quickly. Don’t know what it is that’s making me lose interest. Seems a bit formulaic; go here, get transported to the outworld from Mortal Kombat, do a quick platforming segment/roll the balls on to the switches, rinse and repeat. Does it get more varied?
Your experience mirrors mine. I am about 6-7 hours in. I did all of the Aphrodite questline and had a decent time, but the whole thing went on one or two quests too long. I’m not up to the prospect of doing more or less the same thing for another 20 or more hours. It’s already worn out it’s welcome. The vaults get longer and longer and end up dragging the game down.
None of the humor or tone hit with me either. It came across as trying way too hard and just ended up being corny.
Anyone ever notice that threads seem to follow a pattern where you get a lot of people who love the game in the first few pages, then, later on, you get an influx of people who dislike the game?
It's a see-saw pattern -- first thumbs-up, then thumbs-down. I've wondered why that is, but I can't come up with a good explanation. The only thing I can think is that, maybe people who are well-suited to the game pick it up early on, and because they're a good fit, they enjoy it and share their enjoyment. Then, later, the people who hesitated on the game (because it doesn't suit them as well, doesn't appeal as much) pick it up, and naturally they don't like it (i.e., they were right to hesitate/wait).
I don't know. It's just something I've noticed for many years. First come the good reviews, then come the bad ones. It's like a back and forth, and each phase seems to have a momentum to it. There's an ebb and flow -- first the positive, then the negative.
I'm not commenting on this particular thread or game, just the overall pattern. Like I say, I've noticed it in tons of different game threads over the years. It's almost predictable.
Of course, some games get roasted from the start...
Anyone ever notice that threads seem to follow a pattern where you get a lot of people who love the game in the first few pages, then, later on, you get an influx of people who dislike the game?
It's a see-saw pattern -- first thumbs-up, then thumbs-down. I've wondered why that is, but I can't come up with a good explanation. The only thing I can think is that, maybe people who are well-suited to the game pick it up early on, and because they're a good fit, they enjoy it and share their enjoyment. Then, later, the people who hesitated on the game (because it doesn't suit them as well, doesn't appeal as much) pick it up, and naturally they don't like it (i.e., they were right to hesitate/wait).
I don't know. It's just something I've noticed for many years. First come the good reviews, then come the bad ones. It's like a back and forth, and each phase seems to have a momentum to it. There's an ebb and flow -- first the positive, then the negative.
I'm not commenting on this particular thread or game, just the overall pattern. Like I say, I've noticed it in tons of different game threads over the years. It's almost predictable.
Of course, some games get roasted from the start...
Anyone ever notice that threads seem to follow a pattern where you get a lot of people who love the game in the first few pages, then, later on, you get an influx of people who dislike the game?
It's a see-saw pattern -- first thumbs-up, then thumbs-down. I've wondered why that is, but I can't come up with a good explanation. The only thing I can think is that, maybe people who are well-suited to the game pick it up early on, and because they're a good fit, they enjoy it and share their enjoyment. Then, later, the people who hesitated on the game (because it doesn't suit them as well, doesn't appeal as much) pick it up, and naturally they don't like it (i.e., they were right to hesitate/wait).
I don't know. It's just something I've noticed for many years. First come the good reviews, then come the bad ones. It's like a back and forth, and each phase seems to have a momentum to it. There's an ebb and flow -- first the positive, then the negative.
I'm not commenting on this particular thread or game, just the overall pattern. Like I say, I've noticed it in tons of different game threads over the years. It's almost predictable.
Of course, some games get roasted from the start...
I think I agree with this. I don’t tend to play open world Ubisoft games and this seemed similar to the others. I had no interest in it.
The praise from people along with a discount made me give it a shot.
It might be the fact that it is a bit of a drought on the next gen optimized games as well. Normally I don’t think I would have taken a chance on this otherwise.
I don’t even think it’s the game’s fault. It’s well made, looks great and the controls are excellent. It’s just the loop didn’t grab me and it felt like a chore to play. Every few months I decide to take the plunge and give another one of these open world games a try. For some reason they never hook me.
I hope not. If so, that's a weird decision. We need more game discussion in the Gaming forum, not less. Splitting it off like that doesn't make sense to me.
So far it's great because you start with everything you finished the game with, but the game world is fresh. Meaning you can max out all your health and stamina easily if you didn't do it before.
So far it's great because you start with everything you finished the game with, but the game world is fresh. Meaning you can max out all your health and stamina easily if you didn't do it before.
Immortals Fenyx Rising - The Lost Gods DLC Launch Date Revealed
April 15, 2021, 4:00 PM
Immortals Fenyx Rising - The Lost Gods, the third narrative DLC for Immortals Fenyx Rising, will launch on April 22 for PC. Unfolding entirely from an overhead, god’s-eye perspective, the adventure centers on Ash, a new mortal champion following a series of catastrophic disasters.
Ash’s mission is to travel to a new land, the Pyrite Island, to find and reunite the gods who left Olympos in a huff after a falling-out with Zeus. These “lost gods,” including Poseidon and Hades, will all need to be convinced to return to the Pantheon and restore balance to the world. Naturally, there are plenty of monsters standing between them and Ash, which players can dispatch using a new, brawler-inspired combat system.
More details about the DLC will be revealed closer to its launch on April 22. In the meantime, a new primer quest in the northeast of the main game’s Golden Isle is now available, offering a preview of the challenges to come – as well as rewards that can be carried over to the DLC. And players who haven’t yet experienced Immortals Fenyx Rising can get a taste via the free demo, which features exclusive content and is available now on PC.
Humdinger
, who was able to stop right at the very end 
