My effort to make it through every single PS-Plus Extra game for at least one hour per game continues and this time it resulted in a game that I find truly great in almost every possible way. I have already dumped at least 10 times the require 1-hour into the game and will likely end up playing it all the way through. It is really good and I am surprised and impressed that Sony would give us such a great game for free.
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The game is from Ubisoft, so that is normally a good sign whenever I see that pop up on the screen. While they do have a few turds out there, for the most part I think Ubisoft is one of the few reliable companies out there as far as quality is concerned. I used to feel this way about Square-Enix, but I no longer do.
In Fenyx Rising or "FR" as I may refer to it later in this article, you take on the role of Fenyx (of course), a normal mortal who is a sole survivor of a shipwreck. When she wakes up, she discovers that all humans have either been turned to stone or are dead. She has no idea why this is the case even though we, the players do have a better idea since the entire story is being narrated by Zeus and Prometheus in a rather humorous fashion.
Fenyx ends up acquiring equipment through a series of events that to me anyway, reminded me of Zelda type games and the art in particular was reminiscent of Breath of the Wild, which is almost always a good thing. In this game though, unlike Breath your weapons don't break ever, let alone after using them 4 or 5 times. They are unbreakable and this is one of the main things that chased me away from that particular Zelda game even though I am a massive fan of the franchise.
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At first, combat seems extremely simplistic but later evolves into something that you will need a great deal of strategy to master. Dodging and parrying attacks becomes a very necessary part of combat if you want to excel, and the way in which they introduce you to this is absolutely perfect. There is no forced tutorial, but you are encouraged via on-screen tips to parry and dodge and quickly learn that by doing so time will be slowed down and give you time to cause much more damage on your enemies than if you simply kite and strike. Also, striking from ranged positions with a bow and arrow doesn't really offer that much of an advantage, since you can't really eliminate a full gang of enemies by staying at range, they will get to you before you take them all down.
Combat is done really well and there are a wide variety of ways to approach it as well. For example, using the ability that allows you to pick up and throw large stones does dramatically more damage than your sword or axe will and later when you develop the skills you will gain an ability that will automatically target whichever enemy you are locked onto and this makes that form of offense even more effective.
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You also have the ability to tame mounts which it seems almost everyone likes. Although I will say that thus far I don't really see the advantage of riding a mount (unless later ones can fly) because so much of the terrain is something that must be climbed and the horse that I have found and tamed is only mildly faster than I am.
Fast-travel also exists to locations that you have already visited and this is a very good thing because of the fact that the map is quite huge and if there is one thing that really ticks me off about open-world games it would be excessive levels of running around while doing nothing in-between.
There is a lot of Greek mythology built into the game, which isn't unique at all but since it is approached in a humorous manner via our narrators Prometheus and Zeus, it takes on a totally different vibe than all the ones that have come before using the same characters. As Fenyx, you are the only living mortal remaining on the planet as far as we know, and this is the reason why you are the hero.
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The map is really big and filled with a ton of mostly optional side quests that you can do that are all a lot of fun. Many of these quests will result in powerups that make you more dangerous in future battles, so why not? You discover all of these areas by finding a higher ground where you can scout the surrounding area and will discover them by the controller shaking when you are looking near them. Then you mark it, and then later finding it becomes that much easier. I don't know if this is a completely unique concept because I haven't played everything that exists out there, but I enjoyed it.
In another sense some of the optional objectives are metroid-vania style because you won't be able to accomplish all of them just because you found it. They will need to be saved for later when you have another "God Skill" and in many situations you don't even know what that skill might be. They do you the favor of telling you that you do not yet have the skill so that you don't waste a bunch of time on something that cannot be done over and over again though.
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To make things even better, the game isn't just all about fighting. There are many puzzle areas where there are no enemies and your only objective is to solve a wide variety of puzzles. Pictured above is a fresco that you have to arrange the tiles in the correct order to match the picture behind. It can be a bit frustrating at first but when you complete it, you get some sort of reward and while a lot of the loot rewards that you get can be a bit disappointing, I don't feel as though they have overdone the amount of wearable items the way that Diablo does where almost all of what you discover is useless.
There are several types of crystals that you get by defeating enemies and opening chests that will enable you to upgrade your equipment and if you want to grind for that sort of thing, it is up to you. I haven't done it yet, but there is a very noticeable difference in how quickly an upgraded sword dispatches an enemy compared to an un-upgraded one.
Overall, this is one of the best games I have played in a while and it is so good in fact that it has actually thrown me off course a bit as far as trying all the other games are concerned. I gave up on Far Cry 4 because I grew tired of the repetition, and this type of game is exactly the remedy that I needed.
Highly recommended for everyone as it has a bit of everything in it
Games I have already tried in my journey to play at least 1-hour of every PS-Plus Extra game
- Gravity Rush 2 (action adventure game with fast movement in every direction. It has RPG elements and a pretty decent story. Make it past the first hour and the game really opens up. Recommended)
- Oddworld: Soulstorm (2D+ platformer with great graphics, sound, and voice-acting. Unfortunately it is plagued with a lot of repetition. Recommended for a few hours)
- Bee Simulator (sort of like a flying FPS game but with no combat. It's graphically impressive and filled with tidbits of knowledge about bees... unfortunately it is repetitive as hell and gets boring fast. Not recommended)
- Prison Architect (a prison management simulator game similar to SimCity. It's a great game but just like most simulation games, it just isn't very playable using a controller. Not recommended on PS4)
- Hotline Miami 2 (a top-down shooter with gruesome violence and terrible AI. Would be great for speedrunners and hardcore gamers. Casuals like me are going to quickly tire with it)
- Battle Chasers: Nightwar (turn based RPG of medium-length that does a good job of teaching you how to play in the first hour. It's pretty old-school and I happen to like that... recommended)
- Chorus (3rd person open-world space fighting game. It's graphically impressive but combat is too repetitive to really hold your interest for the entire story. Still recommended though.)
- Portal Knights (a very well made survival action builder game similar to Minecraft. I really enjoyed this and look forward to playing it more. Recommended)
- Saints Row: The Third (clever and funny FPS game that intentionally puts you in impossible and absurd situations. It's innovative and humorous but ultimately quite dated and got repetitive and boring pretty quick. Not recommended)
- Balan Wonderworld (A rather beautiful 3D(ish) platformer that is extremely easy but still engaging enough to hold your attention for a few hours. Recommended for casual gamers)
- The Artful Escape (an adventure game of sorts with awesome visuals and music, but repetitive areas and controls combined with IMO far too much dialogue makes this game get boring, fast... Worth a look but not recommended to play)
- Until Dawn (interactive horror game that you don't really control a great deal of. It's reasonably entertaining, you can't lose, and the graphics and sound a pretty great. It's not really a game but I enjoyed it and played it to its finish. Recommended)
- 11-11: Memories Retold (a WW1 story that doesn't actually involve much input on the player's part. The game is very boring despite having a wonderful graphical style: Not recommended)
- Desperados 3 (a real time tactics / stealth game that I personally do not feel belongs on consoles at all. If you have never played these sorts of games on PC your opinion might be different. This one gets a "maybe.")
- Maneater (Action RPG where you play the role of a deadly shark. The idea is decent but ultimately the extremely repetitive gameplay makes this one easy to miss. Not recommended)
- TorqueL (physics puzzle platformer that is simplistic at first but quickly becomes maddeningly difficult. Gets boring pretty quickly on consoles and would be better suited as a time-waster on mobile devices. Not recommended on PS4)
- Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon: Turn-based cutesy RPG that is extremely story-driven just like anything Square is involved in. If you are huge fan of Final Fantasy you might like it, for me it was one hour then done forever.
- XCOM 2 : (Turn-based Sci-Fi game set in a dystopian future where you are part of the rebellion. Despite a very slow start IMO the game really gets involved later on... recommended)
- Darksiders Genesis (Top-down hack and slash that reminds me a lot of Diablo 3 but with a more restricted environment. It's very fast paced and as easy or difficult as you want it to be. It's a lot of fun and therefore comes highly recommended.)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (a copy/paste of so many other RPG's out there with too many cutscenes as is so typical of Square-Enix. Recommended for superfans of the movies, but not for really anyone else.)
- Injustice 2 (a DC comics oriented fighting game with tons of characters and IMO extremely complicated gameplay. It could be great for someone who is willing to devote enough time to memorizing all of this, but I am not that guy.)
- Life is Strange: Before the Storm episode 1 (A graphic adventure that isn't really a game so much as it is a movie that you have some control over. Recommended for people looking for something extremely casual but with a very well-written story)
- Evil Dead: The Game (a team based multiplayer game that has the humor and gore that you would expect from anything done by Evil Dead. Unfortunately, it doesn't really stand out from the pack well enough for me to give it high props. Recommended for a short while - see if you disagree with me)
- Immortals: Fenyx Rising (A Zelda-esque open-world game based on Greek mythology that is one of the best games I have played in a while. Highly recommended)
All other games I have already reviewed (there are a lot of them)