Somewhat shamefully, I dismissed Immortals Fenyx Rising almost immediately when I played it back at launch, wholly unimpressed by its drab, uninspiring opening location - a brown, war-blasted sweep of destitution that, it turns out, massively undersells the rest of the game. On a whim though, I picked it up again over the weekend, finally managing to force myself through its miserable starter island into the game proper - a glorious undulation of verdant hills, preposterously stacked precipices, and endless distractions - and I'm having a genuine blast.
Sure, its shameless pilfering from Breath of the Wild inevitably leads to unfavourable comparisons, but there's a lot of fun to be had just ambling your way through its irreverent stew of Greek mythology and Ubisoft excess. The map is the biggest letdown, a disorientating (if undoubtedly beautiful) mish-mash of contrivances that's just too stacked and busy to elicit any real sense of place. Unlike that