Ubisoft has reportedly cancelled its plans for an Immortals Fenyx Rising sequel. Multiple sources anonymously told VGC that a follow?-up was in ?early development at Ubisoft Quebec, but leadership ultimately decided to cancel it.

Kotaku has also corroborated the report. Ubisoft has?? commented on VGC's original reporting, say??ing it's "reallocating some creative teams and resources within the Quebec studio."

“As part of our global strategy, we are redirecting and reallocating some creative teams and resources within the Quebec studio to other unannounced project??s," the company told VGC. "The expertise and technologies these teams developed will serve as an accelerator for the development of these key projects focused on our biggest brands. We have nothing further to share at this time."

Fading into myth

Ubisoft's Breath Of The Wild-inspired title from 2020 was good, and found moderate success among players. Still, VGC's sources claim that Ubisoft canceled the Immortals sequel over percei?ved challenges around? establishing the IP.

Ubisoft's original plan revolved around turning Immortals into a franchise that would explore various mythologies. The original game and its DLC explored the Greek and Chinese mythologies, respectively. Journalist Jeff Grubb reported last year that Ubisoft intended to explore things such as Hawaiian Polynesian m??yths in the fu??ture, but that won't be happening anymore.

Immortals is Ubisoft's fourth known cancellation this year. It follows the axing of three unannounced games as the company shifts focus to its best-selling IPs. To give you an idea of how closely Ubisoft is sticking to their bigger properties, this year's Assassin's Creed Mirage is but one of at least six games in the series currently in development.

This casts yet another large shadow over the fates of upcoming titles such as Skull & Bones and the poster child of development hell itself, Beyond Good & Evil 2.

The post Ubisoft reportedly cancels an Immortals Fenyx Rising s?equel appeared first on Destructoid.

A great value, in concept

PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium are kinda like Xbox Game Pass. You can play a variety of games available in the service's library you wouldn't otherwise check out. Games are expensive, and a subscription service can help alleviate that pain. But is PlayStation Plus Extra worth it, and should you upgrade to Premium?

Let's find out!

What the heck is PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium?

[caption id="attachment_371642" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

I don't blame anyo?ne for being confused! There are multiple tiers to PlayStation Plus' subscription service.

• Essential ($9.99/month) gives you online multiplayer access, discounts, cloud storage, Share Play, and of course monthly games. For example, you'll be getting Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Meet Your Maker, and Tails of Iron in April of 2023.
• Extra ($14.99/month) is the next step up from that. You'll gain access to a wide selection of games in a catalog, in addition to all the prior benefits. This includes big exclusive titles like Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, Demon's Souls, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales and third-party titles, such as Ghostwire: Tokyo and Immortals: Fenyx Rising. 
• Premium ($17.99/month) offers everything from the previous tiers but also adds classic titles from the PS1 and PSP (like Tekken 2, Super Stardust Portable, and Syphon Filter), trials, and cloud streaming into the mix.

PlayStation Plus Extra and PlayStation Plus Premium

So is PlayStation Plus Extra worth it? Well, the games library has a wide range of game genres and experiences to choose from. There's the whole Life is Strange series, NEO: The World Ends with You, the comprehensive Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, the open-world Dragon Ball Z Kakarot, and of course PlayStation's first-party offerings like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Horizon: Forbidden West. You'll also be able to play major indie darlings like Haven, Untitled Goose Game, and the recently released Tchia. PlayStation touts there are hundreds of games available on the service. If you want to save money and don't mind missing out on playing games on day one, ?Play?Station Plus Extra is a good option.

PlayStation Plus Premium is slightly more expensive but it does widen the library even further with streamed PS3  games and downloadable PS1/PSP games that are up-rendered to 4K. With Premium, most PS4 and PS5 games can be streamed to your console, PC, or phone too. You can play forgotten PlayStation franchises like Killzone and Resistance on the service, in addition to the beloved PS2 Ratchet & Clank games through streaming. The selection of PS1 games is admittedly brief but it does have some favorites like the original Ape Escape and Tekken 2. Some of the PS1?? games even have trop??hies you can unlock.

The trials from PlayStation Plus Premium also give some value. If you've ever considered trying out Marvel's Midnight Suns, you can play a two-hour trial of the strategy game with PlayStation Plus Premium. Once you purchase the game, you can then begin where you left off. But really, that's about it if you don't want to play the retro titles.

Are PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium worth the price?

[caption id="attachment_371691" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Annapurna Interactive[/caption]

PlayStation Plus Premium is arguably not worth the price. The selection of PS1 games is lackluster and lacks big titles like Metal Gear Solid, the original Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro the Dragon trilogies, and the best entry of the PS1 Tekken games: Tekken 3! It is getting better with inclusions like The Legend of Dragoon and Worms: Armageddon, but they ?come few and far between, similar to the drip-feed formula of Switch O?nline.

The quality of streamed games can va??ry as well, depending on your connection. It does get spotty from time to time even with the best internet, and with key precision genres like fighting games, that is certainly a no-go.

PlayStation Plus Extra has a good selection overall, but it does pale in comparison to Xbox Game Pass. While Microsoft offers all its first-party titles on day one, you'll have to wait a long time for PlayStation to offer their games to their subscription service, if that even happens at all. Horizon Forbidden West was a nice surprise in February, but it took nearly a year to make it to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium. It's inconsistent, however, as Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is still?? not available on the service??, a year and a half later.

Meanwhile, Hi-Fi Rush was announced and immediately released on Game Pass to great acclaim. There are a few select games that have launched day-and-date with PlayStation Plus like Tchia and Stray, but they come far between and aren't as high-budget as Halo Infinite or Gears 5. 

For dedicated PlayStation fans though who love to check out the cool third-party titles on the service or go back to old franchises like Ratchet & Clank, PlayStation Plus Extra is certainly worth it. You may want to skip Premi??um unless the PS1 and PSP classics library expands greatly.

[Note: The writer gained 1 year of access to the service from PlayStation Canada when it first launched]

The post Is PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium worth it? (??2023) appeared first on Destructoid.

Gods, monsters, and some coffee all hit Game Pass this month

One god game is leaving Xbox Game Pass at the end of August, but a few "immortal" games are stepping up to take its place. As Supergiant's Hades leaves at the end of the month, Xbox Game Pass picks up Immortals Fenyx Rising, Immortality, and several other new games for the service.

The selection for this month is a solid selection of indie gems, both new and old. Coffee Talk arrives today, letting you play barista to a host of creatures in alt-Seattle. Opus: Echo of Starsong arrives l?ater ?on, bringing a vibrant art style and deep narrative to the service.

A notable arrival this month on Game Pass is Immortality, the new FMV adventure from Sam Barlow and Half Mermaid. It was pretty impressive when I previewed it, and seems like it'll be worth checking out when i?t launches on ?August 30.

Or if fighting Greek mythology is more your thing, Immortals Fenyx Rising should fit the bill. It's a Breath of the Wild-adjacent adventure with a heavy helping of myth, and I've heard mostly alright things about it.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEStlPKIGL8

Of course, as some games arrive, others leave. This month sees another batch of games leave Xbox Game Pass, and there are some heavy hitters worth checking out before they take off. Hades is a big one, with a little roguelite action mixed with Greek myth and Supergiant charm.

We also see What Remains of Edith Finch, Spirifarer, Twelve Minutes, and more leave the service at the end of August. Hades aside, those are some games you could absolutely squeeze int?o a weekend before they're gone.

Here's the full lineup for the sec??ond half of? August.

Xbox Game Pass - August arrivals

• Coffee Talk (Cloud, Console, PC) - August 16
• Midnight Fight Express (Cloud, Console, PC) - August 23
• Exapunks (PC) - August 25
• Opus: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition (Console, PC) - August 25
• Commandos 3 - HD Remaster (Cloud, Console, PC) - August 30
• Immortality (Cloud, PC, Xbox Series X|S) - August 30
• Immortals Fenyx Rising (Cloud, Console, PC) - August 30
• Tinykin (Console, PC) - August 30

Xbox Game Pass - August departures

• Elite Dangerous (Cloud and Console)
• Hades (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Myst (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• NBA 2K22 (Cloud and Console)
• Signs of the Sojourner (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Spiritfarer (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Twelve Minutes (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Two Point Hospital (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• What Remains of Edith Finch (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• World War Z (Cloud, Console, and PC)

The post Xbox G??ame Pass sees gods arriving ??and leaving at the end of August appeared first on Destructoid.

A new view

Immortals: Fenyx Rising has been out since last December, and it's enjoyed a nice little niche between the typical open world Ubisoft fare and its inspiration: Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

But in true Ubisoft fashion they can't just leave the game alone and complete, there has to be some form of DLC to peddle. First we got A New God in January, then Myths of the Eastern Realm in March, and now April is giving us what might be the most unique add-on yet: The Lost Gods.

The minute-and-a-half trailer below is actually a very good elevator pitch for what to expect, with the new top-down view serving as the main hook. As is generally the case with Immortals add-ons, it focuses on a new character (?Ash) in an attempt to build up the lore of the game while providing players with a side story.

The new view and a different combat system are great ideas to sell players on the pack piecemeal, but ?of course there's a season pass if you want that. It actually feels like a unique D?LC, in other words.

The post The new Immortals: Fenyx Rising DLC basically turns the ga??me into Diablo appeared first on Destructoid.

You might like it

[Update: And it's out! You can he?a?d to this massive landing page just for the demo,? which features links to the PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, an??d Xbox platforms.

Here's the gist from the main site: "The Immortals Fenyx Rising demo sends Fenyx on a quest to discover the mysterious Secret of the Cyclops after Zeus wrests narration away from Prometheus. Set in a new archipelago inspired by Aphrodite, the goddess of love, the demo features a mix of combat, exploration, and puzzles designed to prime players for the full Immortals Fenyx Rising experience."

In other words, it'??s basically the Stadia Pro exclusive demo that debuted a few months back.]

Immortals Fenyx Rising came out over a month ago and I still see people on the fence, or stewing about whether or not to ??pick it up. A demo would help!

Doubly so for Immortals, which for some has scratched an open world itch that has been lingering? for a long while; or for same, fails to sate that same need due to an over-reliance on standard Ubisoft open world tropes. The choice is yours! The truth may lie somewhere in the midd?le.

So about that demo: the Twitter account PSN releases scrapped the PSN, and found that a demo (with a legit ID)?? was coming to the European digital marketplace via PS4. Now Ubisoft could easily roll this demo out to the PS5, or platforms outside of Sony's purview. If that's the case, there's going to be a lot of happy pe?ople pretty soon! This game practically begs for a demo run.

PSN releases [Twitter]

The post (Update) Immortals Fenyx Rising is seemingly getting a demo, and it’s a perfect ‘try before you buy’ game appeared first on Destructoid.

'A New God'

Immortals Fenyx Rising has been chilling for a little over a month now: which is like...five years in Ubisoft t??ime! That means DLC is inevitably on the way: it already launched, in fact!

As stated by Ubisoft, you do not need to complete the gargantuan campaign to jump into A New God, which is slowly becoming the norm for a lot of these massive open world titles. In some instances,?? games will even give you the chance to create whole new auto-leveled-up characters to dive into the DLC with. It will have "story spoilers for the conclusion," however.

The add-on will focus on Vaults of Tartaros-esque challenges, but with a brighter aesthetic. Here's the rundown of wh?at it entails: "new vaults, new types of puzzles, and godly new gear." If?? you want to see what the DLC is like, Ubisoft gave us a detailed and lengthy playthrough yesterday: you can watch the archived video below.

The post Immortals Fenyx Rising’s first major DLC is out today appeared first on Destructoid.

'Cause we could be immortals, just not for long

U??bisoft is sometimes referred to as the king of open world games. For some of you, it has a divine right to rule. For others, it’s a proverbial crown that needs to be overthr??????????????????????????own.

Immortals Fenyx Rising (the artist formerly known as Gods & Monsters) doesn’t really make a strong cas?e for either position. It exists in a purgatorial state?? of sorts; albeit clawing its way up to the heavens.

Immortals Fenyx Rising (PC, PS4, PS5 [reviewed], Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
Developer: Ubisoft Quebec
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: December 3, 2020
MSRP: $59.99

Fenyx Rising is quite literally the story of Greek gods and mythological monsters (the name it should have stuck with).

An arrogant and boisterous Zeus and a prideful Prometheus hash out a wager in the form of an unreliable narration scheme, with the brave warrior Fenyx (that's you) caught in the middle. Your job is to take down a big monster named Typhon while fighting a ton of other monsters and warriors, donning gear from the gods along the way. Being the pawn of the gods is a neat popular-media device dating back to Clash of the Titans, and although it is unique here, the execution of how it's told? is a bit lackin??g.

The narrative framework of having each side explain or take back certain details can frankly get exhausting. All of the banter is a bit too much when you want to get on with it and enjoy the open world, and I found myself eventually just tuning most of it out altogether. So many jokes don't land, including a really clunky moment like an early "it's over, go home!" credit roll goof. It's Lego Ninjago movie, B-level material.

I felt this sense of narrative fatigue with the demo a few weeks back, and that same feeling washed over me in the retail build. But the gameplay, and the very simplistic flow of it all, won me over. Fenyx Rising is a sort of amalgamation of a ton of other Ubisoft games, borrowing some of the more arcadey bits and rolling it into one cartoony ball. The quick dodge and lock-on system work well together, on top of a climbing system (and more than a few other mechanics) that emulates Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The more you play it, the more you appreciate it. Fenyx is granted access to several melee and ranged options pretty quickly, presenting players with a decent amount of style and variety to go their own way. Double jumping constantly with stubby wings and gliding around the? open world is also pretty fun, and beats hoofing i?t constantly. It's a good, tempered degree of freedom as the world is big enough to feel full and worth exploring; but small enough to warrant constantly flying around instead of using fast-travel points.

The simplicity I mentioned earlier courses through the beating heart of the entire game. Micro-puzzles are sometimes way too simple to solve, but alternatively don't feel like a massive pain that you'll want to skip. Little pointed challenge dungeons that are laid out like Mario Sunshine's Secret Levels (complete with the same void and?? pl??atforming focus) are great too.

Even things like first-person-guided arrows come into play: like the team was made up of a bunch of gaming fans spanning multiple decades, and just put their favorite ideas in, one by one. It can get? messy and busy, but it comes together in a satisfying way.

Now it is still an open world "go there, do that" game, but it's perhaps more accessible than most other modern titles out there. You can customize every button, or even some ability toggles (like long or short presses). You can alter the entire HUD like you were using an MMO mod. Or wield a mouse and keyboard on consoles. A lot of things you might hate about AAA games can be manipulated in Fenyx Rising.

But back to the constant rollercoaster that is this game: I don't know if I've seen an odder aesthetic from a AAA release this year. It can look great at times and utterly bland in the same breath. Part of my problem is the enemy design, which ranges from interesting takes on Greek myth classics to Saturday morning cartoon side characters. The lengths that Fenyx was reworked, beyond the name change, are very clear. On PS5, it does look mostly okay (the draw distances and far-off details can l??ook hazy), and the performance mode toggle allows for a stable framerate: so it's nothing you can't shake off.

I was skeptical of Immortals Fenyx Rising after trying the demo, but it comes together with more context. It might be s??loppy sometimes, even in regards to the conversation of open world adventures, but it offers up a lot of fast-paced arcade fun. I'd definitely be interested in a true current-gen sequel with a clear vision that shores up some of its bigger issues.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Immortals Fenyx Rising appeared first on Destructoid.

Some paid, some free

If you were unsure about how Ubisoft views Immortals Fenyx Rising, look no further than its post-launch DLC plans. Even though it's aesthetically different from most of Ubisoft's biggest sellers, it's being supported nearly identically to those flagship games. Immortals Fenyx Rising has a spot in the panth??eon among the titles Ubisoft has the most faith in.

Immortals Fenyx Rising will get an all-out assault of post-launch support that will feature both free and paid-for DLC. It's the exact same approach that Ubisoft is taking with the likes of Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Watch Dogs: Legion. A constant onsla??ught of free updates that's bolstered by three expansi?ons and a $40 season pass.

Here's what's planned. In terms of free stuff, Immortals Fenyx Rising is getting "??free in-game events, weekly dungeon challenges, and daily quests." Things, predictably, get a lot more enticing when you drop some cash. Here are the descri?ptions of the three story-driven DLCs:

• A New God -- Fenyx will embark on a new adventure set in Olympos Palace, home of the gods. This journey will require Fenyx to overcome the Trial of th?e Olympians, immersing players in beautifully crafted and challenging vaults built by the gods, in order to join the Inner Circle of the Pantheon.
• Myths of the Eastern Realm -- Set in Chinese Mythology, the game's second episode will introd?uce a new hero, Ku, who sets out on a journey to save mortals in a new mystical land at the frontier of the Sky and Earth. Players will need to master Ku's unique fighting style and abilities, inspired by Chinese martial arts, to defeat new enemies and monsters from Chinese mythology.
• The Lost Gods -- The third a??nd final episode will feature top-down gameplay, all-new brawler combat and a new hero, Ash, chosen by Fenyx to bring back the lost gods. The episode will take place on a new mysterious island where players will explore regions ins??pired by these lost gods, to restore balance on Earth.

The first one seems like your typical easy-to-forget trials mode thing, but the second and third actually sound pretty neat. Throwing it back to ancient China with a new protagonist and new gods is the perfect kind of experimentation that you can pull off in add-ons. The Lost Gods switching to a top-down view might be a fun choice too?.

Anyway, Immortals Fenyx Rising is going to live on far past its December 3 launch -- and you can decide whether that's worth paying for. That's the treatment all of Ubisoft's biggest games get. It's a new property, but Ubisoft clearly thinks Immortals Fenyx Rising ??is capable of standing tall among the Titans?.

The post Immortals Fenyx Rising has the same DLC plans as an Assassin’s Creed appeared first on Destructoid.

Beware of dog

That's? a big Jake. That's a mean Jake. That's a three-headed Jake.

That's not Jake at all! That's Cerberus and, thanks to an Adventure Time crossover, he's trying to make mince meat of both Finn and Jake. Tha??nkfully, Fenyx swoops in to play mediator.

Ubisoft has released this trailer for an Immortals Fenyx Rising meets Adventure Time co?llaborative effort. However, it's unclear if this is the beginning of a larger crossover or just an isolated advertisement. The game could very well have some side quest content based on Finn and Jake.

Although Adventure Time wrapped up in 2018, it lives on through a limited-run series of specials that was greenlit by HBO. Later this week, the second one, Obsidian, premieres. There's still Adventure Time content out there, but it isn't exactly plentiful. If there's some more in Immortals Fenyx Rising, it might mak??e the game a can't-miss for fans of the show.

Thus far, Immortals Fenyx Rising is shaping up like a messy love letter to Breath of the Wild. In his preview, Chris noted that the action is coming along nicely but the humor is looking a little rough. It probably wouldn't affect the main story, but Adventure Time could certainly bring somet??hing to the tab??le as far as ha-has go.

The post Immortals Fenyx Ris??ing has an Adventure Time crossover appeared first on Destructoid.

When unreliable narration spills over

You may not recognize the title Immortals Fenyx Rising. Did you miss the name change? Did you know it as Gods and Monsters, from Ubisoft's E3 2019 conference? Okay, well it got a name change that was allegedly due to a Monster E?nergy trademark dispute; but maybe wasn't.

Yeah, this game is a little weird. Before it arrives in December as one of the last big titles of the year, we took it for a test drive thanks to the new Stadia demo. It's...alright so far.

Since info on this one has been kept under wraps, I was surprised to see the incredibly light and carefree tone from the start. The framework involves the unreliable narration of Zeus telling the tale of the warrior Fenyx, who forcibly steals the show from the very reliable historian Prome?theus: who is at the whim of the electric God of Gods.

While the theme is already fantastical, this allows Ubisoft Montreal to sort of bob and weave with the story to make it a little more exciting — but the script just isn't there to match that witty conceit. Most of the jokes (which aren't even "dad humor" good) didn't land for me, which is a shame because you can clearly tell they're going for a more comedic tone than say, the Assassin's Creed series. It's al??so (thus far) taking away from the ability for Fenyx herself to shine in any real capacity, wit??h two dueling jokesters basically running the show. Hopefully it'll evolve in the campaign.

There is a lot of intertwined DNA with AC, actually, in spite of the tonal shift. Combat feels like an arcadier Creed, with snappy dodges and attacks. I dig the ranged system, which allows our heroine Fenyx to fire quick shots that recharge on a cooldown (read: unlimited ammo) or via a player-guided Metal Gear Nikita mechanic. A parry system (L1+R1/LB+RB) opens up the chance for a more involved experience when swapping to tougher difficulties, as does?? the functional heavy attack that can knock enemies off their guard.

Special abilities — like a giant hammer slam or a thicket of spears that thrust up below Fenyx for crowd control — are cleverly tied to a recharging endurance/magic meter that winds Fenyx if they're used too often. In what is one of several clear homages to Breath of the Wild, you can even manipulate objects with a yellow stasis ability for fun and profit. Locomotion follows a similar path, with one of the major focuses involving climbing very vertical regions and gliding through the air (which is governed by a stamina meter). It seems like there's plenty of collectible goodies to uncover based on my limited access via the demo — and Fenyx Rising doesn't look to go completely overboard with thousands of tiny pins like other ??bloated, similar titles.

So far my more concerted problems with Immortals are skin-deep. A lot of the character models just look straight-up garish, and while the environments are lovely at a distance, upon closer inspection they start to look less impressive, like a structurally crumbling antiquity. As intimated above, the UI is also all over the place, with rough edges that could use a minimalistic second pass. That HUD, th?ankfully, can be customized, or turned off. I highly recommend tweaking it.

The physics system and controls are also a little wonky, and not because of Stadia. Sprinting is awkwardly tied to holding down the Square/X button (PlayStation/Xbox respectively), which doubles as your dodge. Object-b??ased puzzles and clambering up walls also feel a little off: like items that should move a certain way aren't as tightly bound. It's annoying and can be fixed (ideally, before the live release). Speaking of Stadia, how does this version run? Fine, as usual! I didn't encounter any major issues when playing the game on Stadia on my 100Mbps internet (1Gbps coming soon to prepare for the new consoles!).

While Gods and Monsters caught my eye as soon as it was announced, I'm a little worried about Fenyx Rising. So far the stage has been completely dominated by Zeus and Prometheus and there's not nearly enough Fenyx. If Ubisoft can smooth over some unnecessary roughness, it should be a whimsical side dish after the main course of Valhalla.

The post I??mmortals Fenyx Rising is messy, but has potential appeared first on Destructoid.

A fight Ubisoft didn't seem willing to take on

Ubisoft's Gods & Monsters recently underwent some rebranding, switching its name to the demonstrably-worse Immortals Fenyx Rising a few weeks ago. It has gone over like a lead balloon. In fact, it had our team wondering if we should just refuse the new?? name and stick with th?e old one!

As it turns out, Ubisoft had some taurine, some gu?arana, and 16?0mg of caffeine forcing its hand.

As uncovered by TechRaptor, Monster Energy opposed Ubisoft's trademark for the title "Gods & Monsters." The logic goes that Monster has enough of a presence within video games that Ubisoft's use could reaso??nably cause confusion among consumers.

The proceedings didn't get too far. After Ubisoft answered the Complaint, the two sides filed a pair stipulated motions for extensions of time, presumably telling the court that they were attending mediation to try to sort it out without the court's involvement. A third motion for extension was filed last week, but that's well after Ubisoft unveiled the new name Immortals Fenyx Rising. It'll likely be followed with a stipulated motion to dis??miss shortly thereafter.

Playing armchair attorney, this seems like something Ubisoft probably could've won, no? My guess is that it has less to do with whether or not Ubisoft cared to spend the money on this legal battle, and more to do with just getting the game out on shelves. Immortals has been delayed already, and its sales factor into Ubisoft's fiscal year that ends in March 2021. Fighting a protracted trademark infringement case would further delay the game. Going ahead with the name Gods & Monsters w??ould result ??in an injunction. Ubisoft may be in the right, but it doesn't have the time to prove it.

Gods and Monsters Trademark Fight?? With Monster Ene?rgy Caused Name Change [TechRaptor]

The post Ubisoft changed Gods & Monsters’ name because it violated Monster Energy’s trademark appeared first on Destructoid.

Look for a heads-up near the bottom of the cover

How do ?you know if a PlayStation 4 game has a PS5 upgrade? Look for the badge on the box (maybe).

Looking over the box art for Immortals Fenyx Rising, Ubisoft's take on Breath of the Wild-style open-w?orld adventuring, the game has a "PS5 Upgrade Available" badge – the first I've seen of its kind.

Publishers are pretty much all doing their own thing with respect to cross-gen graphical and performance upgrades – whether or not they're free, or paid, and for how long – and this badge is one way of delivering a heads-up that there is an upgrade, and that yo??u'll need to hit up Google for details.

In this specific case, Immortals will use Smart Deli??very on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S as a ??free perk, and the PS4 version of the game will grant access to the digital PS5 version at no extra cost.

File this story under "Mildly interesting next-gen ??fluff for a Friday aftern??oon." Cool?

Here at Destructoid, we're debating whether we should refuse to call Immortals Fenyx Rising by its new (and weirdly colon-less) name in favor of using the original, far less divisive title Gods & Monsters.

PS4 box offers fi?rst look at 'PS5 upgr?ade' branding [VGC]

The post Going forward, PS4 games can have a ‘PS5 Upgrade Available’ badge on their box appeared first on Destructoid.

Here's a gameplay trailer

[Update: During today's Ubisoft Forward stream, the game was fully re-revealed, with its new art style in tow and a confirmed release date of December 3. "Extra production time" has allowed the team to "add new experiences" to Fenyx Rising, a developer said on-stream. Zeus and Prometheus will narrate the tale of Fenyx, the hero of the game. You can get a closer look at the new style in? the trailer below.

There's also going to be an exclusive Stadia trial for Fenyx Rising "late??r this year in all region??s Stadia is accessible."]

Just a few days ago we learned that the fun-sounding Gods & Monsters was torn to shreds and built back up by Ubisoft as "Immortals: Fenyx Rising."?? Now, thanks to a new Microsoft Store listing, it seems as if the game is getting a new look, too.

Thanks to the classic Microsoft Store leak, we know that the game is tentatively scheduled for release on December 3, and the new screens are decidedly (and sadly) less cartoony in nature. Oh, and it has a pre-order bonus quest (A Tale of Fire and Lightning): of course. We'll clearly learn more about the game and its release date on Septemb??er 10 at the next Ubisoft Forward stream.

According to the listing, Immortals: Fenyx Rising will be coming to PC, PS4, X??box One and Stadia on December 3, while an Xbox Series X and PS5 launch are also planned. Ubisoft specifically calls out the Smart Delivery system for providing a cross-Xbox-One-to-Series-X copy, but does not mention the situation between the PS4 and PS5.

This seems to be a trend, and the ??new "all-in-one-enterta??inment-system" marketing move.

Immortals: Fenyx Rising [Microsoft Store via Gematsu]

Cinematic reveal:

Gameplay details:

Extended gameplay:

The post (Update) Immortals: Fenyx Rising seems to be arriving in D??ecember, and it looks a lot less cartoony appeared first on Destructoid.