Immortals Fenyx Rising released in October 2020 and is currently working through its DLC roadmap. The first DLC, A New God, released in January 2021 and was met with decent reviews. It added some fun gameplay, but it also left some players upset because any earned rewards couldn’t be taken back to the Golden Isle.

The newest DLC, Myths of the Eastern Realm, released recently and took a vastly different approach. The DLC focuses on Chinese mythology instead of Greek mythology and lets players control a brand new hero named Ku. Myths of the Eastern Realm seems to correct the last DLC’s errors as well as add new and exciting gameplay to Immortals Fenyx Rising. In an interview with Game Rant, Ubisoft discussed the details of the newest DLC. This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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GR: With this upcoming DLC exploring the origins of Chinese mythology, what are some key pillars of Chinese culture that you wanted to adapt for Immortals Fenyx Rising?

In Immortals Fenyx Rising - Myths of the Eastern Realm, we focused on the journey of self-discovery as well as themes of duty and sacrifice, regarding how Ku and the gods view themselves before and after the sky fractured.

GR: Does a new setting allow you to do things stylistically that are different from the main game? Can you give some examples?

We wanted to offer an extension of the main game and give players more of what they love about Fenyx’s adventure, but in a new light, with a different setting, hero, and storyline based on Chinese mythology. Our goal was to extend the Immortals Fenyx Rising universe and explore a new mythology, while serving our players a fresh and captivating adventure that gathered all the gameplay ingredients they loved in the base game.

GR: How big is the map/world in the DLC? How long do you expect it will take players to complete?

The world of Immortals Fenyx Rising – Myths of the Eastern Realm provides 7-12 hours of story and exploration play time.

GR: Are there optional side content/quests or puzzles that players can complete?

We created new puzzles as well as ingredients that can be found in both the open world and in the Sky Palace dungeons, and the intention was to allow players to build off their experience playing the main game and other DLC. We have a new puzzle, Musical Challenges, for example, that sees the player ringing Chinese chime-bells in a specific order that tests their accuracy and dexterity.

GR: Can you tell us how Ku differs from Fenyx? Are they a fully developed character or can players customize their look?

Ku is the new hero of the Immortals Fenyx Rising world. He is a well-meaning but impulsive human who seeks to help the goddess Nuwa restore humanity. For this DLC, we wanted to create a new character that will expand the Immortals Fenyx Rising Universe. Fenyx is the hero you create for Immortals Fenyx Rising, and this new character is an addition within that universe.

GR: Do you see Ku as a one-off character for the Immortals franchise, or might we see them appear in future content or games? Could you see Ku becoming a co-op character in a sequel?

We’re currently focused on delivering Immortals Fenyx Rising post-launch content.

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GR: What would you say are the main gameplay differences between playing as Ku as compared to playing as Fenyx?

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.

ku cloud walker hopping towards a temple

GR: How does the change in scenery change the tone of the game, if at all? The main game is very comedic. Is that true for this DLC?

The overall tone and attitude towards myths and legends remain largely the same, as well as incorporating humorous elements in the narrative. We had to strike a balance in some of the humorous aspects, as we quickly found there were many expressions or jokes that would get lost in translation or relied too heavily on prior knowledge of the myths, so we chose to slightly tone down the comedic elements while staying true to the main game’s identity.

GR: What feedback from the main game did you incorporate into the upcoming DLC? Was there anything that the devs on the main game wanted to try that you were able to with this post-release content?

As a DLC, our aim was to build off of the key pillars from the main game—combat, exploration, and puzzles—while bringing something new to the table in a way that would allow us to express iconic or symbolic aspects of Chinese culture. For example, when tackling combat, we tweaked the timing and animation of our hero’s attacks to better match Wushu style, reworked the Godly Powers with a Chinese myth framing, and introduced the God Seal system to give players already familiar with the main game an additional parameter to consider combat. Our puzzles also adopted a similar approach, such as the Bagua puzzles, in which we reconfigured the constellation puzzles, but with a thematic focus on Chinese philosophy on the natural world over astrology.

GR: One of the criticisms from the first DLC is that players can't take the abilities or upgrades back into the main game? Does this DLC offer anything that will tie back into the main game?

Players will be able to carry over their weapons, armor, and companion skins collected in this DLC to the main game, however not their perks or Ku back to Golden Isle.

GR: What is a small detail about the DLC that you want the biggest Immortals fans to know and be excited by?

We put many details in the world and have some surprises waiting for you. As our story is set in an earlier age of Chinese mythology, the player will get to experience myths surrounding the creation of the world, as well as myths from the perspective of Nuwa and Gong Gong. We feel this new setting is a good platform for players to discover more about these unique myths and hopefully pique their curiosity to learn more! Players who want to learn more will find out some cool, historically and culturally inspired details that will increase their understanding of the myths and some Chinese culture as well!

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Immortals Fenyx Rising - Myths of the Eastern Realm is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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