New reports have revealed that the sequel to Ubisoft’s canceled Immortals Fenyx Rising was inspired by the Elden Ring and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
This information was published by Axios. If you are interested in games by Ubisoft, you can check out our other articles here.
Immortals sequel Fenyx Rising is inspired by Elden Ring and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker?
Axios reports that the sequel to Immortals Fenyx Rising aims to create a Polynesian action adventure that combines the hallmarks of Elden Ring and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Internally named “Project Oxygen”, the sequel was canceled due to Ubisoft’s desire to focus on the Assassin’s Creed franchise. According to Axios, development began in 2021 by Ubisoft Québec alongside Polynesian consultants.
While Immortals Fenyx Rising was developed in just over a year, Project Oxygen took longer due to scope, revisions to the game engine, and a small Ubisoft Québec team as it was mostly focused on developing Assassin’s Creed Codename Red.
Axios adds that as of spring 2023, several hours of gameplay from Project Oxygen has been made available in an internal demo, with Ubisoft considering whether the company will fund development or cancel the project.
In July 2022, a leaked image showed one of the possible looks of Project Oxygen‘s main character, though the plan was for players to customize their body type, gender, and appearance.
Axios describes the player character as being able to invoke favors to various Polynesian gods, gain elemental powers, and shape-shift while getting new tattoos based on choices they make as the game’s story progresses.
Players will move from island to island, each a fictionalized version of places like New Zealand, Tahiti, Easter Island and Hawaii.
Inspired by the concept of Polynesian mana, players must manage how their actions in the game impact the land around them.
“The goal is to make a game that is very different from the rest of Ubisoft’s portfolio,” one source told Axios.
Ubisoft’s open-world games usually take place on a map filled with quest markers and compasses. For Project Oxygen, Ubisoft Quebec will plan to remove those aids and require players to search harder to figure out where to go, much like the Elden Ring.
In addition, Axios also notes that Project Oxygen’s graphics are more realistic, with Ubisoft considering whether the sequel should be rebranded as an original game, rather than as a sequel to Immortals Fenyx Rising.
Nonetheless, ambitious projects can be expensive with cost concerns causing a project to be canceled, as is the case with Project Oxygen.
Ubisoft canceled Project Oxygen in July 2022 and according to Axios, the cancellation came as a surprise to the developers who developed the project.
