The second DLC, Immortals Fenyx Rising - Myths of the Eastern Realm, will release on March 25th on all platforms. Play as Ku, a new hero and explore Chinese mythology on a quest to save humanity.
An epic story
The story takes direct inspiration from a well-known Chinese myth called “Nuwa Mends the Heavens,” telling the story of how the goddess Nuwa looks for a way to fix the fractured sky following a disastrous war. The player assumes the role of a new hero named Ku, the last remaining human, as he embarks on a quest to help Nuwa restore life to Heaven and Earth by patching up the broken sky.
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.
A Whole New World
In mythology, Peng Lai is essentially a paradise on earth with perfect weather and bountiful harvests. Considering humans have a literal goddess walking alongside them, things are pretty good in this region! As for Bu Zhou, we took some creative liberty with it, since the focus in the myths has always been on Bu Zhou Mountain, a key location and former channel between Heaven and Earth.
The main hub for the player’s upgrades is the Peace Forge, a tower constructed by Nuwa that contains all her knowledge of the universe.
The Importance of Mythology
Chinese mythology can be divided into two periods: the first is the Age of Myths, where events and individuals are more idealized and abstracted. This Age then led to the Age of Heroes, with more grounded stories, and tied to the historiography of Chinese history. Choosing to base this DLC in the earlier Age of Myth granted enough freedom for these stories to be reinterpreted, while still honoring the key foundations of these tales.
Unlike Greek mythology, which has been included throughout pop culture , Chinese mythology, lacks a canon. What we gleaned from overarching narratives is mostly pieced together from various sources and multiple, sometimes conflicting, interpretations. So, for us, the question wasn’t just “how” do we tell the story, but “what” story are we telling exactly? This is why the myth of Nuwa Mends the Heavens spoke to us; it took place in a simpler time of myth of a young Earth and Heaven with a heroic structure, and we saw it as a jumping-on point.
You will be able to discover myths surrounding the creation of the world, as well as associated myths from the perspective of Nuwa and Gong Gong, a warlord whose insurrection against the emperor of Heaven sparked a great war and lead to catastrophe. Historically speaking, the events take place well before the Qin Dynasty.
The major inspiration for the look and feel of the regions leaned into Qin and Han dynasties histories, transferred and depicted in-game. The reasoning behind this was that the human clans would emerge and take inspiration from buildings designed by the Gods, which reflects in their architecture.
Ubisoft Chengdu and Inspiration
In addition to our producer Tu Yang, the team was led by the direction of our Associate Game Director Jiang An Qi (John) and our Art Director Li Qing from Ubisoft Chengdu. The opportunity arose as Chengdu had already spent a decent amount of time in collaboration with Quebec on multiple projects related to Immortals Fenyx Rising in the past year. Collectively, we saw this as an opportunity to broaden Chengdu’s portfolio in working on a Chinese-themed production.
Our teams referred to “Classic of Mountains and Seas” (Shan Hai Jing), a Chinese classic text without narrative, whose origins go way back to the Han dynasty and its author remains unknown to this day. The text describes the geography, plants and animals of Ancient China in fantastical and mythic terms, as well as most monsters, myths and names you will come across while playing Myths of the Eastern Realm.
A group of writers from Beijing Film Academy, specialized in bringing non-canonical aspects of the early Chinese mythology to popular media, also provided support and feedback, from conception stages to the Beta phase. The earliest concept did not come from them, but they helped shape the vision, with their expertise on Chinese culture and mythology.
Discover New Characters and Weapons
Nuwa
Nuwa is a goddess, the creator of humanity and all life on Earth. After she failed to save humankind from the fractured sky, called the Scar, she made it her mission to restore them back to their original form. As a result, she is slightly overprotective of Ku in the beginning, as she’s afraid to send another human off to meet an uncertain fate.
Gong Gong
He is the rightful owner and current bearer of the Flames of Yan DI, an heirloom that grants the leader of the Yan clan their power and station. The Flames are eternal and burn hotter than anything else in the universe. Gong Gong is still reeling from his defeat and the subsequent catastrophe following a war he instigated, and he’s been trying to find a way to prove his worthiness to continue bearing his clan’s legacy to his ancestors. He struggles with doing what he believes is expected of him versus what he believes is the right thing, and Ku helps him find his way.
Jian
A Jian is a Chinese sword, iconic to many martial arts novels and films. Unlike the Japanese Katana, a Jian is similar to the European sword: double-edged as opposed to having a flat blade on one side, and it’s straight, not curved. We chose to call it by its Romanised name of “Jian” instead of sword, as this was one aspect of Chinese history we wanted to highlight.
Transposing Main Game Pillars to Myths of the Eastern Realm
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 the 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.
Q&A
How do I access the DLC in the game?
- It is possible to launch this DLC at any point in your Immortals Fenyx Rising experience via the game’s menu.
When will DLC 2 be released? On which platforms?
- Immortals Fenyx Rising - Myths of the Eastern Realm will release on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Stadia, PC, Switch and Amazon Luna on March 25th.
Is DLC 2 part of the Season Pass? Can I purchase it as a standalone? How much does it cost?
- Immortals Fenyx Rising - Myths of the Eastern Realm is part of the Immortals Fenyx Rising Season Pass, which also includes two other story arcs, Immortals Fenyx Rising - A New God and Immortals Fenyx Rising - The Lost Gods. Players who purchase the Season pass will also receive a free quest, “When the Road gets Rocky.”
It is also possible to purchase Immortals Fenyx Rising - Myths of the Eastern Realm separately for 14,99€ / 14,99USD / 19,99CAD.
Can I keep my progression from the DLC when I go back to the main game?
- Your weapons, armors and Phosphor skins collected in Immortals Fenyx Rising - Myths of the Eastern Realm carry over to the main game, however not their perks.
Can I bring my main game weapons, armor and Phosphor skins to DLC 2 and apply them to Ku?
- You will not be able to transfer main game items to Myths of the Eastern Realm.
Will my rewards transfer?
- Rewards from DLCs are transferred once the DLC is completed.
