I finally sat down and put more time into it and wow! This is genuinely amazing. Valhalla is fun too, I have around 30 hours in it, but for now Fenyx blows it out of the water in the areas that matter to me.
Ubi Quebec is always really good with the actual gameplay design. Both Syndicate and Odyssey were (in my opinion) smart improvements on their predecessors. Montreal makes more ambitious stuff but games from Quebec are simply more fun.
And Fenyx is a ton of fun. It truly feels like an AC game without any creative restraints. The collectibles and puzzles are infinitely more interesting that Valhalla's "get on the other side of the door" or "find the key". Traversal mechanisms, while lifted from BOTW, feel fluid and responsive and make exploring a pleasure. Combat is simple, but it is pretty snappy and allows for some creativity with the physics. Mount taming is such a small addition that is a perfect fit. Exploration is amazing with lots of verticality, and if you ditch the far sight it lets you find stuff organically. The birb is the best birb, Synin and Ikaros wish they were so useful and cool.
I am also enjoying the story a lot, which is surprising. It's very simple and quite goofy but the humor manages to make me smirk quite often (maybe I am too simpleminded, lol). I also like this twist on the "altered" olympian gods, it allows for some clever storytelling without regurgitating the same old mythical beats. Finally, it's nice to have focused plot with a clear critical path, after the disjointed storytelling of Valhalla.
The presentation is a cherry on the top. The game is simply beautiful and with a nice soundtrack to boot. Visual design is strong, despite the slightly derpy faces. I love all the little details like one of the armors that has a flappy tongue and ears. The star of the show are the animations though. Usually Ubi has these stiff animations but in Fenyx it feels like the animators were having a ton of fun. The death animation, the silly boar attack animations, the little jump the minotaur makes when he walks into a trap - all great!
I am gushing a bit, sorry about that but Fenyx is one of the biggest surprises for me this year. Yes, it's not perfect but it plays great and looks great. I would recommend it to anybody!