Risen: the new RPG by the people behind Gothic

[frogbeastegg]

Risen is now out. It sounds extremely promising and the team is one with a pedigree of good, challening and different from the norm heavyweight RPGs. It's had lots of good reviews in German and is starting to get some in English too. Many are saying it's Gothic 3 as it should have been.

Heh. I opted for the xbox version. Thought I'd play in comfort and on a nice big screen. My order shipped yesterday and should arrive tomorrow. This evening I hear reports that the port is pretty dire - control issues, interface issues, badly dumbed down graphics for no actual reason, framerate issues. It was an outsourced job and the company behind it weren't up to the job. A patch has been announced so it looks like the game goes straight onto the pile until the patch arrives. I was quite looking forward to this as well ~:(

[Husar]

Yep, I bought it on Steam tonight and am just waiting for it to be unlocked.

[frogbeastegg]

I expected you'd be playing it. I had you in mind when I started the thread. Do share your impressions, I'm very interested to see what you make of it.

If impatience gets the worst of me I might try the unpatched 360 version. I can live with ugly graphics and some awkwardness if the rest is good enough. I did play (all of) and enjoy (most of) Two Worlds after all.

[Zenicetus]

I tried the demo (PC version via Steam), not very far I admit, but it didn't grab me. I'm spoiled by more polished recent games like The Witcher, I guess.

The character modeling was an immediate turn-off: very angular, stiff and weird, especially for the female character you meet early on. Do the devs think female human characters actually look like that? It didn't make me want to see the rest of the game, based on that one character alone.

The camera rotates around your 3rd person "hero" character like he's standing on a turntable, locked to the center of the screen. It makes me appreciate how other games have managed to get away from that perspective, or at least minimize it. The dialog was brief and predictable. And then you get to level-up by killing local low-level wildlife with a pocket knife... great. I had enough of that with WoW, thanks.

YMMV, this may be a great game if you get further into it. There is a demo, so try it. I know I'm griping about what may be superficial graphic elements that may be trumped by deep RPG gameplay. I just didn't get a taste of that in the demo, before it all looked bad enough to hit the "delete" key.

[Lemur]

Loved Gothic 2, hated Gothic 3. Looks like all of the reviews at Metacritic (http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/risen) are in German. Very interested to hear impressions from Orgahs, or at least links to English reviews ...

[Husar]

http://www.worldofrisen.de/english/

eurogamer.net (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/risen-review) also gave it 4/10.

My personal opinion, I don't know what they played, pcgames.de said the PC version is a lot better than the 360 version, eurogamer posts a screenshot and says it doesn't look like this even though it kinda does on my PC(unless they are talking about some minor image enhancements I did not notice at a glance) so it's possible they just played the 360 version and rated both versions based on it.

I uhm, hate the game and that's why I did nothing else on Saturday than play it from waking up till going to bed. Uhm, I mean it's a lot like Gothic 3 (same engine but a bit improved) with a lot of the problems solved, the fighting is a lot better IMO, I have to reload fairly often with some enemies but so far usually not to the point where I lost interest.
The graphics are fine IMO, not the best, not the newest but the focus was on delivering a good game, not the new Crysis, IMO that could be seen on the pre-release screenshots already, if anyone expected more then they were a bit uhm...stupid perhaps. I also find them a bit more comicky but that may just be me, the character models only bothered me a bit in the beginning, the animations aren't great but I never had a problem with them in the Gothics so why would I have one here?
The dialogue in german is good as always, can't comment on the english dialogues as they said they changed it because the english speaking crowd doesn't like german jokes etc.
The battles now are challenging and I constantly feel like I'm getting that new armour too late, the armour that is available to me is always like paper for the enemies I'm facing at that point of the game so blocking or evading is very important, I might have mis-leveled a bit by going for dexterity and strength so my hits don't always do as much damage as they probably should at this point but having a bow can make up for that unless there is no chance to use the bow in a situation, magic scrolls can help sometimes as well. I'd expect to reload fairly often anyway though.
Now with items it is a lot like Gothic 3, and that is one of the few criticisms I have, by act two (it's sliced up into 4 acts) you have seen most/all of the weapons for purchase and will have to find some "special weapons" to get something better, I remember Gothic 1 and 2 had more choice there with a wealth of slightly different swords which also mostly looked a lot more elegant. Armours are as usual, except they are now somewhat inappropriate for the tasks at hand IMO but maybe I should try to get more protective rings and amulets, that usually helps, they full-body armours as usual and helmets are available and rare just like in Gothic 3, it really makes you wonder why they implemented them in the first place (especially since their style often doesn't really fit the available armour suits).
The quests are very typical for the Gothic series, everybody else seems like some lazy git who sends you around to do all the work but it's fun, the character comments on it and it hooks me just like the old Gothics did, so I can't really complain here I guess.

Sometimes, I think, it makes sense to stick with the old ways, even if some magazines will give only 4/10 because it's not so fancy and modern (and often bland and boring...) but that's just my opinion of course, I generally quite enjoy this, just the item department is as bad as in Gothic 3 but that won't ruin the game for me.

Oh, if anything doesn't make sense, just ask, I just got up and am still a bit sleepy. ~D

[frogbeastegg]

Ignore the Eurogamer review - it's a complete mess! Firstly it's for the xbox version; if you look at the 200+ comments on that review you'll find a lot of PC gamers saying that it doesn't reflect that version of the game at all.

Even so, after a minute with the xbox version's manual I can tell you that at least half his complaints are utter garbage. Want to pull up the map? Push down on the d-pad. You don't have to go through a tonne of screens and lists. You can equip items from the character screen, and so don't need to toggle back and forth between inventory and character screen. Want to consistently target an enemy? Hold down the button. And so on and so forth for nearly every interface or control related complaint. If he didn't get a manual with his review copy then a few minutes tinkering would have revealed most of this! The rest of the time he's complaining about the game being what it is supposed to be: challenging, and requiring some effort on the part of the player.

It looks to me like the reviewer played for a couple of hours without looking at the instructions or experimenting much with the controls, decided it wasn't Oblivion and went off to write his review. It's disappointing; Dan Whitehead is usually decent.

I'm close to being done with Star Ocean. A few more dedicated evenings and I should be done with what I intend to do. Then I shall start Risen. I'm anticipating it quite a bit.

[Husar]

Yep, that's why I love Krawall.de (unfortunately only in german), they gave the PC version 80% and the 360 75%, point out all the bugs and problems and lack of comfort functions but also mention that once you get into this world it really has a unique atmosphere, you feel like you're a part of this world and if you're not put off by a lack of comfort functions you can add a few percentage points.
That's pretty much how I see it and when I read how people complain about nights being too dark or that the strength of enemies is not visible from afar then I almost get angry.
WTH is a level 3 Wolf anyway? A wolf is a wolf and when you fight it you find out how strong it is, if you run into one at night and it scares the hell out of you in front of your screen then that is one of the best gaming moments you're going to have ( ~D ) and if you're too stupid to figure out that fighting an ogre or some demon in worker's clothes can be deadly then you shouldn't be a reviewer in the first place. Ok, I may be a bit overreacting but for me this is part of simulating a world, it gives the game a unique feel and it's why a lot of shooters look like boring shovelware, they're all the same, just different models and skins. My opinion of course.

Oh and there was something that I found quite funny but I'll put it in spoilers:
When you summon a skeleton it's called "Fred". :laugh4:

[frogbeastegg]

I got impatient and played a bit tonight. Not that long and doing nothing serious, only messing around and exploring a bit. So far it's very nice. Scavenging after the ship wreck is nicely done; your character starts out so weak and impoverished that finding a pearl inside a shellfish or a sturdy branch to use as a quarter staff feels like a real step forward. Hunting for a frying pan to cook rat meat with, hehe, that's got to be one of the most unique opening quests I've encountered.

The controls are fine. I've had no problems getting about, fighting or using my inventory.


when I read how people complain about nights being too dark
That's definitely a problem with the xbox version. The lighting effects are done quite poorly so dark or shadowed areas act as though black paint has been applied over the affected portions of the display. There were points where I could hardly see my character or other objects. Doesn't help that the game's a bit on the dark side to begin with, and there's no brightness or contrast controls.

That, and the fact that all the text is tiny (under 1cm high on a 32 inch HD screen!) are my only dislikes so far. Fingers crossed they shall be addressed in the promised patch. Currently the game's very punishing on my eyes; too much squinting, straining and struggling to make out what's what.

[Lemur]

Broke down and got the PC version off Steam. Played it waaaay too late last night. What can I say, I am an RPG catamite.

Wound up supporting the Don and going fighter. I know I'll regret it later. Mages always rule the high-level stuff.

[Husar]

Broke down and got the PC version off Steam. Played it waaaay too late last night. What can I say, I am an RPG catamite.

Wound up supporting the Don and going fighter. I know I'll regret it later. Mages always rule the high-level stuff.

Same here, first night I played until about 5am. :sweatdrop:
And I'm still playing it, I explored a few more areas, found more quests and items today and that really is a part where the game shines, the landscapes are beautiful, unique, memorable (and hand-made) and exploring the world for more items can be quite fun. I think the PC graphics are absolutely fine, took me a few minutes to get used to them but once I was used to them I loved them. And that's why I love these games, they really draw me in and time just flies by. :2thumbsup:

That reminds me it's past 4am again...

[Decker]

I hope you don't mind. But do you guys mind posting screenshots? This game sounds mighty interesting :yes:

[Ja'chyra]

I tried the demo and last night, granted I only played for about half an hour bur meh, didn't do too much for me.

Can you only play in third person, over the shoulder view, if so that kills the game for me I'm afraid.

[Husar]

I hope you don't mind. But do you guys mind posting screenshots? This game sounds mighty interesting :yes:
Yes, I do mind it! Now stop pestering me!

:laugh4: I thought about it, have to install Fraps or something, my HDD died just two days before release and I'm running on a very old 80GB Maxtor where I just installed Windows 7 and Steam with a few games until I get a replacement for my broken HDD. I'll see to it and then post some screenshots.


I tried the demo and last night, granted I only played for about half an hour bur meh, didn't do too much for me.

Can you only play in third person, over the shoulder view, if so that kills the game for me I'm afraid.
I think it's only over the shoulder view, yes, personally I prefer that anyway, too bad that you seem to be the opposite. :shrug:
Back to Fallout 3 with swords for you. :whip: ~;)

[Lemur]

I hope you don't mind. But do you guys mind posting screenshots?
Try this (http://images.google.com/images?q=risen+screenshots) on for size.

[Husar]

Try this (http://images.google.com/images?q=risen+screenshots) on for size.

Most of them are pretty weird and staged, that one guy who is fighting an ash beast with a machete is most likely going to die after getting hit once. :laugh4:
I've got way better equipment and that beast killed me with two or three hits, so do not try this at home... :clown:

[Husar]

Ok, here goes, though I'd say they're not doing the graphics justice as it looks better in motion IMO, but that goes for most screenshots.

General almost random landscape shots:

https://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/husar1985/Risen/Risen2009-10-0720-16-49-57.jpg
https://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/husar1985/Risen/Risen2009-10-0720-23-42-16.jpg
https://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/husar1985/Risen/Risen2009-10-0719-28-02-25.jpg

Fighting underground:

https://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/husar1985/Risen/Risen2009-10-0718-50-38-12.jpg
https://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/husar1985/Risen/Risen2009-10-0718-50-23-65.jpg
https://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/husar1985/Risen/Risen2009-10-0718-43-34-21.jpg

A collection of buildings(and landscape):

https://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/husar1985/Risen/Risen2009-10-0720-20-37-13.jpg
https://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/husar1985/Risen/Risen2009-10-0720-21-09-60.jpg
https://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/husar1985/Risen/Risen2009-10-0720-22-00-39.jpg


Conversations:

https://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/husar1985/Risen/Risen2009-10-0719-53-07-27.jpg
https://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/husar1985/Risen/Risen2009-10-0720-24-04-39.jpg

Btw, they're huge, they will fit your screen AND look better if you use Opera and click "Fit to Width", I could resize them of course but I like to show it the way it is, maybe I'd do that on popular request. ~D

[Decker]

Sounds and looks good! I'll be checking this out. Thanks :2thumbsup:

[frogbeastegg]

Rock, Paper, Shotgun are running a multipart feature on Risen. Parts 1 (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/10/07/the-risen-report-first-night/) and 2 (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/10/08/the-risen-report-2-yes-we-can/#more-19325) are up. Language warning on the comments section for both.

I'm still puttering around in those early sections described in the articles. I need to go back and clear the cave mentioned in part 2 - I left when what's-her-name warned me away. Based on the developer's history I assumed that if they cared to warn you an area was dangerous then it must contain 60 fire breathing dragons or something! I mean, everything is dangerous to a level 1 character so if something merits a warning ...

I'm enjoying it. Despite the drawbacks of the console port it's immensely playable. If they fix the tiny text and dark graphics I shall be a mightily happy frog.