Risen (PC & Xbox 360)

[Via]

Even the Xbox 360 has some decent reviews, although for some reason Gamepot only includes the two terrible ones (plus a mediocre one). That makes gamespot's overall review score pretty low.

I'm definitely getting a boxed copy of the PC version. I just haven't had time.

PS - On the subject of PB, I reinstalled Gothic 3 for the dozenth time because I saw the community patches had gone up to 1.73, and it's smoother than ever.

 

[Mem]

7pm and the postman finally brings my Risen game so time to play .

I'll give update on the game tomorrow.

 

[MarcVenice]

This game is a pleasant surprise. Been bored with gaming lately, but this might finaly put my HD 4890's to good use Will report on performance later.

 

[raystorm]

ok..so my first death was against the first wild boar I faced. I mean c'mon now! lol

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: raystorm
ok..so my first death was against the first wild boar I faced. I mean c'mon now! lol

Hehe well the first boar killed me too if it makes you feel better ,at least I got some hits in unlike Gothic 3 before the patch,those stun attacks by boars were lethal in G3.

 

[Hadsus]

I'm happy to report you will not be playing young boys who look to be girls battling two headed lizards with clown hats jumping out of the ground with rolling eyeballs and high pitched squealy voices.

 

[WraithETC]

Originally posted by: Hadsus
I'm happy to report you will not be playing young boys who look to be girls battling two headed lizards with clown hats jumping out of the ground with rolling eyeballs and high pitched squealy voices.

Yeah you get a nameless generic dude with a European accent who walks and fights like hes made of wood. All animals are also ninja lightning fast and sea gulls can kill you in 4 hits. The battle music is a rich mix of your guy's dying scream and the fast beats of the stun lock hits.

Group fights minus well be called "nameless dude in beastiality and lizardman gangbang."

The only improvement they could have done was to add a reminder pop out about every 3 seconds asking you to save because your going to die because theres two midgits with chicken drumstick swords around the corner.

If you've played Gothic 3 you've played Risen. The improvements being: the game actually runs without being patched by the people who play the game.

Gothic fan: I like hitting F8 (quicksave) then F9 (quickload) at least 60 times an hour it takes skill and adds to the atmosphere of the game. It really helps me waste time because I have a ton of it. Too bad the game isn't 100% broken though I like wasting time patching games I
bought too.... did someone say oblivion! omg omg hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate

 

[Dorkenstein]

Haha, I don't know what kind of reflexes you have, but if one of those sea vultures can kill you that easily there's something wrong. You do know you can block/parry, right? I saw frequent autosaves that I probably didn't even need because I triumphed after the enemy encounter.

I've never had to F8/F9 that frequently, but I guess it's because I'm not a rabid Gothic fan. Just a casual one. And finally, the nameless dude's death scream is far less depressing in this game than it was in Gothic 3. I've heard it once so far in Risen, but the death cry in Gothic 3 was so pitiful I used to rip my headphones off at death and I could still hear it. I don't know what you're on about but I don't think your summary is fair.

 

[MarcVenice]

I disagree too, the fighting does take a little of getting used too, and the animations do kinda suck, but it wasn't spoiling my fun at all. Dunno, first 30 minutes and I will definately play it again tomorrow. Performance is satisfactory, with everything at it's highest, 1680*1050, with a single HD 4890. I got 38fps min and 50ish avg. When carrying a torch fps dropped to low 30's: all in all, silky smooth. This is with 16xAF and 4xMSAA (don't know if AA works though, simply forced it through ATI CCC).

 

[hans030390]

How does this game compare to Morrowind or Oblivion? I'm a big fan of them, so I'd like to see how Risen compares (similarities, differences, what's worse, what's better, etc). I played the demo...it was alright. I didn't feel like I was really "experiencing" the game, though. Just a short, linear tutorial.

 

[coloumb]

Originally posted by: hans030390
How does this game compare to Morrowind or Oblivion? I'm a big fan of them, so I'd like to see how Risen compares (similarities, differences, what's worse, what's better, etc). I played the demo...it was alright. I didn't feel like I was really "experiencing" the game, though. Just a short, linear tutorial.

It's heavily story driven - your choices DO matter depending upon which faction you want to join [3 factions] - but apparently no matter which faction you join - people will put up with you [they just won't trust you].

Differences
- there are more "mobs" out in the wild which limit where you can go until you're powerful enough to enter that area [reminds me of higher level mobs in an MMO]. So you do have to level to continue with the story.
- I think you can only choose to be a "mage" [caster], "thief/hunter" [fighter] or a battle mage [caster/fighter] depending upon which path [faction] you follow. You'll know which one you want to join - but from what I can tell, once you side with a certain faction - it's set in stone.
- inventory - you can pretty much hoard as much as you want. You can't haggle the price to buy/sell goods.
- You can cook foods, create potions, spells [if you take the mage route], weapons, trinkets, etc depending upon if you learn them or not.

Similarities - RPG.

I think you'll enjoy Risen - even though it does have a few flaws - it's definitely an entertaining heavily story driven rpg game.

 

[Mem]

I'm still playing at 1920x1080 with my retail version and so far no crashes or real bugs found(odd graphic glitch here and there ie plant showing through walls),game is excellent on stablity and I can't complain about smoothness.

There is a lot to do in harbour town which is where I'm at the moment.
Fighting can be very hard depending where you go and what you fight,you got to remember you are a wimp at the start of the game so can't take on anything powerful at the moment,shield does help with blocking and not taking damage so remember defence is at least as important as offence in this game, especially at the start.

I think I'm going to try mage for a change from my usual fighter/paladin builds from these type of games.

Anybody that has played Gothic should find the game very easy to get into and the game does feel a lot more polished then Gothic 3 which I know a lot of players have been comparing the game to.
So far the game is enjoyable and gets a thumbs up from me :thumbsup: .

 

[you2]

But is the game any fun? I have to admit that I personally did not like oblivion or morrowind; but nwn and wizadry 8 were fun as was the witcher (even though combat was a bit dry). Trying to decide if I want to pick up Risen (hence the question )

Originally posted by: Mem
I'm still playing at 1920x1080 with my retail version and so far no crashes or real bugs found(odd graphic glitch here and there ie plant showing through walls),game is excellent on stablity and I can't complain about smoothness.

There is a lot to do in harbour town which is where I'm at the moment.
Fighting can be very hard depending where you go and what you fight,you got to remember you are a wimp at the start of the game so can't take on anything powerful at the moment,shield does help with blocking and not taking damage so remember defence is at least as important as offence in this game, especially at the start.

I think I'm going to try mage for a change from my usual fighter/paladin builds from these type of games.

Anybody that has played Gothic should find the game very easy to get into and the game does feel a lot more polished then Gothic 3 which I know a lot of players have been comparing the game to.
So far the game is enjoyable and gets a thumbs up from me :thumbsup: .

 

[Hadsus]

My guess is that you won't have fun with Risen as combat takes a back seat to storyline and dialogue....given the comparison to the games you mention. You can't just click through the dialog and expect to get anywhere in the game.

 

[CottonRabbit]

On the contrary, I find combat to be pretty fun, especially once you level up your weapon skills a bit. I think the mechanics have a decent amount of depth in planning what types of strikes to use and timing parries and dodges. I wouldn't say that combat takes a back seat in the game.

 

[Hadsus]

Originally posted by: CottonRabbit
On the contrary, I find combat to be pretty fun, especially once you level up your weapon skills a bit. I think the mechanics have a decent amount of depth in planning what types of strikes to use and timing parries and dodges. I wouldn't say that combat takes a back seat in the game.

I don't think Risen has the depth of combat (ability/skills) that nwn or wizardry has. Nor is it as combat focused. As I said in my reply above, 'given the comparison to the games you mention.' I like combat in those games better though it ain't bad with Risen.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Originally posted by: Hadsus
My guess is that you won't have fun with Risen as combat takes a back seat to storyline and dialogue....given the comparison to the games you mention. You can't just click through the dialog and expect to get anywhere in the game.

With that in mind, how does this compare to, say, a Bioware RPG (Mass Effect, Jade Empire)? I enjoyed Oblivion/Fallout 3 as well, but I love proper story-driven games. Looking for an RPG to hold me over until Dragon Age .

 

[coloumb]

Originally posted by: NYHoustonman

Originally posted by: Hadsus
My guess is that you won't have fun with Risen as combat takes a back seat to storyline and dialogue....given the comparison to the games you mention. You can't just click through the dialog and expect to get anywhere in the game.

With that in mind, how does this compare to, say, a Bioware RPG (Mass Effect, Jade Empire)? I enjoyed Oblivion/Fallout 3 as well, but I love proper story-driven games. Looking for an RPG to hold me over until Dragon Age .

Pretty much along the same lines. A LOT of story/dialogue with some combat thrown in for good measure.

 

[you2]

If I play the demo will I get a good flavor of the game ?

 

[Dorkenstein]

The demo is really short, it went by in a flash, but I think it's a pretty good indicator what to expect. The extra high and low points must factor in also, but I liked the demo enough to purchase.

 

[mindcycle]

Got my copy yesterday. Game kicks ass. I like the new combat, you actually have to block now to win some fights and there is some actual strategy involved. It's a much needed improvement over G3. I wasn't able to get too deep into the story since I spent most of my time exploring and whatnot, but it's definitely what us Gothic fans have been hoping for IMO.

Risen reminds me of G3 in a lot of aspects but you can tell they weren't rushed to get it out the door. After a a driver step back (to fix some stuttering), it runs smooth as butter.

 

[Mem]

I'm testing Risen out now on Win7 x64 Ultimate,so far same as Vista x64 no issues to report.

I do like how the loading times are faster then Gothic 3 .

 

[Mem]

Looks like a patch is coming out in the next few days,info was from their site here.


I notice with Win7 x64 Ultimate sometimes I have to completely exit the game and reload the game,reason being my draw attack button(middle mouse button ) and block (right button) does not work at initial loading of the game,so far its not serious but would be interesting to find out if its a bug ie Win7/Risen combo or driver issue,it did not happen in Vista x64 so not sure on the cause at this time.

Stability is excellent so I'm still enjoying and playing the game.

 

[Pantoot]

Originally posted by: Mem
I notice with Win7 x64 Ultimate sometimes I have to completely exit the game and reload the game,reason being my draw attack button(middle mouse button ) and block (right button) does not work at initial loading of the game,so far its not serious but would be interesting to find out if its a bug ie Win7/Risen combo or driver issue,it did not happen in Vista x64 so not sure on the cause at this time.

Stability is excellent so I'm still enjoying and playing the game.

For what it is worth, I have Risen with Win7 x64 ultimate and haven't seen this issue.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Pantoot

Originally posted by: Mem
I notice with Win7 x64 Ultimate sometimes I have to completely exit the game and reload the game,reason being my draw attack button(middle mouse button ) and block (right button) does not work at initial loading of the game,so far its not serious but would be interesting to find out if its a bug ie Win7/Risen combo or driver issue,it did not happen in Vista x64 so not sure on the cause at this time.

Stability is excellent so I'm still enjoying and playing the game.

For what it is worth, I have Risen with Win7 x64 ultimate and haven't seen this issue.

It's bit ironic since I have been playing Risen today on and off and it has not happened at all today so I don't know what was the issue.

Only change today was a reboot.