Risen 3: Titan Lords

[cretin]

I'm playing this again and finding it very enjoyable on ultra difficulty which apparently removes the iframes from the dodge roll.

Last time i played this i dropped it fast because the intro/tutorial area felt SO fucking cheap and tacky. But once I got past that this is actually.... fun? The combat isn't terrible either, just takes getting used to. I think PB shoots themselves in the foot by not spelling things out for retards and expecting that players will learn it through trial and error - they won't.

 

[toro]

People are too optimistic about ELEX 2.

I remember how much I waited for Risen 2 because Risen 1 was clearly unfinished and I thought PB will make sure that the sequel will be finished and good.

Instead Risen 2 was a complete shitshow: linear corridor islands, almost unusable combat systems and a nonsensical story about Titans or some shit.

Then I realized that PB no longer knew why the original Gothic formula worked: they were ditching good game systems for Patty's big tits. That was the rock bottom for PB's games.

It's true that since then they improved with Risen 3 and ELEX but still ... there is a big chance ELEX 2 will be crap because PB is a very inconsistent game dev company.

 

[Lord_Potato]

People are too optimistic about ELEX 2.

I remember how much I waited for Risen 2 because Risen 1 was clearly unfinished and I thought PB will make sure that the sequel will be finished and good.

Instead Risen 2 was a complete shitshow: linear corridor islands, almost unusable combat systems and a nonsensical story about Titans or some shit.

Then I realized that PB no longer knew why the original Gothic formula worked: they were ditching good game systems for Patty's big tits. That was the rock bottom for PB's games.

It's true that since then they improved with Risen 3 and ELEX but still ... there is a big chance ELEX 2 will be crap because PB is a very inconsistent game dev company.

You got it all wrong. Patty's boobs became immense in Risen 3. In Risen 2 they still have realistic, albeit quite dissapointing proportions.

Funnily enough, when you played a character in whom Patty was obviously sexually interested, she looked like a normal human being. She got her pornstar looks only in Risen 3, where you play her goddamn brother. It is almost as if the guys from Piranha Bytes wanted you to feel bad about admiring her spectacular boob job.

 

[cretin]

It is almost as if the guys from Piranha Bytes wanted you to feel bad about admiring her spectacular boob job.

They're germans.

at least one person on that team has an incest porn collection

 

[cretin]

So, the "real enhanced edition mod"

I played a little of vanilla risen 3 a few times now and after getting over the very b-grade/tacky feeling intro/tutorial, it actually turns out to be a decent game, albeit one that is lacking any sort of challenge except on the absolute hardest difficulty. Even then, its a very easy game for a few reasons: 1. AI aren't very aggressive and will usually attack in a pattern and then give the player long windows to counterattack 2. Group fights are way easier than they should be because the AI will "queue" up to attack you 3. You almost always have a companion or two in this game, and that makes the dynamics way easier.

The real enhanced edition mod largely fixes all these issues in addition to rebalancing the enemies. The combat in this game looks like it should be fucking broken, but with this mod I found myself really enjoying it and there's a certain fluidity to it that there isn't in other PB attempts. Fighting groups is at first very difficult and requires being johnny on the spot with switching parry targeting, and also using all the tools at your disposal, such as AOE spells or buffs that in the vanilla game just seem kind of pointless. Some enemies are so relentlessly aggressive that it really requires investing in certain skills to handle them efficiently. Companions are now a necessity in many early fights rather than some fucking bum following you around like a bad smell.

I am playing on the mod's rebalanced "hard difficulty" which uses the ingame ultra difficulty mode, and so thus no iframe dodge rolls. The dodge roll then, becomes only useful for certain ranged attacks and as an evasive maneuver after parry-breaks.

I don't care for the other features of the mod - such as high res re-texs and weather overhaul. The texture work is mostly fine, but its a case of replacing what isn't broken - Risen 3 is a pretty good looking game - and some of the retextures are a little worse IMO, mostly noticeable on the characters. The weather mod is again fixing something that isn't broken, as aside from rather too much bloom the base weathers, color and lighting in risen 3 are very good looking. If you do use the weather mod, I'd advise to select the lite option, as the full version has some broken weathers and is way too dark.

 

[razvedchiki]

anyone has a link to the enhanced mod version 2.0?

 

[Latelistener]

Cannot say no effort was put into it, but where that effort went is another question. Almost no problems with the technical side, it looks good even today. PB has really come a long way in terms of environmental design and visuals.

However, to summarize everything, the game is just boring. Combat is dull, quests are uninspired and you don't give a shit about story. That's it. There is some PB magic here and there, but I'm not sure if it's genuine or if it's just a mimicry.

Why they don't just stop making these cringeworthy cutscenes and put effort into things that actually matter, like combat? I have no idea. They also desperately need better designers and writers. And judging by what I've seen and read about Elex and Elex 2 nothing is happening there whatsoever.

Speaking of Risen though, the series has no value and I hope it's buried for good. Unless you want that PB fix, there is no reason to play it, except maybe the first game. There is no consistency between games and no worthwhile conclusion in Risen 3.

 

[JDR13]

Speaking of Risen though, the series has no value and I hope it's buried for good.

Were you afraid that PB is going to suddenly resurrect it or something?

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

People are too optimistic about ELEX 2.

I remember how much I waited for Risen 2 because Risen 1 was clearly unfinished and I thought PB will make sure that the sequel will be finished and good.

Instead Risen 2 was a complete shitshow: linear corridor islands, almost unusable combat systems and a nonsensical story about Titans or some shit.

Then I realized that PB no longer knew why the original Gothic formula worked: they were ditching good game systems for Patty's big tits. That was the rock bottom for PB's games.

It's true that since then they improved with Risen 3 and ELEX but still ... there is a big chance ELEX 2 will be crap because PB is a very inconsistent game dev company.

Aged like fine wine.

 

[JDR13]

Elex 2 actually started out ok, and I quite enjoyed the first half or so. It's a shame the later parts were just one big grind.

It would have been much better as a 25-35% shorter game without most of the purple alien fights at the end.

 

[deama]

The magic gauntlet combat system I thought was pretty good, probably the best PB came up with, felt very nice to use.

 

[Latelistener]

The magic gauntlet combat system I thought was pretty good, probably the best PB came up with, felt very nice to use.

Yeah, but in the end it's just LMB spam. There is no way to block an attack and RMB just activates an aiming mode.

Another issue tied to it is that it negates every ounce of difficulty the game had in the beginning.

If difficulty was gradually lowering in Gothic II when you received new spells, weapon and armor, in this game, once you join Demon Hunters and get your magic hand, that's it. You own the game.

Not that I complain. There is a lot of combat in this game, but very little of it is memorable or produces any kind of emotions.

Still, I don't think they should've ditched the idea of melee magic in Elex.

 

[deama]

The magic gauntlet combat system I thought was pretty good, probably the best PB came up with, felt very nice to use.

Yeah, but in the end it's just LMB spam. There is no way to block an attack and RMB just activates an aiming mode.

Another issue tied to it is that it negates every ounce of difficulty the game had in the beginning.

If difficulty was gradually lowering in Gothic II when you received new spells, weapon and armor, in this game, once you join Demon Hunters and get your magic hand, that's it. You own the game.

Not that I complain. There is a lot of combat in this game, but very little of it is memorable or produces any kind of emotions.

Still, I don't think they should've ditched the idea of melee magic in Elex.

I was hoping they would have expanded on it, but they just forgot about it.