Risen 3: Titan Lords

[Darth Roxor]

I WANT TO BELIEVE

 

[Roguey]

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa you GRBG-lovers get another awful console port.

There is a prologue in which you can already experiment with higher-level skills - then it goes with stage 1 next

Looks like they're taking inspiration from Dragon Age II as well.

 

[Grunker]

Risen 1 was an excellent game, and even Grunker agrees with me

lies

 

[evdk]

Not sure I like the morality slider in this though.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa you GRBG-lovers get another awful console port.

There is a prologue in which you can already experiment with higher-level skills - then it goes with stage 1 next

Looks like they're taking inspiration from Dragon Age II as well.

Lawl, as if Gothic 4 didn't already do that.

Brb, purging the taint of that name.

 

[Lancehead]

"Cut off" areas handily cancel out any potential positives from the rest of that list.

 

[theSavant]

- Group members who are supporting the fight again present a

Will we get furries and other beings as group members :s ?

 

[toro]

... snip ...

It doesn't sound bad at all.

 

[Decado]

I played Risen and I thought it was complete shit. I got to the point where I was wandering around that first town, and then dukin' it out with some dues in a swamp, and I was like what the hell am I doing?

Maybe I should give it another whirl.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I played Risen and I thought it was complete shit. I got to the point where I was wandering around that first town, and then dukin' it out with some dues in a swamp, and I was like what the hell am I doing?

Maybe I should give it another whirl.

Why did you think it shit?

 

[Tigranes]

Only big info seems cut-off world (fuck), humanity/demon meter (something new).

 

[imweasel]

I played Risen and I thought it was complete shit. I got to the point where I was wandering around that first town, and then dukin' it out with some dues in a swamp, and I was like what the hell am I doing?

Maybe I should give it another whirl.

You really should, it's a great game.

Risen really takes off after you leave the first town.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I played Risen and I thought it was complete shit. I got to the point where I was wandering around that first town, and then dukin' it out with some dues in a swamp, and I was like what the hell am I doing?

Maybe I should give it another whirl.

You really should, it's a great game.

Risen really takes off after you leave the town.

There's only one, bandits do not count.

 

[Tigranes]

The 'town' is awesome.

I've argued this a million times before, but the differences between G1/2 and R1 are not so huge that one can love the former and hate the latter. Unless somebody was really really mad about tropical influences in their Gothic setting, or something. G3 and R2 are much more different beasts.

 

[Decado]

I played Risen and I thought it was complete shit. I got to the point where I was wandering around that first town, and then dukin' it out with some dues in a swamp, and I was like what the hell am I doing?

Maybe I should give it another whirl.

Why did you think it shit?

Well it has been several years now, so bear with me:

1) The combat system was wonky/floaty in a way that made it irritating. I remember getting into a swordfight with some bandit in the swamp and being like "Why the fuck is there such a long delay between my hitting the attack button, and the actual attack?" It was frustrating as hell.

2) I felt like I was basically railroaded into the first town.

3) There was this dichotomous, no-sense-making "pick the bandits or the mages camp" choice I was asked to make super early in the game, with no information presented that made any real difference. If a game is going to replace classes with factions as a way to give you a character archetype, then they should make the faction choice not feel like I am picking a class in the beginning of the game. That's what this felt like. I might as well have just picked a faction off of a list, for all the difference it made.

4) Perhaps most importantly, the game was buggy as shit.

As a side note to this, I think as I get older I lose patience for the suggestion that I should "stick with" a game's bad systems because they a) get better or b) end up being bearable. One of the things that sticks out for me about this game before I bought it was all reviewers saying "Well the combat isn't great, but you get used to it." Or, "Well the first act sucks, but if you can tough it out, it opens up!" I don't want to hear that shit. That is the same exact shit people were telling me in the ESO beta (just as an example). I spent hours and hours on that game in the secret/private test server and it never "opened up." But even, why should I waste my time on shit gameplay to get somewhere good?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Think you played it unpatched.

 

[Lancehead]

As a side note to this, I think as I get older I lose patience for the suggestion that I should "stick with" a game's bad systems because they a) get better or b) end up being bearable. One of the things that sticks out for me about this game before I bought it was all reviewers saying "Well the combat isn't great, but you get used to it." Or, "Well the first act sucks, but if you can tough it out, it opens up!" I don't want to hear that shit. That is the same exact shit people were telling me in the ESO beta. I spent hours and hours on that game and it never "opened up." But even, why should I waste my time on shit gameplay to get somewhere good?

This plus your second point doesn't make much sense. Risen is actually open at the start and turns into a linear dungeon-crawling hack n' slash towards the end.

 

[Decado]

Are you telling me there are feasible things to do in that game before you get to the first town? Because it sure as hell felt to me like I was being forced there, ASAP.

Having never made it past there, I cannot comment on the game becoming a hack and slash. I'll take your word for it.

 

[cvv]

Are you telling me there are feasible things to do in that game before you get to the first town? Because it sure as hell felt to me like I was being forced there, ASAP.

Having never made it past there, I cannot comment on the game becoming a hack and slash. I'll take your word for it.

Can't remember exactly anymore but there's some kind of crucial plot crossroads at the beginning. The main road will take you to the town and the side road (easy to miss, if I remember correctly) will take you to a completely different direction.

 

[Lancehead]

Are you telling me there are feasible things to do in that game before you get to the first town? Because it sure as hell felt to me like I was being forced there, ASAP.

Having never made it past there, I cannot comment on the game becoming a hack and slash. I'll take your word for it.

The main questline is linear, but there is a lot of exploration you can do--especially if you go to the bandit camp--before getting to the town. The town itself is pretty good and has some open-ended quest design. Additionally, there's a secret passage to get in and out of town.

However, if you do a lot of exploration, you won't have much left after Chapter 2 but to follow the linear main questline clearing out dungeon after dungeon, which is the biggest fault with the game.

 

[ZagorTeNej]

The combat system was wonky/floaty in a way that made it irritating. I remember getting into a swordfight with some bandit in the swamp and being like "Why the fuck is there such a long delay between my hitting the attack button, and the actual attack?" It was frustrating as hell.

Em, don't know what you mean. I thought that combat overall felt pretty fluid (especially compared to other PB games), controls were responsive, the impact when weapon hits was nicely done, various combat moves (dodging, blocking, parrying, power attacks) were nicely incorporated into the system and worked well enough.

I felt like I was basically railroaded into the first town.

If you mean Harbour town, you can go there whenever you like, you can explore nearly the whole island before you go there. That said, Risen isn't a big game by sandbox genre standards and Harbour City is one of the few major locations in it, it's probably the most quest heavy area in the game and may be necessary to advance the main story depending on the path you take so I can sorta get what you mean.

There was this dichotomous, no-sense-making "pick the bandits or the mages camp" choice I was asked to make super early in the game, with no information presented that made any real difference. If a game is going to replace classes with factions as a way to give you a character archetype, then they should make the faction choice not feel like I am picking a class in the beginning of the game. That's what this felt like. I might as well have just picked a faction off of a list, for all the difference it made.

Well it isn't bandits vs mages, it's bandits vs inquisition (this isn't nitpicking on my part, it's just that inquisition is integral to the game's storyline and mages are only one subgroup of it) and you definitely don't need to pick any side super early in the game (unless you go near the temple after you're explicitly warned not to and even then I believe you can escape the monastery).

Perhaps most importantly, the game was buggy as shit.

I found Risen to be one of the most polished games I've ever played, certainly the most polished PB game but when it comes to bugs/game stability/performance etc. people will have widely different experiences.

As a side note to this, I think as I get older I lose patience for the suggestion that I should "stick with" a game's bad systems because they a) get better or b) end up being bearable. One of the things that sticks out for me about this game before I bought it was all reviewers saying "Well the combat isn't great, but you get used to it." Or, "Well the first act sucks, but if you can tough it out, it opens up!" I don't want to hear that shit. That is the same exact shit people were telling me in the ESO beta (just as an example). I spent hours and hours on that game in the secret/private test server and it never "opened up." But even, why should I waste my time on shit gameplay to get somewhere good?

If the game doesn't do it for you after several hours I agree, no reason to stick with it (better to play something you actually enjoy). That said, I don't understand why do you put so much stock into opinion of game journos that likely never played a PB game before, didn't advance far into he game and are certainly not interested into praising the game that doesn't come from a big publisher/studio. If you want a good Risen review, read Darth Roxor's.

 

[imweasel]

Well it has been several years now, so bear with me:

1) The combat system was wonky/floaty in a way that made it irritating. I remember getting into a swordfight with some bandit in the swamp and being like "Why the fuck is there such a long delay between my hitting the attack button, and the actual attack?" It was frustrating as hell.

2) I felt like I was basically railroaded into the first town.

3) There was this dichotomous, no-sense-making "pick the bandits or the mages camp" choice I was asked to make super early in the game, with no information presented that made any real difference. If a game is going to replace classes with factions as a way to give you a character archetype, then they should make the faction choice not feel like I am picking a class in the beginning of the game. That's what this felt like. I might as well have just picked a faction off of a list, for all the difference it made.

4) Perhaps most importantly, the game was buggy as shit.

As a side note to this, I think as I get older I lose patience for the suggestion that I should "stick with" a game's bad systems because they a) get better or b) end up being bearable. One of the things that sticks out for me about this game before I bought it was all reviewers saying "Well the combat isn't great, but you get used to it." Or, "Well the first act sucks, but if you can tough it out, it opens up!" I don't want to hear that shit. That is the same exact shit people were telling me in the ESO beta (just as an example). I spent hours and hours on that game in the secret/private test server and it never "opened up." But even, why should I waste my time on shit gameplay to get somewhere good?

You can actually go (almost) anywhere in Risen right in the beginning of the game, just be prepared to get your ass handed to you if your level is too low.

In some respects the combat reminds me a bit of dark souls, just not as elaborate. Anyway, if you put a point into combat skills, then you can really feel the benefit. Which is great.

In Risen you don't choose if you want to be a mage or fighter during character creation, you choose a faction (mages guild or bandits) and become the corresponding class.

Patch the game before you play. It is practically bug free.

 

[Metro]

- Voodoo magic is expected to again with this

Ugh.

- Group members

Ugh.

- DLC 's

Day -365 DLC, awesome!

- Cut off from each other , as in Risen 2 regions - a free ascent of the game world without loading screens is therefore again not possible

This doesn't bother me. The islands in Risen 2 were sufficiently large enough on their own. It's not like you had loading screens when you entered buildings.

- As always, several guilds ( probably three ) of which one may join a

As always? Except in Risen 2 where there were no guilds, only a hollow choice of siding with natives or Inquisition that had almost no effect on gameplay/content.

- Food is summarized again in provisions

People bitched about this but I never saw the big deal.

- Again Steam obligation

 

[Aeschylus]

Are you telling me there are feasible things to do in that game before you get to the first town? Because it sure as hell felt to me like I was being forced there, ASAP.

Having never made it past there, I cannot comment on the game becoming a hack and slash. I'll take your word for it.

You can explore literally the entire overworld map before you ever set foot in the town, though it's a good idea to go to the bandit camp first.

 

[Metro]

1) The combat system was wonky/floaty in a way that made it irritating. I remember getting into a swordfight with some bandit in the swamp and being like "Why the fuck is there such a long delay between my hitting the attack button, and the actual attack?" It was frustrating as hell.

You sure you're thinking of the same game? The combat system is anything but floaty/wonky. Melee has a great feel and the only 'negative' is that there's no penalty for turtling behind shields as mentioned above. Now... Risen 2... that had shitty melee combat.

2) I felt like I was basically railroaded into the first town.

Well... there's only one town. Not sure how you could feel 'railroaded' to it, though, as you're offered a pretty clear choice to go the Don's camp or poke around the monastery instead. And, again, as others mentioned you can explore nearly the entire island (save for a few ruins) immediately.

3) There was this dichotomous, no-sense-making "pick the bandits or the mages camp" choice I was asked to make super early in the game, with no information presented that made any real difference.

Are you sure you actually played this game or just read about it? This is completely false. Picking a side pretty much encompasses all of the first Act (like it did in G1/G2) and you're given tons of backstory/exposition about what the sides are up to and what they entail.

4) Perhaps most importantly, the game was buggy as shit.

I don't think I ever experience a single bug. Certainly not enough to remember it.

Criticism is fine. The game had faults. But nothing you mentioned has any basis in fact.