Risen (PC)
Posted: April 29th, 2010, 11:23 pm
While not nearly as known in North America, the Gothic games have an fervent following in Germany, where they are produced, and rightfully so as Gothic is one of the finest RPG series of the last decade. Having been a long time fan of the Gothic series I was eagerly awaiting this game. It was released in Germany in late 2009 but I had to wait until early 2010 until the North American version came out and by that time Mass Effect 2 came out and I had other priorities. Anyway, long story short, I have now gotten into playing this game.
After the technical disaster that was Gothic 3 I had high hopes and also much apprehension about this game. To be fair it's unfair to assign all the blame about Gothic 3 to developer Piranha Bytes since it was a dispute with publisher JoWood that caused the game to be released as something quite different from what the developers envisioned and way earlier than they intended. My thoughts on Gothic 3 very much mirror my thoughts on NWN 2: Both games were released WAY TOO SOON and at that time were nowhere near worthy of release status, or even BETA status. Frankly I could barely give either game ALPHA status when they came out since they were so ridiculously riddled with bugs, including numerous showstopper bugs. With that in mind both games turned out to be good games after years and years of patching.
Now to get back on topic. I had always wondered what Gothic 3 would have looked like had Piranha Bytes been allowed to make the game as they envisioned and given the proper time. The answer might just be: It would look like Risen. Piranha Bytes has totally redeemed itself with this title and restored their RPG legacy.
While this is not technically a Gothic game as Piranha Bytes no longer hold the license to that IP after their dispute with JoWood, it might as well be. Fans of the Gothic series will be very familiar with the style, controls, and little nuances that made the Gothic series special. For all intensive purposes (other than story) this might as well be Gothic 4 (Ironically the official Gothic 4 will come out later this year made by a different developer and it will be interesting to see how it stacks up against Risen and the previous Gothic games).
While Risen uses the same engine as Gothic 3 it feels way more like Gothic 2 than Gothic 3. That is definitely a good thing as Gothic 2 has been generally considered the best of the series and has an almost religious following in Germany.
So without further ado lets delve into the game:
As mentioned before the game uses the same engine as Gothic 3 but it has been seriously enhanced. The graphics are a bit of a mixed bag but they are overall really good. While the character models aren't up to the standard of such games as Dragon Age and Mass Effect (to compare games that came out around the same time) they are certainly not bad, in fact they look pretty good. On the other hand the landscapes and scenery are absolutely gorgeous (keep in mind my PC can handle the game at maxed out settings). I've often found myself just walking around parts of Faranga Island admiring the scenery. In particular some of the ruins and the coastal scenes are particularly breathtaking. To add to that the environmental effects in the game are terrific. I particularly love the haze/blurring effect on distant areas and how it slowly/gradually fades into a crisp/clean/high resolution view as you advance forward. This is in stark contrast to many other games where you can literally see the line at which the distant low res view becomes higher res, in Risen it fades gradually and looks really natural and just plain terrific. The game also utilizes HDR and Bloom effects really well. When walking out of a darker area into an open area with full sunlight the HDR effects create an almost overpowering aura that fades away as you move forward as if your eyes adjusted to it. Likewise lightning flashes during storms create moments that almost blind you adding more atmospheric depth. Then there are the little touches like waves crashing against a dock wall and creating a mist, the tide rolling in and out, bugs flying around, etc... The attention to detail is terrific.
On the downside the animation could be better. While the combat animations are good and the animations of people perforimnign their everyday duties and/or relaxing are quite good, the animations during conversations are just over done. Granted i don't want to see a character standing like a statue while conversiong, the same 3 or 4 over exaggerated animations over and over during conversations make the people look like a marionette.
Moving on to sound. The audio in this game is quite good. There is a constant musical track playing that changes from area to area and also in certain situations (namely combat). The fading in between tracks is done exceptionally well and the background music is quite good and serves to give a subtle accompaniment to the game while not overpowering it. Likewise the ambient sounds are also quite good giving the island a truly organic feel. The clang of weapons are all appropriate and the sound effect the spells make, while not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, are quite satisfactory. Lastly the voice acting (and EVERYTHING is voice acted in this game) is really quite good. While maybe not up to the standards of Mass Effect or games like Sam & Max & Tales Of Monkey island, it's still pretty dang good and WAY better than any of the previous Gothic games.
Combat in this game is a point of contention. The combat system in Gothic games has been called cumbersome by some in the past, and it's a fair point, but I personally enjoy it once I begin to master the nuances of side stepping, parrying, and counter attacking. Personally I find battles against human/humanoid opponents fairly easy while fighting creatures/monsters can be quite difficult until I learn their patterns and timing and even then challenging.
One of the strong points of the Gothic series has always been it's dialogue/story driven, open, non-linear gameplay. Risen is no exception to the rule. Frankly I spend way more time in the game conversing with people than I do hacking and slashing, and I like it that way. Like the previous Gothic games Risen features multiple factions, three to be exact. Early on you can stay independent and even work multiple sides or work them against each other, but eventually you have to join one of the sides. Again like earlier Gothic games, especially Gothic 2, the relationships between the factions, the interactivity, and your ability to influence the world around you (your actions certainly have consequence on others and on the progression of the story) are masterfully done. The world of Risen is a downtrodden, gritty world with no clear good or evil. All the groups have their good points and bad points and it's up to you to decide who is more in the right, or if you prefer which group will allow you to exploit more people. There are many paths to take through this game and you can explore almost anywhere you want right off the bat... provided you can survive getting there. You can very well wander into an area that has enemies well beyond your means. If that happens I hope you can run fast...
Right now I'm a good ways into the game. I previously considered Dragon Age to be easily RPG of the year for 2009. While the North American version of this game didn't come out until 2010, the German version did come out in 2009 so I guess technically it is a 2009 game. At this point I'm not ready to have Risen supersede Dragon Age as 2009 RPG of the year, I need to finish it first. I can say without a doubt that Risen is really giving Dragon Age a run for its money. This is an extremely well crafted RPG that should really appeal to hardcore RPGers. Keep in mind that it's a new game that requires a fairly recent and powerfult PC. Also i have heard bad things about the XBOX 360 port. Virtually all reviews I've seen say something to the effect of "Great game on PC, poor port to XBOX 360" which is really a shame.
So anybody else play this terrific game yet?
After the technical disaster that was Gothic 3 I had high hopes and also much apprehension about this game. To be fair it's unfair to assign all the blame about Gothic 3 to developer Piranha Bytes since it was a dispute with publisher JoWood that caused the game to be released as something quite different from what the developers envisioned and way earlier than they intended. My thoughts on Gothic 3 very much mirror my thoughts on NWN 2: Both games were released WAY TOO SOON and at that time were nowhere near worthy of release status, or even BETA status. Frankly I could barely give either game ALPHA status when they came out since they were so ridiculously riddled with bugs, including numerous showstopper bugs. With that in mind both games turned out to be good games after years and years of patching.
Now to get back on topic. I had always wondered what Gothic 3 would have looked like had Piranha Bytes been allowed to make the game as they envisioned and given the proper time. The answer might just be: It would look like Risen. Piranha Bytes has totally redeemed itself with this title and restored their RPG legacy.
While this is not technically a Gothic game as Piranha Bytes no longer hold the license to that IP after their dispute with JoWood, it might as well be. Fans of the Gothic series will be very familiar with the style, controls, and little nuances that made the Gothic series special. For all intensive purposes (other than story) this might as well be Gothic 4 (Ironically the official Gothic 4 will come out later this year made by a different developer and it will be interesting to see how it stacks up against Risen and the previous Gothic games).
While Risen uses the same engine as Gothic 3 it feels way more like Gothic 2 than Gothic 3. That is definitely a good thing as Gothic 2 has been generally considered the best of the series and has an almost religious following in Germany.
So without further ado lets delve into the game:
As mentioned before the game uses the same engine as Gothic 3 but it has been seriously enhanced. The graphics are a bit of a mixed bag but they are overall really good. While the character models aren't up to the standard of such games as Dragon Age and Mass Effect (to compare games that came out around the same time) they are certainly not bad, in fact they look pretty good. On the other hand the landscapes and scenery are absolutely gorgeous (keep in mind my PC can handle the game at maxed out settings). I've often found myself just walking around parts of Faranga Island admiring the scenery. In particular some of the ruins and the coastal scenes are particularly breathtaking. To add to that the environmental effects in the game are terrific. I particularly love the haze/blurring effect on distant areas and how it slowly/gradually fades into a crisp/clean/high resolution view as you advance forward. This is in stark contrast to many other games where you can literally see the line at which the distant low res view becomes higher res, in Risen it fades gradually and looks really natural and just plain terrific. The game also utilizes HDR and Bloom effects really well. When walking out of a darker area into an open area with full sunlight the HDR effects create an almost overpowering aura that fades away as you move forward as if your eyes adjusted to it. Likewise lightning flashes during storms create moments that almost blind you adding more atmospheric depth. Then there are the little touches like waves crashing against a dock wall and creating a mist, the tide rolling in and out, bugs flying around, etc... The attention to detail is terrific.
On the downside the animation could be better. While the combat animations are good and the animations of people perforimnign their everyday duties and/or relaxing are quite good, the animations during conversations are just over done. Granted i don't want to see a character standing like a statue while conversiong, the same 3 or 4 over exaggerated animations over and over during conversations make the people look like a marionette.
Moving on to sound. The audio in this game is quite good. There is a constant musical track playing that changes from area to area and also in certain situations (namely combat). The fading in between tracks is done exceptionally well and the background music is quite good and serves to give a subtle accompaniment to the game while not overpowering it. Likewise the ambient sounds are also quite good giving the island a truly organic feel. The clang of weapons are all appropriate and the sound effect the spells make, while not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, are quite satisfactory. Lastly the voice acting (and EVERYTHING is voice acted in this game) is really quite good. While maybe not up to the standards of Mass Effect or games like Sam & Max & Tales Of Monkey island, it's still pretty dang good and WAY better than any of the previous Gothic games.
Combat in this game is a point of contention. The combat system in Gothic games has been called cumbersome by some in the past, and it's a fair point, but I personally enjoy it once I begin to master the nuances of side stepping, parrying, and counter attacking. Personally I find battles against human/humanoid opponents fairly easy while fighting creatures/monsters can be quite difficult until I learn their patterns and timing and even then challenging.
One of the strong points of the Gothic series has always been it's dialogue/story driven, open, non-linear gameplay. Risen is no exception to the rule. Frankly I spend way more time in the game conversing with people than I do hacking and slashing, and I like it that way. Like the previous Gothic games Risen features multiple factions, three to be exact. Early on you can stay independent and even work multiple sides or work them against each other, but eventually you have to join one of the sides. Again like earlier Gothic games, especially Gothic 2, the relationships between the factions, the interactivity, and your ability to influence the world around you (your actions certainly have consequence on others and on the progression of the story) are masterfully done. The world of Risen is a downtrodden, gritty world with no clear good or evil. All the groups have their good points and bad points and it's up to you to decide who is more in the right, or if you prefer which group will allow you to exploit more people. There are many paths to take through this game and you can explore almost anywhere you want right off the bat... provided you can survive getting there. You can very well wander into an area that has enemies well beyond your means. If that happens I hope you can run fast...
Right now I'm a good ways into the game. I previously considered Dragon Age to be easily RPG of the year for 2009. While the North American version of this game didn't come out until 2010, the German version did come out in 2009 so I guess technically it is a 2009 game. At this point I'm not ready to have Risen supersede Dragon Age as 2009 RPG of the year, I need to finish it first. I can say without a doubt that Risen is really giving Dragon Age a run for its money. This is an extremely well crafted RPG that should really appeal to hardcore RPGers. Keep in mind that it's a new game that requires a fairly recent and powerfult PC. Also i have heard bad things about the XBOX 360 port. Virtually all reviews I've seen say something to the effect of "Great game on PC, poor port to XBOX 360" which is really a shame.
So anybody else play this terrific game yet?
