Fazit

Stefan "Don-Esteban" Bollmann

You noticed it during the test. We always said "as in Gothic 1 and 2" or "not like Gothic 3". You can feel that Piranha Bytes focussed on the gameplay of Gothic 1 and 2 and tried to integrate it in the extended technical possibilities of Gothic 3. An interesting combat system and some imported detail enhancements may have been the major guideline during development. With Risen, the long-serving Gothic fan who waited since Gothic 2 Night of the Raven for a worthy successor now finally gets what he wanted. Only things like the story which could use a little more pep or the imrpoveable female meshes can mar his enjoyment.

If you entered the series with Gothic 3 and were fascinated by the large and open world and the almost endless freedom of choice you might not be as happy with Risen. After all, the world is not as big and the freedom of choice is more limited. Risen is a conservative Piranha Bytes game that does not reinvent the genre. But it is in a better state than any other game of PB because almost no bugs or instabilities are nagging you. Risen runs without crashes.

foobar

After Gothic 3, I sympathise greatly with the Piranhas not wanting to pick up more work than they can handle. Because of that, I won't criticise things like the missing swimming and diving, the combat with two one-handed swords or the appearance and variety of the NPCs. These are things that could be improved - that can always be improved - but that do not decide whether or not I feel drawn into a game.

And RISEN did just that. It tied to my PC until early in the morning which no other game did in the recent past. In my opinion, there is a tangible Gothic feeling throughout the game. The landscape is created with much affection and love to details and it is wonderfully explorable due to the missing loading zones. In the subterranean dungeons, you instinctively feel transported back into the Sleeper's temple.

Quests are tidily constructed and convincing. You are not unnecessarily chased across the island just to stretch the playing time. The story is interesting, takes some turns and was - at least for me - not foreseeable in its outcome. The fourth chapter is a bit repetitive, I would have wished for more variation here. The characters are mostly believable and vivid but cannot compare to the depth and complexity of characters from BioWare games, for example. I had hoped for more here because even with some character who is important for the main quest, I have trouble understanding his motivation. Furthermore, no real friendship between the hero and other NPCs develop. With one possible exception (depends on your point of view, I guess).

The history of the world (lore) is presented in a rather spartan way. There are no book, pictures, myth or stories passed down by word of mouth from the far or recent past. You are practically told nothing about wars, natural disasters, trade, political plots, treaties and other things that affect the life of the people and nations. I think this is very sad because it makes a world much more believable and complex if there are historical reason why the things are as they are and not some way else.

The combat is not bad - for a mouse dominated one. It cannot compare to the direct combat controls via keyboard. In Gothic 2, you controlled your character and his combat moves with the left hand on the keyboard and the camera with the right hand on the mouse. Now, the right hand has to control both (combat and camera) which is less intuitive. And it leads the majority of players to button smashing. I also think the stun effect is problematic because it breaks the immersion to loose control over your character, even if it is only for a second. But if you like difficult and demanding combat, you will probably enjoy RISEN.

It's hard for me to compare RISEN to Gothic because Gothic profits from a nostalgia bonus that RISEN does not (yet) have. But it is well worth its money.

Jodob

I liked Risen. The "back to the roots" idea dominates every aspect of the game. The faction membership is important again and rank and recognition come with that. It also influences the story and increase the replay value (at least for the first two chapters).

The usual "Oh, you damned animal just wait! I'll get stronger and then I'll show you who's the boss!" feeling is back again. You notice every investment into skills or equipment. Weapons and armours are not that many but you profit a lot from each new upgrade.

Despite the good old values there are innovation like the pickpocketing system or the very tactical combat system. Button smashing does not work anymore, each attack must be adapted to the individual opponent. The balancing is good and not too frustrating, with a few rare exceptions.

The whole thing is packed in a convincing and detailed world. The graphics are not top of the line but still very atmospheric. Especially during sunrise or a thunderstorm (see "Weather System" in the technical section).

There are also some points to criticise:

The quest ways are very short in the beginning. You go 20 metres and fulfilled 3 quests by that. Switching to the RetroQuestMessageSystem will ease that and as the game progresses, the quest get more demanding and complex.

The NPCs are my main concern. The animation variety is low and the faces are often identical and only the combination with clothes makes up some difference. That is no problem for side characters like a nameless peasant but for more important characters, this is sad.

Sometimes, voice and appearance do not fit together. The matron of the brothel sounds like an older woman (50+) but looks like she's in the beginning twenties. I also miss more variety in the female meshes. Why are there no fat or old women? Always the same top model makes the world unbelievable. The daily routines are also not as complex as they were in Gothic 2. Some NPCs just play their animations for too long, even at night.

A location that disappointed me a bit was the swamp. It is just too small. NPCs stand stand 10 metres apart tell you that they have not seen each other for a long time. The openness of the swamp has a negative impact on the threatening feeling of the swamp. In the bandit camp, the interaction of NPCs between each other could be better. There are rarely any talks between them.

The harbour city and volcano fortress are better in that regard.

I think that some potential was lost with interacting with the environment: Why don't you get a strength bonus when using a saw? Why don't you get roasted meat when turning the pit? Without reward, many of these actions are useless.

A last point: There is no lore about the world. Most thing are just there without reason. There are no writings or other information which would explain the history and backgrounds of the world.

All in all, these negative points cannot change that Risen is a good RPG which does not have to hide behind a Gothic 1.

v000nix

After 130 hours playing the game as bandit, I explored almost the entire world, tried many thing and failed in the end nonetheless. At the end, I was still excited by the great RPG that the Piranhas gave to us.

Risen especially fascinated me like no other game for the first 80 hours. I wanted to know how the story develops and the world drew me in. Even without background information like in Gothic 1, everything fitted together. Only in further progress of the game, I got a little frustrated and bored: The third and fourth chapter had almost no sidequests anymore which I like so much in the first two chapters. And the main quest was mainly the repetition of one single, not very easy task. A few times, I had to ask the other testers for help.

As passionate explorer I wanted to explore even the tiniest corner of the world. But I missed a bit of that love to detail that PB is so famous for. I often came to far away places and asked myself: "Why is there nothing to find here?". The daily routines of the NPCs also disappointed me. Not only a few NPCs sit at the same place all the time, day and night, or move maybe a few metres at best.

I have to praise the interesting and innovative story. A set of smaller and larger turns makes it unpredictable. The replay value is rather high because of the 2, respectice 3 factions. But so far, I lacked to time to play Risen again.

I loved the Gothic 1/2 combat system and I was disappointed at first by the new system because button smashing still worked. But in the course of the game, I quickly learned that stronger opponents can only be beaten by using the skills you have learned. Great!

All in all, Risen was a great RPG. I did not regret putting so much time in it. Anyone who loves Gothic will surely like Risen, too. But also newcomers should quickly find their way into the game. The few problems which the game has only affect the atmosphere and will certainly be removed with a successor.