Risen 3: Titan Lords

[Tigranes]

Alright, 7-8 hours in, my opinion has actually improved.

1) This definitely seems to be a bigger game than Risen 2. I found I can look at map of all islands I can access without visiting, and despite there being 6-7 of them (including preorder DLC ones I think), the main ones are fairly sizable. Areas like Taranis also seem more civilised. Though there is asset recycling and areas that are swallowed up by shadow monsters, there seems to be a lot of stuff to do otherwise - pirates who are losing it from rum and voodoo, a mage faction which has sprung up after it got pissed that the inquisition was ordering it around, a gnome who has discovered a penchant for rum, an inquisition leader who's murdered the governor and has gone paranoid, etc.

2) The melee combat is I think slightly better than R2 overall, though it is broken in different ways. The flexibility in power attacks, the addition of rolls (remember how against a boar in R2 you were basically playing some kind of matador), etc. are all benefitial; however, the basic tuning of attack animations is still wrong compared to previous games, so that some enemies just succumb stupidly to left button mashing. I just got ripostes which always makes things a lot more interesting. Haven't yet tried guns and magic and voodoo - those were overpowered in R2 after mid-game, so we will see.

3) Writing is like R2 but slightly better. I mean, writing was pretty meh in every PB game, but I thought R2 atl east managed to be funny with the arsehole protagonist, and that's done better here too. Of course, that comes at the price of a shitty Disneyfied main plot in both games, but at least you don't have to deal with it very often.

4) Most importantly, exploration - well, again it is R2 style by default because the world is broken up into islands, but it is decently done. One threatening enemy in a strategic spot changes the whole complexion of the area, little nooks and crannies hiding stuff, etc. But it does not rival G1/2 or R1.

I expected R2+ and hoped for a R2-R1 hybrid; it definitely seems like R2+ for now.

 

[adddeed]

Awesome. Will buy as soon as i finish Witcher 2. Glad this turned much better than expected.

 

[Great Deceiver]

I just finished the tutorial island and it was insultingly bad. Not sure if I'll keep playing.

 

[Tigranes]

Tutorial island has basically nothing in common with rest of the game.

Taranis is a good island. The 'town' area is filled with two dozen NPCs or so and lots of stuff to do, and now that I've seen a few towns, the most impressive thing is how they've interconnected all the stories and designs of the islands with each other and with events in Risen 1 and 2. R1's inquisitors' haughtiness has resulted in mages splintering off, the mages who are now trying to find a permanent way to power up the reactor that was the deus ex machina in end of R1; they've done some deals in the past with governor Di Fuego who is now murdered; Antigua's pirates have left and end up elsewhere drunk and rudderless; so on and so forth. In terms of gameplay too the bigger islands offer quite a bit of looking around and doing stuff.

 

[Konjad]

Where can I get lockpick? I've passed dozens of chests by now and couldn't open them because I don't have a lockpick nor merchants do. I'm on Tacarigua and I can't leave the island, because if I do I'll fail multiple quests (like the murder, I guess NPCs are covering the tracks etc when protagonist decides to fuck it and leave for a prolonged time)

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

Read the forums and reviews, its clearly one of the better PB games. Those user scores are from graphic whores, console noobs, those with no patience, and people who are voting after half an hour play time.

if that garbage is one of their better games than what the fuck is gothic 1 or NoR? must have been a fucking miracles

that describes AC except for the playing the game bit. you don't actually play AC.

you actually have to play the playing bit in AC:BF. at least the naval part, land is still wait for counter and press space for everything else...

 

[Zewp]

This game is fucking terrible. If you're going to make a game where 80% of the player's time is devoted to combat, at least make it not fucking suck. Especially seeing as it was pretty much the same in Risen 2.

 

[Cadmus]

This game is fucking terrible. If you're going to make a game where 80% of the player's time is devoted to combat, at least make it not fucking suck. Especially seeing as it was pretty much the same in Risen 2.

I don't take these criticisms seriously anymore because I haven't heard of an action game where the combat doesn't suck by codex standards. G1 and G2? COMBAT SUCK. The Witcher? COMBAT SUCK.

 

[made]

This game is fucking terrible. If you're going to make a game where 80% of the player's time is devoted to combat, at least make it not fucking suck. Especially seeing as it was pretty much the same in Risen 2.

I don't take these criticisms seriously anymore because I haven't heard of an action game where the combat doesn't suck by codex standards. G1 and G2? COMBAT SUCK. The Witcher? COMBAT SUCK.

Well, one could point out Dark Souls as a game with decent action combat due to all the options you have and the timing required, altho you can still beat the game using just roll + attack - which does indeed suck.

In essence they all suck by virtue of being action games, but some suck more than others.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

combat in g1 or g2 compared to risen 2 was fucking brilliant

This game is fucking terrible. If you're going to make a game where 80% of the player's time is devoted to combat, at least make it not fucking suck. Especially seeing as it was pretty much the same in Risen 2.

I don't take these criticisms seriously anymore because I haven't heard of an action game where the combat doesn't suck by codex standards. G1 and G2? COMBAT SUCK. The Witcher? COMBAT SUCK.

dark messiah, blade of darkness, DeS+DS1+DS2, risen 1, rune, DMC1/3/4

Spoiler

 

[Crooked Bee]

Played it yesterday for a few hours, and my impression is that it's just a bad game, plain and simple. I actually like it less than even Risen 2 so far, though this may have to do with being tired of this island-based formula as well as the fact that Risen 2 came out in the middle of an RPG drought whereas R3 comes after the brilliant D:OS and the very good Lords of Xulima.

Also, I may have just been very unfortunate in my choice of islands to visit, but both Takarigua and Isle of Thieves, not to mention Antigua and the starting island, are small and, more importantly, awfully boring. I wish PB had gone back to one huge continent instead.

Combat is not particularly better than R2 either. Guns seem to be broken again.

The only amusing thing so far is just how much of an asshole the protagonist is. But I don't think that can save the game for me.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Played a lot yesterday and felt dissapointed even with zero expectations. Gothic my ass, starts as Pirates of the Carribian and goes like that for a long time (10 hours and still "Yarrrr") Rolling easly breaks the game and muskets too, at least we have more magical options now. Probably going to join to Guardians for melee magic and Avatar like gameplay.
The man who voiced our character have throat cancer proabably...

 

[Konjad]

This game is fucking terrible. If you're going to make a game where 80% of the player's time is devoted to combat, at least make it not fucking suck. Especially seeing as it was pretty much the same in Risen 2.

I don't take these criticisms seriously anymore because I haven't heard of an action game where the combat doesn't suck by codex standards. G1 and G2? COMBAT SUCK. The Witcher? COMBAT SUCK.

Well, one could point out Dark Souls as a game with decent action combat due to all the options you have and the timing required, altho you can still beat the game using just roll + attack - which does indeed suck.

In essence they all suck by virtue of being action games, but some suck more than others.

Are you shitting me? Controls in Dark Souls are so fucking inconvenient that it is impossible to play this turd of a game on a PC. They didn't even bother to change the tutorial menus to show keyboard controls, they only show a fucking xbox pad. that was the worst shit i've ever saw in a console port. The combat was a clunky clusterfuck, enemies were mugging you because it was fucking impossible to do anything quickly on the keyboard. I passed soon after the tutorial dungeon because for fuck's sake, that literally was the worst console port I've ever saw.

It probably is better on a console, but fuck the developers doing terrible work on the port and I will surely never play any of their games again.

 

[Athelas]

In essence they all suck by virtue of being action games

 

[made]

This game is fucking terrible. If you're going to make a game where 80% of the player's time is devoted to combat, at least make it not fucking suck. Especially seeing as it was pretty much the same in Risen 2.

I don't take these criticisms seriously anymore because I haven't heard of an action game where the combat doesn't suck by codex standards. G1 and G2? COMBAT SUCK. The Witcher? COMBAT SUCK.

Well, one could point out Dark Souls as a game with decent action combat due to all the options you have and the timing required, altho you can still beat the game using just roll + attack - which does indeed suck.

In essence they all suck by virtue of being action games, but some suck more than others.

Are you shitting me?

That's very prejudiced to assume I would be shitting on you just because I'm German.

I'm told M&K controls were vastly improved in the sequel. I wouldn't know, I played both with a pad - and all the pitfalls that entails.

 

[Zewp]

I don't take these criticisms seriously anymore because I haven't heard of an action game where the combat doesn't suck by codex standards. G1 and G2? COMBAT SUCK. The Witcher? COMBAT SUCK.

I don't take shitposts like this seriously because the poster is a known shitposter.

Gothic 1, 2 and Risen had 'okay' combat. Risen 2 had fucking atrocious combat and Risen 3 is only barely better. Overall, I ditched melee combat for rune magic because fuck melee combat in this game.

 

[cvv]

Gothic 1, 2 and Risen had 'okay' combat. Risen 2 had fucking atrocious combat and Risen 3 is only barely better. Overall, I ditched melee combat for rune magic because fuck melee combat in this game.

Few questions just out of curiosity:
- you consider R1 combat just "okay" which is interesting because for me it's the best aRPG combat system ever made; do you actually consider any aRPG system good or better than good?
- how is R2 combat so different from R1 for the former to be "fucking atrocious" and the latter "okay"?
- how is the pew-pew Hexen-style magic user gameplay preferable even to a bad melee combat?

 

[Raapys]

Yeah any word on magic? I read there was supposedly three magic types, including one where you used reagents to cast spells?

 

[adddeed]

Gothic 1, 2 and Risen had 'okay' combat. Risen 2 had fucking atrocious combat and Risen 3 is only barely better. Overall, I ditched melee combat for rune magic because fuck melee combat in this game.

Few questions just out of curiosity:
- you consider R1 combat just "okay" which is interesting because for me it's the best aRPG combat system ever made; do you actually consider any aRPG system good or better than good?
- how is R2 combat so different from R1 for the former to be "fucking atrocious" and the latter "okay"?
- how is the pew-pew Hexen-style magic user gameplay preferable even to a bad melee combat?

How? Exaggerate. The clowns on this forum love doing that .Shit that, atrocious this, terrible that.

 

[Cadmus]

I don't take these criticisms seriously anymore because I haven't heard of an action game where the combat doesn't suck by codex standards. G1 and G2? COMBAT SUCK. The Witcher? COMBAT SUCK.

I don't take shitposts like this seriously because the poster is a known shitposter.

Gothic 1, 2 and Risen had 'okay' combat. Risen 2 had fucking atrocious combat and Risen 3 is only barely better. Overall, I ditched melee combat for rune magic because fuck melee combat in this game.

Except I've seen it mentioned on here many times how G1 and G2 had a completely atrocious combat. The thing with statements like this is that they are usually proclaimed in the smug superior tone as a definite truth and it just pisses me the fuck off. I'd like someone to actually explain even a little bit why this particular combat system sucks and is the worst thing since Hitler, because so far I only hear the same that's been said for the games where the combat was good.

 

[Roguey]

I don't take these criticisms seriously anymore because I haven't heard of an action game where the combat doesn't suck by codex standards. G1 and G2? COMBAT SUCK. The Witcher? COMBAT SUCK.

New Vegas melee and DS3 ftw imo. I'm sure Dark Soulses are fine too, provided you're using a gamepad. As I understand it, KoA: Reckoning had a decent system but terrible, undemanding content.

 

[MicoSelva]

KoA Reckoning had flashy, well-animated and very responsive combat, which was ultimately very boring due to lack of challenge and general repetitiveness. It probably was better if you used a heavy two-handed weapon with long attack animations and had to time your attacks right, but I did not feel like gimping myself, and just used daggers+chakrams to stunlock everything to death.

I much prefer the slower-paced combat of Gothic/Risen or Dark Souls.

 

[Malpercio]

I laughed way too hard.

Also, tits is my sister? Since when?


And how huge is the pirate simulator? Risen 2 promised it, but at the end of the day you didn't have much choice on who you could recruit and whatnot.

 

[balmorar]

The developers sent Angry Joe a full walkthrough at release.

http://www.twitch.tv/angryjoeshow/b/557609968

 

[Malpercio]

... wow

 

[Infinitron]

Eurogamer review: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-08-14-risen-3-titan-lords-review

Risen 3: Titan Lords review
Almost there.

Risen 3 is almost a really good game. It's certainly the first in the role-playing series that I've more or less enjoyed right from the start. It's just that, much like Risen 2, the minor advances in design and function are in service of a goal so characterless and bland that it's hard to muster the passion needed to turn mild enjoyment into outright devotion.

Picking up years after the conclusion of Risen 2, we're introduced to the son and daughter of Captain Steelbeard, the ludicrously named pirate legend from that game. Sadly, in the first of several disappointments, you get no choice over who will be the main character of the game. It's Steelbeard's son, yet another vanilla video game hero voiced by an actor whose range only stretches from "surly growl" to "angry sarcasm". You get no input into what he looks like and that remains true for the majority of the game. Much like the previous games in the series, Risen 3 hands out new kit grudgingly, so unless you've got the Adventurer's Gear DLC that grants you a change of clothes, the amount of control you have over your character is minimal and drip-fed. It's an RPG with very little in the way of RP.

Steelbeard's daughter, for what its worth, looks like she's wearing a Halloween costume from eBay called "Sexy Pirate" and promptly disappears after the opening tutorial sequence.

It's the best looking Risen so far, but some crude animations let it down.

Instead, we're left to guide Steelbeard Jr as he fights to reclaim his soul, which has been stolen by an evil shadow demon whose malevolent forces are wreaking havoc across the world by popping out of portals. So it's one part Oblivion to one part Dark Souls, as our snarling avatar launches himself into a quest to first amass a group of companions and then put a stop to the evil infesting the land (and the sea).

It's as generic as RPG plotting gets and, given the untapped potential in the pirate genre, it's sad to see how readily the game clings to the same old tropes. There may be a thin veneer of pirate stuff on top, but there are still spells and monsters, mages and magic crystals. You get the same old fantasy clichés dressed up in tricorns and Caribbean sunshine.

Risen 3 at least gets off to a motivated start and quickly opens up its world. New quests are unlocked through conversation as well as from books, and you very quickly accumulate a healthy stack of things to do. Many are the expected fetch quests and menial chores, but there are enough interesting or different ones seasoning the mix to keep the experience from flatlining.

Alchemy and voodoo are two optional development paths for those who prefer magic to steel.

Crucially, since each of the game's islands functions as a self-contained gameplay area, you'll never have to journey too far to get from one objective to another. Fast travel is quicker and easier to access now as well, with plenty of teleportation stones dotted around locations, while the stone circles where they're used to activate travel points are well placed.

Sometimes this compression of the game world leads to facepalming moments - such as the recruitable party member who is hiding out from guards literally around the corner from the town where they've set up base - but it also keeps things moving briskly, which is a welcome change in a series that has been more than a little stodgy in the past.

One area that has definitely slipped in quality is the script and voice acting. The first game attracted an English voice cast that included Andy Serkis, John Rhys Davis and Lena Headey; not A-listers, but dependable character actors who brought much-needed life to proceedings. This time around, the standard has plummeted. Quite apart from the belligerent one-note performance of the main character, the supporting cast is utterly forgettable - with one notable exception.

Sporadic dream sequences tease out the ongoing saga of your missing soul, but there doesn't seem to be much urgency about it.

Bones is the first companion you meet after returning from the dead, and he's perhaps the most bizarre character I've encountered in a game this side of Deadly Premonition. A witch doctor of sorts, he'll occasionally heal you - often when you least need it - but it's his voice that makes him so unique. He sounds exactly like comedian Matt Berry's bad actor character Steven Toast - all odd inflections and random emphasis.

It's so out of place, so distracting and yet so unmistakable that it surely can't be an accident. I even sat through five minutes of credits to see if Berry was actually in the voice cast (he's not - but David Rintoul, AKA Grandad Dog from Peppa Pig, is). Either Piranha Bytes took the bizarre decision to make the first proper character the player meets an outright comic performance, or some cheeky actor is having a bit of fun with the German developer.

Whatever they sound like, you'll be glad of your companions, since they're the only thing that keeps Risen's still-wretched combat from ruining the game. Pirahnha Bytes attempts a tactical block, parry and attack system but still can't get it right. There's just no rhythm or grace to the melee fighting, no logic to how enemies behave. The manual camera makes keeping everything in view while fighting a distracting faff, especially in enclosed spaces, and there's a crucial disconnect between the animations and the impacts.

You can slaughter monkeys, rats and other small animals. There's no benefit, but you can do it if you like.

Ranged weapons aren't much better, reliant on a flaky automatic lock for aiming and a crude dice-roll to determine whether you hit which fails to take distance into account, so you can miss even when your pistol is touching the enemy in question. Combat is bearable against low-level foes, but once you start coming up against gangs of tougher supernatural enemies, it's simply no fun. If Dark Souls is a delicate bloody ballet, full of nuance and style, Risen is your Dad, drunk at a wedding reception, lurching around to Status Quo yet somehow missing all the beats.

You quickly realise that the best way to emerge victorious is to game the system. Enemies automatically target the player but will switch to a companion or other NPC should they hit them twice. Let this happen and you can literally stand back - or stand right in between them if you like - and not get involved. If there's more than one enemy, you can roll around, evading the others until your companion is ready to take them on. Companions are more resilient and will even revive themselves should they get knocked out. Since you earn XP from a kill regardless of who makes it, there's no motivation to fight yourself unless absolutely forced to.

It's a rusty cutlass in the heart of a sequel that, otherwise, is progressive in small but welcome ways. The series still lacks a worthwhile identity of its own and is too quick to run away from its piratical setting in favour of more familiar fantasy archetypes, but for surprisingly hefty chunks of Risen 3 I was drawn in and entertained, at least until another clumsily staged battle soured me again. For those who have been able to cut through the clutter and clumsiness of the series so far, this may well be a small hurdle, and you'll discover a commendably deep and full RPG for your trouble. It's just a shame that such a fundamental feature as combat takes the shine off what could have been the sequel to make Risen popular beyond its small audience of devotees.

6 / 10

 

[Crichton]

KoA Reckoning had flashy, well-animated and very responsive combat, which was ultimately very boring due to lack of challenge and general repetitiveness. It probably was better if you used a heavy two-handed weapon with long attack animations and had to time your attacks right, but I did not feel like gimping myself, and just used daggers+chakrams to stunlock everything to death.

I much prefer the slower-paced combat of Gothic/Risen or Dark Souls.

I picked KoA up during a recent sale and tried playing a hybrid with his points split between the lightning magic tree and those gigantic two-handed hammers, which is a pretty gimped build, and it still wasn't difficult once I unlocked teleportation. The principle exception were fairies since they came in such large groups and could so easily avoid the giant swinging hammer. To be fair, I got bored and quit ~1/3 of the way through so for all I know, the difficulty jumps up later. Either way, though, it's a shit game; the people of Rhode Island did not get much for their money. Maybe they're still ahead of the Bavarians though, since unlike Chaos Chronicles, KoA was released.