Piranha Bytes RPG teaser site

[Morgoth]

The Risen demo has been released. Use this torrent, as the mirrors are all overstrained right now.

[mkreku]

Eurogamer's review is in: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/risen-review?page=1

 

Oops, 4/10.

 

Not too bothered though. The things he complains about are actually things I enjoy, like the lack of quest arrows and the way you actually need trainers to train your skills and maps that aren't automatically in your inventory from the start.

[HoonDing]

That isn't a joke review, is it?

 

...

 

"With so many quirks and flaws in the RPG basics, it doesn't help that the game looks absolutely terrible." Huh? Then again he reviewed the console version..

Edited October 2, 2009 by virumor

[Starwars]

One of the worst reviews I've read this year I'd say.

[mkreku]

Yeah, the comments section doesn't seem to happy about it either. I don't really care, it's just an opinion.

[Oner]

Not too bothered though. The things he complains about are actually things I enjoy, like the lack of quest arrows and the way you actually need trainers to train your skills and maps that aren't automatically in your inventory from the start.

So the author is complaining about some of the series' "trademark" elements*. I wonder how many points Halo ODST got from him. Or maybe the next Tomb Raider will get -2 point 'cause Lara loots her weapons instead of buying them as rich folks should.

 

*Okay, I found Gothic 3 rather frustrating in regards of navigation and searching for NPCs for hours. Gee, wonder why I never finished it.

[Nightshape]

I'm gunna go buy this today, and if it sucks, I can atleast chuckle at mkreku's damnable and downright terrible taste .

 

Actually I've been kinda looking forwards to it.

 

Looks like Pirahna Bytes may need to hang out with the "reviewing" community a little more and "buy" them a few beers

[mkreku]

Woohoo! I just got back from my lunch break and the game is lying on my desk next to me, shimmering in a mysterious light.. well, almost.

 

Only four hours until I can go home and install it. I CAN DO EET

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Eurogamer's review is in: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/risen-review?page=1

 

Oops, 4/10.

 

Not too bothered though. The things he complains about are actually things I enjoy, like the lack of quest arrows and the way you actually need trainers to train your skills and maps that aren't automatically in your inventory from the start.

It's Eurogamer. Of course the review is going to be ****.

[Slowtrain]

Not too bothered though. The things he complains about are actually things I enjoy, like the lack of quest arrows and the way you actually need trainers to train your skills and maps that aren't automatically in your inventory from the start.

 

 

I find it pretty sad that things like that end up in the negative section of a review. Gaming is rapidly becoming a hobby for lazy idiots.

[HoonDing]

To be fair, apparently the Xbox port IS horrible. Eurogamer should just do a separate review for PC, that's all.

[vault_overseer]

SO does it really look that much worse on 360 than on PC?

[Morgoth]

Nobody knows who did the 360 port, so I'd stay away from it. Risen is a PC game first and foremost, so give it some respect and play it on a goddamn PC!

[vault_overseer]

I don't have a gaming PC anymore, not since I converted.

[mkreku]

I was wondering about why he criticised the graphics in the Eurogamer review. I think it looks absolutely lovely. Also, it's very smooth. No jerkiness at all and a lot less demanding than Gothic 3. But then I saw this:

 

 

He reviewed the Xbox 360 version but included the PC version in the review.. The PC version was made by Piranha Bytes while the Xbox 360 version was ported by some unknown company. It shows!

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Unbelievable. That doesn't even look like the same game.

[mr insomniac]

This thread has convinced me to give this game a try, and I'm downloading it from Steam as I type this. Never played the Gothic games at all, so have no pre-conceived comparisons to make. looking forward to starting a game, just wish my connection was faster.

[Gorgon]

Does the combat system work this time ?

[Oner]

I was wondering about why he criticised the graphics in the Eurogamer review. I think it looks absolutely lovely. Also, it's very smooth. No jerkiness at all and a lot less demanding than Gothic 3. But then I saw this:

 

 

He reviewed the Xbox 360 version but included the PC version in the review.. The PC version was made by Piranha Bytes while the Xbox 360 version was ported by some unknown company. It shows!

When you get an armor that even remotely resembles a knight armor, tell me if it's beautiful like in Gothic 2 or butt ugly as in 3.

[Musopticon?]

So, does this require a monster rig?

 

Because if it doesn't, it's binge time. I'm *this* close to reinstalling G2 because it's been so long since the last time I played open world rpg.

[Nightshape]

I have the 360 version, as as expected, it looks like arse, but it doesn't run anywhere near as badly as stated in the review, but this ain't a pretty game on the 360.

 

That said, so far I am enjoying it, I couldn't stop laughing initially because the first thought I actually have about this game is that it's the most authentic hardcore PC-like experience I've come across, it'll probably do terrible on the 360, and be widely disliked, but I think personally I'm really really going to enjoy it.

 

So the combat is a bag of spanners, and the game looks like something from the XBOX era. All the same, it's the only game like it on 360.

 

My advice is that people should pick up the PC version if they can run it.

 

Oh I just want to also note that it's probably not that the port from PC to X360 was badly done, it's very likely that the engine has been written in that typical "PC" sloppy fashion, the sheer volume of re-engineering that would have likely been involved to get it to run identically would have been equivilant to a re-write. Infact, it seems like the PC version is probably so sloppy they're expecting folk to have powerful enough machines to brute force it on PC. Atleast it runs and seems stable enough I suppose that's the best the PC master race of gaming can hope for anymore, even if the engine is so fat it'd make an American blush. That's a topic for another time.

Edited October 3, 2009 by Nightshape

[Masterfade]

Downloaded and played the demo and honestly I'm not impressed. Waiting for more reviews now before making a decision.

[mkreku]

Well, I am having a great time with it. I joined the bandits, solved their petty camp problems and have now headed out to the harbour town. It's a really difficult game! The traders really do not have ANY gold, so you can't get rich from picking everything up and selling it. You only trade with the traders, as in item for item. This is initially a problem as learning skills cost from 100-300 gold and you usually get like 30 gold as quest rewards.

 

Also, a common wolf is more than likely to kick your butt, repeatedly, in the beginning. I was actually getting a little frustrated myself there for a while, until I followed the "main path" (the story the developers want you to follow) where I found "hungry wolf" instead of "wolf", which essentially means half-a-wolf.

 

But the world is wonderfully crafted again, there's a myriad of quests everywhere, the character development system is very satisfying (you really feel yourself becoming more and more powerful) and I even like the combat now. It's action, sure, but it's some kind of tactical action.

 

Like, when you fight this weird bird that hops around everywhere, you need to press the action all the time, preferably against a cliff wall or something. They constantly back away and if you let them back away far enough they come swooping down on you, slashing your shield aside, leaving you vulnerable. If you press the action, they have no time to swoop and you'll beat them in no time.

 

Another example is when you fight a boar. They are really powerful and each hit from them stuns you for a second, even when blocked. So the trick is to keep your shield up and back away as the boar rushes you. It will then miss his attack (swing his trout in midair) and you can safely get in one or two hits while the boar is off balance. Then you repeat until the boar becomes a steak in your inventory.

 

When fighting people, I usually keep my shield up at all time and move in really, really close to my opponent. The "lock on" effect will then keep your shield aimed at the enemy and when he slashes at you, he will take one step past you, revealing his side or back, at which point you can get a safe stab in. Otherwise they block like 95% of your slashes.

 

One last thing worth of note: the game has crashed on me once. This is exceptionally good for a Piranha Bytes game! Also, I have not seen any bugs except that one enemy's body fell through the ground when he was killed by my gang of seven angry bandits (great quest, total chaos :D) and the voice acting is really good. I've not gotten very far in the story, but it has piqued my interest.. it's just that there's always so much to do that I never seem to be able to focus on the main story.

 

I will try to snap a few screenshots later. It really is a lovely looking game. Except for the character models. Especially the female character models. And I've been to the brothel, so I should know.

[HoonDing]

The game has been lying around here unused for about a week, but I am planning to play as a Mage first time through. I'm looking forward to the shape-shifting.

[Bos_hybrid]

I gave a the demo a good playthrough and was extremely disappointed when the demo ended, I just wanted the demo to keep going. IMO it felt very similar to Gothic 2, ran perfectly and looked quite good.

 

One thing though, bloody wolves were quite deadly, until I figured out you could dodge.... Also boars make a return, but I don't know how deadly they are, for I ran when I saw one.

Edited October 3, 2009 by Bos_hybrid