Risen 3 is coming

[GhostofAnakin]

It's kind of awkward that the hottest female on your crew (the only female) is your sister.

[Sloul]

She got decent boobs.

 

 

Also liked a lot Risen 3, probably the best Risen so far I would say.

And 3rd best PB, among Gothic 1 and 2.

[GhostofAnakin]

I stumbled across a quest I didn't receive the last time through.  I was just exploring the jungle on Taranis and happened to bump into someone I hadn't met in my first game.

 

Considering the size of some of these jungles, I'm betting there's still a few I missed.

 

I'm playing as a mage this time.  It's fun throwing fireballs at enemies, especially because you can hit multiple enemies with one shot.

[mkreku]

I got my first naval battle. It was great. Makes me wonder why they couldn't have made it so we controlled the ships ourselves between islands and let the sea battles be more 'organic' instead. Oh well.

 

I'm nearing the end of the game. It's a much better game than both Risen and Risen 2 for me, especially now that climbing works as it should and swimming is back. But the islands still suffer from not having enough real estate. It's just annoying when someone gives you a quest to go out and search for a scouting party (for example) and you turn around and you can literally see the scout party a few steps away (this actually happens on the last island albeit in a different form). Gothic 3 it ain't.

 

All in all a great game. I've spent 60+ hours in it so I got my money's worth.

[GhostofAnakin]

One of the lines of dialogue that cracks me up each time.

 

When trying to negotiate with a stubborn gnome, my companion says, "You're not really going to beat up a gnome, are you?"

 

The deadpan way he says it just hits a funny bone with me.

[GhostofAnakin]

Stumbled upon another quest I didn't come across my first time through.  I think this one is faction-specific though, as I traveled through this area my first game but didn't see these characters there then as a Voodoo Pirate.  I'm now a Guardian mage.

[mkreku]

Well, I beat the game yesterday. I actually liked the end boss battle! Usually Piranha Bytes have these weird.. not sure what to call them.. well, let's just say that when you finally reach the end of the game, suddenly your skills mean crap and you're introduced to some strange, new game feature (QTE's, special equipment, jump puzzles, you name it) that only the boss has. This time the end boss was just a regular enemy, albeit much stronger.

 

As usual, I've cleaned out the game and my desire to replay it is zero. I've found all the artifacts, done all available quests (only left one because it was time triggered and not worth waiting for) and I'm pretty certain I've found 90%+ of the game's secrets. Oh, and all you other game developers, take note: THIS is how you make an exploration game. SOmetimes I was just fooling around and I think I've reached a place you're not supposed to be able to reach. And then I find one lousy gold coin on the ground. ONE. Just the developer's way of acknowledging you being there. I don't always need riches and cool stuff, that single coin is sometimes enough. Of course, Risen 3 is chock-full of these details. I loved it.

 

 

One of the 'secrets' I really liked was if you stand between the windmill (on Calador) and the rotating blades, facing the blades and just wait. Try it.

 

 

The only game I've been able to replay several times is Gothic 3. That game was just so vast that even if you explore your heart out there was always something you missed. I wonder if that's why I liked it so much despite its numerous flaws?

[GhostofAnakin]

Actually found a stronger sword this second time through.  Something Kraken sword or other, best damage I've seen in a sword at 45-110 damage.  Had to find the two pieces and forge it back together.

[mkreku]

Yeah, that was the one I used too. Best I ever found and I don't think I missed a single weapon in this game.

 

I loved it, but it was definitely too small for me (the game, that is).

[GhostofAnakin]

The armor variety is woefully lacking.  I found some kind of armor in a chest that's got the best stats (better than the fully upgraded armor you get from your faction), but other than that, the armor consists of shirts/jackets/longcoats with very little statistical advantages.

[mkreku]

Typical Piranha Bytes. They usually only have like.. five different armours in their entire games. Luckily it usually doesn't matter much, so you can basically wear whatever looks the nicest. In a way, I prefer this. It always annoys me in games when I find some armour I find aesthetically pleasing, but because of its stats (and my character's reliance on these stats) I am forced to wear some anime ****.

[Gorgon]

I got Chrystal Magic last night and a firestorm spell. Looks usefull. It's the only AOE option I have. How many spells are there ?. I'm still stuck without a good off hand option and it feels too late to start leveling up pistols or daggers now. I don't suppose there are 'off hand' spells, or something to interupt/AOE. The firestorm won't do it alone. Do I need to learn craft spells for chrystal magic. If so, does crafting use up crystals. I need those to purchase the unlimited use gauntlet spells. 

[Tigranes]

I found 5-6 spells for cm. Craft is for one use spell artifacts I think. Spells are either 'special' like firestorm or primary hand.

[GhostofAnakin]

I got Chrystal Magic last night and a firestorm spell. Looks usefull. It's the only AOE option I have. How many spells are there ?. I'm still stuck without a good off hand option and it feels too late to start leveling up pistols or daggers now. I don't suppose there are 'off hand' spells, or something to interupt/AOE. The firestorm won't do it alone. Do I need to learn craft spells for chrystal magic. If so, does crafting use up crystals. I need those to purchase the unlimited use gauntlet spells. 

 

My mage had that firestorm spell as well as one that knocks a bunch of enemies over when they're surrounding you.  He also had equipped the equivalent of fireball and ice shooting from his fists as "right hand weapon slot" items.

 

They tended to cover all the bases I need covered.

[Doppelschwert]

You basically only need firestorm, healing and one magic glove at the beginning. Later on, you should buy another magic glove (as there is one golem for each of the damage types of the gloves that is immune against it) and maybe get the crystal from the shady guy that lets you open locks with your magic.

 

Sadly, playing a mage made the game way to easy, as you can stunlock everyone with the firestorm while bashing them with your glove. The healing on cooldown also trivializes all healing items in the game. Was playing without companions in order to have normaly difficult combat, but as soon as I got that healing magic the difficulty all went downhill.

 

Took me about 30 hours to beat the game. If you find most of the stat increasing plants and make them to better stat increasing potions, you can easily get all but 2 of your attributes to maximum value, which shows again that the game is not properly balanced and that you don't need to hold back. Just don't level anything above a threshold of 70, as you can easily find at least 6 stat increasing plants for every attribute by just playing throughly and using the astral sights you can learn as soon as you enter a faction (which you should do ASAP, by the way).

 

The only reason why my mage wasn't a good swordsmen was because I had to waste all my money on the ingredients for these potions so I couldn't afford the perks anymore, but that would've been possible as well If I had focused on getting the ingredients myself instead of buying them from vendors.

 

They should've gone back to the combat system of Risen 1. The combat system from gothic is out by the way, one of the lead designers (Björn Pankratz) said in an interview that he doesn't think anyone would ever want to get back to this kind of combat system ever again.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Doppelschwert

[GhostofAnakin]

I couldn't find anywhere near the stat-improving plants that you apparently found in your play through.  At most, I found like 5 of each plant, which means an increase of a maximum +10 (+2 for each plant).

 

Each play through I'd have a maximum of two attributes fully maxed out.

 

Apparently I needed to do more adventuring to find these exotic plants.

[mkreku]

...you can easily get all but 2 of your attributes to maximum value...

 

 

I couldn't find anywhere near the stat-improving plants that you apparently found in your play through.  At most, I found like 5 of each plant, which means an increase of a maximum +10 (+2 for each plant).

 

Each play through I'd have a maximum of two attributes fully maxed out.

 

Apparently I needed to do more adventuring to find these exotic plants.

 

I've only played through it once, but I maxed out all attributes on that one run. Exploring is rewarding in Piranha Bytes games.

 

I also have to agree that the balancing was wayyyy off in this game. In the beginning my companions killed everything (or at least it felt like it). By the midpoint I didn't bring any companions because it was more fun to fight by myself. In the end I one or two-shotted everything and I think I only died when I checked if lava was insta-kill or burn damage (it was insta-kill).

[Gorgon]

Well, I beat the game yesterday. I actually liked the end boss battle! Usually Piranha Bytes have these weird.. not sure what to call them.. well, let's just say that when you finally reach the end of the game, suddenly your skills mean crap and you're introduced to some strange, new game feature (QTE's, special equipment, jump puzzles, you name it) that only the boss has. This time the end boss was just a regular enemy, albeit much stronger.

 

As usual, I've cleaned out the game and my desire to replay it is zero. I've found all the artifacts, done all available quests (only left one because it was time triggered and not worth waiting for) and I'm pretty certain I've found 90%+ of the game's secrets. Oh, and all you other game developers, take note: THIS is how you make an exploration game. SOmetimes I was just fooling around and I think I've reached a place you're not supposed to be able to reach. And then I find one lousy gold coin on the ground. ONE. Just the developer's way of acknowledging you being there. I don't always need riches and cool stuff, that single coin is sometimes enough. Of course, Risen 3 is chock-full of these details. I loved it.

 

 

One of the 'secrets' I really liked was if you stand between the windmill (on Calador) and the rotating blades, facing the blades and just wait. Try it.

 

 

The only game I've been able to replay several times is Gothic 3. That game was just so vast that even if you explore your heart out there was always something you missed. I wonder if that's why I liked it so much despite its numerous flaws?

I think I'm near the end. About to do the ritual. A bit problematic that I've been too powerful for a while now for anything to be challenging  despite spreading out my skills about as wide as possible. Didn't bother making the stat boosting potions, just ate the plants.

 

I also can't help skipping the dialogue because everyone seems to take forever to get to the point and they all seem to talk very slowly. 

[mkreku]

The only guy I listened to was Bones because I liked his delivery.

 

But yeah.. I'm guilty of that skipping habit in almost every game, Risen series included. Which is weird, because I whine like a little girl when I have to play games without voice-acting..

[GhostofAnakin]

I listened to the dialogue the first time around, but my second play through I skip it.  I agree, there's something about each voice actor's delivery that ... makes ... it .... seem .... like ... they ... take .... forever ... to .... say ... something.

[Gorgon]

 

I got Chrystal Magic last night and a firestorm spell. Looks usefull. It's the only AOE option I have. How many spells are there ?. I'm still stuck without a good off hand option and it feels too late to start leveling up pistols or daggers now. I don't suppose there are 'off hand' spells, or something to interupt/AOE. The firestorm won't do it alone. Do I need to learn craft spells for chrystal magic. If so, does crafting use up crystals. I need those to purchase the unlimited use gauntlet spells. 

 

My mage had that firestorm spell as well as one that knocks a bunch of enemies over when they're surrounding you.  He also had equipped the equivalent of fireball and ice shooting from his fists as "right hand weapon slot" items.

 

They tended to cover all the bases I need covered.

 

I only have 60 something magic and still kicking ass. The only attribute I have maxed out is melee. The rest are all between 40 and 70 and that's after finding most of the stat plants. I guess if you crafted all the potions and didn't level all your stats you could max out more, but there's no point. I'd rather have the musket as a viable option than max out magic. It's the only ranged attack that doesn't suck balls. The aiming is horrible. Either you crank the mouse speed all the way down and you can't turn, or aiming is all over the place. Musket is the only tolerable option because it has range. 

[GhostofAnakin]

I tried a ranged build, but it wasn't very successful.  Like you said, the aiming mechanic is wonky at best.  So using anything without range results in you being mauled before you even get a chance to aim properly.