Did anyone else feel this game was short....

[RivianWitch]

...especially compared to Gothic 3? Or is it just me?

Maybe my problem has been that in my mind this was Gothic 4, that I felt a bit disappointed by the length, which IMO felt even shorter than G2. It felt closer to Gothic 1, but G1 didn't end quite so abruptly for me.

More little side quests built in here and there (ok, there were a few, but most were tied up with the MQ) would have fleshed it out a little, I'm thinking.

I suppose PB had a budget to watch, and I must admit they didn't do too badly considering that that was probably the case.

Anyway, I'm finding an alarming trend that modern games tend to be a lot shorter, with a lot less "meat" on their bones, than was the case a few years back.

(Or once again, it could in part be my imagination)

[KasperFauerby]

I've found it to be very long so far - but I suspect it has something to do with the much more limited play time I have available now, compared to when I was younger :) After 40 hours, or so, I'm quite ready to try something new.

I actually fear that Dragon Age is going to be a bit too much for me - although it's hard to complain about too much of a good thing (hopefully, as I obviously haven't tried the game yet).

[RivianWitch]

Heh, well maybe with me it was just a case then, of that "Time flies when you are having fun…" :lol:

So probably just a subjective feeling, but maybe I also finished it more quickly than some other games (did I mention G3 ? :roll: ) because I was playing it quite obsessively, especially after having come back to it from a forced 10-day break without a PC.

[Maylander]

It's definetly smaller and shorter than G3. In fact, I'd say it's shorter than G2 w/NotR as well, so probably on par with G1, or between G1 and G2.

[Wulf]

Many fans complained that G3 was too big and meaningless, so maybe PB took that into account?

[Gorath]

Exactly. It was clear from the start that Risen would be much shorter than G3.

[RivianWitch]

Exactly. It was clear from the start that Risen would be much shorter than G3.

Well, being shorter than G3 is not hard to do.... :rolleyes:
Many fans complained that G3 was too big and meaningless, so maybe PB took that into account?
This is true. I might just be a bit um... caught off guard because I wanted more of the same. Maybe I'll check out a walkthrough index to try and spot if there's any side quests I might have missed.

..on the other hand, Dragon Age is almost upon us. Sadly, I'll only be getting my copy of DA on the 6th of Nov.

It's definetly smaller and shorter than G3. In fact, I'd say it's shorter than G2 w/NotR as well, so probably on par with G1, or between G1 and G2.
Agreed. Feels about on par with G1 to me. G1 might have felt slightly longer to me than it really was, because the whole Gothic universe was all new and fresh at that point.

[Wulf]

"was all new and fresh at that point" - - - thats right...

I bought Risen on release day and finished about two weeks later.
I bought G3 on release day and played systematically for over two years.
I bought G2 on release day and played on and off for over a year.
I bought G1 on release day and played for more than five years.

...yes Risen is short, without a doubt. I believe this is the 'end of the line' of the gothic type ilk because it could not be sustained forever, gamers indeed want concept newness. I feel that G3 was the proper 'finale' of the series, yet Risen strangely appears as a shadow of G1 in many relative ways. :S

[Gorath]

G3 was no "proper finale". It was a failure. An unfinished buggy mess.

I agree that the Gothic style games are at an end. I suppose PB will recycle the Risen tech once more for a quick sequel, but then they will innovate the concept. At least I hope so. I see myself losing patience for such a slow build-up in the first 10 hours.

[Maylander]

An add-on/sequel wouldn't hurt, but at some point they have to try a fresh approach again, or they'll end up like New World Computing w/Might & Magic.

Oh well, I'm not too concerned. PB once blew us all away with Gothic 1 and the recipe they invented back then, and they are probably still capable of adapting when needed.

[GothicGothicness]

An add-on/sequel wouldn't hurt, but at some point they have to try a fresh approach again, or they'll end up like New World Computing w/Might & Magic.


Hope you don't mean with might & magic as in heros of might & magic.... someone came with the "brilliant" idea to change the nearly perfect formula and allow heroes to be in the "fight" bye bye new world computing.........

[RivianWitch]

Hope you don't mean with might & magic as in heros of might & magic…. someone came with the "brilliant" idea to change the nearly perfect formula and allow heroes to be in the "fight" bye bye new world computing………

Well, both Might and Magic and Heroes went on for a looong time…

I'm a huge HOMM fan, and I played HOMM 1 to death because it was about the only thing that would play on the crappy system I had at once stage, but I did welcome most of the innovations they slapped onto it, and I even like HOMM 5.

I don't suppose one could expect devs not to adapt and move with the times, and to try out new ideas.

The thing that I find the most amazing of all, is that I can still play HOMM 1 in XP, only, I've really had enough of it by now. What I liked about the HOMM innovations, it that the games tended to increase in complexity, and not the other way around as you find with so many other licences.

[JDR13]

I felt Risen was just about right in terms of length. Of course compared to Gothic 3, most games are short.

I'm quite thankful that most games aren't as long as Gothic 3. :)

[ToddMcF2002]

I'm finding Risen a bit too long given the list of "honey do's" in Chapter 4. I really feel the game needed a vast underground city or a second land mass. Am I the only one tired of the Island after chapter 2 or 3?

[Corwin]

I like the length; I'm not bored by the end of the game. I think wanting more is a good way to end a game.

[rockyourazz]

Congratulations to me - I have just finished chapter 1 after a month (I did start the game over once after 8 hours of play and backtracked once about 3 hours) and after EXACTLY (:)) two days of play - 48 full hours… I might even go back to try a few lizards that I couldn't kill tomorrow and re-enter chapter 2 after that…

I may have made my next chapters shorter with all the things I have done in chapter 1 but for now I think this game is of good length… longer than many games I have played (although I am not counting RPGs only) and feels worth my money…I am happy with it :) (see the smiley face?)

QUICK UPDATE:
I am a little bored with the island too by now and I am hoping the next chapters let me experience different settings (the dungeons) and I wish there was more landmass to explore... but I am still content...

[RivianWitch]

I wouldn't say that the game was not value for money for me. It most definitely was, and I'll most probably still try and squeeze a few drops of play out of it for inbetween days where I'm finished with one game and waiting for a next one to arrive. :)

[xSamhainx]

seems pretty long to me, Ive been playing it for a while all weekend long. It depends on your playstyle I suppose. If youre the exploring/sidequest type of person youre gonna be playin a lot longer!

[RivianWitch]

Samhain, if you know of any sidequests besides the Lord Patroscon one that fall under the "World" quests, I'd be much obliged if you would mention them.

That seemed to be the only side quest I could find that was not really bound up with either the Don's gang or the Order or the main quest in general, so some pointers would be welcome.

[xSamhainx]

i'm talking about all "optional" quests in general as sidequests. You dont have to do all the quests that faction members have for you to do, thus i count a lot of the "uncounted" don quests in the camp, and then theres the citizenry such as the Brewer (north of Don) and other farmers, opposite faction members, as sidequest mat'l.

[Gorath]

I don't think Risen was too short. I didn't watch the clock, but I certainly played for more than 40 hours.

[Moriendor]

I don't think Risen was too short. I didn't watch the clock, but I certainly played for more than 40 hours.

You can see how long it took you on the save games. The format is a bit strange since it doesn't count in hours but in Day(s)/Hours/Minutes format but obviously one day = 24 hours so it's easy to calculate the total net hours it took to finish the game. For me it was ~64 hours total net play time (2 days, 16 hours, xx minutes).

[Gorath]

I know. Just forgot to look it up.

47 hours, 12 minutes

[rockyourazz]

I don't think the game includes all the times you reloaded and re-played parts which would most definitely (for me at least) mount to at least x1.2-x1.5 the time that is written in my savegame…. if not more (I played EXTREMELY slooooooow....and died ALLOT :))

[RivianWitch]

i'm talking about all "optional" quests in general as sidequests. You dont have to do all the quests that faction members have for you to do, thus i count a lot of the "uncounted" don quests in the camp, and then theres the citizenry such as the Brewer (north of Don) and other farmers, opposite faction members, as sidequest mat'l.

Hmm. I did all of those, thanks anyway. I first played the Don's side until I started looking for the discs, then reloaded an earlier save, and went with the mages. They also had a lot of nice quests in the monastery.

I guess I'll replay again when I have a gap, this time choosing the order warriors just to see if that gives extra quests. I guess Maylander could also tell us if there are.

You guys say 40 hours? Wow, to me that is short for an RPG… but as I say, it seems to have become a trend. The MQ in Fallout 3 also felt very short to me, but at least FO3 had tons and tons of sidequests, so one could go back and stretch it out, even before the DLC's came out. Maybe I just play faster (or more obsessively? :P) these days, who knows?

Even ME felt longer to me, and TW took me at least 70 hours, I'd say.

To me a nice length is about 100 hours, though I probably took about 400 with Mwind before I got tired of going back to it…

One day when I finish G3 I'll let you know… :lol: