Risen 3: Titan Lords - Impressions/Review

Everyone's favourite RPG news site, RPGWatch has an excellent Impressions/Review of Risen 3 posted in the forums by Maylander. Here's a short taste:

Exploration
It's excellent. There's really not a lot more to say than that. All the loot is hand placed, so every little corner of the world is worth exploring. The economy is very tight (will discuss that more later), so all the loot really is needed.

Swimming is back, which is something I rarely care about in games, but in this particular case it actually works. There are several secrets that can only be found by swimming around in somewhat unlikely places. Extensive use of flying (parrot form) is also needed to find many of the secrets, and that's another bonus in my opinion.

Be sure to check it out regularly as Maylander promises to update it after each playthrough.

More information.

I've just finished it during a 3 day week-end on it (46 hours !) and really found it captivating et well made.

There is just one thing that dissappointed me a bit : Hope I won't spoil too much but there is a treator in our team, and it's quit easy to identify him BUT even so it's not possible to act against him until much later in the game. You can't attack him or remove him from the team. It's frustrating. The worst is that another member of the team keeps telling that he feels and evil present in our team, but when you talk with him the only choices are like "aren't you a bit parano ?"... even if we know he is right ! I guess it's because the treator plays a role later in the scenario so it would have ruined the "surprise" if it was possible to get ride of him too early and too easilly. But then why let us know identify him so early if we can't act upon this information before long ?

Except that, the scenario is captivating and rather original. And there is no mission like "go kill 10 wolfs and bring me their skins" and it's appreciable.

I've also liked the idea of astral vision which, at least when you are with the guardian faction, can be tuned with prisms to see different type of objets. For exemple there is a prism to see gold, one to see plants usefull for potions, one to see magic objets, so on. That was a good idea to do that.

Comments must be in English GroNolife as it's one of the sites rules.

Still nice reply using what little french I know.

GroNolife's post needs to have spoiler tags.

It didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but that could be pretty spoilerish for people who haven't played it yet.

Well, after playing it for about 6-7 hours or so, it's much better than I originally feared. If the exploration stays this strong and they don't pull a "Risen 1" type of ending - it could end up being the best PB game in a very long time.

I'm kinda worried it's going to end too soon. I know 40-50 hours is more than enough for most people. But I prefer this kind of game to last for 60+ hours.

DArtagnan said:

Well, after playing it for about 6-7 hours or so, it's much better than I originally feared. If the exploration stays this strong…

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I figured you would be a lot further along now. As far as the exploration goes, it gets even better as the game goes on. Where did you choose to go after the Crab Coast?

It's the best of the Risen series imo and probably the best PB game after Gothic 1&2.

JDR13 said:

I figured you would be a lot further along now. As far as the exploration goes, it gets even better as the game goes on. Where did you choose to go after the Crab Coast?

It's the best of the Risen series imo and probably the best PB game after Gothic 1&2.

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I haven't had a lot of time, and I started over once the game was released in EU - as I messed up on a quest that I wanted to do in the right way, and I prefer to play legal versions in case new patches are released and what not.

I went to that island with Alvarez. Antigua? I get those names confused

I finished that and then I went to the Thief DLC thingy - and that's when I stopped and now I've started over and finished the tutorial.

This is the kind of game where I need a few days of free time - so I can enjoy it fully. Not sure when that will be, so I might not get back into it for a few weeks.

I love how open it seems to be - and, so far, the islands have felt and looked quite distinct - and that's a big step up from my major complaints with Risen 2.

It doesn't hurt that the combat seems more interesting - and the game looks great. The only thing that bothers me is the console limitations when it comes to LOD. I'm hoping a fix will be out soonish - so I don't have to see texture popping all over.

It's also much easier than other PB games - and I've yet to meet an enemy I couldn't defeat with relative ease on Hard. But that's ok, as I play these games mostly for the exploration.

Exploration & gameworld design are the strong points of Risen 3.

Combat should be more multifaceted and more challenging.

Quests, story and dialog are typical PB - you like ... or not

The gnomes are good for a laugh or two, but a little too childish for my taste.

I think this game is really good for CRPG newbies.
Veterans can enjoy the exploration, gameworld and faction design.

New for PB is the introduction of several henchmen - it is fun but it makes the combat even easier.

HiddenX said:

The gnomes are good for a laugh or two, but a little too childish for my taste.

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They're still usefull - for a good sacrificial meat.

How is the combat compared to other open world RPGs?

Gorath said:

How is the combat compared to other open world RPGs?

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It feels closer to Witcher 2 than the original Gothics, in my opinion. It's sort of like a mixture of Risen 2 and Witcher 2. Also, the more freeform character system with magic, ranged and melee being part of most characters, it has a hint of Fable as well. It's also more colorful and bright than any of the other PB games.

The reason I compare it with Witcher 2 is because of the fast pace, free dodging and the way you automatically close in on your enemy when attacking. You don't have to stand close to your target. In that way, it feels VERY much like Witcher 2. Also, you tend to accidentally target the wrong enemy too often, much like Witcher 2.

It's fast and impressively fluid for a PB game - but it's less "deliberate" than Gothic 1 and 2, which makes it feel slightly chaotic.

For some reason, they went from slooooow reload on the secondary weapons to instant reload. Maybe some middle-ground could have been investigated here, though I admit it's enjoyable not having to wait all the time.

I'm happy with it, though it does seem too easy and somewhat exploitable. But if you don't "game it" - it's a decent enough challenge on Hard setting.

That said, I'm not that far into the game.

Maybe JDR can give more details - and maybe the game changes later on.

DArtagnan said:

The reason I compare it with Witcher 2 is because of the fast pace, free dodging and the way you automatically close in on your enemy when attacking. You don't have to stand close to your target. In that way, it feels VERY much like Witcher 2. Also, you tend to accidentally target the wrong enemy too often, much like Witcher 2.

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This makes me sad as I liked the combat in PB games far more than the W2, which I just couldn't like despite repeated attempts.

SonOfCapiz said:

This makes me sad as I liked the combat in PB games far more than the W2, which I just couldn't like despite repeated attempts.

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To each his own

I quite liked combat in W2 - and I found combat in Risen 2 to be pretty bad. Risen was good, if a bit limited, in terms of melee, but underwhelming in terms of ranged combat.

Gothic 3 was a mess, as we all know.

Gothic and Gothic 2 had excellent combat for their time - but I think it would be too slow and dull for a modern game.

I won't know until I've played Risen 3 a lot more - but, at this point, it looks like it might be the best combat of any PB game. But that will depend on balance.

What I loved about Gothic was the harsh beginning and how you were forced to learn the patterns of enemies. But it was fair about it - and you could master it as the game evolved.

I've encountered several enemies in Risen 3 that have obvious patterns that you can adapt to. So, it bodes well for a combat system that has been thought through - and not just thrown together.

But, as I said, it's too early at this point to say anything for sure.

Definitely you have to impose self-limitations rules in combat. I, for once, don't use henchmen and avoid instantaneous healing potions. If you do, it is basically 'God Mode' and you cannot die. Ever. Unless you do something very stupid, like jumping off a cliff to avoid a charging enemy.

Rather than that, I am having a blast (42 hrs in), but I enjoyed all the Gothic / Risen games. I am enjoying this one more than Risen 2, maybe the same as Risen 1.

Exploration, as said, is the best part and very rewarding. I often go off the main path just to see if I can get some awesome secrets or weapons.

I also like the gnomes, actually. Maybe because I am a child at heart.

So i take it i should choose to be a mage.. i can't say i liked the melee combat much in this game (like expected). Can you summon creatures to fight for you?

mbpopolano24 said:

Definitely you have to impose self-limitations rules in combat. I, for once, don't use henchmen and avoid instantaneous healing potions.

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You're obviously not playing on Hard.

The combat is garbage. I turned it down to Easy mode, I'm enjoying the exploration and story.

watched some gameplay vids and it really does seem like combat is very easy despite being on hard mode. The player could just let the henchmen tank for and even kill the creatures. To be fair it was the early part of the game. Still, in previous PB games, early levels were deadly. Deadlier even since combat eventually became about figuring out enemy attack patterns. Once you had that, you could fight most one-on-one battles unscathed.

Graphics also not impressive from what I've seen and the terrain details are hard to make out. One guy found it hard to pick stuff up except by "scanning" the ground until the item text popped up lol.

SonOfCapiz said:

watched some gameplay vids and it really does seem like combat is very easy despite being on hard mode. The player could just let the henchmen tank for and even kill the creatures. To be fair it was the early part of the game. Still, in previous PB games, early levels were deadly. Deadlier even since combat eventually became about figuring out enemy attack patterns. Once you had that, you could fight most one-on-one battles unscathed.

Graphics also not impressive from what I've seen and the terrain details are hard to make out. One guy found it hard to pick stuff up except by "scanning" the ground until the item text popped up lol.

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You can let your companions tank as long as you're dishing out damage while they're doing it. Your companions are not invulnerable, and they'll eventually get knocked out if you don't help them.

The graphics are a mixed bag. The NPC models aren't very good especially when it comes to facial animation. I think the monsters look really good though, and the foliage and water are easily the best I've seen in a DirectX 9 game.

SonOfCapiz said:

Graphics also not impressive from what I've seen and the terrain details are hard to make out. One guy found it hard to pick stuff up except by "scanning" the ground until the item text popped up lol.

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This is just partially true. Generally, visuals are pretty much awsome and IMO completely outclass Skyrim. Even swimming on waves looks fantastic!

There are a few oddities though, one you've noticed already:

- on my machine it's not true you can't see items on the ground (dunno about lowered settings) but the text popup is an utter crap, it's plain white with almost unnoticable border instead of some bright color with thick black border

- only slight objection one can have on millions miles away distant grass that looks odd as if it's not rendered but instead some old Gothic1 texture is used

- in some areas (mostly caves) characters get some thick black border for no reason when it comes to PC and precise monitors: we're not playing it on TV, we're not playing it on consoles and thus this decision to put this crappyness also on PC version is a fail

- visuals where you can't see practically anything while under any waterfall never got properly made in any PB game, R3 is not an exception

- beaches with "postnuclear explosion" visuals some people reported are not happening on my side, yes, I do get very bright colors during the daytime on beaches, but it doesn't differ from a real beach under the bright sun (I live near such one)

[EDIT]
JDR, grrrrr