Risen - PC Review @ Eurogamer

The thing I liked about Risen was the way that it nailed the atmosphere in Harbor Town perfectly. It really felt depressing walking around between the fugitives who were selling their last belongings in order to buy food.

That, and the fact that it was short enough for me to actually finish it. Usually, I get too bored because the later stages are more of the same (all those Oblivion gates), or my character gets too overpowered, or the last fights are way too difficult (liberating towns in Gothic 3), but this was perfect!
 
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I wonder if I'm a 'Risen apologist'? ;-) I enjoyed the game despite whatever quibbles I had. Yes, it's not incredibly novel or genre-shattering. But the setting was engrossing, the landscape and atmosphere enjoyable and the gameplay more than adequate for me. Clearly not everyones cup of tea - but it does seem like the reviewer had an axe to grind and was determined to find points to justify his view. As for the novelty aspect: a game does NOT have to redefine the genre to be enjoyable - I am very critical in general, but while I have found tons of other derivative titles totally off-putting, something kept me going on this one and *enjoying* it. It's a pity the reviewer wasn't able to experience that. I wonder if he would have had a different opinion if he'd only played the PC version without being subjected to the questionable Xbox port?
 
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JDR13 said:
So just forget about being non-biased, or having any kind of journalistic integrity, right?
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You have missed the point. :)

Let's turn the tables a bit: what do you think about the absolutely hateful rantings on Bioware's/Bethesda's titles by our friends, the RPGCodex guys?
Yes, I know, those articles are far from the "professional reviews" we, gamers expect from Eurogamer/IGN/Gamespot — but let's notice: these are still evocative, comprehensive recommendations what to buy and what to avoid. Hell, even I refused to play Oblivion for YEARS because of the bashing it suffered on RPGCodex.

Luckily for me, my professional interest is rendering outdoor environs, so eventually I gave it a try… and realized how good the game is. Not an RPG per Troika's definition, but a great game nevertheless.
 
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duerer said:
You have missed the point. :)

Let's turn the tables a bit: what do you think about the absolutely hateful rantings on Bioware's/Bethesda's titles by our friends, the RPGCodex guys?
Yes, I know, those articles are far from the "professional reviews" we, gamers expect from Eurogamer/IGN/Gamespot — but let's notice: these are still evocative, comprehensive recommendations what to buy and what to avoid. Hell, even I refused to play Oblivion for YEARS because of the bashing it suffered on RPGCodex.
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No I didn't, my comment had nothing to do with your point. :)

And I wouldn't consider the RPGCodex guys our "friends". Those guys are on the opposite end of the spectrum. They're an extremist group in the crpg world.
 
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booboo said:
I wonder if I'm a 'Risen apologist'? ;-) I enjoyed the game despite whatever quibbles I had. Yes, it's not incredibly novel or genre-shattering. But the setting was engrossing, the landscape and atmosphere enjoyable and the gameplay more than adequate for me. Clearly not everyones cup of tea - but it does seem like the reviewer had an axe to grind and was determined to find points to justify his view. As for the novelty aspect: a game does NOT have to redefine the genre to be enjoyable - I am very critical in general, but while I have found tons of other derivative titles totally off-putting, something kept me going on this one and *enjoying* it. It's a pity the reviewer wasn't able to experience that. I wonder if he would have had a different opinion if he'd only played the PC version without being subjected to the questionable Xbox port?
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I don't want to push this too hard because I did enjoy the game but look at what you wrote: "gameplay more than adqeuate...". Adequate? Damned by faint praise.

Gothic II (especially +NotR) is a 9/10 for me. Risen is enjoyable but nowhere near as good. Evocative of the same style, yes. But nowhere near as good. Anyone want to argue that? This review isn't the antichrist like some of you are suggesting.
 
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Dhruin said:
Gothic II (especially +NotR) is a 9/10 for me. Risen is enjoyable but nowhere near as good. Evocative of the same style, yes. But nowhere near as good. Anyone want to argue that? This review isn't the antichrist like some of you are suggesting.
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Nobody (in their right mind) is going to argue that Risen is as good as Gothic+NotR. But seriously, Risen is not a 6/10 game just because it doesn't pander to the mainstream masses.

I also think booboo might have a point about the reviewer playing the Xbox version first, he did seem like he had an axe to grind.
 
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"I also think booboo might have a point about the reviewer playing the Xbox version first, he did seem like he had an axe to grind." - JDR13

Ya I agree on that.

A few of the reviewers comments did seem like a direct response to people who called him out on his first review. He seemed personally involved in giving the game a bad score. To shake his tongue at people who might have slammed him for his XBOX review you know?
 
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For what it's worth, I just finished Risen the other day and thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. It had moments of frustration, but I'd give it an 8.5/10 score, but that's just my opinion.
 
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JDR13 said:
But seriously, Risen is not a 6/10 game just because it doesn't pander to the mainstream masses.
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No, but it might a 6/10 game to a mainstream site because of serious flaws that don't overcome the hardcore-oriented positives for them.

Anyway, I'm not here to apologise for Eurogamer - I just think we're being a little hypocritical. This game from other developers would get criticised for some obvious flaws, and many members would write diatribes about the media being whores if the scores were high.

For me - if G2 is a 9/10 - there is no way this is only 1/2 or 1 point lower. Put the other way, if this is 8.5/10, that must make a game without the same flaws an 11/10.
 
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Dhruin said:
Anyway, I'm not here to apologise for Eurogamer - I just think we're being a little hypocritical. This game from other developers would get criticised for some obvious flaws, and many members would write diatribes about the media being whores if the scores were high.
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I don't think asking for an honest, non-biased review is being hypocritical. Risen gets a 6/10, but Oblivion is a 10/10 in their eyes?? So where were the flaws in Oblivion while they were reviewing that title? I can't see any justification for that kind of selective scoring.



Dhruin said:
For me - if G2 is a 9/10 - there is no way this is only 1/2 or 1 point lower. Put the other way, if this is 8.5/10, that must make a game without the same flaws an 11/10.
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That depends, what do you consider "average"? 8/10 is only 80%, I think Risen is worthy of that. Gothic 1&2 were both 9+ in my eyes, but they also got shit on by most of these so-called critics.

If I was to convert the 1-10 scale to %, then Gothic 2+NotR would be a 95% (imo) compared to Risen's 80%. That's a substantial 15% difference, and one that seems about right to me.
 
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An opinion expressed in numerical form is odd. How exactly does someone rate their feelings about a game with a number and based on what? Doctors have a pain chart for patients to express how much pain their patient is in (You gotta love that show House :)), but it isn't as simple as that for reviews. Forget all the technical nonsense. Just have one universal chart: 0 if you were bored to tears and 10 if you had a blast throughout the whole game.:lol:

Silly ramblings aside, I hardly ever pay attention to the number. You have to read the review to understand what the context that the number was based on. The context from this reviewer tells me he does not like the kinds of games I do.

That's all good because maybe he loves flight simulators and I can't stand those. Everyone is different, you just need to find out how different before you take their opinion seriously. On the otherhand, he could be just an ass who didn't like playing the Xbox 360 version and wanted to drag the PC version down as well.:evil: Personally, I could give a rat's behind on what this guy says now or in the future.
 
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JDR13 said:
That depends, what do you consider "average"? 8/10 is only 80%, I think Risen is worthy of that. Gothic 1&2 were both 9+ in my eyes, but they also got shit on by most of these so-called critics.

If I was to convert the 1-10 scale to %, then Gothic 2+NotR would be a 95% (imo) compared to Risen's 80%. That's a substantial 15% difference, and one that seems about right to me.
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I would actually rate it a bit above that (not to be apologetic or anything). I really like it
but it does desperately need more of everything after chapter 2 (3 and 4 are far too dry even for traditional gothic standards).

I would put it in the same (or a bit below) level as G2 prior to NOTR which left a lot to
be desired too but was still one my favorites…

Ok PB, now where is my addon ?
 
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JDR13 said:
I don't think asking for an honest, non-biased review is being hypocritical. Risen gets a 6/10, but Oblivion is a 10/10 in their eyes?? So where were the flaws in Oblivion while they were reviewing that title? I can't see any justification for that kind of selective scoring.
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How can you not see the justification for selective scoring when you're embracing that? You're saying that because they stuffed up a review three years ago, everything else has to be scaled up to compensate. Reviewing shouldn't be about landing points to justify some perceived slight by Oblivion.

Anyway, I'll leave it at that, other than to say I'm sure we'll revisit this topic as soon as someone accuses the media of overscoring Dragon Age.
 
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Unfinished games full of bags and crashes get a -5 before starting to evaluate concept, art, gameplay etc. Gothic 3 was this case.

I don't get how Risen is not mainstream , it introduced nothing new staying in the successful path of it's predecessors
 
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Lack of innovation doesn't make something mainstream. Risen isn't mainstream because there is little hand-holding. From instant travel, to quest compasses, to lack of scaling, to making players work to solve some quests - it's more rounded than their previous games but a long way from a genuine mainstream title.
 
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Risen is definitely not a pure mainstream title.

It's not a pure enthusiast title either, so I'd place it somewhere in the middle.
 
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