Risen 2 - First Look @ GameSpot

Did you play the console port of Risen?

I played the game on the PC. But I also bought the Xbox 360 version for when the day comes when we are all using Windows 382 and my copy of Risen won't work on the computer anymore without having to research day and night on the net how to get an age old game to work on contemporary hardware - I do this for my favorite games now, I buy a console counterpart when they're available.

I did fire it up on the Xbox 360 and played probably a good 10 hours. You are correct, the visuals and framerate are no where near the PC. At the same time, having lived through the era of Atari 2600 Pac Man, I could have still enjoyed the game on the Xbox 360, because my focus on gameplay is like a bloodhound's focus on sniffing out the bad guy… the gameplay elements that made Risen so fun on the PC are still there on the Xbox 360, it just doesn't look as nice and has much lower framerates, but still, imho, playable.
 
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Oh, I'm the same -- I generally can look past poor graphics to enjoy great gameplay, and Risen was one of my favorite RPGs last year. I'm just saying that it's a little unfair to make this about console owners (even if your generalizations have a ring of truth). They did get a badly compromised port.
 
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Oh, I'm the same — I generally can look past poor graphics to enjoy great gameplay, and Risen was one of my favorite RPGs last year. I'm just saying that it's a little unfair to make this about console owners (even if your generalizations have a ring of truth). They did get a badly compromised port.

I agree the Risen port could have been a lot better.

But my comment is more than just about the Risen port. While it is certainly annecdotal, I have been lurking dozens if not hundreds of gaming forums for a very long time now. And game sites that are primarily about console games are populated with forums totally obsessed about graphics.

That said, I was quite surprised that the first newsbits for Risen 2 from American gaming sites are IGN and Gamespot - both are a bit hostile toward Euro RPGs.
 
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Ok. I heard your comment as being about console owners reaction to Risen, not about their general style. Fair enough.
 
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I did fire it up on the Xbox 360 and played probably a good 10 hours. You are correct, the visuals and framerate are no where near the PC. At the same time, having lived through the era of Atari 2600 Pac Man, I could have still enjoyed the game on the Xbox 360, because my focus on gameplay is like a bloodhound's focus on sniffing out the bad guy… the gameplay elements that made Risen so fun on the PC are still there on the Xbox 360, it just doesn't look as nice and has much lower framerates, but still, imho, playable.

There is no "the" Risen XBox version. The Euro version did not get the graphical updates, AFAIK. The reason given was that MS does not allow such a huge patch. So the US version already looks clearly better than the one released in ROW.

It's quite probable the conversion for Risen 2 will once again be outsourced. If you assume the chosen team is competent, the limiting factor is the budget Deep Silver is willing to allocate. Which is exactly the reason why "big" RPGs can deliver a great experience on all platforms.
 
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That said, I was quite surprised that the first newsbits for Risen 2 from American gaming sites are IGN and Gamespot - both are a bit hostile toward Euro RPGs.

They're the world's biggest gaming websites. They practically on principle demand to be in the first wave of previews. If a publisher ignores this he risks the site allocates its always limited resources to coverage on other games. (It's probably not said so openly, but this is what it comes down to.)
 
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What's ROW ?

"Rest Of The World" ?
 
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Yes.

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In addition to featuring beautiful water effects (which allow for underwater vegetation and darting schools of fish),
Guess that's what the underwater rendering was about. Diving sounds unlikely now.
 
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Dear Green Place
There is no "the" Risen XBox version.

I wasn't aware that the U.S. version of Risen on the Xbox 360 was different. Even so, its visuals and framerate are lacking compared to the PC (again, US DVD PC version of Risen). Thanks for the insight.
 
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Guess that's what the underwater rendering was about. Diving sounds unlikely now.

Apparently PB has already stated that there will be no swimming or diving in Risen 2. Disappointing to say the least, but it doesn't lessen my enthusiasm about the game in general.
 
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So, um, a pirate rpg where pirates can't swim?

You would think this would be a key part of the game since we are going to be on islands.
 
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Apparently PB has already stated that there will be no swimming or diving in Risen 2. Disappointing to say the least, but it doesn't lessen my enthusiasm about the game in general.
Disappointing is probably the correct word. Guess we'll have to rule it out until their next engine.
 
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Dear Green Place
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