Risen - Review Flood #4

Things are slowing down over the weekend. Only 11 Risen reviews today. Surprisingly several sites are quite fond of the XBox 360 version.

• GamerSyndrome tested both versions. "My final judgment on Risen is – a true masterpiece and one of the few games that deserve wasting your money on. Especially if you like action RPG’s and great stories." - 4.5/5
• VGSensation likes the XBox 360 port: "Once you get over how 'old-school' this game really is, it's an enjoyable game […]. If you need a breath of fresh air or just a game that game pass hours and hours and hours of immersive gameplay, Risen is your 2009 choice." "Visually the game is just about par […] though this takes nothing away from the core gameplay." - 84%
• Spanish site VandalOnline gives the XBox version even 8.5/10. They call the visuals solid and mention a couple of minor bugs. "Accessible to the inexperienced player, it will be deep for the veteran and enormously attractive for both as soon as the first passages in the game are [traversed]."
• Wonderwallweb's short article is less generous: "Risen is a big disappointment, it feels half finished and therefore quite broken, if you can persevere then there is a decent RPG underneath, however I get the feeling that only the hardcore may find this out." - 5.8/10 (XBox)
• GameCaptain.de says "Newbies will get an immensely entertaining RPG, which lacks the big story but compensates it by a tremendously intense atmosphere and original quests." - 89% (PC)
• French Clubic.com thinks Risen is "bon" and explains in colourful language "Le titre de Pyranha Bytes oscille entre grande liberté et fort dirigisme, entre réalisme et fantaisie, entre influence des choix sur la suite des événements et séquences fortement scriptées, sans jamais prendre franchement parti." They conclude (transl.) "Risen is a demanding title which requires to progress intelligently and with patience in its immersiv and interactive universe." Interesting article. (PC)
• Everything for Gamers rates it 8.2/10 (PC I think)
• GameOn.co.uk considers Risen a complete failure. It seems though that the author misunderstood a couple of things and especially the "pick up a stick and mash the A button until their dead" battles and the "infuriating" levelling system asked a bit too much of her. - 4/10 (XBox)
• GamesExtreme is neither enthusiastic nor disappointed: 7.5/10 "Despite those annoying bugs and some short comings, Risen is a pretty solid RPG that deserves at least a place on your shelf." (XBox)
• Areagames.de taunts that Risen shipwrecks. "Risen is a creative and technical declaration of bankruptcy." They criticise the total lack of innovation, the technically hopelessly outdated XBox version and an overall lack of production value. But: "Risen offers all strength & weaknesses of Gothic". (paraphrased) - 6/10 (XBox), 7/10 (PC)
• And finally GamesRadar / PC Zone UK writes Risen is "awesome". "All in all, there’s little to find fault with here unless you have a grudge against the Gothic series, or the occasionally crap voiceovers inherent to such games. Risen is a solid, engrossing and beautifully presented RPG that’s well worth your time and money." - 9/10 (PC)

Thanks to GameBanshee, World of Risen and HiddenX.
More information.

Nice to see some reviews in the 6 to 8 range for the Xbox 360 port. I guess I'll pick it up at a reduced price, during a dry spell next year.

I'm a console-only player, and it's a little embarrassing to read some of these console reviewers. The low scorer here (gameon), in addition to not understanding the combat system, is another one who thinks that PB is stealing from Fable (this time their morality system) and Oblivion ("everything").

Anderson but xbox360 port of this game really sucks and you should buy PC version instead if your PC can run this game smoothly at low settings at least.

I'm temperamentally incapable of playing on the PC. Feels too much like I'm at work. Also, I'm not a tech guy, so all the continual fiddling around with upgrades and such gets on my nerves. So, like I say, I'm a console-only player. Which suits me fine most of the time, although it's a drag on occasions like this.

Originally Posted by Anderson
Also, I'm not a tech guy, so all the continual fiddling around with upgrades and such gets on my nerves.

Just buy a new console priced desktop pc just like you do with the console.

It might work. Just throwing out an idea.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'll stick to the 360. I don't enjoy playing games with a mouse and keyboard, sitting at my PC desk. It just feels unnatural and cramped to me. Sure, I could buy a new one, go through the frustrations of figuring out how to wire it up to play on my big TV, and then play games with the 360 controller instead of k & m, but that's a lot of trouble to go through, to get what I'm already getting right now (well, minus the good version of Risen and some other RPGs, of course). It'd be different if I had oodles of gaming time, but I don't, and so one platform is usually enough for me.

Wow alot of reviews from some pretty minor sites….good game so far though. Graphics don't even bug me on it, they are decent.

Nice to see so many good reviews.. and I won't even waste time that I could have spent playing Risen to read the bad ones.

"A complete failure" and "feeling half finished"?!? Well, each to his/her own - but these are ridiculous statements. After having played for 6 hours I've come across no crashes, no bugs.. and a number of really detailed NPCs and quests. For me, Risen pretty much looks like a true masterpiece at this point. To be fair, from a technical point of view I can understand their criticism of the graphics.. but I really couldn't care less

Luckily some of the other reviews are great. I haven't read them all, but I really liked the "user story" approach that the guy from VGSensation took. Seems like he really "got" what the game is all about - despite him being a X360 gamer

I'm loving it! They seem to have taken many of the criticisms of Gothic 3 on board and improved things like combat. Wolves etc are now no longer objects of fear, but they are still dangerous in a pack - I love the way they try to flank you, by cautiously circling about. nasty ;-) I think combat is somewhat easier - especially with staves - but the enemies also seem to be be able to use better tactics. I tried button-mashing against one strongish character and he killed me in 3 blows. So those who say the combat is all 'button mashing' must interpret that to mean something else - certainly hasn't been my experience. The down side is that fights can take rather a long time - 5 minutes in the case of the character mentioned above which can lead to some frustration.

I seriously have to stop, sit down and think, why there is so much diversity in these reviews. Maybe it to do with rpg's crossing the boundaries and entering into the normal homes of hack and slash button mashers. Where the need to use grey matter is the new requirement and had'nt been envisaged.

Originally Posted by Anderson
Thanks for the suggestion, but I'll stick to the 360. I don't enjoy playing games with a mouse and keyboard, sitting at my PC desk. It just feels unnatural and cramped to me. Sure, I could buy a new one, go through the frustrations of figuring out how to wire it up to play on my big TV, and then play games with the 360 controller instead of k & m, but that's a lot of trouble to go through, to get what I'm already getting right now (well, minus the good version of Risen and some other RPGs, of course). It'd be different if I had oodles of gaming time, but I don't, and so one platform is usually enough for me.

Definitely understandable

Originally Posted by Wulf
I seriously have to stop, sit down and think, why there is so much diversity in these reviews. Maybe it to do with rpg's crossing the boundaries and entering into the normal homes of hack and slash button mashers. Where the need to use grey matter is the new requirement and had'nt been envisaged.

I think it may have something to do with big development houses and publishers and the perceived value they create. No doubt that they have a lot of money, which translates to big production values and polished games, but there's more. There's somehow the assumption that their next game has to be a smash hit, just like all their other big-name releases. I'm not screaming "Corruption! Shame" yet but with so much polish and quality, maybe game reviewers sometimes forget about one other aspect of a good game: sheer unadulterated fun. Overwhelmed by all the features, shiny graphics, technological bug-free marvels and cut-scenes, they may feel that they cannot but award such a game 9/10. But an relatively unknown outfit releasing a game with a distinct old-school feel to it, can't possibly get 9/10's! They'll have to prove themselves first!

It's just a guess, but it seems this way to me. How many times do you see an unknown developer releasing a game that universally gets 9/10 review scores? Is it really so these days that only huge budget equals big review scores?

Originally Posted by Thaurin
It's just a guess, but it seems this way to me. How many times do you see an unknown developer releasing a game that universally gets 9/10 review scores? Is it really so these days that only huge budget equals big review scores?

It is this way.
Huge budget + big publisher or developer -> more hype -> more review resources are assigned. This means either more than one reviewer or enough funding to play for more than only 1 or 2 days. Both works in favour of unoriginal (-> nothing to be misunderstood!) mass market (-> a lot of readers are interested in it) games above a certain quality level (polished games).
Less review resources -> hit or miss -> over ca. 100 reviews certainly several misses.

From GameOn's review:

"Everything looks so dark and dank, when night falls or you go into a cave it’s all so dark, you can’t see anything at all."

Gee, imagine that.

She's right that there aren't that many character models, but what else is new? What RPG doesn't re-use character models over and over??

Saying that those graphics in the screenshots are the same as Final Fantasy X on the PS2 is just insane. (Assuming those are her screenshots.)

Yeah, I wondered about that as well. I think it is a nice touch that it's so dark you need to light a torch or make light using magic means. It's even a loading bar tip! But I guess people don't know about torches' existence if they've never played Gothic.

Risen (standard) is on place #1 in the german game selling charts, the collectors edition is on #3.

source:
http://www.gamestar.de/charts/

Probably. But the GS piece is no proof. Look at it more closely and you'll see.

"Game Related
Game Related

Consoles
Xbox360, PS1, PS2, PSP, Wii, Nintendo 64, DS / lite
Favourite Games
My favorite game of ll time would be Final Fantasy x.
Ifg not guessed by now am a huge FF fan
Also love other games such as Silent hill series, Soul Caliber, Rock Band, Left 4 Dead - has now entered in my favorites list And many many more."

- That's the website info of that girl from GameOn, who gave Risen a 4/10.
There was some kind of preview a few months ago, if I'm not mistaken - I think from the same site( I remember that the author was female), where someone was bashing the game from the teaser trailers alone.

Now, I do not think in any way that EVERYONE should enjoy this game, but some of the negative reviews are written with such incompetency and MALICE, yes - malice towards the game! It's like that game owns them money or has bullied them or something!

Jesus Christ, she even misspelled Soul Calibur in her info……
facepalm.jpg

I am really enjoying the PC version. The open-ended world is a pleasure and reminiscent of Far Cry 2, go anywhere and do anything within the context of the story arcs.

My only minor quibble is that the controls feel a little bit laggy.

By the way, I think that the English localization (on which all other localized versions were based, by the way, including the Polish one I worked on), by Andrew Walsh and Rhianna Pratchett (and others), has much better dialogues than the original German version. It was not just a translation of the German version, but was pretty much written from scratch.

E.g. German version:

Ich bin Bronco … für dich MEISTER Bronco. Ich bin hier, um aus euch Waschweibern echte Kerle zu machen!! Und es gibt keine Ausnahme! Und wenn ich mir dich so ansehe, dann weiß ich, dass das ein Haufen Arbeit wird! Also stell keine blöden Fragen, sondern tu, was ich dir sage!

Direct translation of the German version:

I'm Bronco… that's MASTER Bronco to you. I am here to make real men out of you ladies!! And there are no exceptions! And when I look at you, then I know I have my work cut out for me! Now, stop asking stupid questions and do what I tell you!

Sounds like a stereotypical drill sergeant cliche, with way! too! many! exclamation marks! and CAPITALS!

Reworked English version:

I'm Master Aric. I know what you're thinking. I seem like a 'nice' guy. A decent chap… The reason I can be? Because I know a thousand and one ways to push someone's liver out their nostrils. So, before you think about testing me or disobeying my orders… Consider how much you value your liver.

I like this one a lot more. The reworked English version actually adds some moral ambiguity here and there where there is none in German.