As you may have noticed, some lucky German guys are already playing Risen 3 as the retailers sold it early. One of the users in World of Risen forums did a short résumé after playing 6 hours, which I've tried to translate:
Graphics:
Coherent and partly really pretty. The starting area is really colorful, but on the islands I've visited later on the areas that are ruled by the Shadows are really gloomy. My PC (Core i5 2500 + GTX 770 + 16 GB DDR3 + Vertex 3 SSD) doesn't have troubles with the details and it has run smoothly the whole time. Though sometimes from afar I see monsters being striped, meaning they're visible only partly. If you're moving by ship this time there's no flickering.
Upshot: At least I am satisfied.
Music:
Mostly coherent. I very much like the music in the main menu.
Upshot: good to very good
NPCs:
The women's faces this time are quite different. I haven't discovered any clones so far. In Gothic 3 and Risen 2 the ladies have been too similar for my taste. Among males the degree of relationship seems to be a little higher. I've met several acquaintances from Risen 2. Patty has changed a lot… You can take along one companion, but sometimes a second one for a short time.
Upshot: Good!
Tutorial:
At first I hadn't realized that I actually was in a tutorial. I tried to draw my weapon as I got into a fight. Nothing happened. Other keys didn't work as well. Frustrating! Only when I went into a certain direction a prompt appeared to try one of the keys (which then had been enabled). It would have been better if all keys were available immediately. (There are guys who first look into the manual which keys you should use, and don't want to be taken by the hand like this.)
Upshot: mediocre
Starting area:
Designed very beautifully, but there has been a tube level feeling. You are guided by your first companion (a lady…) in a certain direction. When I zoomed the map out (first I didn't know this was possible) it became obvious that there's more to see. Here it would perhaps have been better if you immediately got a view of the whole area when looking at the map. Then it's obvious that you can take other ways and ignore the companion's requests for the time being.
Upshot: A little less guidance would have been better. But you know that this doesn't apply to everyone.
Quests:
When you've finished the starting area, the world opens. You can now head for all islands and our new companion lists the numerous possibilities. Nice! At this point I really got appetite to get started. On both of the islands I've visited after that there are a lot of NPCs with quests. A feeling of freedom arose in me, something I've missed in Risen 1 and 2.
Upshot: Very good!
Dialogs:
Muuuuuch better than in Risen 2. The NPCs have more to say, the answers are partly extensive, funny and more cunning. You notice that there's a lot of creativity in them. The NPCs partly get real character.
Upshot: Wonderful!
Combat (difficulty: medium):
In the starting area to my surprise I had hardly any trouble with the enemies. I haven't died a single time. Of course that's as well because I was supported by a companion. On one of the other two islands I've visited I died once, because I refrained from blocking. So if you just click wildly, you rather don't win. It needs blocking in time, dodging in fights with powerful enemies and hitting in the right moment to persist. Blocking doesn't always help to avoid damage, which is good. The feature where your hand lights up when you hit harder seems to be totally superfluous to me. Because you clearly see that (the movement of) your arm is delayed before you reach back. That you can dodge by rolling around is ok. But appareantly the hero has hefty endurance! He can roll around all the time without being hit while the companion does the dirty work (and then gets the fame points as well). It's ok that you can't hit your companion any longer, that spares you a lot of trouble. The automatic aiming for enemies is quite useful for blocking when you're against multiple enemies, but when attacking I anytime want to decide MYSELF, which enemy I attack. Unfortunately often that doesn't work.
Upshot: Better than in Risen 2, but not superb.
Bugs:
I haven't come upon real bugs. Only some dead human bodies disappear too quickly in mysterious ways. That really caught my eye in a temple. You come along, find a body, return two minutes later and the body is gone. In the temple's interior you could hear bird songs and dropping water, although I couldn't see water anywhere.
Conclusions:
I like Risen 3 far more than Risen 2. Today I had real troubles quiting the game. It's been quite a long time… that something like this happend to me. The dialogs in this game imho are the best from all of the Risen series. And the nice feeling of freedom and urge of discovery when you can head for all islands after the starting area, and the realization of how many quests are awaiting I haven't had for a long time in a PB game. That the environment including the monsters is in parts quite colorful doesn't disturb me. There are gloomy areas as well and the shadow beings I've encountered so far are all but colorful. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the game.
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