Risen - Risen Preview @ PC Gameplay

Belgian mag PC Gameplay got an exclusive Risen preview in their latest issue. EDV was kind enough to send us a couple of translated excerpts:

NONLINEAR LINEARITY
[…] Certain dangerous areas will only become accessible after completing an important (main)quest, which will, like in Gothic 1 and 2, start a new chapter. So more story and player control, but won’t this mean less freedom? Piranha Bytes says no because there is an elaborate quest structure with choices which may have huge consequences. You’ll have to decide in the first few hours which group to join: the rebels or the inquisition? Depending on your choice you’ll have a different story which a completely different ending. This however won’t mean you’ll not be able to get quests or trade with the other side. In the volcano stronghold you’ll find not only inquisition troops but also clerics which are masters in magic and have their own plans for the excavations.
The side quests you can undertake can, like the main quests, be solved in different ways and can unlock different story elements. There is for example a quest where you’ll have to solve a murder in the inquisition headquarters. Investigation of the crime scene will point in the direction of a smuggling gang. Which raises the question who to trust? How do they even get their goods past the guards? And wouldn’t it be more interesting to join the gang instead of playing Sherlock Holmes? Many questions and opportunities all from one quest. The developer made about 300 of those extensive quests which will all be more elaborate than those of Gothic 3. Watch yourself however, cause Risen has a dynamic reputation system which will not only keep track of your reputation within a certain community, but also from individual people. Diplomacy and choosing sides in an important part of the game. Not to worry however, because there are several possibilities to work with people from all sides, so you’ll never end up the loner no one will talk to.

HACK & LAUGH
[…] The combat system in Risen is quite instinctive and allows the player with timing and a bit of skill to make spectacular fighting combos. By building your character you’ll also see a difference in the fighting animation of your character. In the beginning it’ll cost you great strength to pull a bowstring back and you’ll have a short time in which you can aim the bow before the shaking of your hand will make aiming impossible. After learning some more about archery from a master teacher, you’ll be able to shoot in rapid succession and with a steady hand. The animations are that unambiguous you’ll wont get the not very subtle “hit now”-icons like in The Witcher. Besides bow and arrow you’ll be able to wield broadswords, stabbing weapons, axes and clubs. Interesting is the difference the type of weapon will make against a specific enemy. A lightly armored enemy can be killed easily with a crossbow, but a guy with plate armor won’t be bothered by you acupuncture. They will be slower and less agile, which can be exploited with a light sword and a big of running.
Risen isn’t only a Hack-and-Slash festival, because also stealth options are present and are required in many rebels mission. Because the developers didn’t want any flashy interface-elements you’ll have to listen to the comment from the people you’re trying to sneak up on to find out just how invisible you are. A loud “Who lurks there in the dark” or “that’s just the wind blowing through the bushes” can usefully when determining your visibility. The presence of magically trained clerics also means that besides warrior and assassin a career as a wizard can be made. The developer don’t want to give away much but transformation spells will be an more important part of the gameplay than in Gothic 3. Think of transforming into a crazy chicken to get to an area you can’t get to walking. Besides offensive classics like the fireball you’ll also be able to use tactical spells like giving the target a laugh he can’t get out of. This is not only handy to ease people you’ve offend but also to distract a guard while you sneak by.

More information.

Certainly sounds like they're on the right track, but it seems to me they might be getting over ambitious again..? Over 300 extensive quests, with multiple endings and various effects on your reputation? Would be amazing if they actually pulled it off, but I'd rather they cut down a bit on the content than get fried like they did after the release of Gothic 3 (I really liked G3, but I don't think PBs reputation can take another punch like that).

That sounds absolutely amazing, I hope they're not being overly optimistic.

Though i understand Maylander's concern, i think chapter changes will keep much better (tighter) control than we saw in G3. This was proven in G1 etc' - where the Ch-Ch control was exemplary. Main quest triggers can be 'held' yet cannot 'leek through' a Ch-Ch gate yet at the same time can allow for the 'controlled leakage' of side quest progression. Of course this would have been a great asset if implemented in G3 because then the gamer would be able see their own progress portrayed in an incremental and therefore "realised" manner. This would allow for a gamer to revert to a previous chapter saved game to self correct any quest failure or correction rather than a trial and error guessing game.

From what i can 'see' of Risen, everything is looking great and the upcoming RPC will hopefully reveal a lot more info's.

Originally Posted by Wulf
From what i can 'see' of Risen, everything is looking great and the upcoming RPC will hopefully reveal a lot more info's.

Yeah, plus from what we hear on the WoR boards it will be playable by fans at RPC. So where bound to get a lot of feedback.

Indeed Wulf, I agree that chapters will make it easier. The size of the world also seems more manageable, which should give the team time to make the world as detailed as G1 and 2.

I guess we'll know more soon.

Sounds very promising, like what G3 should have been. Let's hope they don't overreach this time.

I personally will wait no less than 3 months before even considering it given the recent Gothic games disasters.

Originally Posted by BillSeurer
I personally will wait no less than 3 months before even considering it given the recent Gothic games disasters.

If by Gothic games disasters you mean Forsaken Gods then you should know that Piranhas had nothing to do with it,if you're talking about G3 then I guess your feelings are more or less justifiable.
Overall the worst word I can find to describe Risen is "promising".

I am drooling after reading that.

If PB can deliver what they promise, gothic will look like sketch of the masterpiece.
Finally maybe a game that can nock me of my feet like G1 did the first time when I played it.

Now more than ever this is sounding like a return to the superb original idea that was Gothic.

Yep and an evolution of that idea too (a true spiritual successor if you like).
Lets hope they can pull this off.

At least now they have a full array of experiences of what can go very right (G2)
or very wrong (G3) and a fuller grasp of their (PBs) limits too…

Originally Posted by Kostaz
if you're talking about G3 then I guess your feelings are more or less justifiable.

While I love G3 and gave it a very positive review, it is hard to argue that the initial launch was anything short of a 'complete mess'. And I think PB owns quite a bit of that - as well as developing a codebase that made patches huge and unwieldy.

You would think that at this point folks would realize that a game this complex can never be fully QA'ed. It is not like this is an FPS. Hopefully it will be in a much better state than G3, but lets face it there will be patches. There are always patches.

I don't mind patches, as long as they solve things
and tha the release game doesn't feel like a beta

To return to what squeek said:it doesn't sound like a return but even better than what G1 and G2 + notr were

Originally Posted by Kostaz
If by Gothic games disasters you mean Forsaken Gods then you should know that Piranhas had nothing to do with it,if you're talking about G3 then I guess your feelings are more or less justifiable.
Overall the worst word I can find to describe Risen is "promising".

I bought Gothic 3 right after it came out because I loved G2 but I set it aside after playing a couple hours because of the stupid, totally NEEDLESS changes they made to the combat system and the technical problems it had at release. Way later I patched it all up and actually played it all the way through. It was still very disappointing because I could see they had some good ideas but it just never all gelled as a whole and seemed unfinished PLUS there were still all kinds of technical problems.

This may sound negative, but I have long given up on taking these preview articles seriously. I wait till the game gets released and a few reviews other than those first day praise parties come in. If the game then still holds up to expectations, I'm positively surprised .

In this sense, I'll wait and see .

I still have the same question. Can I be a pure mage? Not a warrior with spells… a mage, that mostly uses his staff as a walking aid (and increase magic powers of course). In Oblivion I could, in the Gothics and the Witcher I couldn't. Can I do it in Risen?

Originally Posted by wolfing
I still have the same question. Can I be a pure mage? Not a warrior with spells… a mage, that mostly uses his staff as a walking aid (and increase magic powers of course). In Oblivion I could, in the Gothics and the Witcher I couldn't. Can I do it in Risen?

I'm afraid that little is known about the magic system,but I guess we'll have info about it on RPC.