Risen - Review Flood #7

Gorath

Prime Evil
Staff Member
Moderator
Original Sin Donor
Original Sin 2 Donor
Joined
August 30, 2006
Messages
7,830
A couple of interesting articles. The first US major site posted their Risen review, an editor who outs himself as a Gothic fan comes to surprising conclusions, and the French tests show once again that Deep Silver's decision to release a Collector's Edition in le grand nation was right. A lot of high ratings today, but we post them as they come.
  • A couple of snippets from the IGN review: "You'll also find it's quite user-friendly, at least in a relative sense, compared to the studio's more hardcore Gothic games. Still, to any newcomer unaware of the history of Gothic and Piranha Bytes, this is not a game that holds your hand." "To make it even more enjoyable, the irreverent protagonist will often brazenly insult those he's talking to, poking fun at an NPC's inability to solve problems without help, and in the process make light of a genre convention, something longtime role-playing gamers are sure to appreciate." "Whether or not you'll enjoy Piranha Bytes' Risen really depends on what kind of gamer you are. […] If you're not willing to figure some things out for yourself and the idea of freedom of choice doesn't sit well with you, chances are Risen isn't going to mesh well with your gaming sensibilities. If you're a Gothic fan, however, this is an absolute must-buy. If you're familiar with the genre and are looking to take the next step into a mature, well-realized fantasy world, then this is it." - 8.6/10 - "Great" - Editor's Choice Award (PC)
  • GameReport.de tests Risen in a HD-video.
  • The author at GameObserver reveals Gothic 2 was his favourite RPG of all time. "Combat is extremely addictive and very complex. Moves are easily performed, but timing is required to get any use out of them." But surprisingly he concludes "In the end, only the hardcore need apply. Risen is Gothic 1 all over again, and if playing a game this unabashedly oldschool is your idea of a good time, then you’ve found your next purchase. Otherwise, you’d be doing yourself a favor by avoiding it entirely." Interesting read. - 86% (PC)
  • Pro-Gamers.fr says, with the help of Babelfish: "What is really gratifiant in Risen, it is clearly this feeling to make evolve/move our virtual misadventure slowly but surely. You can cut down as far as you want poisonous wild boars or rats, it will always be necessary to pass by a third anybody to learn from new things, to become stronger, or to improve your dexterity. A concept which approaches much more reality which made already all the force of Gothic and which is of return in Risen." - 9/10 (PC)
  • AceGamez have a generally positive opinion on the XBox 360 conversion: "Thankfully shipping without some kind of half-arsed multiplayer, Risen is the kind of game that will probably get played by fans of the genre but overlooked by everyone else, which is a bloody shame really, as there is a decent game behind the niggles - and one that impresses more often than it disappoints. Though outclassed by Bethesda, outdone by Lionhead and outgunned by Bioware, Piranha Bytes still have enough originality and flare to be counted amongst the better Western RPG developers working today, and if they could just learn to take all the great elements of their back catalogue and ditch the irritating little problems they could possibly follow up Risen with something quite special in the future. For now, though, if you're looking for an involving and absorbing, albeit flawed, hack-n-slash RPG - or even just a little sun, sand, sea and sorcery - Risen's Faranga might just be the destination for you." - 7/10 (XBox 360)
  • The Review on SimJunkies is different than all others posted so far. The author stays very close to the game. Instead of trying to take a pseudo-objective outside view, he takes the reader on a journey through the early parts of Risen. Definitely worth a look. He obviously had a lot of fun: "But I can tell you this, for me, this is probably the best game in the RPG mediveal genre that I have ever played. […] If you only buy one mediveal RPG game this year, you better make sure it is RISEN." - no score (PC)
  • MSXBoxWorld thinks it's hard to recommend Risen: "The visuals don't seem like a big problem[…] as the game looks pretty enough (…)
More information.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
7,830
It seems there were some confusions about the reviews listed in the review floods. The floods are not selections. They include all reviews known to us (or in this case me) published since the last flood. All PC reviews, all XBox 360 reviews, in every language. Nothing is left out, as hard as it is sometimes. ;)

If you want to link to a newsbit please use the Link to this Newsbit option at the bottom right of each newsbit to retrieve a permanent link. News forum posts are limited in space and therefore often incomplete, and the anchors in the news list die after a few days.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
7,830
Unbelievable! :) IGN gave such a sincere score to Risen.
It seems that the game realy managed to touch the editor's heart.

Cheers!
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
143
I actually like the AceGamerz review but it really annoys me when folks say Risen is derivative of Oblivion. That is willfully ignoring the long history of Gothic as a property. Otherwise I like the review.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
3,593
Location
Boston MA
I actually like the AceGamerz review but it really annoys me when folks say Risen is derivative of Oblivion. That is willfully ignoring the long history of Gothic as a property. Otherwise I like the review.

It's less a derivative of Oblivion and much more a derivative of Ultima VII. Though most of their readers (and even probably the reviewer) are too young to have played those games themselves.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
2,897
Location
Oregon
It's less a derivative of Oblivion and much more a derivative of Ultima VII. Though most of their readers (and even probably the reviewer) are too young to have played those games themselves.

Definetely. Gothic 1 was the first game after Ultima VII (9 years after) which had NPC schedules in the same way. Oblivion was released 6 years after Gothic1..

I was really disapointed after Ultima VII, i thought "wow, this NPC thingy sets a new standard, now every RPG will HAVE to use this because its too awsome not to". Yeah right, Bioware and many others still dont give a shit about stuff like that, like 20 years later(!) almost.
 
Joined
Jul 15, 2009
Messages
673
Definetely. Gothic 1 was the first game after Ultima VII (9 years after) which had NPC schedules in the same way. Oblivion was released 6 years after Gothic1..

I was really disapointed after Ultima VII, i thought "wow, this NPC thingy sets a new standard, now every RPG will HAVE to use this because its too awsome not to". Yeah right, Bioware and many others still dont give a shit about stuff like that, like 20 years later(!) almost.


I just recently got a full boxed copy of Ultima IX, I'm thinking of playing it right after Risen.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,136
Location
Florida, US
Ultima IX was kind of underrated, it was a very atmospheric game imo (similar to the Gothic series), but unfortunately no where near Ultima 7, Ultima 7 II or the Ultima Underworld games. But hell yeah, try it :)

Still got my box right here, together with U7, U7II and Ultima Underworld2 next to it :)
 
Joined
Jul 15, 2009
Messages
673
I was really disapointed after Ultima VII, i thought "wow, this NPC thingy sets a new standard, now every RPG will HAVE to use this because its too awsome not to". Yeah right, Bioware and many others still dont give a shit about stuff like that, like 20 years later(!) almost.

There were so many great design elements in U7. I've always thought the same thing, why isn't complex NPC behavior more of a factor in modern day RPGs.

Risen plays very much like a modern, 3d version of U7. Can you imagine what U9 might have been like if PB was involved...
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
2,897
Location
Oregon
I just recently got a full boxed copy of Ultima IX, I'm thinking of playing it right after Risen.

There's enough there in Ultima IX to recomend at least one run through the game. But U9 suffers from one of the same problems G3 suffered from... that is there was so much unrealized potential given the engine, NPCs, and sense of adventure.

In my opinion, the leader designer, Ed del Castillo, really ruined much of the potential of U9. My impression of this man was that he was an EA executive 'plant' in the design team to just get U9 'out the door' as quickly as possible. He was quoted once as saying that 'ultima is not about baking bread' which is true, ultimas were not about baking bread per se, however I knew the game was in trouble because while baking bread is not the focus of any RPG really, the idea of object interaction in Ultima games is part of what made those games so special, especially beginning with U7.

Near the end of the game's development, Castillo stepped out citing 'philosophical' differences with the rest of the design team, and Richard Garriot came back in.

But a lot of time was wasted during the time Castillo was around, something I feel the game never recoverered from.

Wikipedia has a great right up of all this here.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
2,897
Location
Oregon
hehehe the review of simjunkies sounds like music in my ears: Save often or you will suddenly do a lot again and again :p
Reminds me of the unforgiven way the older G's were :p
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
1,086
Location
belgium-genk
There's enough there in Ultima IX to recomend at least one run through the game. But U9 suffers from one of the same problems G3 suffered from… that is there was so much unrealized potential given the engine, NPCs, and sense of adventure.

In my opinion, the leader designer, Ed del Castillo, really ruined much of the potential of U9. My impression of this man was that he was an EA executive 'plant' in the design team to just get U9 'out the door' as quickly as possible. He was quoted once as saying that 'ultima is not about baking bread' which is true, ultimas were not about baking bread per se, however I knew the game was in trouble because while baking bread is not the focus of any RPG really, the idea of object interaction in Ultima games is part of what made those games so special, especially beginning with U7.

Near the end of the game's development, Castillo stepped out citing 'philosophical' differences with the rest of the design team, and Richard Garriot came back in.

But a lot of time was wasted during the time Castillo was around, something I feel the game never recoverered from.

Wikipedia has a great right up of all this here.

Castillo was AFTER Ultima 8, right?

In that way, I think it's safe to assume Garriot had lost his touch with or without Castillo.

However, I came over to PC (from the Amiga platform) just a few years before Ultima 8 was released and I never even saw Ultima 7 until much later.

I bought Ultima 8 and thought it was a brilliant game - since I hadn't really played other Ultimas except for a few on the Amiga and they were generally buggy and performed quite bad, and I was too young for the very first games to make an impression.

I also happened to like Ultima 9 a lot, warts and all, and I thought it was a beautiful game with fantastic dungeons and a decent story.

In the end, my conclusion must be that the last couple of games don't really suck when taken out of the Ultima equation and looked upon as individual games. I know that's impossible for Ultima fans - but at least it means that some peope did enjoy them.
 
Ultima 9 is a fun game, you can definately see where Gothic got its graphics design/world design ideas (partially). It is a cracked gem, but a gem no less. Great dungeons if I remember correctly.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
695
Location
Barva, Costa Rica
Castillo was AFTER Ultima 8, right?

Yes Castillo was not involved with U8. However, Richard Garriot was even less involved with U8 than he was with U9.

Sidenote: At one time I was facinated with Richard Garriotts rise to prominance in the PC RPG gaming world. I've bought most books about him where he talks about the Ultima series extensivley, what went on during development and so on. If you want references I can take a look around my house to find the books again and post the titles here.

I bought Ultima 8 and thought it was a brilliant game…

If you take U8 in a vacuum, it was definatley one of the better games available for the PC at that time. But for the fans (that'd be me), it really felt like a rushed and stripped-down U7.

Take Risen for example. Most of us here have played G1 and G2. There is this sort of implied idea that the design elements that most define G1 and G2 will be present in Risen… and then the very next thing fans will look to are any great design elements that are new. Had Risen been released without a great number of design elements from G1 and G2 AND at the same time really not bring much in the way of something new, most fans would be dissapointed. However, Risen might still be considered a good game by others who had never played G1 or G2.

This was how a lot of us felt about U8. It was a good game but no where near the brilliance of U7.

I also happened to like Ultima 9 a lot, warts and all, and I thought it was a beautiful game with fantastic dungeons and a decent story.

I played U9 twice. Once vanilla and once with some community patches installed. So needless to say I liked the game. And U9 did make some U7-ish come backs as well.

However, the story was really butchered. Way too many things popped up with U9 that were incosistent with the prior history of the series. This really wouldn't be detectable to newcomers however.

Another thing about U9 which was a bummer is that it wasn't nearly as free-form as past Ultimas. That go where you want when you want feeling just wasn't really there with U9.

But like I said, there were enough good points to U9 to warrant two complete play throughs by me.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
2,897
Location
Oregon
Another thing about U9 which was a bummer is that it wasn't nearly as free-form as past Ultimas. That go where you want when you want feeling just wasn't really there with U9.

It's been a while, but my impression of U9 was that it was completely lacking freedom, pretty much linear. I was extremely disappointed in that game and I really tried to like it. Performance woes didn't help. I still have an unopened "fixed" version that they mailed to everyone who bought the game. Your comments make me think it might be worth another look with some community patches.

Regarding NPC schedules, didn't Fallout have this?

On topic: Risen is the best RPG I've played since The Witcher. Actually I think I like it better, as much as I love The Witcher.
 
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
510
Location
This particular universe
It's been a while, but my impression of U9 was that it was completely lacking freedom, pretty much linear.

U9 didn't completely totally lack freedom. There is a little there... emphasis on 'little.'

There's still a good little game to be experienced with U9. If you never played it, you might give it a try now. Should play real zippy on modern PCs.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
2,897
Location
Oregon
There's still a good little game to be experienced with U9. If you never played it, you might give it a try now. Should play real zippy on modern PCs.


That *should* be the case, but can you believe it STILL doesn't run all that great?

Anyways, from what little I played so far, it seemed like I could go anywhere I wanted. What makes it so linear, as you guys are claiming?
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,136
Location
Florida, US
Ultima 9 was by far not as bad as the reviewers made it. They were just disappointed it was no Ultima in the classic sense. It's actually quite a good game.

Don't forget to apply the fan patches! They absolutely necessary. There's also a full walkthrough somewhere. U9 is a long game.

I didn't play much of Ultima 8 (aka Super Avatar Brothers), but a close friend of mine swears it's the best game ever. Including all Ultimas back to number 3, because he has played them all.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
7,830
Back
Top Bottom