Risen 2 - First Screens!

Some thought regarding the setting: I dig the pirate theme, but to be honest, I am not sure I am happy to see it this prominently in Risen 2. Maybe, if they wanted to make a pirate-themed game (and I admit, we only have these screens and a few forum comments to go on), making a separte IP of it would have been better.
I didn't care about the setting/backstory of Risen all that much (temples popping out of the earth? Ancient evil awakens? Gimme a break!) until the end, when some of the story about the titans became more clear, we set a somewhat shady character (Ursegor) loose, and so on. The thing is, these are high fantasy themed cliffhangers, and I think they will somehow be in the way of doing a great pirate themed game. Likewise, while neat in itself, introducing gunpowder now creates a discontinuity - I am sure you can explain it away somehow, but why bother, if you could just create a different setting and run with it, without such constraints or akwardness?
 
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GhanBuriGhan said:
Some thought regarding the setting: I dig the pirate theme, but to be honest, I am not sure I am happy to see it this prominently in Risen 2. Maybe, if they wanted to make a pirate-themed game (and I admit, we only have these screens and a few forum comments to go on), making a separte IP of it would have been better.
I didn't care about the setting/backstory of Risen all that much (temples popping out of the earth? Ancient evil awakens? Gimme a break!) until the end, when some of the story about the titans became more clear, we set a somewhat shady character (Ursegor) loose, and so on. The thing is, these are high fantasy themed cliffhangers, and I think they will somehow be in the way of doing a great pirate themed game. Likewise, while neat in itself, introducing gunpowder now creates a discontinuity - I am sure you can explain it away somehow, but why bother, if you could just create a different setting and run with it, without such constraints or akwardness?
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I see what you mean.

It is a somewhat obvious choice - and to me, it seems a bit too obvious.

Then again, I'm a huge fan of well-done pirate settings, and I can't seem to get enough of them.

It's possible that they've been itching to do something more "piratey" since the Gothics, and Risen 2 does present a good opportunity for them, seeing as how the game world is a bunch of islands.

That said, I'm more worried about PB going casual on us - as that's the overall direction of the entire industry, as we all know.

Risen was already a lot more accessible in terms of combat balance at the outset, and I don't remember having much trouble as I progressed through the content. It was kinda the reverse, as the later stages were much harder in terms of combat than the initial stages were. That's the wrong approach, in my opinion.

I hope they don't abandon their winning formula of being a weak-ass at first, so you can enjoy your path to power that much more.

Still, even so, their ability to craft detailed worlds with worthwhile exploration is good enough for me, even without that Gothic "toughness".

I'm really looking forward to it, and I don't feel like speculating too much on the downsides at this point :)

I have a secret wish for them to implement controllable pirate ships :)

Sort of like Sea Dogs 2 as it should have been done.
 
I agree with GhanBuriGhan's suggestion that perhaps a seperate IP would have been better if PB really wants to focus on the pirate theme.

Or perhaps a spin-off story that takes place in the same world, featuring one of the pirates from Risen. Maybe someone like Gregorious Steelbeard, who is repeatedly mentioned, but never encountered.

My guess is that Pirahna Bytes is too small of a developer to handle more than one IP at a time right now.
 
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I think they know that they couldn't do same old again, so they took a bet on something new!
 
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I guess the difference is that I can't get enough of the same thing from PB :)

Even though, I gotta admit, it's about time they went for something more. Risen was just too conservative.

Not that I blame them, though, based on G3.

Bioware keep selling more and more millions, and yet they still feel compelled to dumb down their designs.

That's a bit harder for me to appreciate - but then again, they're clearly more about the money than PB.
 
Risen had the best combat of all Piranha Bytes games. There was too much of it (as in most RPGs), but especially melee was handled exceptionally well.
 
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Yeah, I also think Risen had fantastic melee combat - and I agree they went too far in terms of how much of it there was towards the end of the game.

But they really need to give the player more options in how to build their characters, and stealth is definitely an area where they could learn a thing or two from games like Oblivion or Thief.
 
The main issue I had with Risen's combat was the lock-on system. Most reviews pointed that out as a flaw and they were right in my opinion. I never played a mage in Risen though, maybe that feels better.
 
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Tragos said:
Not exactly crap, it was horrible , even oblivion had better combat.
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I doubt many would agree that Risen had "horrible" combat. Pirahna Bytes has always done combat well imo (excluding Gothic 3), and I think Risen was their best game so far in that aspect.
 
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GhanBuriGhan said:
The first Oblivion "screens" were done like that, rendered in game assets, touched up a little.
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The first Drakensang screens as well, especially that of the "Junk Golem" ...
But - that might have been painted, too …
 
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Confirmed for 360 and PS3:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-02-21-risen-2-confirmed-for-playstation-3

Unfortunately, I think Wizarbox is handling it. They did the first Risen port, which did not turn out well, and also the clunky Venetica port. I'm beginning to think of them as "Wizz in our box." Oh well, perhaps third time is the charm. Maybe they've learned something from the negative feedback, or perhaps PB will provide more oversight.
 
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Interesting. Really a PS3 version too. Where did you read that Wizarbox is handling it?

I would speculate that there is a huge correlation between available budget and port quality.
 
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We play the hero from Risen 1. However, he is now a broken and disillusioned person who turned to alcohol. A comparison is made to John McLane in "Die Hard 3".
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*Groan*…:disappointed:

I hope that's a misquote. PB had always done a good job of avoiding those types of cliches in the past.
 
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Is that a cliche in the RPG field? I know it's a cliche for film and in FPS games, but have there been a lot of RPGs with alcoholic leads?

I kind of like the idea. After all, you're supposed to start powerless and at the bottom, and it's better than the "special," heroic origins we often get.

First quest: pee in a cup.
 
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