RPG Gamers Rejoice!

[Digit]

A new game from Piranha Bytes, makes of the Gothic series is out soon.

Risen.

They also score major points for setting the trailer to Nightwish.

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

I've been looking at it, but I need to see more on it before I decide to dive into it. It looks ok, but nothing really groundbreaking.

There are a couple other RPGs coming out this year. Dragon Age Origins looks fantastic, I just hope it has a good story and a well developed sandbox world with lots of sides.

Divinity 2 is also coming early next year as is Two Worlds 2. It looks to be a good season for RPGrs.

Then there is always Elder Scrolls 5 which should be announced soon as they stated 2010 for release... *crosses fingers*

 

[Digit]

Wow, I'm so not a fan of Dragon Age: Origins, I think it looks like tacky trash. I'm sort of insulted they are heralding it as a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate. I also think they should just leave sex scenes out of games, because they come across really cheesy and quite uncomfortable, either that or leave them out trailers because they are really out of context - which is potentially why they come across as cheesy and tacky. I don't mind if they are -in- games, they are as much a story telling device as anything, but it seems it needs a lot more investment from the viewer to feel like it has a real place.

Anyhow, if you dig it, more power to you. I think Bioware are kind of failing either in the promotional department or I'm just not 'getting' their trailers and new games.

Risen for what it's worth, has some pretty awesome RPG elements, and a good combat system in a large free-roaming world. Piranha Bytes are also well known for making very atmospheric organic worlds. Anyhow, 2 days until release - stay tuned. Bioware sucks etc!

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

To each their own. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I just happen to think DAO looks fantastic and have a lot of faith in Bioware. Especially after seeing them comment on the things they are including in it.

I will probably end up getting both because there are so few good RPGs coming out anymore. I get bored in between games. Heck, right now I'm playing Majesty 2. It's alright, but I expected something more I guess.

 

[Digit]

To each their own. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I just happen to think DAO looks fantastic and have a lot of faith in Bioware. Especially after seeing them comment on the things they are including in it.

I will probably end up getting both because there are so few good RPGs coming out anymore. I get bored in between games. Heck, right now I'm playing Majesty 2. It's alright, but I expected something more I guess.

Did you play the original Majesty? I really think they did an awesome job with M2, it's been one of the few sequels that did just enough innovation with new features, and didn't go overboard and make a whole new game.

That's a fine art there.

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

I'm finding they really dumbed down the building system, but the game is still very challenging. I've just finished up the level where you have to get the 35,000 gold in 36 days, now on the undead level. I'm going to give it another go tonight.

 

[Digit]

I'm finding they really dumbed down the building system, but the game is still very challenging. I've just finished up the level where you have to get the 35,000 gold in 36 days, now on the undead level. I'm going to give it another go tonight.

Ah you are abouts where I am, do yourself a favour and save often in that undead one, because it crashed on me right when I was busy killing the main dude, and I was not pleased. >_> I had saved midway through but it was some time before that. :<

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

Yep, it crashed on me as well there. I was NOT happy. So unhappy that I decided to toss it aside for now and went out and got Risen. LOL

 

[Digit]

Yep, it crashed on me as well there. I was NOT happy. So unhappy that I decided to toss it aside for now and went out and got Risen. LOL

Aw nuuuuuuu! :<

I was hoping my message got to you first. Yeah I felt the same way, as you end up building up quite a lot to get to the stage where you take him on, and even then he kicks your ass a bit before you realise what to do, and then it crashes just as you are making headway. I hope if/when I decide to retry it that it was a once-off crash and not repeatable. :/

Enjoy Risen though, I've only played a short bit but it feels really nice so far.

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

I'll eventually go back to Majesty and finish that up. I just need to save every 10 minutes or so. Those levels were taking me hours to complete, so I was very irked.

Risen... Mid game thoughts...

Graphics are well done and it's a very good looking game. I have everything set to high and it runs nearly flawlessly. There are a couple times like when there is a lot of smoke that I can notice the frame rate drop a bit, but other than that, no problems. The lack of interaction with objects using physx is a bit disappointing.

Controls are very good and smooth. That's a necessity in any game these days.

The camera sometimes gets in the way but that's like with any 3rd person view. At least you have complete control over it and can go under or overhead.

The story is somewhat more original than most, and it gives the appearance that you can choose sides in the first part of the game, though now that I've been playing it a bit, I am starting to think that events would have happened either way regardless of the decisions you made at the beginning.

Going on with the story, I feel the game has way too much dialog and not enough actual play. Most of the play consists of "run here, talk to X, then run there, talk to X." As far as RPGs go, It's been very rare that I actually use my weapons. It feels more like an animated movie that makes you play all the boring parts.

The skilling system is something I also don't like, in that there really is none. You have to buy all your skill from NPCs rather than gain from usage. This becomes a major problem when skills you need are unobtainable because a character is no longer part of the game who was the one selling a vital skill needed later.

This game is also not really sandbox. Without spoiling anything about the story, the game pretty much forces you to do this and that without the ability to really go wherever you want to go and do whatever you want to do, which is traditional for RPGs and what sets them apart from Adventure games. But they do this subtly so you can't really tell you're being forced.

All in all, it's an interesting game so far and I'll have more of an opinion about it as I continue playing.

 

[Digit]

I'll eventually go back to Majesty and finish that up. I just need to save every 10 minutes or so. Those levels were taking me hours to complete, so I was very irked.

Risen... Mid game thoughts...

Graphics are well done and it's a very good looking game. I have everything set to high and it runs nearly flawlessly. There are a couple times like when there is a lot of smoke that I can notice the frame rate drop a bit, but other than that, no problems. The lack of interaction with objects using physx is a bit disappointing.

Controls are very good and smooth. That's a necessity in any game these days.

The camera sometimes gets in the way but that's like with any 3rd person view. At least you have complete control over it and can go under or overhead.

The story is somewhat more original than most, and it gives the appearance that you can choose sides in the first part of the game, though now that I've been playing it a bit, I am starting to think that events would have happened either way regardless of the decisions you made at the beginning.

Going on with the story, I feel the game has way too much dialog and not enough actual play. Most of the play consists of "run here, talk to X, then run there, talk to X." As far as RPGs go, It's been very rare that I actually use my weapons. It feels more like an animated movie that makes you play all the boring parts.

The skilling system is something I also don't like, in that there really is none. You have to buy all your skill from NPCs rather than gain from usage. This becomes a major problem when skills you need are unobtainable because a character is no longer part of the game who was the one selling a vital skill needed later.

This game is also not really sandbox. Without spoiling anything about the story, the game pretty much forces you to do this and that without the ability to really go wherever you want to go and do whatever you want to do, which is traditional for RPGs and what sets them apart from Adventure games. But they do this subtly so you can't really tell you're being forced.

All in all, it's an interesting game so far and I'll have more of an opinion about it as I continue playing.

I'm still slaving away with work atm and so far have avoided all temptation to play, which I'm sort of pleased about - and sort of not.

I'm not sure if you have played the other Gothic games, so perhaps I sort of knew what to expect going in - but yeah you get 'trained' to use skills via NPCs, and there are always several NPCs that offer the skills, so regardless of storyline path you take, you 'should' never end up in a situation where you can't get a skill you want. The other Gothic games, 3 in particular were perhaps a bit too sandbox-y, as it was criticised for lacking any sort of direction, so I did expect Risen to be much tighter, and yeah you are right that you start off with lots of choices and towards the end you often get funnelled into the core story.

I'm not sure if you've done much exploring yet, but there are lots of little hidden areas full of traps and monsters, plus, well actually you may not be that far yet so I best not say too much.

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

I'm in Chapter 2 right now trying to finish all the quests. What I can say is that the Quest System is one of the dumbest I've seen in years. Literally... you can be playing for either side and still be doing quests for the other without them saying a word about your joining the other side. This would have been excusable 5-7 years ago, but really, it's pretty unacceptable for a modern RPG. The choices you make in a game should effect the outcome and every aspect of the game.

I may seem like I'm critiquing this game pretty hard, but I have pretty high standards anymore for RPGs.