Preview Risen preview in CD Action

[Elwro]

Tags: Piranha Bytes; Risen

There&#8217;s a two page preview of Piranha Bytes&#8217; Risen in the prestigious magazine CD Action (09/2008). Since it&#8217;s reliable for a gaming mag, I decided to translate some info from there, hopefully I&#8217;m not the only one for whom at least some of this info is new. So, (with some changes and cuts)<blockquote>many years ago a powerful mage banished the gods from the world of man, freeing the latter from the rule of the former. The void left after the departure of the gods was filled by elemental magic and potent creatures threatening to break loose and destroy the world. Finding and, if possible, killing such monsters is the job of the Inquisition.
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Risen is going to take place on an island far from any continent. After a series of quakes ancient temples filled with magical creatures appeared on the face of the earth; citizens started to disappear, and the strengthening murmur of the great volcano is a harbinger of eruption. Inquisition sends their forces immediately, lead by a fanatic who seizes the local cloister, transforming it into barracks for his men, displaces all citizens to a small port in the south and categorically forbids them to enter the inner parts of the island.
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Male prisoners are sent to work at excavation sites; most don&#8217;t come back. Of course not everyone likes the inquisitor&#8217;s rule &#8211; a group of people rebels and seizes some faraway ruins, making them headquarters of their own temple plundering enterprise. Also, some districts of the port town are not completey controlled by the corrupted guards.
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Meanwhile, on the beach, among the remains of a crashed ship, a nameless hero regains consciousness, soon meeting a group of rebel treasure hunters. (&#8230<ul>
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<li> There will be a few factions, and of course a system regulating reputation and dialogue/quest availability
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<li>The island (smaller than Gothic 3&#8217;s Myrtana) will have a few areas of different climate.
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<li>There will be other intelligent races, but no elves, dwarves or orcs (!). Only one of the races will be peaceful, most likely the gnomes.
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<li>More emphasis will be put on catacombs, sewers etc.
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<li>The combat system will be more extensive. The player will have to his disposal a few fighting styles. 60-70% of all skills will be combat-related. There will be double wielding, runic magic and possibility of transforming into different creatures.
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<li>The character development mechanics will be similar to the one from the Gothic series.
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<li>No mounts.</ul></blockquote>Discuss!

 

[thesheeep]

Sounds good, all in all.

Maybe like the Gothic I always wished to have

 

[Bluebottle]

There will be other intelligent races, but no elves, dwarves or orcs (!). Only one of the races will be peaceful, most likely the gnomes.

They hate fantasy!

 

[Texas Red]

I'm in favor of classic fantasy races instead of something random like in the Wheel of Time books.

 

[Multiple Sarcasm]

Hmm, I couldn't be but remain uninterested. Coupled with a very mediocre trailer, the info sounds actually worse - there's not a single aspect of it that hasn't been done to death or, at least, could throw in something that doesn't make it another $20 cloned hack'n'slasher with a second-hand backstory. And comparison to Gothic doesn't help any - it sounds like one (which is not a good thing to me, since I've found all but Gothic 1 to be mind-numbingly boring). And with Arcania (Gothic 4) already being in development, I'm not sure the comparison will go in favour of an upstart title down the road.
They could improve it with time or reveal something that changes perspective on the game, but my sentiment so far is: "meh".

 

[RainSong]

So the future of cRPG is Gothic 4, this Risen thing that is also Gothic 4, TES V: Fallout, Two Worlds 2 and Dragon Age...

Could someone hand me a rope?

 

[Durwyn]

You forgot Alpha Protocol...

 

[bezimek]

 prestigious magazine CD Action (09/2008).

"prestigious magazine" and "CDA" shouldn`t be use in one sentence

btw. One of stupid fucks from CDA said that Fallout 1/2 would be in 3D if Interplay (BI) have tech to do this !

 

[RainSong]

You forgot Alpha Protocol...

shh I didn't mention Obsidians projects on purpose, this way there are only oblivion clones waiting for us in the future ;] happy days to come.

On the other note

prestigious magazine CD Action

didn't they gave Oblivion 10/10?

 

[Black_Willow]

didn't they gave Oblivion 10/10?

They did. They also liked level scaling.

EDIT

As I'm reading this old review I can't stop laughing. Example:
"Oblivion resembles Daggerfall more then Morrowind does."

 

[MaskedMan]

there are only oblivion clones waiting for us in the future

Yeah, the Gothic series has always been about cloning Oblivion, fucking Pete Hines wannabe Piranha Bytes! I wish they'd take a page of Obsidian with their amezome, turn-based, C&C-filled, Arcanum & PST -style, non hang-yourself, tru-RPG Alpha Protocol!

I would be happy to supply you with a rope. Address plz?

 

[JarlFrank]

 prestigious magazine CD Action (09/2008).

"prestigious magazine" and "CDA" shouldn`t be use in one sentence

btw. One of stupid fucks from CDA said that Fallout 1/2 would be in 3D if Interplay (BI) have tech to do this !

"Prestigious Magazine" is the official title of the Codex. Calling any other gaming magazine a "prestigious magazine" is a breach of copyright laws.

 

[Sir_Brennus]

Hmm, I couldn't be but remain uninterested. Coupled with a very mediocre trailer, the info sounds actually worse - there's not a single aspect of it that hasn't been done to death or, at least, could throw in something that doesn't make it another $20 cloned hack'n'slasher with a second-hand backstory. And comparison to Gothic doesn't help any - it sounds like one (which is not a good thing to me, since I've found all but Gothic 1 to be mind-numbingly boring). And with Arcania (Gothic 4) already being in development, I'm not sure the comparison will go in favour of an upstart title down the road.
They could improve it with time or reveal something that changes perspective on the game, but my sentiment so far is: "meh".

QFT!

 

[RainSong]

there are only oblivion clones waiting for us in the future

Yeah, the Gothic series has always been about cloning Oblivion, fucking Pete Hines wannabe Piranha Bytes! I wish they'd take a page of Obsidian with their amezome, turn-based, C&C-filled, Arcanum & PST -style, non hang-yourself, tru-RPG Alpha Protocol!

I would be happy to supply you with a rope. Address plz?

Oh I'm sorry, I've forgotten that Gothic is not a game about riding on a horse and killing things (only because it lack horses... and women), it's not like it is a boring ,generic fantasy rpg with bad avatar, worse combat, boring fedex quests, lame dialogues, almost no skills not connected to combat. Oh it's so different from Oblivion, and to make their newest project even more differ Piranha Bytes decited to put "more emphasis on catacombs, sewers etc".

As for AP, you played it? No? Then stfu.

 

[Elwro]

The "prestigious magazine" thing was just for the laughs, guys. But even if their RPG reviewers drowned in the hype flood years ago, only to reappear as horribly transformed pseudo-journalist beings, the rest of the mag isn't bad, the news are usually accurate and they manage to get sneak peeks at some games earlier than most.

 

[kenney bounces]

Well, I'm happy. =)

I loved gothic 1 and 2. Hated 3 due to lousy combat,horrible dialogue and game mechanics.
I felt i never had a chance to play the real gothic 3.. =(

Ah anyways, this is one of the titles i'm looking forward to. Hopefully they'll deliver something closer to the original gothic series, and not some retarded oblivion clone instead. We already have fallout 3 for that.

 

[bozia2012]

The "prestigious magazine" thing was just for the laughs, guys. But even if their RPG reviewers drowned in the hype flood years ago, only to reappear as horribly transformed pseudo-journalist beings, the rest of the mag isn't bad, the news are usually accurate and they manage to get sneak peeks at some games earlier than most.

I like how they started puttin' "next-gen" in random places. Usually it looks like this: yaddayaddayadda, and like a proper next-gen game, yaddayaddayadda or blahblahblah, like every next-gen game, blahblahblah. Usually they mention totally normal (if not mandatory) feats and claim they belong to the next-gen era.

How I miss TS and Gambler...

 

[bezimek]

I like how they started puttin' "next-gen" in random places. Usually it looks like this: yaddayaddayadda, and like a proper next-gen game, yaddayaddayadda or blahblahblah, like every next-gen game, blahblahblah. Usually they mention totally normal (if not mandatory) feats and claim they belong to the next-gen era.

Yep it is CDA

How I miss TS and Gambler...

+1

btw. Bajtek was interesting, too

 

[Seboss]

You forgot Alpha Protocol...

... and Aliens RPG.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

So, another attempt to attract 12-year old pimple faced Germans with a new meaningless game, with a meaningless setting, to do meaningless things?

No thanks.

I leave RPGs to the pros. I.e. Bioware, Obsidian, and Bethesda (yes, Bethesda, and now fuck off).

 

[Vault Dweller]

What's "meaningless" about it though? While nothing in this announcement is original, it's not as generic as Dragon Age, for example, which at this point sounds like a typical high fantasy LotR stuff (DA may turn out to be a much better game, but that's not the point).

You have at least two factions that don't sound too bad, plundering & treasure hunting elevated on an 'enterprise' level, and PB style exploration and role-playing. Is it really that bad?

... the info sounds actually worse - there's not a single aspect of it that hasn't been done to death....

Which one?

Oh I'm sorry, I've forgotten that Gothic is not a game about riding on a horse and killing things (only because it lack horses... and women), it's not like it is a boring ,generic fantasy rpg with bad avatar, worse combat, boring fedex quests, lame dialogues, almost no skills not connected to combat. Oh it's so different from Oblivion...

Actually...

From one of my articles:

"“How to get into the City of Khorinis:
The city guards are wary of convicts and thugs from the mountains and wont let anyone in. There are several ways to complete this quest.

- Buy farmer's work clothes from Lobart and tell the guards that you work there.
- Talk to Canthar by the crossroads and buy his gate pass OR trade it for a favour
- Bribe your way in at the cost of 100 gold.
- Explore and find a hidden, but rather dangerous way in through a mountain ledge”

I was also told that if you find enough herbs, you can claim to be an alchemist's assistant, but I’ve never tried that."

Yes. It sounds exactly like Oblivion.

 

[Elwro]

My sentiments exactly, VD.

 

[denizsi]

What's "meaningless" about it though?

A better question might be, what kind of setting could have any more meaning than any other, and why, in what way?

I leave RPGs to the pros. I.e. Bioware, Obsidian, and Bethesda (yes, Bethesda, and now fuck off).

LOL. I don't remember that kind of variety VD self-quoted for Gothic 2, in games of any one of those developers.

I'll gladly take any game with such variety despite lack of non-combat skills over games with any amount of non-combat skills that are worth nothing.

Oh, by the way, you could also steal farmer's work clothes but I don't remember what kind of reactions or consequences you'd face, if any, further through the game. I do remember the wife of the farmer recognizing the clothes on you and bitching about it.

 

[RainSong]

From one of my articles:

"“How to get into the City of Khorinis:
The city guards are wary of convicts and thugs from the mountains and wont let anyone in. There are several ways to complete this quest.

- Buy farmer's work clothes from Lobart and tell the guards that you work there.
- Talk to Canthar by the crossroads and buy his gate pass OR trade it for a favour
- Bribe your way in at the cost of 100 gold.
- Explore and find a hidden, but rather dangerous way in through a mountain ledge”

I was also told that if you find enough herbs, you can claim to be an alchemist's assistant, but I’ve never tried that."

so?

it's still

boring ,generic fantasy rpg with bad avatar, worse combat, boring fedex quests, lame dialogues, almost no skills not connected to combat.

Even if the first game of the series had few good design decisions put into it, every other part was dumbed down to fit the taste of wider and wider audience just like Oblivion. And now that PB is working on their new project they are hyping what? More c&c? better dialogues? no, they promise to implement more dungeons. PB would be more then happy to be on Beth place.

 

[denizsi]

so?

it's still

boring ,generic fantasy rpg with bad avatar, worse combat, boring fedex quests, lame dialogues, almost no skills not connected to combat.

Bad avatar? As if that makes any difference unless you're "Barby dress-up doll" fan. LOL. As for combat; more people here consider combat in second game to be superior to the first than those who think vice versa. I can't really comment on "lame dialogues", since it tends to be too much of a personal preference unless it's downright terrible or outright good, but I think "almost no skills not connected to combat" part is already addressed.

Even if the first game of the series had few good design decisions put into it

That was the second game VD self-quoted about, which..

every other part was dumbed down to fit the taste of wider and wider audience just like Oblivion

..had definitely more variation than the first game and was also somewhat more non-linear than the first, which means you are full of FAIL! (now, doesn't that sound just better than saying "you're full of bullshit"? Yes, you're welcome, of course).