Risen 3: Titan Lords - Review Roundup #2

[Couchpotato]

Here is the second round of english reviews for Risen 3: Titan Lords that I could find.

Chalgyr's Game Room - 8/10

Where Risen 3: Titan Lords has a number of rough edges when it comes to some voice acting, control schemes (or lack there of), and endgame narrative pacing and discovery, the entire package as a whole is a wildly successful, often thrilling, and quite fun pirate adventure.

ZTGD - 8.5/10

Risen 3 features some improvements over the first two games. The combat is still cumbersome at times mainly due to the targeting and camera, but the story, customizations and characters are all very enjoyable.

GamesTM - 4/10

The whole experience isn’t awful, just thoroughly uninspiring; a box of biscuits where some are moldy and all are digestive. It’s fun to be a pirate, but it’s far, far more fun elsewhere, with Risen 3 once again struggling and failing to rise above anything but its own mediocrity.

Gamebanshee - No Score

Risen 3 feels like a transitional title. It manages to smooth some of the rough edges of Risen 2, but makes mistakes of its own. Ultimately, it doesn't match the original Risen or the Gothic series. The focus and excellence of Piranha Bytes is gone, as is the feeling of genuine connection with the setting, which was the distinguishing feature of the German studio's early titles.

More information.

 

[joxer]

I have to partially disagree with GameBanshee. Risen 3 is IMO a much better game than previous two Risen games. But ok, maybe the reviewer loves shields and hates when a game doesn't have them.
Also it outmatches Gothic 3 completely in one department. No script/quest bugs. Didn't find a single one.

 

[HiddenX]

I disagree with Gamebanshee a lot in the last two years...

 

[Gokyabgu]

Quite the contrary, I agree with Gamebanshee. Something feels missing in Risen 2 and 3. I can't put my finger on this, but definitely the magic of Gothic series and Risen 1 have gone from the last two game from PB. That's for sure.

 

[you]

So is it a 4.5 game or a 8.5 game ?

 

[HiddenX]

7.5

 

[Embolus]

Lol @ this games conflicted reviews. I agree with the conflicting. There are moments I really enjoy it, and others it just pisses me off. It's very strange! I'd imagine Risen 3 being difficult to review due to it's spontaneous ability to impress you differently.

 

[HiddenX]

The real conflicts that are in Risen 3:

Enhance the game for the PC world <-> Enhance the game for the console world
Satisfy the old Gothic hardcore fans <-> Satisfy casual newbies
Make a small game with high quest density like Gothic 1 <-> Make an open world like Skyrim
Make combat based on stats <-> make Witcher like combat based on twitch skills

It's really hard to put all these things in one game.
It's a solid game (7.5/10), but nothing great. Neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring

PS:
It doesn't really help that the first DLC-gear (included in all First Editions) is the best gear for half of the game.

PSPS:
The old PB class shows through in the design of the long winding gameworld with many secrets -> exploring is still much fun.

 

[Maylander]

It wouldn't be a proper PB game without conflicting reviews though! It's almost a tradition by now.

 

[mercy]

I have to partially disagree with GameBanshee. Risen 3 is IMO a much better game than previous two Risen games. But ok, maybe the reviewer loves shields and hates when a game doesn't have them.
Also it outmatches Gothic 3 completely in one department. No script/quest bugs. Didn't find a single one.

+1 Realistic score is 9.5/10.

Absolutely fantastic game. Gothic 3 had beautiful terrain, gorgeous visuals, forests and that running wolf pack in the distance looked amazing. But gameplay wise Risen 3 is superb achievement. Easily the best game they ever made.

 

[JDR13]

So is it a 4.5 game or a 8.5 game ?

Definitely closer to the latter. In fact, I think 8.5 is exactly what I would rate it.

It could have been better though. This is a 9/10 game if they had just put more effort into balancing the combat.

 

[joxer]

+1 Realistic score is 9.5/10.

Absolutely fantastic game. Gothic 3 had beautiful terrain, gorgeous visuals, forests and that running wolf pack in the distance looked amazing. But gameplay wise Risen 3 is superb achievement. Easily the best game they ever made.

The best game PB made is Gothic 2.

Yes, exploration and area design deserve 10/10, but when you don't have a vista point music that'll start playing when you discover yet another breathtaking scene, you can't expect 10/10 score on a game. Sorry but every waterfall I just stopped to hear a violins or harp score kicking in… And got nothing!

So is it a 4.5 game or a 8.5 game ?

It's above average game that was advertised as returning to roots, but we got a product that tries to please console audience. And it's fair to make a game like this, PB owes them because Risen 1 and 2 were a nightmare to play on consoles.
At the same time, we did get some of roots - the world is huge, it's almost the size of Gothic 3.

The big problem is to compare it with anything else on the market. The style is simply too unique. If you compare it with previous PB games, it's PB's second best game.

But when I see those 4 and 4.5 I just can't believe it. Did those people play it at all or just assume it's a clone of unpatched Risen 2 on consoles?

What's most important, not just here, but in any game, is that it's fun.
Also I got not a single bug at all (except two freezes in 72 hours of play). Now just that, in an openworld game, where every other developer fails and never patches all quest bugs, deserves a high score if you ask me.

 

[Moriendor]

The best game PB made is Gothic 2.

No. Gothic.

 

[joxer]

She says no and agrees with me:

crpgnut would adore a game with her as a sidekick, of course.

 

[Dez]

Who is she?

 

[Couchpotato]

Who is she?

Why it's Joxers soul-mate of course. Look she even smokes like him.

I disagree with Gamebanshee a lot in the last two years…

I think it depends on who writes the articles lately. Bucks reviews are usually good.

 

[griniaris]

4 - 4.5 is ridiculous.
Same for people that gave 8-9.5.
It's a clear 6.5 - 7, roughly good but with many flaws.
And Gothic 1 is, and alas always will be, their best.

 

[Alistair]

33 hours in, I'm rating it as very good so far.

I think exploring and letting events and realisations come to you, rather than have them delivered by clunky NPCs, is perhaps the way to get the most enjoyable experience out of R3. Do we know anything about PB's next game?

 

[vurt]

4 - 4.5 is ridiculous.
Same for people that gave 8-9.5.
It's a clear 6.5 - 7, roughly good but with many flaws.
And Gothic 1 is, and alas always will be, their best.

How would you rate Gothic 1 or 2 then? I mean they were hardly perfect either and just like here ratings were mixed. Realistically Gothic 1-2 are probably in the 7.5 range, though we fans, who thinks those games really "hits the spot", obviously rate it higher (9 - 10 range).

 

[joxer]

Absolutely not.
There was nothing even similar at the market when Gothics went out. Both were easily 9/10. And if Gothic 3 was not released as beta but after polishing, it'd receive 10/10 most definetly.

7.5 you could put if those were released today with the same graphics.