Risen - Review Flood #7

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 for a fantasy tropical island. The story is solid [...] and there's plenty to explore to your hearts content. The combat though just makes things too frustrating, especially at the start before the player gets to specialise and start more advanced training. It's hard to recommend this to anyone but hardcore RPG fans, [...] but surely even they will be scratching their heads at what seem to be elementary flaws in a game which could have been much better." - 5.5/10 (XBox 360)
• German print mag ComputerBildSpiele posted an excerpt of their test. They think Risen deserves something like a B- or a C+. They criticise the slow beginning. (PC)
• GameBlog.fr tested both versions. They talk about two (!) upcoming patches for the XBox conversion: " The first, which will leave in the neighbourhoods on October 15, will include in particular a total improvement of the vegetation, and an adjustment gamma for the luminosity. The second, planned for “in a few weeks”, will refine certain textures and will allow the hero to benefit from a face, say, more endorsement." They think "Even if it does not bear from there any more the name, Risen is a new episode of Gothic extremely successful, which with the depth and the interest of play combines an astonishing simplicity of gameplay." As expected they downgraded the conversion due to ugly graphics and technical problems. - 4/5 (PC), 3/5 (XBox 360)

It's worth mentioning the last article talks about two upcoming XBox 360 patches, not one.

Thanks to malgrim and J.Brown for sending in the IGN review.