Currently playing: Nox Archaist

December 15, 2014

Risen 3 - A true disappointment



Since Dragon Age Inquisition requires a quadcore processor I had to find another game to play this autumn. I bought Risen 3 for a good price and started up playing some weeks ago. I have ploughed around 12 hours into the game and I thought I should share my opinion of it.


I loved the first Risen. It was more like a game in a medieval setting. It was quite challenging and the balance and system felt fresh. It was a much better game from the developers of Gothic 3 than what Gothic - Acrania was. The gameplay was solid and both graphics and sound good. It was therefore not surprising that I looked forward to Risen 2.

Risen 2 turned out to be a disappointment though. There was quite a good gameplay system at its core but it was let down of poor voice acting, inmature dialogues and a caribbean setting. Still I played it to the bitter end and I enjoyed it, although never as good as Risen 1.

August 2014 was the release date for Risen 3. Has it become any better ?

No not at all. On the contrary it is even more dumbed down with horrible dialogues filled with curses everywhere and with the poorest voice acting of a main character I have ever encountered. The game is really horrible in that respect. I feel like a child when reading the simple dialogues. This game is meant for youngsters. Fem moments in the game is serious or eerie in any way. I cannot believe the developers are going this was. Sales must have fallen steadily since Risen 1 ? Their aim at a new generation seems to be a failure. 


The graphics is nothing to write home about. In par with the previous installment. Sure there are some nice views and environments but that´s all. The game feels empty. There is no reward for exploring even though you can practically go anywhere you like with few exceptions. When you find remote chests up in a ravine, mountain or whatever you expect some of them to contain valuable or important items like good weapons, armours or magical items. Not so here. They contain mostly mundane items which could be bought from any trader. There is no reward for exploring which for me is essential in any game roleplaying game.


Combat, while working, is tedious and quite boring. There are anmials and monsters to fight almost everywhere and unless you spend a lot of skill points into melee combat or get betters weapons somehow (which is hard) you will have quite long fights to dispose of even the simplest of enemies. Oh, and they almost always only drops food. There is no loot to talk about. They are just obstacles on your ways to or from something. My character is a melee-fighter so I haven´t used magic and only seldom ranged weapons so far in the game.


The gameworld is quite huge though. There are several Islands and each of them covers a lot of places and terrains. There are literally hundreds of quests. Many of them boring sidequests like fetching or delivering items. Like "Will you deliver this engaging ring to my fiance at this island ?"
Money is hard to get and you need it to pay your skill trainers. The problem is that there are so few weapons/armours in the game that it is hard to find any upgrades.

I am really worried about the turn Risen 3 has taken. The inmature dialogues are are appalling and the poor voice acting destroys any feeling of immersion. Either the developers change their course or let this be the last installment. They have destroyed a good original concept (I loved the Gothic series). Even the poor Gothic IV Arcania had better voiceacting and dialogues and that is not to say little.

Despite all this, there is still quite a solid skill/attribute/glory gathering engine in the bottom and monsters and environments are quite well-done. You can find teleporterstones (just like in Gothic 3) to use at teleporters which will help you travel quickly around the island you are at.

This game is only recommended if there are no other games out there or if you could get it heavily discounted.

I have just recently bought Lords of Xulima and I am totally hooked by that game. I strongly recommend that if you want a more true CRPG experience and not a casual action-RPG that Risen 3 offers. I will return to Lords of Xulima in a separate post. 

4 comments:

  1. Yup, Risen 3 is not that great. Risen 2 wasn't great either. Risen 1 I've never played.

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    1. If there is one game in the series that is really good, try out Risen 1. It still has good graphics and sound and is more like the original Gothic spirit than its two sequels.

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  2. Risen 1 was great. Seriously one of the most underrated RPG's of all time. I even preferred it to Gothic 2.

    I have no idea how they managed to mess with the formula that had worked for so long. Risen 2 was a slog and i never finished it. It seems i have to reason to play the 3rd one.

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