[Joe Molotov]

I've been pumped for this since I played the beta. Well, I mean I was looking forward to it since it was announced, but when I actually played it, it seemed like it was going to be really good.

[Dragonzord]

Things that make you go hmmmmm..... Awfully late, usually not a good sign.

Not really. Ubisoft did the same thing for Brotherhood and that reviewed very well. I'm happy about the console delay because I'm hoping it means they'll show some console footage, so I'll know if it's up to snuff or not.

[Mejilan]

Preordered on Steam since it seems that the PC version isn't getting a US retail release. :(

[Snuggler]

Wait the fuck, is this really out in less than a week? I had no idea. I thought it was delayed to May....damn. I better hurry up and finish my TW2 EE playthrough.

[Gamer @ Heart]

Love the concept. I loved the complex and vertical island in the first though. I hope there will still be areas like that.

[Hammer24]

Game preordered, thread subscribed.
What a year for WRPG!

[Spectacular Dr Dawg]

Does the EU retail version come with the pre-order DLC? I didn't see it mentioned anywhere.
It's 50€ on steam but I can get the retail version for 35€.

Has anything been mentioned about the console versions? I played Risen on 360 and I enjoyed it. Except it ran like garbage. Do we know if any improvements have been made?

The 360 port of the first game was an afterthought. The game was well into development when the publisher decided that they wanted a 360 version and the port house didn't have much time to port it.
This time the console ports were planned from the beginning so they should turn out much better. Even the UI is designed for consoles unlike the first game where the UI was designed around mouse & keyboard.

[witchedwiz]

Does the EU retail version come with the pre-order DLC? I didn't see it mentioned anywhere. It's 50€ on steam but I can get the retail version for 35€. .

Where?

[Rivyn]

Never finished the first thanks to the horrible lack of polish but I did enjoy it for the time I got out of it.

[Ricker]

Probably wont get this next week up here...I pre-ordered from Gamestop,on PC and the french version so I will be the most surprised guy in the world if they have this next week.

[-SD-]

Never finished the first thanks to the horrible lack of polish

Could you give an example? I've played through Risen PC twice and won't agree with you on that one.

[Labadal]

Never finished the first thanks to the horrible lack of polish but I did enjoy it for the time I got out of it.

Did you play the 360 version?

[Spectacular Dr Dawg]

Where?

Coolshop
Puolenkuunpelit
They're finnish sites and I don't think they ship to other countries, at least not for those prices.

[Orin GA]

Lets us not forget




This makes me kinda worried for the console versions. Have any console version screenshots been released?

[szaromir]

Lets us not forget

Risen 1 was so blurry even on PC. The reason I never purchased the full game after the demo.

[DMPrince]

i'm waiting on GMG to give me discount code so i can buy this lol.

[Carcetti]

I have one important question:

Is there a character creator or do you have to be an ugly german man with a porn mustache like in every other Gothic-like game?

[Ceebs]

Can't wait. So excited.

Still peeved that I have not been able to get my hands on a 680 to play this yet.

[loganclaws]

I played the beta of this game not long ago. I am a little conflicted; as someone who loved Risen1 (PC) I was really looking forward to this sequel, unfortunately, after playing the beta, I feel some of the changes Pirhana Bytes made are not for the better and once again some of these changes had to be made due to console limitations.

First of all, while the developer claims that the playable landmass is much bigger than Risen1, the world has been chopped up into little islands most likely due to the limited memory of consoles. The explorable area in the beta was very small, here is hope that the other islands are much bigger. The beta area generally seemed less dense and emptier than the world in Risen 1, whether this is due to it being the starting area or some other reason (console limitations?) is anyone's guess. The verticality of the world has been majorly scaled down which is very disappoiting to me. In Risen1, just like Gothic1 and 2, you can climb any reachable ledge, this was great for exploration. In Risen 2, only specially designated areas are climbable.

The UI has been redesigned to be controller friendly, but again, many aspects were streamlined in a not-so-good way for PC players; all types of food is shown as one item in the inventory called "Provisions" which restores a little health when eaten for example. The entire UI has been chopped up into tabs and lists with limited information in each, this is once again presumably to make it more manageable with a controller but it's pretty bad with the mouse. Luckily, you can switch tabs and scroll the lists with the movement keys, so after a while one can get used to it.

The combat in Risen2 has been drastically changed from Risen1. IMO, the combat is now much less interesting. First off, there is no dodging, so versus non-humanoid creatures, the combat tends to either devolve to a clickfest where you'e just spamming the fast attack just like in Gothic 3 (although you don't get stunlocked) or you try to awkwardly jump out of the way which looks very silly. My other issue is that versus humans, the animations are all mocapped and tend to be very long, so the controls become quite unresponsive because you have to wait for an animation to finish before the character triggers the next action.

All that being said, I did enjoy the beta and did feel some of what made Risen1 great; mainly the wonder of exploring the unknown. Keep in mind that these are the impressions of the beginning of the game only, the islands may get bigger, the combat might become more strategic when you learn more skills.

[Sinatar]

I have one important question: Is there a character creator or do you have to be an ugly german man with a porn mustache like in every other Gothic-like game?

You play a predetermined guy like all the others.

[Krappadizzle]

Gonna wait on a purchase. I love the idea of playing as a pirate. Honestly, last pirate game I remember was that one from bethesda back during the early years of Xbox. With that said, the graphics look good in this game, and if the game has a good level of polish, I'll bite. Still gonna wait until we get some GAF impressions.

[Stallion Free]

Risen 1 was so blurry even on PC. The reason I never purchased the full game after the demo.

Turn off depth of field.

[Spectacular Dr Dawg]

I played the beta of this game not long ago. I am a little conflicted; as someone who loved Risen1 (PC) I was really looking forward to this sequel, unfortunately, after playing the beta, I feel some of the changes Pirhana Bytes made are not for the better and once again some of these changes had to be made due to console limitations. First of all, while the developer claims that the playable landmass is much bigger than Risen1, the world has been chopped up into little islands most likely due to the limited memory of consoles. The explorable area in the beta was very small, here is hope that the other islands are much bigger. The beta area generally seemed less dense and emptier than the world in Risen 1, whether this is due to it being the starting area or some other reason (console limitations?) is anyone's guess. The verticality of the world has been majorly scaled down which is very disappoiting to me. In Risen1, just like Gothic1 and 2, you can climb any reachable ledge, this was great for exploration. In Risen 2, only specially designated areas are climbable. The UI has been redesigned to be controller friendly, but again, many aspects were streamlined in a not-so-good way for PC players; all types of food is shown as one item in the inventory called "Provisions" which restores a little health when eaten for example. The entire UI has been chopped up into tabs and lists with limited information in each, this is once again presumably to make it more manageable with a controller but it's pretty bad with the mouse. Luckily, you can switch tabs and scroll the lists with the movement keys, so after a while one can get used to it. The combat in Risen2 has been drastically changed from Risen1. IMO, the combat is now much less interesting. First off, there is no dodging, so versus non-humanoid creatures, the combat tends to either devolve to a clickfest where you'e just spamming the fast attack just like in Gothic 3 (although you don't get stunlocked) or you try to awkwardly jump out of the way which looks very silly. My other issue is that versus humans, the animations are all mocapped and tend to be very long, so the controls become quite unresponsive because you have to wait for an animation to finish before the character triggers the next action. All that being said, I did enjoy the beta and did feel some of what made Risen1 great; mainly the wonder of exploring the unknown. Keep in mind that these are the impressions of the beginning of the game only, the islands may get bigger, the combat might become more strategic when you learn more skills.

Crap, that's exactly what I was afraid of.

Risen 1 was so blurry even on PC. The reason I never purchased the full game after the demo.

Turn off DOF and use these ini-tweaks.

[Clevinger]

I played the beta of this game not long ago. I am a little conflicted; as someone who loved Risen1 (PC) I was really looking forward to this sequel, unfortunately, after playing the beta, I feel some of the changes Pirhana Bytes made are not for the better and once again some of these changes had to be made due to console limitations. First of all, while the developer claims that the playable landmass is much bigger than Risen1, the world has been chopped up into little islands most likely due to the limited memory of consoles. The explorable area in the beta was very small, here is hope that the other islands are much bigger. The beta area generally seemed less dense and emptier than the world in Risen 1, whether this is due to it being the starting area or some other reason (console limitations?) is anyone's guess. The verticality of the world has been majorly scaled down which is very disappoiting to me. In Risen1, just like Gothic1 and 2, you can climb any reachable ledge, this was great for exploration. In Risen 2, only specially designated areas are climbable. The UI has been redesigned to be controller friendly, but again, many aspects were streamlined in a not-so-good way for PC players; all types of food is shown as one item in the inventory called "Provisions" which restores a little health when eaten for example. The entire UI has been chopped up into tabs and lists with limited information in each, this is once again presumably to make it more manageable with a controller but it's pretty bad with the mouse. Luckily, you can switch tabs and scroll the lists with the movement keys, so after a while one can get used to it. The combat in Risen2 has been drastically changed from Risen1. IMO, the combat is now much less interesting. First off, there is no dodging, so versus non-humanoid creatures, the combat tends to either devolve to a clickfest where you'e just spamming the fast attack just like in Gothic 3 (although you don't get stunlocked) or you try to awkwardly jump out of the way which looks very silly. My other issue is that versus humans, the animations are all mocapped and tend to be very long, so the controls become quite unresponsive because you have to wait for an animation to finish before the character triggers the next action. All that being said, I did enjoy the beta and did feel some of what made Risen1 great; mainly the wonder of exploring the unknown. Keep in mind that these are the impressions of the beginning of the game only, the islands may get bigger, the combat might become more strategic when you learn more skills.

uh oh

[BeeDog]

I played the beta of this game not long ago. I am a little conflicted; as someone who loved Risen1 (PC) I was really looking forward to this sequel, unfortunately, after playing the beta, I feel some of the changes Pirhana Bytes made are not for the better and once again some of these changes had to be made due to console limitations. First of all, while the developer claims that the playable landmass is much bigger than Risen1, the world has been chopped up into little islands most likely due to the limited memory of consoles. The explorable area in the beta was very small, here is hope that the other islands are much bigger. The beta area generally seemed less dense and emptier than the world in Risen 1, whether this is due to it being the starting area or some other reason (console limitations?) is anyone's guess. The verticality of the world has been majorly scaled down which is very disappoiting to me. In Risen1, just like Gothic1 and 2, you can climb any reachable ledge, this was great for exploration. In Risen 2, only specially designated areas are climbable. The UI has been redesigned to be controller friendly, but again, many aspects were streamlined in a not-so-good way for PC players; all types of food is shown as one item in the inventory called "Provisions" which restores a little health when eaten for example. The entire UI has been chopped up into tabs and lists with limited information in each, this is once again presumably to make it more manageable with a controller but it's pretty bad with the mouse. Luckily, you can switch tabs and scroll the lists with the movement keys, so after a while one can get used to it. The combat in Risen2 has been drastically changed from Risen1. IMO, the combat is now much less interesting. First off, there is no dodging, so versus non-humanoid creatures, the combat tends to either devolve to a clickfest where you'e just spamming the fast attack just like in Gothic 3 (although you don't get stunlocked) or you try to awkwardly jump out of the way which looks very silly. My other issue is that versus humans, the animations are all mocapped and tend to be very long, so the controls become quite unresponsive because you have to wait for an animation to finish before the character triggers the next action. All that being said, I did enjoy the beta and did feel some of what made Risen1 great; mainly the wonder of exploring the unknown. Keep in mind that these are the impressions of the beginning of the game only, the islands may get bigger, the combat might become more strategic when you learn more skills.

Ugh, definitely NOT what I wanted to hear. :(

[Derrick01]

So consoles ruin yet another (now former?) PC dev?

[Pranay_]

So consoles ruin yet another (now former?) PC dev?

Developers ruin themselves ? Why blame consoles ?

[MMaRsu]

So consoles ruin yet another (now former?) PC dev?

You mean a PC dev cripples their own PC development in favor of consoles?

[Twinduct]

Bleh hope they bring out a demo.

[Finaika]

So consoles ruin yet another (now former?) PC dev?

Goddamn consoles! >:(

[Derrick01]

You mean a PC dev cripples their own PC development in favor of consoles?

Nah I blame the source of the temptation more. Oh well at least I save some money here.

[MMaRsu]

Nah I blame the source of the temptation more. Oh well at least I save some money here.

Either way, I think the developer is more to blame than consoles or the source of temptation. It's not like this is going to sell gangbusters on consoles ( I think ).

[clockpunk]

As a 360-only gamer, can't say this news bothers me in the slightest. Here's hoping the full release features decent exploration, and maybe the addition of dodging in combat... Bring on August!

[Alextended]

As a 360-only gamer, can't say this news bothers me in the slightest.

So you wouldn't want better combat, world design, exploration, item management, etc, just because you'll play on console?

Not that I believe he can judge all this seemingly from a small demo-ish chunk of the game, but most of the "news" he brought is negative, I'd think at best one would hope it's a false first impression rather than be fine with most of it save for a couple points.

[TucoBenedictoPacifico]

I played the beta of this game not long ago. I am a little conflicted; as someone who loved Risen1 (PC) I was really looking forward to this sequel, unfortunately, after playing the beta, I feel some of the changes Pirhana Bytes made are not for the better and once again some of these changes had to be made due to console limitations. First of all, while the developer claims that the playable landmass is much bigger than Risen1, the world has been chopped up into little islands most likely due to the limited memory of consoles. The explorable area in the beta was very small, here is hope that the other islands are much bigger. The beta area generally seemed less dense and emptier than the world in Risen 1, whether this is due to it being the starting area or some other reason (console limitations?) is anyone's guess. The verticality of the world has been majorly scaled down which is very disappoiting to me. In Risen1, just like Gothic1 and 2, you can climb any reachable ledge, this was great for exploration. In Risen 2, only specially designated areas are climbable. The UI has been redesigned to be controller friendly, but again, many aspects were streamlined in a not-so-good way for PC players; all types of food is shown as one item in the inventory called "Provisions" which restores a little health when eaten for example. The entire UI has been chopped up into tabs and lists with limited information in each, this is once again presumably to make it more manageable with a controller but it's pretty bad with the mouse. Luckily, you can switch tabs and scroll the lists with the movement keys, so after a while one can get used to it. The combat in Risen2 has been drastically changed from Risen1. IMO, the combat is now much less interesting. First off, there is no dodging, so versus non-humanoid creatures, the combat tends to either devolve to a clickfest where you'e just spamming the fast attack just like in Gothic 3 (although you don't get stunlocked) or you try to awkwardly jump out of the way which looks very silly. My other issue is that versus humans, the animations are all mocapped and tend to be very long, so the controls become quite unresponsive because you have to wait for an animation to finish before the character triggers the next action. All that being said, I did enjoy the beta and did feel some of what made Risen1 great; mainly the wonder of exploring the unknown. Keep in mind that these are the impressions of the beginning of the game only, the islands may get bigger, the combat might become more strategic when you learn more skills.

Yeah, sadly I had the same impressions with the beta.
Also, I don't like their policy with day one DLCs at all.

That said, regardless of these annoying changes, i still enjoyed the beta big time, especially past the first, more linear parts.

[SparkTR]

That's a shame, still going to wait for reviews because I'm mostly interested in the setting. Only 5 more days left, any word on an embargo?

[TucoBenedictoPacifico]

That's a shame, still going to wait for reviews because I'm mostly interested in the setting. Only 5 more days left, any word on an embargo?

Here's most of the reviews for you:
"Blah blah blah, clumsy animations during dialogues, something something not top tier facial animation, poor production value, not cinematic and Bioware-like enough, not enough romances". 7/10.

[Lafiel]

No money for a pre-order of this (and somewhat skeptical about doing so) but if I miss out on the pre-order DLC how much is it going theoretically cost when it launches?

[MMaRsu]

So you wouldn't want better combat, world design, exploration, item management, etc, just because you'll play on console? Not that I believe he can judge all this seemingly from a small demo-ish chunk of the game, but most of the "news" he brought is negative, I'd think at best one would hope it's a false first impression rather than be fine with most of it save for a couple points.

Console gamers dont care about better fighting, they just want to hack and slash ;)

[subversus]

I started playing Risen 1 a few months ago and liked the game a lot but got distracted. I need to return to it soon.

[soultron]

Pretty bummed that this got delayed. Will be grabbing it on 360. Sorry, master racers.

[TucoBenedictoPacifico]

Sorry, master racers.

?

[soultron]

I'm just jelly that those belonging to the glorious master race are still getting it next week, basically. :P

[wiggleb0t]

The character animations and fighting reminds me a lot of fable 2. Very similar after looking at the dev diary 5 Fighting & combat.

[Gbraga]

Will this game support the 360 pad on the PC version?

[TucoBenedictoPacifico]

Will this game support the 360 pad on the PC version?

I can't remember if the beta did, to be honest.

[RPGCrazied]

I might be interested if I could play the first game on PS3, but alas its not for the system. Now why would I want to play the sequel without playing the first?

[Stallion Free]

Will this game support the 360 pad on the PC version?

It does.

[Gbraga]

I can't remember if the beta did, to be honest.

It does.

Thank you guys, I hope my crappy PC will be able to run it at least 720p 30fps

[Confidence Man]

Would've bought it day one but with those impressions I'll definitely be waiting to see how it pans out. Does the skill system still have crafting and all that other stuff or is it all combat related?