(Really sorry about the weird formatting with images duders :( It looked perfect in the preview. Don't know how to fix it)

(Edit: Tried my best to re format it using dots between images. Looks better now I hope)

Alright, this maybe difficult, but hopefully I can gather my thoughts in order to provide a good enough idea of what this game feels like after 5 hours of playing it.

It's very much a "Piranha bytes" game (as other reviewers have also mentioned) If you've loved the Gothic/ Risen series inspite of their shortcomings, you'll probably enjoy this too. (Also, this write up is focused more towards you guys, who understand the appeal) They said that their main focus this time around was getting back to the original feeling of their previous games (apart from Risen 2) and they have more or less succeeded in that, providing us with a deep, atmospheric and intricate world to explore.

Keep in mind, I'm only 5 hours through and am a biased PB games fan. The game has received both great and terrible reviews, players have both applauded the game for pulling it off while others have said that they feel cheated by the developers. If you need to be really sure before getting this one, some additional research would be best. This here below is my personal opinion and experience of/with the game.

The previous games I've played by PB are Risen 1, 2 (halfway through), and Gothic 3 (I know, I know, G1&2 are way better etc) and so far, I've enjoyed this game in the same way I did Risen 1 and G3 (and haven't been bored like I was in Risen 2)

The world is more or less that of Risen 2, but has been mostly rebuilt and added to (I think, since I didn't play R2 much; but this is what i've read) It's divided into a number of islands, and all of them have their own identity.

You start the game on Crab coast, a tropical island reminiscent of the sun dappled forests and streams from Risen 1. From there on, you have the whole map at your disposal.

I decided to move on to Taciragua, as it was an island I was familiar with from R2, and I wanted to see if I could recognize it.

This place turned out to have a bit of a deserted, boring feel to it, similar to what I felt in R2. It was with reason though, the island had its problems with deserters, and there were not many people to fill it with life. Also, some areas (sugarcane plantation) had been burnt, leaving the place looking quite bleak. Still, I was sort of impressed with the desaturated, burnt up look of the area. I did a bunch of quests here, and went on to explore another island.

Next, I went to "Calador". Developers and previewers have labelled this location as a "gothic 1 theme" island. Apparently the atmosphere of the place is quite similar to that game (with volcanoes, fortresses and rolling hills (didn't see rolling hills yet)). This island is the home of one of the three joinable factions - the demon hunters.

I thought the Demon hunters were a pretty cool bunch of people, with a bad ass fortress, called the Citadel, and super cool powers such as blink - teleport - dodges. They're battlemages of sort, and seem like a pretty friendly yet bad ass bunch of guys. Also, they lit green fires across the island as a call for help/ duty to all demon hunters across the land to gather and train for the crisis that the world has fallen in.

I did a bunch of quests for these guys too, and it turned out to be a lot more fun. The fortress reminded me of the amazing monastery in Risen 1, and I wanted to join them asap. But I wanted to check out the other factions before I did so, so I've held off for the time being.

Here I got my first taste of quests and people with real, interesting personalities. Surprisingly, the voice acting is pretty good, and makes it all much more enjoyable. The faces look great too (though not AAA good maybe), and the expressions given during dialogue delivery add to the experience. And from what I've seen, I haven't noticed any repeating npc faces. I might have not kept a track, but I feel as if all of them have unique and different faces. Honestly speaking, I quite like the npcs in this game. They definitely have personality. (and don't feel like Skyrim's wooden people)

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After a bunch of quests here as well, to get a taste of the island and its people, I moved on to the island used by the mages as their headquarters. Since I was a mage in Risen 1 due to their badassery in that game (the monastery, the pupils practicing staff fighting in the courtyard, the dramatic location of the monastery, the way of life of the students evident from the architecture and the look of the place), I reached here hoping it would be a similar scene.

I was led to the mage's camp by a guy named baker (in the pic above), and was surprised by the dialogue that went between him and my player (interjected by my voodoo priest companion bones, who I forgot to mention earlier. He's a pretty interesting/ witty guy and will contribute his thoughts during any conversation with an npc if he has anything to say)

Baker looked like a pretty nice, friendly guy who was happy to lead me to the camp, and remained friendly by showering me with random facts about mages and the island, and about how everyone likes digging up crystals in this place. He even offered me to choose which route I'd prefer - the longer, scenic one, or the shorter one through a cave. I happily chose the longer one, and baker even commented on the great view. Upon reaching the camp, he left me to wander in on my own, while he decided to banter with the guard at the gate. Their personalities were evident in the dialogue.

I was a little disappointed by the mages camp, as in comparison it looked a little less badass than the one in R1 (oh well, guess that's the demon hunters now) Still, I liked the mysterious feel within their great hall, where the mages looked quite deeply involved in their research work. All of them were pretty interesting to talk to, with quite quirky and extreme personalities. These guys though, are not as friendly and welcoming as the demon hunters. Instead, they sounded quite arrogant and secretive. The mages practicing magic outside did look pretty cool though.

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The magic practicing mages mentioned above also looked cool thanks to some pretty cool animations. I'm no expert at this, but just watching these guys practice their movements was a lot of fun. Same goes for a person I saw practicing his sword moves outside the citadel, and a soldier marching across a camp in Taciragua. The npc animations look quite smooth and realistic.

Coming to the visuals, Risen 3 looks beautiful in the same way Risen 1 did - it's not technically great, and looks like its struggling to keep up with the standard of the generation (the 360/ps3 gen), but it still manages to please. Like Risen 1, the lighting really comes off well at times, giving it a warm, tropical sun drenched look. The sharp shadows of the foliage, and the bright sunlight create great scenes. People might call the game out for its muddy textures and last gen graphics, but to me it still manages to look beautiful thanks to its atmosphere.

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Now, combat is the aspect that most people seem to have trouble adjusting to. Funnily enough, it's basically the same old combat we've had in Piranha Bytes games for about a decade now, which makes these complaints seem silly. The combat is quite improved, but it's tough as ever for new player. Here, parrying is made less important by the new doge move, which becomes vital especially against wildlife. There's the fast attack and the heavy attack, and a button for insta gun shot. Magic is another option, which I haven't explored yet, but it apparently depends on a cooldown rather than a mana bar now. For people who've understood the system in games like G3 and Risen, it isn't a big challenge to adjust to. Reviewers seem to be finding it broken and difficult, but I've been enjoying myself quite a bit (even though I accept it is difficult. Thank god for companions)

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All in all, if you've played and liked earlier PB games (except maybe Risen 2) then you should definitely give this a try. Mechanically, it sure seems to be improved, but atmospherically it's back to its roots. If you're a new, curious player, then that decision might be harder to make, especially with Lotr, Dragon age, pillars of eternity etc coming in a month or two's time.

In any case, here are two good reviews of the game. This is an extremely flattering review (score 92%) written by a self admitted biased, PB loving reviewer, while here's a more objective Gamespot review of the game (70%)

Also here's a video by the developers explaining their intentions for the game -

If you have any questions feel free to ask, I'll try my best to answer them :)

Wow looking at those screenshots it looks so much like a copy and paste job from Risen 2. I even recognize those weapons and abilities on the UI hotbar. Not surprising too, considering how little time they had.

While I've tolerated a lot of shortcomings of Risen 1 as it came out a while ago before the time of some better games of similar ilk. Risen 2 was imo a waste of my money. It tried to do the piratey stuff but just failed utterly in every way imaginable to make you feel like one, it was a pirate game in which you could not swim for goodness sake, and your ship was only a travel system to other islands. That's besides it's meekness as an RPG both narratively and mechanically.

This looks too similar to the previous game for comfort. And I am not going to do that dance a second(third) time.

After seeing these PC screen shots, I so regret buying the PS3 version.

@tennmuerti: Guess I can't compare it to Risen 2 as I'd quit that game after an hour or two of playing it :P But I guess that's the difference from my perspective; I quit that game out of boredom and lack of motivation while I'm excited to keep on exploring the world and its people further. (P.S you can swim and sail in this one, though I haven't reached the ship battles yet)

@armaan8014: Also that church/building in your screen shot (Bright light and sharp shadows) is the exact place you first make your landfall in the first game after the prologue, pixel perfect pretty much, boy that's wholesale copy of the previous game's assets. So are the interior rooms you've screenshot in another place, they are exactly the same. I am not surprised some people who bought this are pissed and feel ripped off if they have played Risen 2.

Jezas it's like they made the exact same game again added some things and slapped 3 onto it. >.<

@tennmuerti: Yup I know about the church in Tacirigua, I recognized it in the game. Still, I felt it had improved graphically. Also, I liked how they replaced those sugarcane fields there with burnt up ones instead.

Fortunately for me some of the repetitions that seem to exist don't bother me too much. I'm enjoying the atmosphere and flow of the game. Still, the experience will probably be largely affected by what mindset you enter the game with, and whether you want to like it or not, so that's an important thing to consider for people who'r not too sure about getting it, especially with the kind of games coming out in the next few months.

That's a great write-up. Haven't played anything PB since Gothic 3, maybe I'll check this out...

@palmlykta: Thanks :)

Well.. these screenshots are on the medium settings :P

How are you finding the game though? Have you joined any faction yet? I'm torn between joining the mages or the demon hunters.

@armaan8014: I've only had a chance to play for a couple hours, just under two hours to be exact. So I haven't really done much of anything in the game. Just got past the part where you meet Bones. Or to that point actually. Didn't do anything after that. I plan on playing more this weekend. But like I said in the trailer topic, it didn't grab me like past games in those first couple hours. Hoping it picks up now that I'm past that intro.

So I'm 25 hours into the game so far and it is a great game in my opinion. I have some minor complaints but for the most part the Risen series has returned to the old school PB feel that I always loved about their games.

I'll just start off with what I don't like. It's VERY easy compared to the first three Gothic games. I was fighting golems before I even upgraded any of my base stats (I'm playing on Normal btw). Yeah they took a lot of hits but in the first PB games if you fight a golem not only would you do no damage they would kill you instantly. The problem with upping the difficulty is the normal enemies like Scavengers (Interesting they are bringing back Gothic Enemies in Risen) would just take even longer to kill, it's a weird balancing issue because even some of the weaker enemies have massive health pools for some reason. Another thing is the lack of choice when it comes to weapons. Only having one handed melee weapons or two handed guns is pretty limited, what happened to two handed swords and axes? I would have loved to use a giant sword as a Demon Hunter, also the crossbows are wimpy looking, I want my massive crossbow from Gothic 2 back.

Slight Gothic 2 spoilers below.

Now for what I love! Because I do love this game even with those downfalls. I'm a huge PB fan, I have been since the very first Gothic. The world they have created here is fantastic. Someone above mentioned the repeating areas. Gothic 2 did that and I loved it, seeing the destroyed Colony in Gothic 2 for the first time was amazing for me. The area you spent 30 hours exploring in the first game is just a barren wasteland filled with an army of orcs and desperate knights locked up in a castle. I got that feeling exploring the old areas of Risen 2 (to a lesser degree since Risen 2 wasn't that great but you get the point). I feel they changed the areas enough so that going back doesn't seem like a chore.

The combat is much improved over Risen 2 and I'd also say improved over Risen 1. Enemies don't Stun lock you to death as much and when they do it's easy to get out of using Riposte or your dodge. Introducing skills for the melee class was also a great choice, it adds a ton of variety to the way you can approach enemies. No more relying on scrolls if you melee!

I could possibly write more? I seem to be the one who has the most gametime so far so if anyone has questions about the game I might be able to answer them. These are just my thoughts so far. I really think they did a great job, they could have gone a bit further and addressed my complaints above but for the most part they recaptured the old Gothic atmosphere.

Nice write up TC. I bought this for my 360. I'll be playing it soon, and just hope it looks decent. I liked Risen and this looked good in preview so I'm glad to hear you're liking it so far.

@sterling: Well I guess I could suggest you consider starting off with the mages island first (tarannis). I've found it the most engaging and interesting island yet. A couple of hours of quests there should give you a good idea about whether you'll continue to find the game enjoyable ir not.

I've really been enjoying myself on this island, but even the demon hunters one, Calador, is impressive

Thanks for the impressions and nice to see Piranha Bytes' fans around here. I like the unique handcrafted content in their games unlike the recycled dungeons that plague the genre.

Hopefully Giant Bomb will do a quick look of the PC version even though it seems like you need to put some time into the story first. I feel like Vinny would like it the most but AFAIK the east coast is without PC yet. @drewbert might you pretty please do a quick look of this german game? :)

Risen 2 waits longer to give the player story choices and skills than the first Risen (I think you get to choose factions on the third island). I still haven't finished it because I spent too much time on the side quests and exploring everything.

I've tried playing the Gothic games for the first time recently but I feel that they haven't aged well.

Why do people complain that Piranha Bytes keeps making the same game when story driven adventure RPGs are so few and far between (isn't Dragon Age more focused on combat and romancing your crew members than actual adventure)?

@ezakael: How are you enjoying the Demon hunter class as of now? Do they have the ability to use magic apart from scrolls? I'm confused between the lively and engaging camp of the mages and the interesting personality and story of the Demon hunters.

Also which island did you find the most interesting? I'm loving Taranis(?) as of now, it's pretty lush and mysterious :)

@armaan8014: The Demon Hunters are a really fun/cool class to play. They actually have permanent spells instead of being forced into using scrolls (They use Rune magic as opposed to the Mages that use Crystal Magic). From what I can tell the spells that Demon Hunters get are mostly buffs that increase damage, defence etc. I did get a summon spell as well though which is really useful. Personally I preferred the overall tone of the Demon Hunters which is why I chose them. The real dark gothic vibe they have really appeals to me, the whole islands atmosphere is similar to the first Gothic games, like you mentioned in your OP.

As for which island I find the most interesting, I'm stuck between Calador and Taranis right now. Calador I already mentioned above why I really like it, but Taranis has Gnomes, and those little buggers are adorable. I might have to go with Calador though because of the atmosphere and lore. Looking over the hills and seeing those green fires is pretty amazing as well.

Thanks for these impressions guys! Looks like Piranha Bytes brought back some of the traditional Gothic flair for this one. I think that might be a good idea even if I don't see them having continued success if they serioulsy try to sell what is effectively the same game over and over again for much longer. Shame that their only attempts at somewhat breaking the cycle (Gothic 3, Risen 2) were so deeply flawed and controversial among fans.

After the embargo lifted I feverishly tried to get a solid read on the game via World of Risen and other sites. Ultimately it seems to be 'another solid one of those' with all that entails. While I bought every Gothic (except 1, that was before my time) and Risen game upon release I decided to wait this time. Yet another round of pre-order DLC certainly didn't help at all. Locking 2 out of 9 islands, the gnome one containing one of the more humorous, strange and generally enjoyable settings of the universe, behind that sort of shit? Serioulsy, Deep Silver/ PB/ whoever is fucking responsible?

I'm sure I'll have at least respectable fun with it once the game + all DLC has hit a €20 or so price point. In some naive way I still hope PB can be succesful amongst their modern peers - there's still something magical here, I swear - but I'm done chasing that dream at the cost of a full price game for now. Glad there's still enjoyment to be found for fans of that strange little RPG mutant though.

NOOOOOOOO. My PS3 started giving me the yellow light today. I played for about 10 minutes and then that started. :(

Now I am debating getting a new ps3 or trying to get this one fixed. Its a launch model 80gb with BC. I don't use the BC. But I'm not sure if getting it fixed is worth it in the long run. Nor am I sure if buying a new one is worth it. But I have so many digital PS3 games. Ugh. Hmm.

@ezakael: I hadn't really explored the depths of Calador earlier, sticking mostly to the areas around the Citadel. But now I got this crew member (William?) who had a quest that led me into the interiors of the island and man! What a beautifully mind blowing location it is! I loved all the rolling hills and ruins he took me through, and later I took a route a little off into a forest, and that place as well was really beautiful. All those flying fireflies, the dark/ damp and mysterious forest, full of extreme amounts of detail was a real pleasure to wander through.

Then I totally lost it when I stumbled upon a hut occupied by three hunters, all three of them with different personalities. Wandering off from that point towards a waterfall was great too.

I have to say, when I'd written this article, I was impressed with everything I'd seen and felt that it was a reasonably good game that was receiving unjustified negativity from some journalists. But now I'm beginning to feel like it's much more than that: It's a damn good game, and deserves more recognition. The atmosphere, the music, the npcs really make this a fun adventure.

@baal_sagoth: Yup. I hope the game becomes a sleeper hit of some sort, though its hard to believe it could happen. But I'm sure it'll be loved amongst the hardcore fans of the series

@sterling: Good luck with your console then duder :(

So I just finished the game and I have to say, I was thoroughly satisfied with Risen 3 almost all the way through. The biggest hiccup being those god awful sea battles they implemented. Doing most of the side quests and picking up some of the legendary items a long the way I managed to beat the game at around 45 hours.

Only open if you beat the game or don't mind spoilers

This was an amazing write up for the game. You have convinced me to play Risen 3 as my next game. Just bought it after reading this.

@pimblycharles: Wow thanks! Haha that's a bit of pressure on me now :P I really hope you enjoy the game ;)

@ezakael: Wow 45 hours! I'm only still 25 hours in (Busy with college work and everything) The Demon hunters is a pretty cool faction to join, and their quests are pretty interesting too. I'm happy to see that the game satisfied you overall.

I have one question about Risen 3. Does the series still punish you for grinding? I remember in Risen 1 I killed a bunch of animals, at the start of the game, then found out that the critters do not respawn and I was boned because I, shortly thereafter, unlocked a perk that doubled the resources from kills and late game those extra resources / xp would have come in handy. Which brings me to my biggest complaint with Risen 1, the game felt like it was trying to punish people who do not pre-plan their characters. XP was incredibly limited and it felt like the game was designed with min / maxers in mind, if you put a skill point in the wrong skill then you were boned at the end of the game.

Okay first question is are critters bound by permadeath? Secondly, does the game try to punish people that like to level up their characters? Is the game all about min maxing still?

As far as I can tell monsters respawned a lot more often then in Risen 1. Every time I went back to a previous island a lot of the monsters were back so I don't think that will be much of an issue, however the game is extremely easy even on the hardest difficulty so you won't ever have to worry about min/maxing to be effective anyway.

@armaan8014: Finally started Risen 3. I'm about 3 hours in, and am surprisingly enjoying it a lot. The voice acting, story and many quests haven't been great so far due to them being typical and quite bland. However, exploring the world and different islands has been really cool so far. There have been side quests that felt really unique to my playthrough and had a lot of interesting depth. The combat isn't as bad as people say. It's not great, but not bad. I've just been rolling my ass off during combat.

This is definitely a Piranha Bytes game, and that's probably the main reason why I'm attracted to it. Thanks again for the recommendation.

Could you tell me how many hours it took you to finish it?

@pimblycharles: Glad you're having fun! :)

Oddly enough, I haven't finished the game yet :P Work and other things got me busy, plus Sims 4 took up my free time as well :P

But I think the game would last for about 25-35 hrs depending on how you play it, from what I've heard.