Risen Review

My anticipation is rising and here it comes! Get ready for Risen, a brand new RPG from Pirahna Bytes. Would it be bad if I said this game is great? Oh well! If you’re hungry for an RPG after completing a game like CD Projekts’ The Witcher then this will make your appetite go away. In this game you are a nameless hero just waking up from a ship wreck. Who are you? Where are you? Pay $50 and you get to find out! You are the hero! You first are immersed by the graphics and sound of a beach.It’s raining and the weather system looks great! You wake up in front of a hottie(future girls of gaming cover model, dattebayo!) and you have to run and get help. Swiping through a jungle you find your way to an abandoned house… “Who lived here” you will wonder, and that’s just a great example of how the developers allow you to tell your own stories and think your own thoughts. You need a good computer though or else it will only run at low settings. Piranha Bytes needs to put more work into making it work and less on sculping the areas. Still, I will take this game over Oblivion any day! Be a mage, a bug, a fighter, a knight or more. You get to join factions and that will help change the ending you get.

Early on when you are just a simple castaway, you fight bugs boars and wolves with swords. Later on though, a giant mantis can attack you so make sure you use the quick-save feature the good guys at PB have provided us. The combat is merely OK. It feels rigid but still better than Gothic 2. If you get tired of swinging at the advanced AI who will dodge you, then why not use a spell? Why not turn into a bug and escape if you’re losing? Yes you can. Also jumping is very weird… PB has a hard time figuring out how to make a man jump. If you tap the jump key a lot, you actually go high in the air before crashing down! But don’t worry, healing herbs, healing potions and water buckets that heal are sprinkled along the way. Don’t forget to heal and save. You are getting hunted down by the inquisition so stay out of sight when they show up or else. Stealth is imporantant when this happens keep a sharp eye out.

Quests are very familiar. You will be doing sorts of boring but easy quests like picking wheat, but thats just for now. You get to clear out a cave. You feel really useful and they give you items as a reward. Eventually after your brow is sweeting, you can get a guy to show you the way to a larger town. This is where the game really opens up. What you do is very up to you. You will be the decider. Play this game if you are a fan of RPGs, the PC, or the british(since they have british accents haha!)