1. DevonM.

   10

   Risen is a wonderful return to RPG roots. It does almost nothing wrong in my books. For people tried of the 'Diablo' style of action-rpg that dominates the shelves, Risen will be a wonderful breath of fresh air. This isn't a game where every five minutes you'll be levelling up, nor will you be constantly finding brand new weapons and armor to swap out. Until you start to get some better equipment and training, each battle will be dangerous and rewarding. After Gothic 3 I was skeptical of buying Risen, I cannot believe I almost passed up what has rapidly become one of the most compelling RPG's I've played since Mass Effect. As far as decisions make in the game, I love how the idea of good and bad isn't so distinct, rather it focuses on what side you'll take and what lines you'll tread there. Sure you apprehend the thief, but do you choose to let him go or turn him in? And if you do, which side are your ambitions aligned towards? Graphically speaking I find the game absolutely beautiful. I love how dark is dark in this game, carrying a torch through the jungle in a rainstorm as the shadows of trees and bushes dance around is a compelling visual experience. The acoustic ambiance is nothing shy of excellent either, this game is a visual and aural feast. Combat, one of the things widely criticized is in my opinion pretty good. With the sole exception of a minor targetting problem, I've never felt like the system was unintuitive, boring or difficult. Combat IS difficult, but not because of the system in place. Rather use of tactics and timing are paramount and can lead to some pretty satisfying kills. At one point I had performed an overhead strike only to kill three gnomes with the same hit, which is not common mind you, but shows how the system is versitile. Also, unlike other casual RPG's, there are no -easy- enemies in this game. Until you get some good armor, training and weapons, even the earliest enemies will still be dangerous, you just get better at killing them. Most importantly I've had no technical issues and it runs fine on my Sony Vaio FW485J/B at max graphical settings. I'm running the steam version of the game. Now, the game does have a few hiccups in dealing with falling, drowning, and the occassional targetting mishap in combat. But none which get in the way to make the game unplayable or less enjoyable. All in all, I love this game. LOVE IT. Anyone rating it poorly most likely simply do not like the design or difficulty of it. Any true hardcore or old school RPGers will feel completely at home here, and like me, have been waiting for this game for a long time.… Expand

   • Helpful?

     6 of 6 users said yes
2. phanj

   6

   I tried to and really want to like this game. I just can't stand the combat, which is very frustrating. Your opponent gets guaranteed hits, but the reflex-based combat system implies that your mouse clicking skills will suffice. So the combat tries to be action-rpg because your coordination with the mouse is important and not so much your player's stats (as opposed to DA:O where 'stats' are everything). Even the simplest creatures seem to have more HP than you do and will take many hits to kill. Also the world is chock full of hostiles at every turn, just amplifying how frustrating the game can get when each fight seems rigged to be unfair. When you engage a hostile, you can't defend and attack (mele) at the same time, so you MUST release the shield and strike. And in this 1/20th of a second window where you release your shield and click to attack, your opponent gets a random chance at a guaranteed hit and you are forced to quaff a heal pot (which are hard to find early on). You can NOT hold the shield up and hit with the weapon at the same time. Other people who seem to have not noticed that the combat is unfair say it's fine, but they just haven't noticed the game is cheating in combat. Also the game forces you to do menial tasks to progress in the game like farm a farmer's field. Things like this serve the story, but absolutely are not fun to do. So from that perspective story is primary in this game, and RPG elements secondary. It's an adventure game with RPG elements, but as far as game progression, you must do many of the quests. What I like about the game is that the world is indeed as PB says, detail rich. The world is immersive. Everything is skillfully made. Time of day is very well done. I wish I could stand this game more so that I could see more of what it has to offer, because the scenery is very nice. I've also heard there are some big dungeons to explore and I'd love to see those. Oh well.… Expand

   • Helpful?

     6 of 10 users said yes
3. JubalH

   0

   The game is very good, but the DRM is unacceptable, only 3 activations is an absurd. The support for revalidation at deep silver ignores you. Don't buy and don't loose your money.… Expand

   • Helpful?

     2 of 11 users said yes

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