Piranha Bytes Tuesdays!
Risen 2
Those of you that qualify for the Risen 2 beta should have access to it by now.
At least, that was the rumour last week:
Those who registered their code with Deep Silver received an e-mail today in which Deep Silver announced that the “beta test” will take place from February, 20th to March, 2nd. The e-mail recipients are asked to register again on the website betatest.risen2.com with their personal access code.
Since Deep Silver made a little mess with all the registrations and codes, here?s a list about the steps to take (as we currently understand the procedure ourselves):
1. Buy [the Risen] Collector’s Edition to get access code
2. Register with Deep Silver to get personal access code
3. Register on www.betatest.risen2.com to get Steam download code
4. Register on Steam and use last code to download the demo
GameBanshee doubts that there was ever a North American release of the Risen Collector’s Edition, so this beta may well be limited to European Pirahna Bytes fans.
Risen 2 interview at NowGamer.
With a bit of a letdown, I’m afraid:
This being a Risen game, you’ll explore a living open world on each island you go to, and level up to unlock skills like musket-shooting, sword-fighting and all manner of dirty tricks, including throwing sand into enemies? eyes.
…
While we quite like Risen 2’s whole Pirates Of The Caribbean meets world-saving high-fantasy vibe, it’s a little disappointing that pirate ships only transport you between islands and can?t be sailed.
Once again, modern AAA 3D RPGs fail to live up to a standard set by Ultima…and, for that matter, by certain notable Ultima remakes.
The game just does not look as good on the 360.
See the fauna of Risen 2 in action:
Damn crocs.
Pete Brolly walks you through Risen 2
Mr. Brolly is the brand manager at Deep Silver, and he stopped by the G4 offices to give them a bit of an introduction to his company’s upcoming pirate-themed RPG:
Arrrrrr!
GameBanshee interviews Bjorn Pankratz.
In case anyone has forgotten, Mr. Pankratz is the project director at Piranha Bytes. GameBanshee’s interview with him stretches out to two pages in length, so here’s just a little taste of what’s on offer in it:
GB: You’ve stated that we’ll be the captain of our own ship in Risen 2, and that it will be a “central” part of the game. Can you break down how ship customization and travel will function? Will there be on-board combat scenarios and upgrade options to make the ship more powerful/faster?
BP: The player’s ship can moor at all islands and the mainland, so long as the player has discovered their location. To travel, the player can use a travel map to tell the helmsman on board where to go; the ship then casts off and makes for the chosen destination. On board, the player can walk around on deck and talk to crew members, or enter the captain’s cabin to rest. How to acquire a ship in the first place is something you should find out for yourselves…
GB: How linear or non-linear would you say the game is Once we move to a new island, do we have the option to return to previous islands we’ve visited to make use of trainers, tackle side quests, and that sort of thing?
BP: The world will be open, as usual, and as a rule it will be possible to return to places you have already visited later in order to trade, learn, or complete quests. In Risen 2, the world opens up more and more – while the player can only explore one island to begin with, once he/she has a ship, any location can be reached.
This dovetails with what was noted above: that ships in the game are going to be used basically as a means of point-to-point travel, with little or no free-sailing possible in-game. That said, it doesn’t sound like they’ll really restrict which points you can move between at any given time.
RPGWatch has a profile of Chani, daughter of the chief of the Shaganumbi tribe.
Who are…evidently an island native tribe in Risen 2.
As a strong-minded voodoo witch with a gift in magical talents, she is dedicated to the protection of her people. She defends with the strength of the people of her tribe against the dangers and rise of evil within and outside the community.
The nameless hero meets Chani on his travels; she shows him that “savages” are perfectly able to defend themselves against invaders!
That’s adorable.
So this is a pirate-themed sequel? I loved Risen1, but pirates??! meh
The vids look impressive though
Yes, pirate-themed. With fantasy & magic elements as well.
Will it work? Who knows…but one has to applaud Piranha Bytes for going after something quite thematically different from other RPGs.
I’ll never understand why I put Gothic 1 on such a lofty pedestal but the rest of the games are so frustrating.
I have yet to play the new Risen game, but I put a lot more time than I’d like to admitt into Gothic 3 with the community patch. No karma, no branching storylines, and every single quest is a fetch quest.
After the first 2-3 lifeless inane towns, I figured out a systematic approach to clearing quests. Just talk to every npc in town twice. Just go down the line with them once, then go down the line with them again. If that didn’t solve 90%-95% of the quests, it only solved more.
I destinctly remember the lack of women and children. Entire towns may only have 2 female npcs, if you were lucky. There was a higher ratio of men to women in the prison colony. But atleast that was explained! Specifically stating that women entered the prison colony as slaves in exchange for ore.