Risen is a Role Playing Game series set in a fantasy world that has you play as a Pirate. In Risen 3, you play a new protagonist who is the son of Captain Steelbeard. The game has been developed by Piranha Bytes and published by Deep Silver.
The tutorial starts you off in a nightmare battle with the ghost of pirate captain Crow to teach you the basics of combat. You wake up in your ship off the Crab Coast in the quest for hidden treasure. The protagonist’s sister Patty is your companion in this quest as the game introduces you to magic and exploration mechanics. And loot, from both slain enemies and chests, and also that which is scattered around the environment. The conclusion of this tutorial results in our hero’s spirit being banished to the underworld and his eventual resurrection sans spirit. This sets up your main questline which is to get your hero’s spirit back from the Underworld and prevent him from becoming its minion.
The game plays from the third person perspective with fully voiced dialogue options. It shows helpful key prompts whenever one is in range of an interact-able object such as loot or chests or non-player characters (NPCs). This can accidentally result in you starting a dialogue with your companion or a NPC while gathering loot from the environment or from corpses. The camera usually does a good job of following your character though it can sometimes show out of focus NPCs or get stuck in an awkward angle during dialogue.
The game restricts you to only one companion at a time though you can get more in certain cases. You can recruit companions from amongst the NPCs through dialogue or by satisfying certain criteria. Your companions have some problematic pathfinding code and may end up getting stuck in the environment when you try exploring off the beaten path.
Combat in Risen 3 is the same flawed quirky model of the previous games. It gives you the option of three types of melee weapons and two types of guns as your primary weapons besides magic. Secondary weapons include crossbows, pistols and knives. One can dodge and block attacks. Additional combat techniques need to be learnt from NPCs willing to teach them for gold provided one meets the level criteria. These make the quirky combat a bit more comfortable and you might rarely find yourself using guns or magic once you own some high damage dealing swords.
Every attribute that you can upgrade in this game influences some sub-attributes that affect how the game world reacts to you. These sub attributes can also be influenced by the gear you equip and can be temporarily boosted through some plant consumables and their potions. Rare plant consumables which can be refined into potions to increase their efficacy can also be used to boost the main attributes though this results in making upgrades through the experience currency called ‘Glory’ that much more expensive.
One can sneak around and steal objects only to sell it back to their owners in this game. Pickpocketing however, needs you to have a high enough level and is done through the dialogue menu as is the trade initiation. Some NPCs have Silver Tongue and Intimidate dialogue options that let you gain secrets or greater rewards. Trade is done through bartering and using gold and the trade screen lets you view all the goods at once or by one category. The order of items listed in the trade screen and inventory is predefined. If one increases one’s bartering one can sell certain hoods for a higher price than they are bought from the trader. This can be used to get infinite gold.
The game has three main factions namely the Natives, the Mages and the Demon Hunters, each with their own brand of magic that requires a different raw material. They also have a big ship for you to command should you choose to join them. Choosing a faction is simply a choice of which spells you like and whether you fancy voodoo, crystal or rune magic. Of course you can continue using consumables of the other forms. There are other factions like the Inquisition and the Shadows in the game too, but they aren’t joinable.
The game offers multiple avenues for crafting ranging from gear and weapons to potions and magic consumables. One can also upgrade basic weapons to an advanced form if one learns the right skills. Note that some NPCs demand items that can be used in crafting as part of their optional quests.
The game has a fast travel system through the use of strategically placed teleporters that one must first activate. Exploration is highly rewarding as areas once cleared of enemies and fauna stay that way. The game hides plenty of loot around the environment, some of it specifically reserved for collection by a pet monkey you can learn to use. There is one part of the game that frowns on exploration and that is the Underworld. Your spirit wanders the unmapped Underworld collecting soul dust and meeting with other spirits. However exit from this place is quite abrupt once you cross an unmarked threshold. This is linked to the soul affiliation system of the game where your actions and dialogue choices let you either preserve your humanity or descend headlong into the clutches of the underworld. This affiliation is akin to a Good and Evil system and impacts the cooperation of your human and undead companions.
There are quite a few mini games scattered throughout the world of Risen 3 and some can only be accessed at certain times of the Day-Night cycle by talking to the relevant NPC. One can throw knives, arm wrestle and play a drinking game though arm wrestling needs a lot of button mashing to nail the finishing move. Some quests require you to win these games as well. Opening Chests is a mini game in itself. You need to move the lockpick in the correct order of cylinders to be successful. The game’s tutorial fails to mention this nuance which can lead to quite a bit of frustration.
Risen 3 is appealing for its story and the sheer variety of quests it offers. One won’t find any NPCs with a big exclamation mark over their heads and must talk to individuals to be given quests. One can stumble across or accidentally complete quests by merely exploring the game world. The game’s quirks grow on you after a while and you tend to forgive its minor glitches since the fantasy world it is set in is interesting to play around in. While this game has you playing as a pirate and even features ship combat, though the latter isn’t very helpful in showing the impact your broadside might have, most of the action takes place on land amongst a handful of island and coastal locations. All in all it is a mediocre RPG whose story and exploration opportunities can let you gloss over its quirks.[divider]
We are grateful to Akash Malhotra for providing the review copy and inputs on previous titles in the series.
