GAMING WEEKLY W40: Risen
Monday, September 28, 2009The world of risen
Risen is a third-person action RPG developed by Piranha Bytes, the creators of the Gothic-series. You play as a nameless hero who is shipwrecked and stranded on a exotic island. This game unlike other fantasy RPG:s doesn’t feature standard enemies like orcs and elves to tell a story. According to Daniel Oberlerchne (the international brand manager at the publisher Deep Silver) you don’t have your usual character creation in the beginning of the game, your character will evolve throughout the game in a more natural way, depending on what choices you make, depending on what kind of hero you want to be.
The world of Risen is according to Daniel not generated by heightmaps, but handcrafted which is said to add immensely to the atmosphere of the game. You can check out the environment trailer at Gametrailers.
Immersive gaming
The developers seem to have the keyword “immersion” in their minds as they created the game, since Risen’s interface is minimalistic and functional, they want the game to be more like a simulation of a medieval fantasy world than a standard RPG. They want the players to immerse themselves within the game and believe that a minimalistic interface is the way to go. I totally agree on this one, I’ve been a fan of minimalistic or semi-visable huds for a long time. Daniel also tells us that their second most important component is the simulation of an organic world. Believable NPCs, with their own daily routines, they will eat when they feel like it and sit down if they are tired. Even the monsters might take a nap in the woods at night.
A big part of the game is exploration, like the previous Gothic games Risen is an immersive open-world RPG and just like the Gothic-series you will be able to go anywhere you want, when you want it. I’ve gotta say on paper this game looks really really good, I loved the Gothic-series even though the third game was a bit of a letdown I believe that Risen will definitely be good. Check out the gameplay walkthroughs at Gametrailers.
[...] actually already posted some stuff about Risen in Gaming Weekly: W40, there are some people in the EU that already have gotten their games. I will probably buy the [...]