Chris Kavan's Game Review of Risen

Risen Should Have Stayed Buried
Chris Kavan - wrote on 09/10/15

I have been spoiled - spoiled by the likes of Bethesda, CD PROJEKT RED and BioWare. Spoiled so much that a game that came out in 2009 is like the dark ages of RPGs. Compared to the likes of Skyrim, Dragon Age and Witcher, Risen is a like a copy of a copy of a copy - everything about it reminds me so something - but something much better. Everything about the game just pales so much in comparison that it's hard to believe this game came out in the same years at Borderlands, Dragon Age: Origins and Batman: Arkham Asylum - because, seriously, it feels like it could have come out in 2006 (the same years as Oblivion) and still would have fallen short. It has all the elements of what makes an RPG great, but has nothing that stands out.

Presentation: The game looks pretty average. Both characters and background are pretty bland. Sometimes your mouth moves when talking, other times it doesn't. You pretty much use the same gestures during each conversation and the Hero (voiced by Gus Gallagher - who doesn't have much of a resume) is boring. Despite having a few big names - Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies and Lena Headey - none of the characters make a big impact and it feels like the worst - reading off a page - rather than actually giving us a good character. The backgrounds had a lot of popping in (it got better when I increased my settings, but it was still noticeable). Monsters are rather generic - as is the music. It's just all so... flat. I have nothing more to say.

Story: After being shipwrecked on a mysterious island, our Hero finds that the Inquisitor and his men have essentially set up shop and proclaimed themselves the new rulers, taking over the largest town (Harbor Town - very descriptive, I know) and kicking out the local gang and pushing them towards the swamp (named Big Swamp - another dandy name). Meanwhile, the entire island has been plagued by mysterious storms (so no one can leave) and earthquakes that have uncovered dormant temples. These temples contain a lot of magic items and gold. The Inquisition wants the magic, The Don (or swamp king) wants the gold. Thus are Hero can help one or the other - and go down a path of magic or melee (and ranged if you use a bow or crossbow - and this is highly recommended). As we go on, we find the entire world is experiencing this phenomena and that its related to the Titans - once banished by the gods but who are now apparently re-awakening and causing all kinds of problems. The Volcano Temple (yes, another apropos description) is the main area of the game, compromising the last few chapters. After unleashing a torrent of lizardmen, we find the temple contains a Titan and the Inquisitor is bound and determined to use this Titan to his advantage - even if it means destroying the island and everyone on it. The Hero isn't so down with this plan and thus has to stop him - which means stopping the Titan. It may sound exciting, but the story feels like RPG 101.

Gameplay: Once again - nothing outstanding. Early combat is tedious. You are so weak and have such terrible weapons that every battle feels like a life-or-death situation. It actually reminded me of Kingsfield (with a better perspective). Even with the weak enemies, you'll find yourself sleeping or seeking out water (which heals you, slowly) again and again. And getting better weapons and armor takes a long time early one. By the end of the game I had enough gold and experience to become a pretty badass fighter, but even then I would save before every battle as some enemies could still kill me in just five or so hits. I didn't really get much into the magic, so I can't say if that is better. Ranged combat helps a lot - again, once you get a decent bow and upgrade your skill level. Before then, shooting enemies just pisses them off while taking off a sliver of health.

The experience works like every other RPG - killing enemies and completing quests gives you experience. But to get skill points in the various areas (sword, stealing, lockpicking, bow, crossbow, crafting and more) you have to talk to specific people who "train" you. Training usually requires 5 points (and gold - always gold), so it's not a fast process. The reason it took me so long to complete this was it just wasn't that fun - usually I'm not shy about grinding (this is the guy who ran over thousands of zombies across several hours for a single trophy) but this, this was just painfully slow. And, once again, the complete generic quality of everything didn't help.

There is a lot to gather - and, by the mid-to-late game stages you come across potions that can greatly increase your stats - strength, dexterity, intelligence, health, magic - but they are limited and, if you blow through too many of the ingredients early on you can miss out - but I was able to craft a pretty tough character by utilizing these. Whereas the early game was almost punishingly hard - the end felt rather easy - the final boss was a wuss of epic proportions. That being said, I've had worse experiences, but there isn't a lot to recommend here.

Replayability: The only reason to replay the game is to try a different approach - I approached it a straight-forward warrior all swords and (sometimes) ranged when it suited me, but pretty much ignored magic. Going back again would mean playing the other side of the coin - instead of falling in with the thieves in the swamp, get in with the Inquisitor and his mages (though they seem like pretty stuck-up a-holes to me). But, really, I think the route would lead to pretty much the same place, just with a slightly different approach.

Overall: As I said in the beginning, it has all the elements of a great RPG but it just falls short in every aspect. I still have the sequel, and am willing to give it a shot, but based on the first game I'm not going to rush out to play it.

Presentation: 3/5
Story: 2/5
Gameplay: 2.5/5
Replayability: 3/5
Overall (not an average): 2.5/5