Risen 3: Titan Lords - Review

(Could you call it Shadow Lords? Of the "Titan Lords" you only see 3 of them, and two have a narrative weight equal to 0)

INTRO.

Risen 3 is a game that has substantially divided the PB community. Like the phoenix that is reborn from its ashes, Risen 3 is in fact a re-proposal of the same design choices of Risen 2 with the due further developments. Taking both a step forward and two backwards, PB do not consider Risen 3 as an expansion of Risen 2 but rather a 2.0 version. Although the setting has partially changed, the game still deserves both appreciation and contempt. Without infamy and without praise. The game presents on one hand an incredibly immersive and original exploration element and on the other hand it presents a bad plot followed by a combat system which ........

EXPLORATION.

Risen 3 is structured exactly like Risen 2: the world map is divided into islands easily reachable with a vessel that acts as a teleporter. You will not be able to navigate manually even if you expect this from a semi-pirate title. The maps are small in size but on the other hand are 9 with a diversity of impressive flora and fauna.

In general the game has a Caribbean, medieval and dark fantasy soul, where in the last one we can clearly perceive the influences of the second Gothic.

The islands all have in common a wild nature that is not without dangers (forests and traps are the order of the day) and an urban center that is not very populated. The lacking of real cities makes the experience very solitary and relaxing even though in reality there are several NPCs around the world. The only inhabited center with a minimum of population is the Guardian encampment on the island of Taranis, which is in fact the most populated island. The island of Kila on the other hand, has only a very small village with a number of inhabitants that can be counted with the fingers. Risen 3 anyway has a lot of monsters and in fact the islands are full of animals, monsters and various undead creatures. The design of the islands is truly exceptional. PB never makes a mistake in terms of level design. The islands are beautiful and in addition they give some breathtaking views.

The island that stands out the most however is Calador which is the largest. It is divided into 3 zones: the east is shaped by vulcanic lava, inhabited by the undead ( it reminds of Dark Souls); the center which is continental is inhabited by the Demon Hunters who rule the small citadel and in the end, the west is made mainly of ruins of ancient castles and dense forests.

PLOT.

The plot. Here it is. It is perhaps the most negative aspect of the game, second only to combat. Despite the good idea to carry on the spirit of the main plot of Gothic 3, which consists in the liberation of the Titans which is the price to pay for a world free from the gods, however the main plot of this chapter of the saga is not at all compelling or at least convincing. The plot has evident signs of lezy writing, so much that it becomes almost a secondary quest. There are no obvious signs of the lack of our soul after the curse of the Shadow Lords and are not less convincing the motivations that have driven "the bad guy" to take the soul from a random jerk (us). In fact, "the bad guy" is the classic two-dimensional character who wants to destroy the world without having any kind of character depth, made even more ridiculous by lines of dialogue deliberately filled with cliches. They could invent something because, is it really this the best you can do? Despite that we are deprived of our soul, however, this does not change anything from the point of view of the gameplay.

Yes, if we had any maluses, the search for our lost soul would make more sense. Instead we have nothing. The only thing that changes is that from now on if we commit evil deeds, we might attract the attention of some undead which in practice, it'si not a radical change. The plot runs slowly since the game is essentially based on exploration and in fact some secondary quests are vague just enough to push the player to explore freely. I will not expose the plot in full, for reasons of spoiler BUT it must be said that the characters and the dialogues are well taken care of, especially those of the pirates.

RPG ELEMENT.

Here it gets tough. The RPG element took a step forward compared to Risen 2 which was heavily sacrificed. Risen 3 has good RPG mechanics but implemented BADLY. The KARMA system, which consists in shifting our human nature to the demonic, caused by the treatment that we reserve to the NPCs during the dialogues, however, it is not convincing, not for the mechanics itself but for its misplaced application in the lines of dialogue. There are too many lines of dialogue that should take away the negative karma points but actually add them. You do not understand if these are bugs or something designed. The fact is that the protagonist (funny guy anyway), however, has a sarcastic nature that goes against the positive karma points. To be clear: despite having 100/100 karma or 0/100, the protagonist does not grow and he remains the same funny jerk with the voice of Batman. This lacking of depth in the plot which reflects negatively the gameplay, affects the final judgment of this game in the end. The RPG element, just like in every PB game, is punctuated by the choice of the 3 factions: Guardians, Pirates and Demon Hunters. As we all know, the choice of the faction is linked to the type of build that we want to develop but above all, to the type of political affiliation. Speaking of the "political" aspect, in this regard, due to the fact that the plot is partially developed, the various factions have no relationship whatsoever. There is some rivalry, but in reality there is no conflict or alliance. Each faction seems completely independent and careless. This makes the game very flat and boring.

COMBAT AND GAMEPLAY.

Combat is the most negative aspect of the game. From cluncky and unnatural animations, to a simplistic console system and to a well designed but poorly implemented character development. Good job with the combat system of melee magic that is satisfactory and fun, as well as spectacular. Then there are the support spells which have a cooldown system that makes the use of mana obsolete and in fact the mana has been eradicated from the game. Faction-related builds, armors, weapons and spells are varied and perfectly balanced. The problem lies in the swords: there is no substantial difference between swords, florets and sabers because all three weapons have the same animations. Spells on the other hand are more developed and more consistent.

In the end, Risen 3 - Titan Lords is a game that can be bought at 5$ and only if... and that is one big IF, you are a PB fan.

Game is so so!