Customer Reviews

Risen

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Risen has got to be one of the best rpg's to hit the 360 this year. The graphics are not the best for the 360 and the voice acting isn't much better, but this game is addicting to play. There are plenty of side missions along with the main story line to keep you busy for hours. When killing enemies you can search them to take some of the animal meat and before you can eat it you need a frying pan and a fire to cook it, you can pick plants and mushrooms to combine and mix into stronger potions, you can learn to be a blacksmith so you can make your own equipment, or learn to be a thief and pickpocket people while you talk to them and if you are caught stealing you get beaten buy the gaurds and whoever you stole from and they stay mad at you until you use a joke spell or joke scroll to make them like you again. From what I've played so far it seems like it is a massive openworld adventure with some oblivion elements but not a copycat ripoff. When you level up I think it picks your upgrades automatically unless there is a way to do it manually that I haven't figured out yet. Some downfalls in the game is the controls take alittle time getting used to, when doing missions you actually have to figure out where you got to go since mission markers don't appear on the map which isn't a big deal once you get used to it, that just means more looking around. Besides the fact that you need a frying pan to cook, you can also get a broom so you can sweep floors, you can get a saw so you can cut trees, you can get a pick axe so you can mine for minerals, I'm sure there is more to do I just haven't made it that far yet. In my opinion this game does what the first fable tried to promise, A massive open world adventure where your choices actaully change the outcome of the game, plant's grow back over time. Get this game, you wont regret it.

I believe that this game has been largely under-appreciated because many people got lost and confused in the beginning of the game. I'll admit, I was one of them - when I started playing Risen, I felt that there was a great game hidden there, but I couldn't get through to it because I wasn't sure what to do. I literally just explored the island fighting animals and monsters, enjoying it and thinking, "well, I guess that would be the game for me." It was only at the replay when I discovered the "door" into other three chapters of the game and how great it was.

GAMEPLAY
Game-wise, Risen has reminded me of the Two Worlds - same as there, you have a large "free-roaming" world to explore with the main quest and side missions that you get after talking to people. In Risen you are a traveler stranded on the island and, to get off it, you have to understand what is going on there. Through the game you learn to use various weapons of your choice, certain level of magic, ability to mine gold, make swords, open locks, cook, or steal. All of these allow you to either progress in the game or complete certain missions. Risen is an RPG where you receive experience points, which give you learning points, which in turn allow you to use them to learn certain skills or get strength points from various teachers.

ENVIRONMENT
In overall, the environment feels very realistic and beautiful. Day turns to night, sunny weather turns into rain or a thunderstorm, the sun and the moon rise and set, and the clouds realistically move across the sky. There are forests, lakes, rivers, swamps, mountains, caves - in overall, anything you want if you like to explore the "open-world" games. The map is very small and does not provide a great assistance - it only helps to realize you current location - so you have to rely on your memory and ability to orient yourself in space.

THINGS TO DO
The game offers you many interesting things to do inside and outside the quests. As part of the quests, you can fight in the arena, investigate crimes, solve problems for people or provide them with necessary ingredients for a price or some cool rewards. Outside the quests, you can explore the world, fight monsters, make health-improving jewelry, open treasure chests, or learn how to sneak, steal, or pick pockets. You can learn blacksmithing and then make great swords for yourself or for sale. Through the game you may come across some herbs or various foods that you can either cook to improve their healing qualities or combine them into powerful potions. You can also collect loot or steal things and then sell it to vendors (prices are the same, so whoever you sell it to doesn't matter).

COMBAT
Combat is a strong part of the game. Unlike many other games, in Risen your enemies are fordable opponents - they don't attack you one by one but all together and most of them try to trick you or flank you, so you always have to be on your toes. The basic weapons are: various swords, staffs, knives, or bows and crossbows. Like I mentioned, you can improve your fighting level and learn various sword or staff techniques. You can also use the shield and high sword levels allow you to carry a shield and a heavy sword in each hand.

TIPS
You would have to choose between joining the bandits or the inquisition. That's where the main confusion is. If you try to please both, you'd get stuck like I did. If you want to join the bandits, talk to the blacksmith in their camp and get the "golden sword" quest - collect the pieces, have it made, but don't give it to the smith and give it to Don yourself. If you want to join the Inquisition, just go to the Temple. Whichever faction you choose, the game stays almost the same (some quests might be different, though). In any way, the key is the Harbor Town - choose the side and do the Harbor Town quests ONLY for this side (minimum four); after that the game becomes clear to follow.

If you join the bandits, you end up getting a better armor and higher sword training.

If you join the bandits, getting out of the Harbor Town would be difficult. Just climb on top of the wall somewhere and find the spot where you can carefully slide down using the "matrix" of the wall (using locations around either on the gates is the easiest way).

Your character moves slowly - you can use the "speed" spell; however, you can also hold the "jump" button. He will move in a funny way, but much faster.

Don't waste the herbs and ingredients (the "hero's crown" is crucial), instead wait until you get the recipes so you can get better potions.

If you are low on health, or just don't like the time of the day or a particular weather, just find a bed, sleep for 12 to 24 hours until you get what you want. It's a good idea to have strategic "bed" locations in each area.

ENJOY

I rented this game for a few days and have spent several hours playing it. I feel the same about this game as I did for Dragon Age: Origins -- all things considered, such as sub-par character graphics and weak combat control, this is still a fun game; but it comes no where close to games like Fallout 3. So why was it originally priced the same as superior games like Fallout 3? Why set this game up for such a comparison when it could have excelled at a lower price point and could have received better reviews if priced correctly? As of 2010, this is a $30 game, not a $50-$60 game.

Game play is fun overall, although over time it can become a little repetitive and slow. There are a few irritating things like not being able to see collectible items with a weapon equipped and companions repeating the same inane phrases over and over (hint, leave the girl at the beach until you find the cabin).

Enemy combat so far has been frustrating. When using the sword in tight spaces it is sometimes difficult to avoid swiping an ally accidentally, which turns the ally into an enemy. But stepping back and allowing the ally to fight alone means no credit (no experience points) for conquering that enemy.

The characters, especially the one the user controls, look NOTHING like the box art. The voice acting is bad and graphical movement is a little stiff and awkward.

The game provides no direction for completing missions and you end up with list of pending missions with no hint how to prioritize them. Often I wished I had completed certain steps in a different order or made different decisions. There is no official strategy guide book that I could find, however, so the only way to figure out how different decisions affect the game is to save often, reload, and try again.

But the explorable places are interesting with lots of items to gather and there are unique interactive elements the other reviewers mentioned (cooking food, mining, etc.) that help set the game apart. Just as for Dragon Age, the original price was a set up for disappointment; when are game distributors going to learn that price affects reviews and therefore revenue? This could have excelled at a lower price point from the beginning.

For now, this game is either a long term rent or a buy at a lower price.

Risen was made by Pirahna Bytes, the same scrappy outfit that put together the first Gothic games, and this is basically Gothic with just a different name. Like the earlier games, Risen takes a little time to get into, but once you do the rewards are great. One of the best parts of Gothic and Gothic II was that exploring and being clever are incentivized and rewarded. In many games, like Oblivion, so much is tied to your level that really you have no incentive to do anything other than level up and hope for the best. Risen takes this away by scattering the world with treasure chests, rare loot, combinable alchemy items, and a wide array of NPCs that can give you quests, treasure, and experience rewards. What this means is that there are many ways to develop your character; you can ignore the plots/quests and wander off into the woods, or hole up in the towns and run errands or engage in palace intrigues to get experience and levels.

Indeed, like the Gothic games, Risen starts off as a struggle. You will have poor equipment, terrible fighting skills, few resources, and no idea what is going on. A single boar or wolf can kill you, and god help you if you wander off the main roads into a cemetery or swamp. Many people find this challenging learning curve and free form environment frustrating, because you die a lot and do quests "wrong" or "out of order." Who cares? Gradually, so slowly you may not notice it at first, you get stronger. By spending precious learning points (earned 10 every level) with NPC trainers, you can increase your combat skills, unlocking new moves and faster ranged attacks. Spending points on blacksmithing will let you craft sharper swords, reforge pieces of magical weapons you find in the ruins, or even create protective magical jewelry to defend yourself. Greater strength permits you to both do greater direct damage, and also to use stronger weapons -- the difference between 40 strength and using a bastard sword, and 50 strength and using a sharp two handed sword is far more significant than just the 10 strength difference might suggest. You also go from clumsily hacking with a sword and being torn to pieces by packs of foes to fluidly sweeping your greatsword in big circles, slaughtering multiple monsters at a time. But opportunities abound for any style of character -- use a crossbow to anger monsters and then lure them into towns where allies will assist you. Get up on ledges or in narrow chokepoints to take on enemies one at a time. Use a wide array of spells to attack, avoid, or outrun foes.

Risen's graphics aren't great, and you will see some texture stretching (particularly on hills). But the gameplay is very rewarding. By collecting recipes, herbs, and buying Alchemy 3 you can suddenly make dozens of permanent stat boosting potions, and then wield one of those unique swords you picked up in your travels. The map makes the island look small, but it is riddled with complex cave systems, ruined castles (often with secret passageways or catacombs), elaborate river and swamp systems, and soaring mountain passes. Areas often have multiple entrances and exits, so if you are daring you can often sneak through places to grab treasure while avoiding particularly dangerous monsters you can't handle yet. It's hard to overstate the gratification level when, after hours of getting chased around and eaten by black wolves or packs of gnomes, you can finally afford to buy that powerful crossbow or manage to sneak up a hidden river into the mountain and find a berserker sword or rune shield. Soon monsters that you feared are instead valuable sources of experience points and lootable hides and teeth, and you're on to the next challenge.

If you ever played and enjoyed Gothic or Gothic II, you owe it to yourself to play Risen. Another nice feature for this console port is you can set up hotkey buttons for healing items and the like, often the difference between life and death. Whether it's sneaking into people's houses at night to steal their loot, tiptoeing around behind stalagmites with your heavy crossbow while a blind Ashbeast pounds the floor all around you, or crushing a horde of skeletal warriors one at a time in the middle of a narrow rope bridge, you will find that the overall experience of Risen vastly exceeds the sum of its parts.

Yes, the graphics are sub-par. Yes, the gameplay is counter-intuitive and clunky. Yes, the font size requires a big HD screen so you won't go blind from playing this game. So why should you do it?
Simply put, because in the end it's worth it. If you manage to overcome the initial disappointment that comes from beholding what seems to be a shoddy product and soldier on for a while, you'll find yourself deeply immersed in this game, because that's what it is: Risen in an immersive, old-school RPG, and before long it really begins to shine. It has creative quests, nice ways to interact with the environment via spells, good voice acting with some big-name talent on the credits list, and for all its shortcomings, still manages to make you feel like part of the world through menial tasks such as cooking, smithing and, yes, woodcutting. You'll find that the island of Faranga has been painstakingly crafted on all levels - doing an excellent job of portraying the contrasting human hand in a savage, untamed place - and the developer's eye for detail doesn't go unnoticed.
While there's no doubt that the PC version is superior, I still wholeheartedly reccomend this game for Xbox owners who enjoy RPGs. It's a long (60+ hours), fun, immersive experience that you won't regret.

Once you get passed the old school graphics, the tiny maps, and how weak you are at the beginning, this game delivers. I think its much more vast then Oblivion. A myriad of side-quests, choosing which faction you want to side with, excellent voice acting, and challenging creatures. Its an easy 40 hour game once you get into it. And, at a used price thats most affordable, I think you can overlook the cons. A great, overlooked game!

Risen would have been a decent game if it came out a decade earlier.
Unfortunately, the game industry passed it by in terms of graphics, story, and design.

Story: 3/10
The opening cinematic poorly shows a Dark Lord using a magic spell to sink a ship, in fact, it's so poorly done, I'm not even sure what happened. There was a weird guy, a spell, some monster face thing... Keep in mind that this pre-rendered intro is supposed to set up the story for the player and get them excited about the game. Instead, you just feel sort of disappointed and confused.

When the game begins, the main character wakes up on an island with debris and bodies. After some time, he finds himself in a power struggle between an oppressive order of holy monks and lawless bandits. To make matters worse, ancient ruins and creatures are appearing all over the island. The hero must save the day by performing 250 menial tasks by talking to bored NPC's and delivering items.

Graphics: 1/10
Low res textures, bland character designs, no normal maps, no bump maps, texture stretching all over the environments, character animations popping from one to the next, some characters moving without animations and sliding around the world with their arms straight out... The only thing this game has going for it is the forest created by Speed Tree (used in Oblivion.) In the grand scheme of things, Morrowind (2002) actually looks better than this game.
(Sacred 2 and The Last Remnant may be the only games that look worse.)

Gameplay: 3/10
There are two types of gameplay: Combat and Quests
The Combat involves blocking by pressing RT and attacking by pressing LT. As your character levels up, you unlock new moves like parry and slash, but the game basically boils down to you standing in front of an enemy and swinging your sword by pressing RT over and over. If you are attacked by multiple enemies, it's best to try not to get flanked, so you need to move around. The combat is somewhat buggy. If you attack a wolf from behind, it can't turn around to attack you. If you attack a powerful ogre and get in close, you can repeatedly hit it 100 times to kill it and it can't hit you.

Missile and Magic attacks are somewhat worthless. Most of the fights take place in enclosed places, so bows and crossbows are only good for one shot before the enemy is upon you. There are two basic types of spells in the game: Navigation and Combat. The Navigation Spells are used almost like puzzle elements to get through environments. You can levitate, turn into a nautilus, open doors... The combat spells are all projectiles with a damage type, fire, frost... But you cannot use the spells together. You can't levitate around a room and throw fireballs at the same time. Risen could have really used buff, shield, and debuff spells. It would have added a much needed level of depth to the combat.

Most of the Quests involve finding a person, then clicking on all of the dialogue options. What you say doesn't really affect the outcome of the story like Mass Effect, instead you basically just try to speed through the dialogue so you can get the item that you need. The quests are very simple, but they are structured in a really annoying manner. Here's an example:
You must give this amulet to Carlo in Harbor Town. So, you walk to Harbor Town, (30 minutes) then open your quest window, scroll through the quest list, then scroll through your map interface. A dot gives you a rough idea where Carlo is located. So you try to find Carlo (5 minutes) and when you get to him, he refuses to talk to you. Then you realize that this quest was dependent on some other quest that you had, so you scroll through the 100 quests in your quest log to try and find the right one. Then you spend the next 3 hours talking to NPC's who don't help you and ask, "Don't you have something better to do?" (No Joke, they actually say that!)
If this sounds fun, then this is the perfect game for you!

Interface Screens: 1/10
The quest / map screens are a notch above completely worthless and when you trade items, highlighting any item opens a window that obscures your Gold, so you can't see how much you have without moving the cursor out of the way. The screens that are supposed to make the adventure interactive actually work against you.

Character Advancement: 4/10
As you level up, you gain Learning Points and additional Hit Points. In order to improve a skill, you must search the world to find a Trainer. However, Trainers are few and far between and you will most likely have to walk to a town that's far away to increase a certain skill. Most Trainers only teach 2 skills. You can increase in weapon and crafting skills, but crafting in this game is overly simplistic and fairly useless.

Sound: 4/10
The main character sounds like Ewan McGregor in Star Wars the Phantom Menace, in both voice and tone. Basically, he sounds like an English guy who sounds bored out of his skull. Almost all of the characters sound really bored in the game. The music is very subtle, but fits the mood and the combat sound effects are fairly weak.

Replay Value: 3/10
The main story is linear, but there are hundreds of side quests. But the only variation of how you play the game is where you start. You can start as a knight, a monk, or a bandit. Other than the beginning, there is no variation to the story and there are no multiplayer modes.

Bugs: 9/10
Buggiest Game since Golden Axe: Beast Rider!
It crashes, animations pop, characters get stuck on walls and teleport to roofs, texture tears are everywhere in the environment, some enemies can't hit you, there are invisible walls, and some quests seem to be broken.

Tedium: 10/10
The game is tedious and does NOTHING to help you adventure through the world. You can unlock over 100 side quests at a time, but many of them must be done in a particular order, but you don't know which order. Your only option is to wander aimlessly around the world to try and find someone who will talk to you. You will literally waste hours doing this. When you level up, you must search the world for a trainer that teaches the skills that you want. You can find them on your map, but you will usually have to walk for 20-30 minutes to find the right one. Water... Water in your inventory restores mana, but when you drink it out of a barrel, it restores Health. When you find a barrel, you can drink the water and the character leans over, cups his hands, and drinks the water, then stands back up. When you do this, you get 10-20 HP. Most games would just fill your health, but since this is one of the few places to get free HP, you will have to press the drink button about 10 times and watch the animation over and over and over and over... There are chests all around the world. Some you can open and some need to be picked with a set of lock picks. After you search the chest, your character closes the lid and stands back up, so there is NO WAY to tell which chests you have already searched. The searched chests should have remained open, so this results in you seeing a closed chest and saying, "Cool a chest!" Then you run over, crouch, open the lid, search, find it's empty, close the lid, then stand back up... You'll waste time doing this, too. Dying... The game is loaded with deadly falls and insta-kill traps. Save often because the game likes to kill you. Healing during combat is also broken. You can hotkey a healing potion and access it by pressing RB+Y, but your character puts his sword and shield away, takes out the potion, drinks it, then stands there like a dummy during combat. The entire time, you are getting attacked and you lose more HP than you gain by drinking a potion. But, you can access your inventory during combat and the monsters stop attacking. They just stand there, so you can drink a potion or eat 15 pieces of meat, while your character performs the eat meat animation 15 times. When you close your inventory, the enemies immediately attack you. Because of the crafting / recipes in the game, you are encouraged to become an inventory hoarder. At times, you'll be too paranoid to sell items because you may need them in the future. Also, there is no way to DISCARD any item in your inventory and many items are unsellable. So, that key that you found in the small shack must clutter your inventory forever! Most games destroy quest items after they are used, to avoid confusion. Navigation is also tedious. You have a compass and you can pause the game to look at a very crude map, that's all you get. I could keep going, but talking about this game is making my review tedious.

Maturity: M
Swearing, Sexual Suggestions, Scantily Clad Prostitutes, and Fantasy Violence

Overall: 3/10
The only strong point of the game is the satisfaction of completing quests and finding useful items through exploring. There is so much stuff hidden in the environment, you do feel rewarded for exploring and solving quests. Besides that, this game is poor in every category.

If you like open ended RPG's, I strongly recommend Oblivion, Fallout 3, Red Dead Redemption, Dragon Age, Mass Effect 1 & 2, and Assassin's Creed 2.
If you also play PC games, check out The Witcher!

Buy this game if you like old school RPG's and have hours to kill.
The interface is probably better on the PC, so if you have a PC that can run this game, I'd recommend the PC version over the 360 version.
It's about a 50+ hour game, so I wouldn't rent it.
Avoid this game if you need good graphics.
Avoid this game if you need a good story.
Avoid this game if you like streamlined adventures.
Avoid this game if you like complex combat and magic systems.
Avoid this game if you hate buggy gameplay.

If you enjoyed this game, you could probably stomach playing Sacred 2, but it's lacking in story, atmosphere, and graphics.

"Risen" for the XBox 360 is not a great game. There are serious problems with the graphics and the controls are often confusing. This is not an RPG for those unfamiliar with the genre and it starts off as much more challenging than most other games. Despite all of these flaws, it was a fascinating and often bewilderingly addictive game that I could not get enough of. There is a gripping plot with many intriguing characters though most of them are not sympathetic. There are some very solid voice actors involved--including Andy Serkis and John Ryhs Davies. The player is caught in a well-thought out power struggle between various factions. There are plenty of challenges (don't expect a "super" weapon early in the game) and actions have consequences. The game goes more than 60 hours or so and the player will have to direct and shape much of the plot--making this one of the more replayable RPGs out there. Still, the flaws can grow wearying--especially the below average pixilation and there are times when the game is too realistic and repetitive (like drinking out of a water barrel some 10 times in a row). A great game? No but it is a good one despite its many flaws. I would probably not pay full price for it--especially with a sequel coming out next year--but it is worthy a flyer for RPG fans if you can find it at a good price.

Like Gothic 1 and 2 before it, Risen is not for the casual gamer, or the casual RPG fan for that matter. It requires patience, critical thinking, and an appreciation of gameplay mechanics and balance over visual fidelity.
(**IN THE BEGINNING**)Risen opens rather ambiguously after your unnamed character shipwrecks on a small tropical island. As other reviewers have pointed out, it gives little in the way of context or explanation. While some found this approach inaccessible, I found it engrossing as it gave the game a healthy dose of mystery. I pressed on because I wanted to find out more about my situation and the hostile environment that makes up the game world. I was happy to not have to sit through another run-of-the-mill introductory cutscene that serves as a lazy info dump. Like the first two Gothic games, you start out practically naked, and must fight your way to civilization, earning both allies and enemies along the way. Slowly, your character becomes situated in the world and its inhabitants and you uncover more of the islands secrets.
(**CONTROLS**)Many players will be immediately turned off by both the controls and the visuals, and so will not put more than an hour into the experience. For those that enjoy deep RPG experiences, this is a serious mistake. Control wise, the game is solid, if relatively idiosyncratic and not always intuitive. Combat in particular has a steep learning curve since your character cannot easily battle multiple targets at one time. Like the Gothic games, however, I found this approach to be more satisfying and strategic than your average hack n' slash adventure. You absolutely have to watch what your opponent(s) is/are doing. Gradually, you will be better equipped and will have gained enough experience (in both senses of the word) to fight harder and harder enemies. This gives the game a satisfying degree of difficulty, and makes overcoming tough battles that much more satisfying. Occasionally, even at higher levels I felt that targeting multiple foes was still unnecessarily frustrating, but found that defeating them was still fun.
(**VISUAL APPEAL**)For many gamers, the crux of this game will be the outdated and sometimes downright ugly visuals. This pertains to not only the actual technology of the game, but also the game's visual aesthetic, which at times feels uneven. The latter is to me especially important since even a technically superior title's visual appeal (like Oblivion, or Dragon Age) can be undone by generic art direction, as is the case for the two mentioned. Likewise, a technically outdated title can look beautiful even long after its release due to strong art direction. Baldur's Gate 2 is a perfect example of this, and aesthetically looks better than most modern titles. Risen suffers from BOTH technical inferiority (at least on 360) and an at times uneven art direction. Most objects look passable, but there are muddy textures almost everywhere, and the draw distance is pathetic in light of games like Oblivion and Fallout 3. Perhaps worst of all are the character faces, which look little better (and in some cases worse) than the original Xbox's games. I can look past these things, but what disappointed me most was the creature design, which ranged from competent to shoddy. Some of the designs are too cartoonish given the otherwise realistic setting, and feel out of place. The best I can say for this game visually is the lighting effects, which distract somewhat from the lack of polish elsewhere. To the designer's credit, however, the island Risen takes place is lovingly hand crafted with a lot of attention paid to detail. The various caves, dungeons, mountains and hills and other assortments of terrain really are well made and conceived. The island's layout is memorable to the point that I often did not need to use my map to get around, and was able to navigate based off of memory (later on, you will get teleportation stones, which make travel that much easier). Also of note is that much of it (if not all) is apart of the same map, meaning that there are no loading times when entering dungeons and caves, making the world feel that much more absorbing. The limited draw distance mars some of the island's beauty, but frankly, you'll only notice when standing on the island's tallest peaks.
(**SOUND**)Sound effects are well done, and Gothic fans will recognize a sound or two that is taken directly from that beloved series (the developer's nod to their lost franchise, no doubt). Surprisingly, the voice acting is all rather good, and is almost always entertaining. This is especially true when one considers that it is a German game. The dialogue, while not on par with Bioware's writing (few are, in fact), is usually fun to hear because there is often an undercurrent of sarcasm to contrast the serious atmosphere. This is especially true of the main character, who is in some ways similar to the unnamed hero of the Gothic series. The music is also pretty good, becoming neither obtrusively over-the-top or completely forgettable. It's subtle, and capture's the game's atmosphere well.
(**OTHER NOTES/CONCLUSION**)There are many other aspects of this game that I have not touched on, but I will simply say that it is worth your time and money if you are willing to put some effort into it. The game does many things right that bigger franchises like the Elder Scrolls and Fallout 3 (and its expansions) simply don't, like character interaction, combat challenge, and story telling, to name a few. The game is clearly not perfect, and the last chapter is disappointing (as is the final confrontation) in comparison to the excellent early chapters of the game, but if you are like me, and yearn for the time when top tier developers were more concerned with getting the essential genre aspects right (characters, dialogue, story, combat/game balance, etc) than appealing to the mass market, you are in for a treat. My only other tip would be to get the PC version if your rig can handle it, since it was clearly designed for it (the cumbersome menus are especially indicative of this). For the hardcore RPG fan, I give my full recommendation, to everyone else, you may yet discover a new found fondness for old school CRPGs, or you can read my review as a warning. This game does not hold your hand, and I thank the developer's for that.

A real Gothic game. Classic RPG. You start from scratch not even be able to kill a small wolf and then you become more
and more powerful resolving quests and getting into the real game. If you liked Gothic, get this one!