Risen thread (spiritual sequel to Gothic series)

They have three (or was it 4?) QA teams.

Um…to be honest I think the writers of Gothic 2 did dialog better than I’ve ever seen Rhinna Pratchett or James Leach do.

Here is interview with some of the actors.I can’t help it but this game looks stunning.I cannot wait to immerse myself in that world.

It may be worth pointing out for the hateable spoiler babies that Andy Serkis basically gives away a bunch of plot around his and John Rhys Davies’ characters the first time he opens his mouth.

Yeah that kind of surprised me but luckily I forgot almost everything they said already anyway.

Grr. Thanks Sam. Avoided.

Reading over the Risen achievements for 360, it really does sound a lot like Gothic.

For example, check out the following:

Workaholic - Every profession learned
Mage - All crystals learned
Gladiator - Every close combat talent learned
Sharpshooter - Every ranged combat talent learned
Master of the classes - 100 % achieved in three attributes

So it sounds like a similar kind of melee/ranged/magic talents/attributes, and skills/professions type system that Gothic had. I’m definitely going to wait for reviews, but my gut instinct is getting good vibes about this one.

Huge 45 min video now available: http://gameone.de/blog/2009/9/risen-uber-45-minuten-gameplay-pur

Pretty much the same stuff we’ve seen before, but the 3rd clip shows some yet unseen fencing combat.

You can pre-order Risen Windows at Gamestop for 39,99$ instead of 49,99$.

Too bad I’m Canadian…

I’m tempted to get the 360 version, but I think I’ll go PC. To me Gothic is a PC game, and I don’t think my wife would enjoy watching me play it anyway. How fun is it to watch someone pick flowers on high cliffs? However, I’m worried that the PC version will have more bugs than the 360.

However, I’m worried that the PC version will have more bugs than the 360.

Ther PC version was pretty much complete a while ago, and seems solid so far. I’ve heard from some people that the 360 version had performance problems last time they saw it.

The fact that it can be patched easier or upgraded with community tweaks/mods makes it even a bit more appealing, I think.

That’s a good point. Of course, the 360 will still get official patches, but G3 was well served by unofficial ones. I’ve never used Mods for any of the Gothic games. Are they pretty stable, usually?

I don’t know why, but Gamefly canceled Risen from my queue, and the 360 version will no longer be carried by them I guess? Hmmm. I guess I’ll be waiting for reviews and word of mouth here to find out if it is more like Gothic or Gothic 3.

It’s already clear it’s closer to Gothic 2.

Thank god.

There wasn’t a significant scene in English as far as I know. A bit more on the German side, but if you were picking up the Community patches, you probably got the best of it.

Inspired by the forthcoming release of Risen, I’m wondering if anyone can give me some advice on how to get started on Gothic 2. I can never seem to quite figure out what I’m supposed to be doing in this game. I make it to the first city but there is almost too much going on with not much of an indicator of what is reasonable given my low level and what is not.

Any pointers? I feel like I missed out on a great RPG not ever getting far in this game.

A number of characters will offer you fairly simple professions to establish yourself in the city and get you access to the upper echelons you’ll need to visit later. I half-remember that this provided a bit of structure? The hunter/smith/other thing options were all available near your first entrance to the city. Don’t sweat talking to everyone though. It can be overwhelming. Do a little at a time…

Well, that part of the game is really just you exploring and doing what you want - the problem is that at the start you just aren’t very strong at all, so you can’t do much exploring. Now, the easiest way to mitigate this is to go find Lares at the docks: he’ll escort you to the mercenary farm, and you’ll get the experience for everything he kills (so it might be a good idea to draw some extra enemies to him, if you don’t find that too gamey). After that, return to Khorinis, do the quests you can and such. The second early questline is choosing a merchant to apprentice with (the hunter is the best choice).

Another early goal could be gathering up 1000 gold to donate to Markus (the Fire Mage at the marketplace), as this will give you some bonuses. Donate 50 gold at a time for the maximum benefit. It’s also possible to join the Milita very early (one of the three main factions, along with the Mercenaries and the Mages), but I’d recommend against it as you’ll miss out on a lot of exp back at Onar’s farm.

In the end, don’t be afraid to peruse the walkthrough at GameFAQs, it is very informative. If you don’t want to spoil your game, you can still read the first section or two, to get a sense of direction.

Are you playing Gothic 2 or Gothic 2 Gold?

Throughout the first chapter you should try to keep your options open. Do the newbie quests for all 3 camps - you’ll need the XP. Do not make a decision for one of the camps until you feel you’re ready to commit. It’s a formal act, you can’t do it accidently.

When an NPC offers to escort you somewhere it’s usually a good idea to accept. Two swords are better than one.
You should talk to every named NPC. But as Alistair said, it can become quite overwhelming. A page full of quests is normal in chapter 1.
Two things you should do in the city:

  1. Talk to Lares
  2. Buy a map in the harbour district. You need to know where you are.

Then explore whatever area(s) you dare. Generally speaking the roads are safer than the wood. Geneally speaking …
Save often outside the city (and sometimes inside). There are some dangerous creatures very close to the city. One of the nicest treasures you can find lets you land directly in front of an orc - with your back to him. ;)

Explore every m² from (including) Xardas’ tower to the city gate, with the exception of the forest to the left of the city guards when facing them.