An RPG truly old school, if you like pirates and the gothic series give this one a go.
Graphics: I cant say they are either good or bad, in part they look pretty good, which by todays standards is average, if you played gothic 3 youll know what i mean. At least Pyranha Bytes finnaly took a good time with their engine department and i am happy to say the game runs smoothly, THANK GOD, even in high specs the game will run smoothly enough for you to have the best chances to avoid getting pummeled, and still get some pretty sights. A special mention though has to be given to the water, it looks real, and since this is a pirate game and youll be expected to be looking at it for a long time, its good to see that its looks so realistic.
Gameplay: The weakpoint of all Pyranha Bytes games. I wont go around the point, its tough. Sometimes you will be walking around the jungle and walking around in the ground in front of you, youll see some warthogs and youll think," i can take them no problem". Youre wrong. The thing is, enemies are irregular, some may decide to come at you full strength and keep punching you to the point where you cant return anything until youre dead, and others may start running around you letting you pown them into oblivion easily, its kind of ridiculous and yet its there that the geniality of this game comes up. You feel human, youre are just as likely to die against a bunch of pissed off monkeys than you are to die against some crypt guardians which are twice youre size, its all a question of exploring all the possibilities and tools at youre disposal and its here that another of risen`s mechanics come into play, skills! Pistols, coconuts, bombs or simple sand, theyre all at youre disposal and you have to carefully use them to top some of the hardest enemies. Another thing that also makes this game feel so good and old school is the fact that nothing is given to you in a silver platter, you may be told to get some barrels of water in order to set sail, but very rarely will the game place a waypoint on the map or tell you exactly to who you have to speak to get things done and this makes exploring and discover all these things an immense pleasure. And to top that, youre never required to follow the game in a linear fashion, in fact when it comes to non linear games this tops them all, from the moment you get youre own ship youre are basically free to explore the islands available to youre leaisure, and with all the secret weapons, rare items and side quests there are youll quickly lose hours on this game, its just that good.
Story: Good in a way, but its really the characthers that sell it. You play as an anonymous man, as is Pyranha Bytes fashion, who belongs to the Inquisition exploring a new world. While posted in the island of caldera, you soon find yourself in the trail of 4 legendary captains who hold the weapons to defeat the evil titan mara who treathens the world with her power. The story might seem a bit lame in the way pirates go, but what keeps you around to see what happens is the great characthers with great voice acting. They feel human and exactly who they are, greedy pirates after another treasure buried somewhere.
Theyre animations might be rough and even a bit robotic, but while theyre voices remain true you believe this tale, and in the end youll end up craving more.
Im happy that games like this are still being made because today games are getting too generic, too easy, sometimes going back to the old ways with text based quests and rough combat is a great way to have a good time. I wont say this is a great game because a lot of people will desagree with me, but to the right persons theres a jewel here, you just have to give it a chance, and it will reward you.