Risen, due to release on Oct 2 is getting good reviews in European magazines---86%. Here are some screenshots and a review (download the pdf). I can't wait.

http://forums.gametrailers.com/thread/risen---first-review--86-100/919692?page=1

http://www.spaziogames.it/recensioni_videogiochi/console_multi_piattaforma/9667/risen.aspx

http://www.gamerzines.com/pc/overview.html

Edit 9/29--just ordered from Amazon, which had the best price I could find.

Thanks Pokey

Wow, that does look great Pokey! Thanks

Here is the official site with some teaser videos: Risen

I just wanted to let you know that there is a demo out for this game. Don't know if is point and click, though. My guess is that the controls are or will be similar to the old Gothic games. I also think that the demo might be in German only?

http://www.rpgwatch.com/#13345

Apparently there is a problem with the installer, so you should probably wait a bit for the updated demo, before you download it.

In the meantime, you can read the various reviews of Risen.

http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8255

Thanks Karsten! We merged you with Pokey's previous topic on Risen...

I have played the demo. Very nice Great quality The demo is in English, you walk around with the wsad keys and do the combat moves with the mouse; takes a bit of getting used to do these combos. My only grief with the demo was that it ended just when the game became interesting...

I want to play more...of the excellent game. And then, the demo has done its job

Glad to hear it's good. I forgot all about Risen until Pokey posted. Now I don't feel guilty about pre-ordering another one...

Playing it and it looks good so far. At least it runs very smoothly, and I haven't encountered any bugs yet.

One can see it was made by the makers of the Gothics, though. As far as I'm concerned you could pretty much call it Gothic 4, because it does seem to have the old Gothic flavour and atmosphere, just with more modern-looking graphics and special effects though.

That said, I think Arcania's graphics look even better, from the screenshots etc. that I've seen so far.

Hi Moondancer, please could tell me what graphics card you are using? I have a Nvidia 7950GT and am having problems with the rolling fog.

Thanks

anne2,
I don't have the game yet, moondancer can give you the location of the settings, but with that older card you are most likely going to need to turn down the graphics setting or if possible turn off the Bloom Effect. Fog can be troublesome to older cards.

That said, let us know what the specific "problem" is and that will let us know if it is just the architecture of the card or a possible malfunction and might forward you over to Glitches.


Edit: No problem with the fog. I'm running dual XFX 8800GT Alpha Dogs in in SLI. I'll have to agree with moondancer on the general feel of the game. It's very similar to Gothic, which for me is so-so. I like the stories, but have always found the interface and battle to be a bit clunky and so far this is following the same route...

Thanks Trail, have tried the lowest settings. I looked on the Risen forum and it seems to be a problem for many people. Was just curious as to what card Moondancer was using as as her game seems to be running well.

They are working on a solution.

Ah, I see. I just got mine in the mail - Yippee! If I can pull myself away from DDO I'll load it up and see if any fog rolls out of my PC

Oh dear, Anne - there does seem to be a problem, with that range of cards - I'm so sorry...

See this:



at http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8276

There's a whole subforum dedicated to the game at that site, btw.

I do hope for your sake that they resolve this issue soon, hopefully with a patch.

I've currently got an Nvidia 9800GTX, and for me the game runs flawlessly and does look rather pretty. The colour scheme is similar to that of Crysis - rather subdued, and with those kinds of special effects and vegetation. The chraracter models could have been better though, and some of them are repeated over and over, especially the female ones- so there are a few clones walking around....

Thanks so much Moondancer.

Have put off upgrading my pc but guess it time.
Happy to hear that the game looks pretty though.

Thanks for the info, will have a look at rpgwatch.

My 8800GT OC's seem to be processing the graphics well. I tried with just a single card and in SLI and it's running without a hitch. The background graphics and cut-scenes are looking very nice and the story draws you in pretty quick. I agree with your thoughts on the character models Moondancer, they could have had a little variation there. Although that's not too unusual for past RPG's; lots of clones running around in NWN2, Oblivion and Morrowind

I'm also wishing they would have updated the interface and combat system. Personally, I think it's on the clunky side...I've never been much of a fan of Gothic, so I have to be careful not to bias myself.

I actually like the combat system, I find it very realistic, and I must say that Risen is one of the most realistic feeling games I've ever played, save for the fact that it's not in 1st person.

One of the things that adds realism to combat, for instance, is the fact that enemies jump away, but what I really like in Risen, is how effective your blocking is... - even right from the beginning!

I do find the Risen interface clunky though - even worse than any of the Gothics ever were. Bah!

Sadly I had to finish a project for work this weekend, so I didn't get any time to play, but I'm taking tomorrrow off, so I'll hopefully be making up then!

2 questions can the main character be a female ?

Do we get to put on our own armor with a image with the character like in Sacred 2?

Thanks in advance whoever answers the questions. Checking out the reviews now.

Hi Sherryah,

I did not see a choice in the beginning that allowed a gender selection. As for the armor, your character equips what ever is in the inventory similar to other RPG's. Is that what you are asking?


I do like the 3D element of the game. Regarding combat though, blocking is effective, but I can't tell if it (combat) is real time or turn based. From the foe's perspective it seems real time, but from the character's there are aspects that seem turn based. The limitation that I came across immediately was that a melee weapon attack is perceived as a forward advance. You can't back pedal or move to the side while attacking, unless that's a skill learned later. There also seems to be a lag when attempting to dodge instead of attack, which gives the advantage to the foe.

My game is on its way to me but I am curious as to how it looks. I read one review that said it looked muddy compared to the Gothic games. I hope not since I loved the color in the original games. The screenshots that I saw looked dark.

Once I got used to combat in Gothic 2, I liked it quite a lot. There is a rhythm to blocking and striking.

The demo played good so the game I bought should. Wrong game sorry. Richard

Thanks Trail -mystic that was what I was asking. Bummer about not being able to choose a female character. I was hoping for another sacred 2 clone but it doesn't sound like it has much in common with sacred 1 or Sacred 2.

In the previous Gothic games as well as in Risen you always play as a man (for some reason?). Piranha Bytes, the developers of this game have promised that Risen will have more female npcs that Gothic 3 had (not that difficult since Gothic 3 had none, I think?).

If you're looking for a Sacred 1 or 2 clone, this is definetely not it. Sorry to be so harsh, but Risen gameplay will play similar to the Gothic games. And yes, there is a rhytm to parry, block and attack which you'll have to learn. If you're interested in this game, then you should try the demo. It really is a great introduction to the game world as well as the combat system.

The art direction in this game is really great (as least the part I played; the demo). And yes, from a certain perspective this game looks dark, but you can always turn up the gamma correction to a more brightness scale or turn the brightness up on your monitor.

On the other hand, the game is supposed to look dark, sinister and grim, since afterall there are clouds and storms and gails brewing all over the islands.




There are story reasons behind this, which you will find out during the game.

Edit:

Even if it hasn't much in common with Sacred 1 or Sacred 2, the game is still worth a try (and a possible buy), I find.

I'm slowly getting used to the combat system. The dialogue so far is quite good and the story has definitely grabbed my interest.

Sadly, it does not have the colour that Gothic 2 and 3 had. The closest comparison I can come up with what it looks like colour and natural special effects-wise, is Crysis. So it's more of "grey-ish" really, than the brownish colours you got in Fallout 3. (Unless the US gets a different version - I've got the European version, and I read somewhere that often the US gets more bright colours than the the European version of a game.)

I tried making my colours more intense, as there is a setting for it, but it didn't seem to work.
EDIT:
--------------------------
Strangely, today I did manage to make my colours a lot brighter... - one has to inrease brightness quite a bit, and contrast a little bit. Then if you're having nice weather and it's not raining: Voila! Pretty colours like in Gothic 3.
---------------------------

Trail, if you haven't already, I would encourage you to read your manual. There's a lot of interesting stuff in there! I never normally read my manuals, but when I got a crossbow, I had to look up what to do in order to get a crosshair for aiming, and discovered that a lot of the backstory is given in the manual. Regarding you comments about combat, it also seems from their description there, that your fighting technique does evolve to include using you movement keys, since they talk there of "new methods of attack or combos" (See p.20)

Hm..- i must admit that i haven't really experienced the "lag" you were talking about, from my own charcter, but it does seem from opponents in the ring, as if they have a special "heavy attack" that it takes them longer to recover from.

As far as I remember, the Gothics were real-time, and PB seems to have used a very similar system here, except that blocking definitely is more effective in Risen.

Sherrayah, I'm afraid that Karsten is quite correct in implying that Risen is about as far removed from Sacred 2 as, well, fish is from pumpkin. Risen has a totally different "feel" and world and method of gameplay and ruleset.

Also, just like with the Gothic games, you don't get to customize your hero at all at the start. You get a basic human male construct with pre-set stats, and you must build him up from there. No nice armour for a long time either. You start off, literally, barefoot and in rags, and your very first weapon is a stick.

Your next step is a hunter's knife, and farmer's clothes or worker's clothes. Armour is very scarce. This game is very realistic, and far removed from the fantasy "feel" of Sacred 2.

Games you might enjoy if you liked Sacred 2, are Silverfall and Titan's quest.

Although it is not similar really to Sacred 2, you might want to look out for Venetica, to be released end of October.
This website has a preview and some trailers of it:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/venetica/news.html?sid=6198509&mode=previews

I thought it looks rather interesting, and I'm watching it with interest.

Moondancer, thanks for the tip. I have played Crysis and it looked pretty good. I do love running around a sunny landscape and grumble when it rains a lot. If it is very much like a Gothic game, I'm sure it will be great.

I've always been one to read through the manual moondancer, I'm just more accustomed to games with real-time combat allowing a truer to life movement as opposed to being limited to a forward advance when attacking even in the beginnings of a character's development.

I tend to be a border-line twitch gamer (wrong game genre, I know) and when I want a character to move in a certain direction it better move in that direction dang it.

It will be interesting to see how this character's abilities advance and what the combinations turn out to be...

My game arrived and installed okay but the first time I tried to run it, I got a strange error and it closed. The next time it ran fine except for a slight judder in one spot. Later it asked to insert the original disk which was already in the drive. I hope it settles down with no more errors. I am impressed with the voice acting. Picking up everything I see, including a good sword and have arrived at a village. The game is looking great.

I don't seem to have any quests listed in my journal. Should I have some?

According to this thread at:

http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8384

Deep Silver and Piranha Bytes are working on a hotfix that will fix the problems with fogs on screen those with 7xx Nvidia cards are having.

Also, rumours of DLC abound --- as always, unsubstantiated...

I certainly hope you're not having this http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1060973315#post1060973315 problem, Pokey.


Luckily some fixes for it has been suggested, they are summarized in this http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8397 thread.

..but play on a bit, it might just be that you don't really have quests yet. Look under the "completed" tab, as opposed to the "current" tab?


Hey guys, I'm having the time of my life with this game!

Happy to hear u are enjoying the game, thought it would be fun.

I am still waiting for the fog fix.



Hot Fix is out. See u all next week

I have solved the quests not appearing in the journal by installing newer drivers. My fonts were already normal.

In this link at


http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8447

there's a link to the hotfix 1.01 for the fog problem those with Nvidia 6xx and 7xx cards are having (or were having).

Great news that Piranha Bytes is reacting this quickly to a problem that have risen...

Thanks Karsten

I'm in the swamp doing quests. Any idea of how many quests I can do without risking having to join the bandits? Do I have to see the Don first?

I don't think you have to see the Don. I finished the quests and followed Tellur to harbor town. Really like this game.I'm doing a little cheating. Even with the god mode on it's still hard.
Richard

It is hard! I've found every combat to be a serious risk so far!

You can see the Don, and still join the order in the end. Just don't talk to anybody else when you go to see the Don, because someone gives you a quest to attack the Order. The Don will give you instructions to do a few quests in Harbourtown. You can do them all but leave one (any one) open.

There are a few quests you can do for the Order as well, so do them until you get summoned by Carlos from the Order. Just make sure you have not done all the quests for the Bandits (The Don) or he will say you are one of them now.

I think you can at more or less any time choose to join the Order (mages). If you try to enter Harbourtown via the front gate, you will be given no choice, and will be forcibly conscripted to join the Order.

I nearly joined the bandits but was warned and went back to an earlier save. I am 2/4 with the order doing the bowls and the casket. I am on the Weasel quest but can't defeat Cutter yet. I've looked for other order quests but don't see any yet. I gave the artifacts to the bandits already. Any other order quests?

Later...nevermind. I got more sword training and was able to defeat Cutter and things moved fast after that and I joined the Order.

Hi, Guys!
Does anyone know if there is a walkthrough for this game yet? I got the game a few days ago and am anxious to start playing it but I need a walkthrough. I have been searching the Internet but have not been able to locate a walkthrough yet. Can anyone help me fine one?
Thanks.
Carol

Hi mAMMU

I joined your topic with this one as I could not locate a formal Strategy Guide for sale yet and it may be a bit early for the existance of fan walkthroughs since the game was just release. There are a number of members currently playing the game that have been posting here, so you have company...

Is this game available in Canada? My local EB store doesn't know anything about it. Where else can I get it if not there?

Rown, it is available at Amazon.

mAMMU, no walkthrough but here is a link to the forum:

http://www.forum.deepsilver.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=241

I have finished the quests in the city and the swamp and am at the monastery. I recommend that you visit the swamp first to level up. There is someone to lead you there. Look around for items that can help you. There is a shield near the path to the crypt.

Amazon.com doesn't ship to Canada. Amazon.ca doesn't list it.

That's too bad. They list shipping rates to Canada so I assumed they would ship there. It is available by download. Also, Interact has it.

I finished my training at the monastery and am a Warrior of the Order. The monastery was well done with an involving murder mystery to solve while finishing up training. Heading out to more dangerous territory now. The boss of the gnomes is a very tough battle. Anyone else still playing?

This game is great and I am having a lot of fun.

Just back from vacation and going to fire it up very soon again.

Thank you, Pokey! I've just ordered it from Interact. Looking forward to it.

Hi All,

I got this game and have been playing through Chapter 1. I went with the Don's guys and have enjoyed it so far.

However, now that I have the quests for the discs from the Inquisitor, the first disc quest doesn't show up on the quest map and I really have no idea where to go. There's just these rough directions that I got from the first guy that tells me to go to the east side of the island and cross some rope bridge or some such. I've been trying to get to the east side of the island and keep ending up in the vicinity of the Monastery due to the mountains and such. What made it worse is that it turned night while I was exploring and I couldn't see squat.

Ended up using the teleportor and finding a bed. Going to give it a rest for a while and tackle exploring the island later on. I got a little frustrated because torches don't really give the best viewing and there's a light spell that doesn't light up that good as well.

I don't understand why the quest map doesn't work for this particular quest. It works for all others (as much as it works anyway).

That's strange that it doesn't show up. Did you click on the quest first and then quest map. All 5 of the disc locations should show.

edit...now that I think about it, maybe they don't show up immediately. Did you go see Severin? He should put a location on your map? You need to see the Don and he will give more information on another location. The search for Cyrus will direct you to one. Patty will give another. I think that is all 5.

The best way to get to the rope bridge is to use a levitation scroll from a high spot in the monastery. That should get you close to the hunter's cabin near the bridge. Be sure to talk to the hunter.

Thank you Pokey. That Levitation trick did it for me and I found the Hunter and got that disc. Now I'm chasing down eldric. At least I'm moving along and don't feel like I'm running around in circles.

Fun, fun, fun. I didn't even know about the quest map indicator.. no wonder I've been taking so long to find quest locations.

For the quest with the Gyger, and with Eldric, for instance, I just ran into the woods until I found a road and then followed that to the East coast.

I really got a bit lost in the swamps - the fact that there are two rope bridges confused me a bit there.

I actually played the Don side until you get the "disc" quests, and then decided I'd like to try out the Mages since they get tot do magic, and since you end up working for the Inquisitor anyway.

Well, let me tell you, I found the quests in the monastery on your way to becoming a mage, a lot more fun than I had found the Don's quests in the swamp!

What I did was is I restored a gamesave in Harbour Town, just before doing the last two quests for the Don, and did them for the mages rather. That impressed them, along with the fact that I had helped Belschwur with his soup kitchen.

So Commandant Carlos called me in and gave me a glowing reccommendation that I could use for becoming a mage. Fun, I tell you!

PS: The Eldric quest is quite a blast! Let us know how it went! I'm currently struggling with the next one, (I've got 3 discs by now, I think) but work has been keeping me from playing...

I loved the monastery quests, the murder mystery and going into the volcano. I was happy to get out of the swamp. Now I am in Chap 4 and searching tombs for armor pieces. The difficulty has ramped up a bit. Having the skeleton Fred has been a help at times.

Got through the Eldric quest with much head scratching and cussing (which is normal for me) and am now looking for another disc in the east temple. Trying to figure out what to put on an alter I found which I hope will lead me to the much needed disc.

oldman, there is a bugged door near the end of the east temple quest. Yell if you can't get through it. Several of the doors in the game will teleport you to the roof or the story above.

I just got my first Titan armor piece.

Thank you Pokey but I found no bugs and got the 4th disc after I died once on a spike trap and now just started Chapter 3. Whew!

I am liking this game. I think the voice acting is really good and am glad that there are cheats to get me through the rough patches.

I'm on my second playthrough, and that bugged door in the eastern temple caused me grief both times.

Fortunately, persistence pays off. If you walk through in just the right way, or attack while crossing the threshold, you can often get through.

There's a similar bug on one of the doors in Harbor Town, but you never need to go through the door, so it's much less noticeable.

This time through I decided to train my mage in pickpocketing, which I think was worth it, if only for the humor value. Yesterday I walked up to a novice and stole the staff right out of his hands without him noticing, which raises all sorts of logistical questions.

Then today I went to Rhobart and sold a bunch of Brugleweed to him for about 700 gold or so. Then I pickpocketed his entire supply and sold it back to him again.

It's too bad I can only get away with that once...

My favorite moment so far, however, came on the same mission through the Eastern Temple. I was in the middle of a mission to save a bunch of cowards, and one of them was waiting around for me to open the gate so he could escape back to the entrance. So I walk through a small hall in the wall, climb over a wall and start to battle some ghouls. As the ghouls charge towards me, I hear coward #1 shout to me--from the other side of the wall--that he'll com to my aid. Only he doesn't, presumably because there's a wall in the way.

A few seconds later I finish killing the last of the ghouls, and I hear the same guy (still on the other side of the wall) triumphantly shout, "And the BEAST is SLAIN!!!" As if he had anything to do with it...

Then on my second playthrough, EXACTLY THE SAME THING happened.

This game's crazier than a boat shop in a desert town.

Strange about the bugged door in the temple, I didn't seem to encounter that one, but I know exactly which door you mean in Harbour Town, Demosthenes. As you try to step into the room, suddenly you are stuck half-into the roof....

Two of us were playing on Tap-Repeatedly and we both ran into the eastern temple door bug. The surest way to get through is to transform into a nautilus. I tried other suggestions but only that worked. The other player got through by crouching sideways. The door to Oscar's place had a bug too.

The dialogue in this game is entertaining and the voices are very good.

Well I'm stuck again. I'm looking for Titan Armor pieces and have gotten into the tomb that is just west of the Volcano and East of the Don's tomb.

I need two busts and have only one and can't find the second one at all.
The map of where I'm at is Here

Any suggestions?

oldman, look to your left and up. That is where you want to go. You can levitate there but it is easier to fall through the trapdoor where the first bust was and then find a place to climb up. Look for lava.

Thank you Pokey but that is the Bust that I found. I did manage to locate the second bust I can see it behind an iron gate but can't figure out how to open the gate.

This X marks the place where I can see the second bust.

That's the one I was talking about. The one near the ashbeast. Check your map, right behind where the ashbeast was standing.

Thank you so very much Pokey. I was looking for a lever and not a bug hole. Found it and am now on my way to the 4th piece.

I really appreciate the help.

I just overlooked a nautilus hole in my search of the 4th tomb. Now I check all sides of a room if I can't find an entrance. I'm about to start the 5th tomb tomorrow.

Well I've gotten 4/5 of the Titan Armor pieces and now on the 5th cave I'm lost. When I explore this cave which is on the east side of the volcano I can't find a magic barrier and I eventually end up on the other side of the volcano where I already got a piece. I've successfully gotten a piece from each of the other 4 but am missing something here.

Tjhis northwest red dot is where I'm at and can't seem to find the tomb.

I think I am at the right place now but again I can't find a second bust. I am in a room where there are two alters on each side of a stone door on my left is a room that I have to use telekinesis to get "Bust Of A King" on my right is an iron gate that is closed. I can't find any switches or Neutilus holes to crawl through. I really need to find the second Bust of a King.

Oldman, I can't find anything so we'll have to wait for a bit for a vet to help you out

oldman, that sounds like the tomb I just finished. Check my last post.

Thanks once again Pokey. I had looked and looked for the Nautilus hole and finally found it. That was the hardest one for me to see but I got it and am now preparing to fight the Titan. I've watched the youtube videos of the final fight and for some it may be easy but for me..................we'll see.

Now that I've struggled through all the hard to find parts in the game guess I'll replay it joining the order or whatever it's called and pay more attention to all the side quests I missed the first go around.

Now I need help. Remember those banging doors right next to the big trapdoor? I am stuck on the other side of them. I didn't drop through the trapdoor, but instead went through the gate to the side of them and jumped across the lava to the lower level where there is a button beside the door. I reached a dead end there with the doors and can't get back.
Any ideas? Did you get by those doors?

Pokey, have you tried reading the threads Here?

Pokey I'm not sure exactly where you are. Which red dot on the quest map are you exploring? I might remember if I knew which piece of armor you were going after.

Sorry, I am at the west tomb behind the waterfall looking for the greaves and brassards. The trapdoor and the banging doors are soon after you enter. I went through the gate to the left, jumped and got stuck. Were you ever able to run through the banging doors?

I assume you mean those things that come down from the ceiling and crush you. It took me a while to figure that out. If I remember correctly you can run/jump past the first one and you have to use telikinesis on a switch just past the second one to turn it off.

You can find many many questions and answers on this tomb at the Risen Boards. Just search for "waterfall". I visited there many times to get through that tomb.

Thanks. I didn't know if it was possible to get by the first door. I found the lever on the other side. I had to teleport out and reenter the tomb. I've done all the winches and lowered the bridge. I'll try the door again later.

I'm stuck with the Patty quest. I wonder if I've misunderstood the quest. She takes me to a graveyard, and tells me to start digging.

Although I have two shovels in inventory, even though I've clicked all over the place, he doesn't start digging.

Am I supposed to look in this graveyard? Or over the rest of the island? If it is this graveyard, would someone please tell me where to dig!

Or did I perhaps miss the fact that one can somehow equip the shovel? Believe me, I've tried…


I'll be forever grateful and saved from insanity, for some help re this issue..

Pokey I used the speed potion to get through the banging doors.

Moondancer look for the circle of light coloured sand by the grave and click on it.

Anne, I tried several times and was finally able to do it. I wasn't running far enough, I guess. Going the other direction, I needed to start in the right place to make it work.

Moondancer there should be locations marked on your quest map that show you the different graves to dig. They are scattered around the island and are hard to find and you just click on the ground in front of the marker and if you have the right grave your character will dig as long as you have a shovel in inventory.

I'm done. The big boss has been defeated.

I loved the game and can't wait for the next in the series.

Oh well done Pokey.

Not there yet, but so far really enjoyed the game.
I hear the final fight is harder than all the Gothic ones.

Done the graves! Thanks. What stumped me about that very first grave, was that the soil didn't look any different on that one - it was just a grassy spot. The others all looked like they had loose earth where you had to dig.

By now I've given the Inquisitor what he needed to open the outer door, and now busy struggling with the big gate... Fun!

Congrats, Pokey! Are you going to replay any of it?

Moondancer, no, I don't replay games. Now that I am done, I'm missing it. I might go find a few more hero's crowns and see if there is any area I missed, but otherwise, I'm done.

You have a lot of fun ahead of you.

Pokey What's next?

Anne, Moondancer

Looney, I don't see any new games that look interesting. I am about halfway through Far Cry 2 and was enjoying it, so will get back to it. Maybe some Thief fan missions for a change too. I would love to see another RPG as good as Risen.

Oops! While looking for the Titan armour, should one take your busts with you, or can you leave them behind?

Btw, Pokey, have you had a look at Borderlands and Prototype yet?

Help! Please help..

I'm in the tomb behind the waterfall East of the Don's tomb, the one with all the lava and the scorpions and warcrickets and asbeasts and so on. I managed to get the one bust out of it's cell, called the "King's bust", by using telekineses. (The cell door is open, but if you remove the bust, the door closes.)

Problem is that I have no idea where to look for the second bust, and /or also no idea how to open the cell with the lizardman in it. (I'm thinking the bust must be in there)

PS: (It's the room with the spikes in the middle)

EDIT: Yay! Finally got the Titan shield.. Gee - what a maze to get there!

It's probably a bit late now, but once you're done using the busts as needed in their temples (and you've collected everything you need from the temple), I suggest leaving them behind rather than bringing them to other temples. The game lets you take most of them back, and some of the doors even stay open when you do so. But all the busts have similar names and similar icons, so once you get a bunch of them in your inventory you may start to forget which ones you need to use in a given tomb.

Thanks, Demosthenes, I'd rather leave them then.

I've now got the hammer, the shield and the greaves. I'm now in that tomb just below the monastery and above the farm with Severian.

I've disabled two magic barriers in here, and jumped over some lava and up some steps where there is a door that requires a bust.

I've finecombed the rather smallish caves areas for any trace of a bust, but no luck.

Any suggestions, anyone, please?


EDIT: Sorry, no..- the door requiring the bust is on the other side, not through the entrance where one had to jump over the lava. Anyway, none of the lizardmen nor the skeleton on the lava side had anything useful on them.

I think this is the one with the bust up above the door.

Oh, Pokey, what can I say... You're the best!

Thank you thank you thank you!

Just wanted to say that I finished the game yesterday. I was disappointed by it being over so suddenly... somehow it felt like I still had a lot to do, and I never got a chance to try out my grand new armour in the world!

The final boss battle took me quite a while to figure out... and then boom! suddenly the game was over.

I have been feeling rather empty, without playing my Risen, I must say. Maybe I was expecting something closer to the length of Gothic 2, if not quite Gothic 3.

I got this game about a week ago and have been playing since then. I'm currently in the harbor area collecting quests. Question: On my quest map I get red and/or green dots. What do the colors mean?

The green dots are the quest givers you need to return to. The red dots are the characters you need to see. If you hover your curser over them, they will be identified.

Thanks, Pokey. I was confused because in some cases I have talked to all green and red dot people but seem to be going nowhere in that quest. Seems I'm missing something.

Right now I am trying to do as many quests as possible without committing to a faction in Harbor Town. Sas anyone jumped the wall to exit the town? Have you been able to get back in a second time?

I never did leave the town until I finished all the quests but then, unless you just want to try it, it is not necessary. Once you're allowed to leave the town, either as a member of the order or bandit camp, you can come and go as you please and complete any previous quests you have pending.

I played it through joining the bandits and then once again joining the order and found that by joining the Don you miss almost half the quests in Chapter 1. That's probably why most people have recommended not joining the Don.

I jumped off the wall over the main gate. Make sure you have plenty of health. I lost about half. I assume you will have to pay to get in again. I decided to go back to the save before I jumped. If you have pickpocket 2, you can steal a key to get out.

If you keep talking to people, the quests usually work out. Which one are you having trouble with?

Another good reason not to join the Don:

if you do, you can't learn magic.

Re jumping out of Harbour town: Your jump will fare better if you have the acrobatics skill. You get a ring that gives you the skiill, from one of the NPC's in town (Sorry, can't remember which one though).

Once you hit the ground, sneak immediately, or the Order recruits will attack you. You can try to sneak past, (if you have sneak skill) which I tried, but they spotted me after a while and I had to run for it.

You can simply return again via the back gate by paying the guard there, a 100 gold.

That's strange. I jumped the wall but it was a group of recruits who chased me.

I had a very strange adventure: I explored near the shore and a HUGE sea creature rose out of the water and swallowed me. Then it spat me out and I woke up on the shore again without any damage.

It is recruits near the main gate.

Your strange adventure sounds interesting. Which shore was it. I need to investigate since I've never heard of it.

There was something similar in Gothic 2, I
believe.

Edit...tried it. That was interesting. Also, he can't swim.

It was the shore nearest the western gates to Harbor Town. It happened when I went to close to the deep water. Maybe it is the game's way of putting you back into the game. They do say that deep water is dangerous. Should try it out again on another beach.

I like finding unexpected events in games like that

The sea-monster thing happens on the beach right at the beginning too... I think it's the game telling you your guy reeeeeeally doesn't swim well

I just figured something out about the sea monster:


Other than bragging rights are there any other benefits for your "Achievements"?

Not much. I got the IDIOT achievement for jumping off the wall three times and dying each time. I didn't realize I had only 1/4 health at the time. It was rather funny seeing the idiot sign appear since I didn't realize what it was.

Talking of idiots - that's me at the moment huh? Apologies - I corrected my erroneous post. I've been pretty tired these last few days - must really get more sleep...

The 3rd stooge is right here: Had the Idiot title for quite a while now.

For those of you who may need/want it there is now finally a walkthru for this game.

Happy gaming.

Thanks, oldman. There is also an incomplete one at gamefaqs but the one you mentioned covers the entire game.

There is a patch for Risen that fixes the problem with Nvidia graphics

Oldman

Merrick--do you happen to have the address?

Yes, just seen it at fileshack

I'm at the part where I have to search for the titan armor. Patty says she will come with me to help. However, she tags along for a while but then stops and says she will wait. I've tried going to different locations but she refuses to go further after a certain distance. She will not teleport with me either. What am I doing wrong?

Is this on the west coast? Patty will only go to the bridge by the waterfall. If that is where you are, look around. NPCs do not teleport.

Big help she is, isn't she?

Thanks, Pokey. I was trying to do the bandit camp one first and she went only to the bridge before the camp. I tried going to a different cave but she stopped halfway there.

Actually, she is. When I did the one on the west coast she was very helpfull. She killed about 80% of the lizardmen on the way to the cave while I mostly watched. I don't think she is intended to do the bandit camp. She will escort you to the cave.

You're right, Pokey. I had taken her to the wrong location. Finally got it right. She was a great fighter all the way to the waterfall bridge. I just don't undertand how she, with bare arms, legs and midriff, doesn't show a scratch. Whereas, I, in my really good armor, gets shredded very easily.

I'm still doing the titan armor quest under the waterfall, the one where Patty helped. I turned the first winch and the first barricade of the final door opened. I turned the 2nd winch (by shooting it with an arrow) and the other stone barrier lifted before the final room. When I returned to the main room before the end room I could see the undead beasts waiting for me on the other side. I went to the third winch and turned it. When I returned to the main room the metal grate before the final room was opened but another stone wall had closed again. I've been trying to redo the various winches and the only one I'm having trouble with is the one I shot. It's the one that controls the barrier that is blocking me now. I don't know what happened in this sequence because all of the winches had turned for me. I can repeat all of them except this shooting one. Does anyone have any ideas or a cheat to get this door open?

I'm not sure what you have done. If the metal gate is open, you should be able to proceed. The armor piece should be in the room behind the gate. The winch that you shot with the arrow should lower a bridge. Is the door you are talking about across the bridge?

I,m pretty sure this is the titan boots and you can find a step by step walkthru here and check to see if you missed any steps.

That's a great looking WT. Oldman

Thanks Pokey

Did you find your problem Rowan?

Sorry for not getting back sooner. I was out visiting and haven't had a chance to play again. Oldman, I've been using that walkthrough and I've done everything for that quest. Pokey, there is a triple barrier to the armor piece I need. There are 2 stone walls and a metal barrier. I've been able to raise and lower the metal gate and one of the walls. The last stone wall is operated by the winch that you have to shoot (I think). I did it once before because I had it open. I don't know why it came down again. Now it won't budge. I'll try again tomorrow but hope someone has a new idea. Thanks for your responses.

Oldman, check out that square yellow switch in the one room. It opens one door and closes another, every time you push it. Is this not perhaps the problem?

There are 3 stone doors. One goes to the spikes and winch. Another goes to a winch plus a cavern with a hole through which you shoot the winch that lowers the bridge. With the bridge lowered, go through the last door (the one to your right as you face the metal gate). There is a stone door on your left. Go past it and across the bridge, around to the left, jump across the missing walkway and use that winch. The metal door should now be open. You need to push the yellow button to change which door is open.

Thanks all. I finally got it. I replayed each door sequence several times before everything fell in place. It was a frustrating couple of days. Nevertheless, I am enjoying this game.

Rowan I'm glad you got it finally Now, have fun with the rest of the game

Congrats Row. I went through the same frustration so I know how it feels.

That was also the worst and most frustrating dungeon for me, I must say! Well done.

I'm at the end fight now. I'm getting very good at dying. Is this winable? I've got the walkthrough pages printed out in front of me and I'm on easy level.

The important thing is to watch the runes and move quickly to stay off the lit ones. I'd stay off the outer ones as much as possible. Do not use the shield while moving as it slows you down. Then hold up the shield to bounce his attack back to him and run in fast when he kneels. Hit just once and then watch the runes again. Once I paid attention to the runes, I had no problem getting in 6 hits. I didn't even need any healing.

Thanks for all the help but I am giving up on this. I'm experiencing more frustration than enjoyment in this battle. I liked the rest of the game.

Going to load up Dragon Age later.

The ending was rather strange. You didn't make use of all the building up of your character. Nothing like the usual Gothic game. You didn't miss much.

I am about to start Dragon Age as well. I still have some questions to answer about the DLC.

I gave up on the ending as well. If I had more patience and younger hands I probably could have but I have neither so what I did was watch the ending on Youtube so all I missed was the frustration.

Gee, so does that make me the only person around here stubborn enough to carry on until I finally got that big ol' titan?

I think why I kept going with the end boss, is that I'd read up on how to do it, and they said you only need to hit him 7 times..

I saved the game after every hit, but in the end, I had to hit him 11 (eleven) times before he finally fell...

I believe it took 7 hits for me to bring him down. I have read that you can't save while battling him and that it starts the process all over again. I didn't try saving. Once I got the rhythm, it didn't seem hard.

Oldman, thanks for the link to YouTube. That certainly is a much more relaxed way of conquering the enemy of the world. Now I can put the game away in peace and not wonder about what I missed. I like the exploring and discovering parts of a game the best.

Ah, well, as you guys could see on the video, you didn't miss much with the ending. It was a bit of a disappointment for me.