Forget all the pirate-y silliness of Risen 2, the next Risen game is on the horizon and the developers are promising it will be a “return to their origins”.
For those not in the know, Piranha Bytes’ “origins” include the fan-favourite Gothic series of third-person action RPGs and the enjoyable but technically-flawed Risen and its sequel, the pirate-themed Risen 2, also TPARPGs.
Risen 3: Titan Lords will offer classic RPG mechanics that eschew anything with peg legs, booty, parrots and hooks in favour of themes and mechanics of a more traditional Gothic-like RPG.
The story sounds like a fairly typical over-the-top tale that German game makers are fond of telling, involving wars between Titans (huge beings of immense power) that are destroying the world, stolen souls that need recovering and a new darkness that needs repelling (of course).
What excites me about it is the developers are also promising that everything from the characters to the story to the landscape is being lovingly put together “like a carpenter with a handcrafted piece of furniture”, and that “Exploration is key to our game”.
There are no videos of the game yet, so things like the combat system are unknowns at this point, but it’s fair to expect that if you enjoyed Gothic, you’ll probably like what Risen 3 has to offer as well. The screenshots posted on the official Risen 3 website also look quite tasty.
Risen 3: Titan Lords will release in August 2014 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, but no mention was made in the press release I received about the PS4 or Xbox One.
