Well, Piranha Bytes is almost ready to release its new game upon us. I thought it was about time we started a thread. Here are the vague details:

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Developer: Piranha Bytes
Publisher: Deep Silver
Release: 24 April, 2012

http://www.risen2.com/(which I would not recommend going to; lots of spoilers about the NPCs, factions, islands... )

http://www.destructoid.com/preview-swashbuckling-and-rum-drinking-in-risen-2-221630.phtml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOR7cW4262E

(Warning: incredibly hokey sets and setpieces ahead.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLXBSs4g6zA&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQp6JfpgWAk&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvOFUjhEge0

Have more links and snippets? Share!

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I am prepared to be underwhelmed, but am unabashedly hopeful. At the very least, it will be an RPG that's not set in a time and place that resembles medieval England.

This game is pretty high on my list. Want to see what the general thoughts on the game are before I drop retail price on it though. Not to mention that I will be playing on the xbox, and the port of the original Risen was less than stellar . . .

They say the console version of the game was handled a lot better than the original, but I am still going to be cautious.

If it's anything like the first one, it'll be good -- and so far it looks excellent. The pirate RPG setup alone makes me itch for some new PB RPGing. Definitely my most looking forward to game right now (and since the announcement).

I've got my eye on this - Risen was a good game, if a little (A LOT) rough around the edges.

I read somewhere that the developers have thrown almost all their money behind it: it's their most expensive title to date. Which means better graphics, definitely, but also probably better combat, story, world... It will be better than the first, anyway.

I've been interested for a while, but I'm severely worried about the quality of the PS3 version.

What's particularly problematic about porting it to the PS3?

Apparently it's much, much harder to develop games for the PS3 in comparison to Xbox. I'm not sure why...

They screwed up a porting job to the 360, even, with Risen 1, and the PS3 is far more different from any PC than a 360, there are no screenshots/footage of either console version, yet, the company they outsourced the PS3 porting job to (Wizarbox) have, with the only game of theirs I know of, a poor track record of PS3 version performance (poor framerate), and Piranha Bytes aren't a particularly wealthy company.


It's not, anymore, really (still is more difficult, but difference not as pronounced as at beginning of console generation). However, porting a game (porting and developing are two separate things) from a PC to a 360 is much easier than a PC to PS3 conversion as the 360 and PC are highly similar in API and even, to a degree, hardware architecture whereas the PS3 utilizes a completely separate API, programming language, and CPU architecture from the other two. Porting, in general, to the PS3 is a more difficult because of the differences and this is definitely a game I feel is going to be ported to the PS3, not developed as a cross-platform game from the beginning (given they outsourced the PS3 version and given their origins as a company). Neither Piranha Bytes nor Wizarbox, as far as I know, have the resources to really manage a great PS3 porting job.

That's unfortunate. Waiting on player reviews for the PS3 would be a good idea, then. Although, I expect some of the money they've put into the project must have gone toward the ports, too. The PS3 gets too little love.

The 360 port was done in haste (in 6 months iirc), and wasn't initially supposed to be done at all so the game was optimised for PC. Now they are all being developed simultaneously and taking consoles into account in the core design. Can't remember the name of the company doing to porting, but as said, they're given as much time and leeway in design as they need this time around.

This is what PB's officially stated, yeah. Seti does have reason to be wary, though, if what he says about the first is true.

pre ordered it

I can't be sure, it may be some sort of toggling quirk in the game, but compare the "quick menu" at the bottom of the screen from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTWI_46TaMI&feature=related (row of numbers, definitely PC) to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2058tC_thVc (radial on the bottom left, as if for a controller).

I hadn't really paid any attention to it but having read through the Destructoid preview, it sounds like it's going to be a pretty sweet title.

I remember hearing about Risen when it came out, and being very interested in it, but didn't play it because it got middling scores; I'm crossing my fingers this game's better.

Also, am I the only one who's really impressed by this year's RPG offerings? Between Amalur, ME3, and possibly Risen 2 and Dragon's Dogma(both of which I just learned about), there are a ton of good(or potentially good) RPGs coming out. And I still haven't finished everything in Skyrim!

i found the first game really boring but im willing to give this one a try

When I read "voodoo" and "pocket monkey" I was like

"Dirty tricks" sound fun, too, and I like how they've decided to implement the extra party member, also. Both gameplay elements remind me of aspects of JRPGs I really enjoy.

Edit: I do wonder why there are so few screenshots around the net. I keep seeing the same year-old (?) pictures.

More http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-01-31-risen-2-dark-waters-screenshots-soak-in. They're less bloom-y.

And http://www.shacknews.com/article/72243/risen-2-dark-waters-dlc-offered-as-pre-order-bonus... At least they bother to say up-front that you'll have to pay $10 for the extra content if you don't pre-order, I guess...

I bought Risen at full price and played/enjoyed it, but it wasn't a game that stayed with me. I barely remember it, except for fighting giant crickets... oooh, badass. My review of it at the time was that it was fun enough, I got quite a few hours of gameplay out of it. But I kind of wished I had waited until it dropped in price, rather than paying full price for it.

So I will probably wait on purchasing this - I still haven't bought Arcania (was it?), which is in a similar vein, and probably reduced in price by now. Besides, I have too many things competing for my gaming time at the moment.

Yeah, I heard too many disappointing things about the first to purchase it. This is looking to be an all-around much better game, though. So, hopefully. Now I'm just deciding whether to buy the CE. I mean, it's Piranha Bytes! They made Gothic and Gothic 2! But they also made Gothic 3 and Risen... There are only so many bugs and cut corners I can accept. And while I can sympathise with the difficulties they experienced during production of both of the disappointing titles, I'm a bit wary that the justifications may just be cop-outs.

Don't buy Arcania. It's absolutely terrible.

Looking good so far, I really liked the first Risen game and this one looks even better.

Oh, crap, yeah, I totally forgot about this. Don't buy Arcania, it really is terrible. It's not even made by Piranha Bytes, just the people holding the Gothic licence.

Gamebanshee has a really detailed http://www.gamebanshee.com/previews/107077-risen-2-dark-waters-preview.html article!

A quick summary (but, really, do go read the article in its entirety):

• simplified character system
  
• graphics are much improved
  
• animations are still relatively poor
  
• many new monster types that are more appropriate to the setting
  
• better quests, generally; multiple solutions are available, if you look for them
  
• map markers, yes; quest compass, no; you will often have to rely on dialogue to find a location
  
• a more unique and well-executed setting

All in all, it's said to be a "solid improvement on Risen".