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Become a pirate of Dark Waters in Risen 2

JC Fletcher — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 10:15:00 EST

Piranha Bytes is lifting its Risen series out of generic fantasy land, and dropping it into the high seas. Risen 2: Dark Waters, coming to "consoles and PC," is a seafaring RPG set in a destroyed world, years after the end of the first game. The hero sets out to discover what's causing monsters to rise out of the sea, sailing from island to island and getting mixed up with pirates.

Players can expect the same kind of open-world RPG gameplay, but now on a series of islands. The sequel "maintains the most immersive features of the original Risen, with multiple approaches to every challenge allowing players to shape the game world based on their own decisions." Let's hope Piranha Bytes shapes its own game world the right way the first time, so it doesn't have to rebuild the console game as it did the original.

Gallery: Risen 2: Dark Waters

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Become a pirate of Dark Waters in Risen 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Impressions: Risen's second chance on Xbox 360

Andrew Yoon — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:30:00 EST

click to enlarge

Piranha Bytes' RPG Risen is getting a second chance in America. Originally released in Europe on October 2009, reviewers slammed the game as "unfinished and unrefined" and "a technical mess" -- for good reason, too. The original retail release of Risen on Xbox 360 was largely a "beta" version of the game.

Four months later, Piranha Bytes is putting the true finishing touches to the game, and the improvement is immediately noticeable. The European game's framerate was inconsistent at best, but this revised version is -- dare we say it? -- playable. In fact, aside from the occasional hiccup, the experience is rather smooth. According to the developer, Risen now boasts higher resolution textures, denser vegetation, better lighting, sharper fonts and brightness controls. Visually, this is pretty much a different game altogether.

Unfortunately, that still doesn't place Risen in the same league as games like the graphically underwhelming Dragon Age Origins. This is still a visually dated product, but at least this time around, the game is playable.

Gallery: Risen

Continue reading Impressions: Risen's second chance on Xbox 360

Impressions: Risen's second chance on Xbox 360 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Deep Silver publishing Risen on Xbox 360 in February

Alexander Sliwinski — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:30:00 EST

Piranha Bytes' Risen will release this February on Xbox 360 in North America. Speaking of rising, that's likely something the review scores could use after the North American release. The PC version is currently scraping by with a 77 on Metacritic and the Xbox 360 version, which has raided Europe, is sporting a frighteningly low score of 58.

Under normal circumstances Risen might stand a chance with a February release -- despite its review scores. But, as has become disturbingly clear to other publishers, 2010 is just full-up with solid launches, that everyone has to bring their A-game to survive this year's release schedule.

Deep Silver publishing Risen on Xbox 360 in February originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Risen is gold for PC on Oct. 2, Xbox 360 version delayed until 2010

Alexander Sliwinski — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:00:00 EST

Piranha Bytes' Risen will make its scheduled PC release on October 2; however, the Xbox 360 version has been delayed until "early next year," a release window that's just begging for more. (Also, let's just ignore that our GameFly account deems the console version as "canceled.")

Sporting a solid voice cast, the fantasy RPG by the developers of Gothic 3, is a toss-up in the quality department -- which means that Australia was either punished or spared by the game's "banning."

Risen is gold for PC on Oct. 2, Xbox 360 version delayed until 2010 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Risen banned in Australia for incentivizing sex and drugs

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:30:00 EST

RPG Risen has been refused classification by Australia's OFLC, meaning it can't be sold at retail on the continent. Kotaku was informed by the game's Aussie distributor that the board was concerned by "sexual activity and drug use related to incentives or rewards." Ignore the fact that both of those concepts are directly related to teaching children how to succeed in business.

Why are we talking about children? Well, it's because Australia only rates games that are appropriate for children 15-years-old and younger. The US's ESRB summary of Risen notes that sex is implied but never depicted, while "wood reefer" can be bought, sold and used. That sounds a lot like high school.

Risen banned in Australia for incentivizing sex and drugs originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Risen rising to retail rOctober recond ... argh, second

Alexander Sliwinski — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:15:00 EST

Developer Piranha Bytes has announced that its RPG, Risen, will try to take a bite out of retail on October 2. Big Download took note of the press release's proud statement that the game is completely done and going through three separate quality assurance teams.

That last bit likely has a little something to do with the developer's most recent game, Gothic 3, being a tad buggy. Three months will, hopefully, be enough time to work any issues out.

[Via Big Download]

Risen rising to retail rOctober recond ... argh, second originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The best of WoW Insider: March 5-11, 2008

Mike Schramm — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:00:00 EST

Filed under: Online, Meta (about Joystiq), MMO

Time once again to bring you the hottest stories from Azeroth, where Joystiq sister site WoW Insider is covering all the news out of the biggest MMO ever, World of Warcraft. From Arthas to Zul'Gurub, we've got it covered.

News

Inscription hidden in patch 2.4
Blizzard is laying the groundwork for Inscription, one of the biggest features of Wrath of the Lich King.
Risen is mad as hell, and they aren't going to take it anymore
One of the game's biggest guilds decides to call it quits until the expansion, claiming the game has gotten too casual.
Kalgan offers a possible WotLK sneak peek for Warlocks
A dev gives a little insight as to where one of the most popular classes in the game might be headed.
Best Arena Hunter in the world now banned?
Did a well-known PvPer get banned for posting arguments against Blizzard on the forums?
The great Panda debate
Fact and fiction about why Blizzard hasn't added the Pandaren race to the game yet.

Features

Know Your Lore: Grim Batol
Find out the lore behind the scary dwarven castle on the hill.
Insider Trader: Rounding up 2.4 profession changes, part 2
More updates for crafters in the upcoming patch.
Totem Talk: Use the totems wisely
How to make the most of the defining feature of the Shaman class.
Reader UI of the Week: Adoru
One of our readers runs down what they put in their addon folder.
Talents you hate
Let's do a little ranting about useless talents, shall we?

The best of WoW Insider: March 5-11, 2008 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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