Risen 3: Titan Lords Review (2024)

For better or worse, Risen 3: Titan Lords is truly indicative of old-school pirate life. There are certainly moments of swash-buckling adventure, but when it comes to its item and skill systems, it’s roughly as coherent as a rum-drunk buccaneer. Combine that with a flat story that rarely deviates from expectations, and you’re left with an experience that’s fun in spurts, but ultimately tedious and empty.

There's really not much to Risen 3's campaign; you'll visit islands, run errands, join one of three magic-wielding factions, and close demonic portals that threaten your soul and the world at large. While that seems like a lot, the 20-plus hour-long campaign drags on with few surprises, shifts in mood, or character development. After helping many NPCs there will be no other interactions of note, which is a shame because the voice acting for Risen 3's primary cast is nothing if not memorable. Occasionally, it's because of an annoyingly delivered line or a shoddy animation, but usually, it’s because of inspired performances like the snarky unnamed lead, or a weird sidekick named Bones who channels a mix of James Mason and Christopher Walken.

However, the true stars of Risen 3, at least from a visual design standpoint, are the wildlife and their surroundings. In spite of the environments being too cluttered with items I never had any use for, each of the islands houses a variety of landmarks that provide distinct personality, like the Guardian Mage island that also includes a lush forest, a haunted coast, and deep mines populated by dwarves. No matter where I was, the wildlife will grabbed my attention, from the angry gorillas and warthogs that attack on sight to more peaceful fauna like ducks and monkeys.

Like its story, Risen 3's combat is also competent, but background elements will test your patience. Swordplay is simple, yet diverse, with a mix of gun and melee attacks, as well as spells of two varieties; those infused onto your arm for melee attacks or cast from afar via hotkeys. When you're fighting various wildlife as well as demonic forces, the combat works well due in no small part to an AI ally watching your back when there's a group of foes. However, there are two boss battles that completely shift the dynamic in an unfair way by pitting you alone against a foe that spawns limitless cronies while also regenerating its own health. These are the only two boss battles mind you, so as fun as it is to swing a sword, the rest of Risen 3's rank and file grow a bit tedious to take on.

Getting combat-ready is mostly a chore, as Risen 3 eschews traditional RPG stores in favor of making almost every NPC an item vendor or skill trainer. For the former, it's nearly impossible to remember who stocks what and where they are. The map does indicate which skills each NPC can train you in, but not the prerequisites needed to learn them. These skills include various crafting forms, many of which require items that aren't marked as being ingredients, which leads to a reluctance to sell anything.

If there's one of Risen 3's role-playing elements worth praising, it's the “Glory” experience system. Instead of making you choose improvements when your overall level increases, you can increase certain attributes when you have enough Glory. You can evenly distribute and constantly improve, or save up and become a dominant swordfighter, gunman, or mage by allocating points to afford the amount of Glory that increases with each upgrade. Instead of the slow grind to leveling up, shooting towards smaller goals helps make Risen 3 feel like a little bit less of a grind.

While sea travel in Risen 3 consists mostly of pointing-and-clicking your next destination, there's a few encounters at sea that offer a nice change of pace. You might be disarming explosives dropped on your ship, engaging in ship-to-ship firefights, or taking on sea creatures as you steer the ship and fire your cannons. It would have been nice to try out these unique fights at your own pace, but unfortunately, they're annoyingly bunched together during a series of travel sequences and then stop appearing altogether before long. Like the rest of Risen 3, it can be enjoyable, but it's presented in a way that’s off-putting and unrefined.