Review Fix Exclusive: Björn Pankratz Talks ‘Risen 3: Titan Lords’

Review Fix chats with “Risen 3” developer Björn Pankratz, who discusses the variety of new gameplay additions in the newest addition of Pirahna Bites’ newest adventure, “Risen 3: Titan Lords.” The series’ “rediscovering of its roots,” Pankratz chats about the game’s hand-crafted world and revamped combat system, as well as the company’s hopes for the game.

Review Fix: What kind of research and work goes into creating the games’ “Hand-crafted” worlds?

Björn Pankratz: Every location, creature and even NPC could be the first one you can encounter in Risen 3. Exploring is the key. In every corner of the world you will find cool adventures, challenges and items for the player to gain. The storyline is non linear as possible. You choose your own way through our world full of immersion. Every item, creature or NPC is placed by hand. The pacing is an important factor. Every passage in the game has to be interesting, so we placed all the stuff in a certain order into the world, so that the player always has interesting stuff to do and always has the chance to do many different things at the same time. Find an item, talk to a new NPC, face the threat against a huge opponent, take the easier way to fight against smaller ones, watch a cut-scene, solve a quest, enjoy a vista point and much more. All of this you only can get, when you create this huge world by hand.

Review Fix: How many quests are there in the game? How long should it take the average gamer to complete it?

Pankratz: We played this game by ourselves many times. It nearly took about 50 hours for each of us. So you may get a feeling about the time an average player may need to solve all our quests and adventures.

Review Fix: How will swimming change the series?

Pankratz: Swimming in Risen 3 makes you feel more free. Every location at our coasts, every island and hidden location you can now reach. The world is prepared for exploring every corner of it where you will always find something interesting. Even the big ships at the horizon will be reachable by swimming.

Review Fix: How has the combat system in the game changed?

Pankratz: We completely reworked our combat system. All animations are new, which gives you the opportunity to act more directly and to see better what the opponent is planning to do next against you. Also the opponents are reacting differently to the actions of player now. So you can decide what tactical moves are the best for what enemy. Additionally, there will be much more magic combat spells for ranged and melee combat. Our new combat system is a great fun factor in the game. There will be many different ways and combat styles you can use to strike down your opponents.

Review Fix: What was the logic behind the return to the three factions system?

Pankratz: To join one of the factions is a big choice in Risen 3. This has impact not only to your skills, armor, quests or party members, it also has a big impact on the storyline and other big assets you can get in the game. For example the big ship. With this you can travel over the sea. It is your choice, if you join a faction very early in the game or after 30 hour hours of gameplay.

Review Fix: How do you think this game will stand out from its predecessors?

Pankratz: With Risen 3 we go straight back to our roots. We created a game that has the best of all the games we have made so far. The immersion of the world is amazing. There is core interactivity, intriguing NPCs, many many terrifying monsters and cool items for you to gain. It has all the stuff that made Piranha Bytes games popular in the past and more. It is also the biggest game we have ever made. Be prepared.

Review Fix: What do you want its legacy to be in a few years?

Pankratz: I can’t say what legacy there will be in the end. But I hope it will be something like to be the best, funniest, most complex and biggest one of the Risen series.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14263 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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