Piranha Bytes’ Ralf Marczinczik Says Risen is Currently Being Polished

Fans of the Gothic games from German developer Piranha Bytes have kind of been in the dark a bit regarding their upcoming project Risen. The company has been a bit hush-hush over details for the game, especially now that they have split with publisher JoWood–however, thanks to a little prodding from the folks over at PixelRage, we now know a little bit more.

During an interview with Piranha Bytes’ Ralf Marczinczik, the graphic designer skipped over a few questions regarding release dates, major details, and what sorts of enemies you will face. While this sort of secrecy is pretty standard for upcoming games, Ralf did give them a bit of information on the current status of the RPG and just slightly more than the teaser site shows you regarding the plot.

Pixel : When are we going to see Risen / what is the current status ?
Ralf Marczinczik : We are entering the polishing and debugging phase with alarming speed.

Pixel : Is it still an CRPG ?
Ralf Marczinczik : Of course. You also have multiple careers you can follow and have the endings according to your actions.

Pixel : Can you drop some details on the story ?
Ralf Marczinczik : Nope. Just the stuff you´ve already read elsewhere. You wake up on a mysterious island and have to learn your way around. The inquisition is already on to something – but I can´t spoil that too early. (NR – They’re going to get wacked if they leak too much…

Pixel : Who’s gonna be the baddies ? Orcs /demons / some other evil spawns ?
Ralf Marczinczik : I am sworn to secrecy, sorry. I really don´t wanna loose my job.

Pixel : With Gothic you set the standard for realism with a living-breathing world, character schedules, consequences, etc. In what area are you going to amaze the world this time ?
Ralf Marczinczik : You have tremendous detail in the world- and lot´s of stuff to explore. And all this is set by hand. No random elements like some other games. Very controlled and tastefully arranged. And of course you have to take into your consideration, that we also have to deliver the standard GFX-FX that people expect from a game like this.

Pixel : What size is the gameworld going to be ? Is it a long and epic game ?
Ralf Marczinczik : A bit Bigger that Gothic one- but definetly not as big as Gothic 3. And yes – it´s quite an epic journey with long hours to play around…

You can read the full interview over on PixelRage, which also has three screens of the game. Hopefully, the folks over at Piranha Bytes will soon be a bit more forthcoming with the goods because while gamers love a good tease, they can get a bit cranky if left in the dark too long.