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Risen 3 is almost a really good game. It's certainly the first in the role-playing series that I've more or less enjoyed right from the start. It's just that, much like Risen 2, the minor advances in design and function are in service of a goal so characterless and bland that it's hard to muster the passion needed to turn mild enjoyment into outright devotion.Picking up years after the conclusion of Risen 2, we're introduced to the son and daughter of Captain Steelbeard, the ludicrously named pirate legend from that game. Sadly, in the first of several disappointments, you get no choice over who will be the main character of the game. It's Steelbeard's son, yet another vanilla video game hero voiced by an actor whose range only stretches from "surly growl" to "angry sarcasm". You get no input into what he looks like and that remains true for the majority of the game. Much like the previous games in the series, Risen 3 hands out new kit grudgingly, so unless you've got the Adventurer's Gear DLC that grants you a change of clothes, the amount of control you have over your character is minimal and drip-fed. It's an RPG with very little in the way of RP.
Steelbeard's daughter, for what its worth, looks like she's wearing a Halloween costume from eBay called "Sexy Pirate" and promptly disappears after the opening tutorial sequence.
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