Underated "Gem" - Risen 2

[Danbo Jambo]

I've played the Gothic games and, whilst I found my fave of the series Gothic 2 OK and fun for a while (7/10 in my book) I was no major fan of the series.

Since then I've played Risen on Xbox 360 and again, whilst I found it OK for a while (less time in this case, 6-7 hours), overall it was just too much of a slog, with the combat to much hard work, for me to enjoy it.

So, having bought Risen 2 at the same time, I started to play it with interpretation having heard tales of "less soul than Risen 1, worst combat than Risen 1, poor man's Skyrim" etc. and have so far been gobsmacked at how thoroughly enjoyable it it.

Yes the mechanics could do with a few tweaks, yes it's glitchy at times, but yes by 'eck it bang hits the spot in terms of quality RPG experience. It's been ages since I've been drawn into a game so much, and it's just got so much goodness and so much going for it that I highly recommend it to anyone. So far I'm much preferring it to Skyrim (which I still enjoyed, but for shallow and dull far too often to be considered a "classic")

As I say, be prepared for flaws, but for me they're easily bareable, and the overall game is just great RPG-ing fun. If I were to rate it now (20 hours in) I'd give it 9/10, so we'll see if I still feel that way once I finish it too.

 

[Doom972]

I love this game too. Not everyone can appreciate the hardcore RPG experience where you start very weak and can be easily killed. It was very immersive and the pirate theme added a lot.

The Risen games work and look much better on the PC by the way. Piranha Bytes aren't very good at porting. Risen 1 is especially much better on the PC.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

As an actual fan of Piranha Bytes and almost all of their games, including the controversial Gothic 3. However, I have to disagree. Risen 2: Dark Waters was a complete mess to me. I actually really enjoyed the first Risen, and I'd say it's tied with Gothic 2 as my favourite Piranha Bytes game.

My main problems with Risen 2 is the really piss-poor combat mechanics, which you seem to agree with. But I found the exploration also really lacking, as the game is quite heavily linear with the islands being composed mostly of corridor-esque passages linking pseudo open areas. There also wasn't a whole lot to find out in the wilderness, so there was no incentive to really search every nook and cranny for things. These two things, combat and exploration, are two of the most important things in Piranha Bytes games to me, so that's the big reason for my dislike of it.

That said, I did enjoy the setting. Hollywood pirates was a nice breath of fresh air to the action RPG genre, and the tropical islands, while linear as hell, at least look very nice. I also quite enjoyed the characters, finding many of them quite enjoyable to converse with. I also liked how Patty had grown as a character. I quite like her.

However, Risen 3: Titan Lords pretty much took all the issues I had with Risen 2 and improved on them immensely. So I'd recommend playing that. Just avoid Angry Joe's video on it.. avoid hitting your face with your palm, it'd inevitably happen.

Although to be completely honest, what I really want Piranha Bytes to do, is just keep making Risen 1 over and over. Fuck that's a great game.

 

[Danbo Jambo]

I love this game too. Not everyone can appreciate the hardcore RPG experience where you start very weak and can be easily killed. It was very immersive and the pirate theme added a lot.

The Risen games work and look much better on the PC by the way. Piranha Bytes aren't very good at porting. Risen 1 is especially much better on the PC.

Cheers chap. I might download it on Steam if it's cheap. the 360 version hasn't caused me any real issues though, it's graphics twitch during conversations, but I'd like to see how it plays on PC anyway.

As an actual fan of Piranha Bytes and almost all of their games, including the controversial Gothic 3. However, I have to disagree. Risen 2: Dark Waters was a complete mess to me. I actually really enjoyed the first Risen, and I'd say it's tied with Gothic 2 as my favourite Piranha Bytes game.

My main problems with Risen 2 is the really piss-poor combat mechanics, which you seem to agree with. But I found the exploration also really lacking, as the game is quite heavily linear with the islands being composed mostly of corridor-esque passages linking pseudo open areas. There also wasn't a whole lot to find out in the wilderness, so there was no incentive to really search every nook and cranny for things. These two things, combat and exploration, are two of the most important things in Piranha Bytes games to me, so that's the big reason for my dislike of it.

That said, I did enjoy the setting. Hollywood pirates was a nice breath of fresh air to the action RPG genre, and the tropical islands, while linear as hell, at least look very nice. I also quite enjoyed the characters, finding many of them quite enjoyable to converse with. I also liked how Patty had grown as a character. I quite like her.

However, Risen 3: Titan Lords pretty much took all the issues I had with Risen 2 and improved on them immensely. So I'd recommend playing that. Just avoid Angry Joe's video on it.. avoid hitting your face with your palm, it'd inevitably happen.

Although to be completely honest, what I really want Piranha Bytes to do, is just keep making Risen 1 over and over. Fuck that's a great game.

Combat was 5/10 for me, not great by any means and definitely flawed, but I still enjoyed it to a certain degree, especially when I'd got some firearms on board. I can see why folk wouldn't like it, and it's a big shame they didn't just flesh it out a little more as I think the idea behind it is superb, but whilst it definitely dropped the ball in certain areas it didn't detract from me enjoying the game.

And I kinda agree with regards exploration, but so far I've found a few legendary items lying around so that's kinda proved an incentive, and I also quite like linear games. I think games like Risen 2 & The Witcher 2 strike a nice balance of freedom and confinement (TW2 way more refined obv). I'll see how things progress, but so far I've been quite happy to play through it fairly linearly.

Yeah, love the setting and overall feel, right down to the Monkey Island nods. So nice to see the Pirate theme done in an RPG capacity, and the foul-language & laddish vibe of the game work very well IMO.

And I'm well revved uup for Risen 3 now! Will probably be getting it around Feb time next year I think. Unfortunately I think that many game reviewers get sidetracked with glitches and issues where they are easily liveable, and Angry Joe's defo one of them. I barely noticed the Pawn speech in Dragon's Dogma but it really got on his tits lol. Suppose that's why they don;t call him Placid Joe.

I'm gunna return to Risen 1 after I've finished Risen 2 and try taking a magic based route, maybe that will suit me more than the melee one. Can't wait to play Risen 3 though!

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

To me, Risen 3 is what Risen 2 could have been. As if it's the games missed potential fully realised, you know? But yeah, since you liked Risen 2 you should have no problem getting into Risen 3.

Also, Risen 3 isn't really glitchy. As a matter of fact, it's probably the least buggy game Piranha Bytes has ever made. No, the problem is these reviewers don't really want to learn how it works. The combat in Risen 3 requires a little bit of practice, but once you've learned how it works it's incredibly smooth and functional.

But yeah, it's a very good game. Much bigger than Risen 2 as well. It took me 63 hours to finish it on my first playthrough.

 

[small]

i should really get back into the risen series. i barely got off the beach at the start of risen 1 and never got around to continuing and i dislike jumping into 2 without playing one

 

[Danbo Jambo]

To me, Risen 3 is what Risen 2 could have been. As if it's the games missed potential fully realised, you know? But yeah, since you liked Risen 2 you should have no problem getting into Risen 3.

Also, Risen 3 isn't really glitchy. As a matter of fact, it's probably the least buggy game Piranha Bytes has ever made. No, the problem is these reviewers don't really want to learn how it works. The combat in Risen 3 requires a little bit of practice, but once you've learned how it works it's incredibly smooth and functional.

But yeah, it's a very good game. Much bigger than Risen 2 as well. It took me 63 hours to finish it on my first playthrough.

What did you think to the Melee combat in Risen 1? Because I tried and tried, but it just felt so off to me that I had to give up on it.

There are too many reviewers who review games without their own preference in games, and their own tolerances, in mind.

I've made a thread once, to discuss how I couldn't get into the Risen series, mostly because even though they're sandbox rpg with a cardboard cut protagonist, they didn't let me play as a female pirate.

Then again, the budget of those games is so very low they couldn't even give a different face to each npc, so...

On the plus side, someone needs to pick up the excellent idea of "rpg about a pirate that turns into a blue parrot and has a pet monkey" and turn it into an actually awesome game.

Did you give Risen 2 much of a chance? If you can get past the female pirate thing (if I can choose which sex to be as a male I always go female) then there's a great game in there.

i should really get back into the risen series. i barely got off the beach at the start of risen 1 and never got around to continuing and i dislike jumping into 2 without playing one

I was exactly the same, but glad I'm glad I decided to give 2 a go anyway as I've enjoyed Risen 2 loads more than 1 at the mo.

Make sure you don't miss out just for the sake of playing in a proper order. Playing 2 first is actually giving me more of an incentive to go back to 1 and see how things got there, and it's not spoiling my enjoyment of either game so far.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

What did you think to the Melee combat in Risen 1? Because I tried and tried, but it just felt so off to me that I had to give up on it.

I loved it. It's one of my favourite melee systems in any game, though maybe not quite as good as the melee combat in Gothic 2. But I think it's a great combination of skill and character stats. Both are required to master it. Though the dodging is very overpowered. With a bit of practice, you can roll through the game without ever getting hit by dodging and attacking at the correct times. But yeah, I loved it. Enjoyed the parrying, enjoyed the dodging, enjoyed the leveling of your combat skills. I found that having a shield made the game a tad too easy though, so I prefer to play without a shield.

But then, I'm also someone who has come to enjoy Gothic 3's combat, so eh. I guess I've just gotten to learn all the in's and out's of the systems.

 

[Danbo Jambo]

What did you think to the Melee combat in Risen 1? Because I tried and tried, but it just felt so off to me that I had to give up on it.

I loved it. It's one of my favourite melee systems in any game, though maybe not quite as good as the melee combat in Gothic 2. But I think it's a great combination of skill and character stats. Both are required to master it. Though the dodging is very overpowered. With a bit of practice, you can roll through the game without ever getting hit by dodging and attacking at the correct times. But yeah, I loved it. Enjoyed the parrying, enjoyed the dodging, enjoyed the leveling of your combat skills. I found that having a shield made the game a tad too easy though, so I prefer to play without a shield.

But then, I'm also someone who has come to enjoy Gothic 3's combat, so eh. I guess I've just gotten to learn all the in's and out's of the systems.

It sounds as if I might actually enjoy Risen 1 more when I return to with a bit more knowledge of what to do.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

It sounds as if I might actually enjoy Risen 1 more when I return to with a bit more knowledge of what to do.

Well keep in mind that I played it on PC, with keyboard and mouse. It could be that the combat functions not so well on a controller. Piranha Bytes aren't known for their good console ports, after all.

 

[Tanis]

I tried the first game and felt it was a poorly done version of Sea Dogs.

Tried the second game, and liked it a little more...on PC.

Not sure when I'll check out the third game.

 

[JonnyHG]

I loved Risen 1. I passed on Risen 2 when I heard that the magic system was removed. I currently have 20 hours in Risen 3 but don't care enough about it to battle a sea monster for a second time. It's just annoying.

 

[Danbo Jambo]

Just completed the game, and I utterly loved it. Definitely a flawed game, and the combat may be too off-putting for some, but it was one of the most enjoyable, absorbing RPG's I've played in ages.

The dialogue and dry humour was just so, so spot on at times that it really deserves a mention. The atmosphere & music was wonderful, the balance of difficulty & how powerful you are was dead on, and the overall game is one that I think is highly underated.

For the price it's avaialble at now, I'd suggest grabbing it to anyone who likes an action-RPG.