Risen 2: Dark Waters

I loved Risen 2 when it came out and even today it makes so much fun to play. It has a great story, beautiful landscapes and a really great atmosphere. Everything a good RPG needs in my opinion.

If you expect this game to continue where Risen 1 left off (besides partially for the story), you're out of luck. The atmosphere and the gameplay are totally different. When I say different, i mean not in line with the Gothic series that Risen tries to carry forward: - much easier than Gothic or Risen 1 - different character development - reduced freedom of movement ( can only climb up obvious step-like terrain) - different combat mechanics Having said that and putting aside those expectations, Risen 2 is a fun game, with beautiful graphics ( i find the sunsets on those beaches beautiful), with lots of treasure hunting, artifacts and an interesting story line. Just that it didn't Risen up (pun intended) to it's predecessors as it takes a different direction in the definition of an RPG.

Like most games that tried to replicate Gothic, this one has a horrible, non responsive combat system. Either make it rely solely on player clicks OR character skill. Not both. My disapointment in this system might come from a bad control design that can be summed up as "Hey! I see you're trying to dodge that huge guy trying to impale you on his spear, here, let me kick in the air instead!" because auto targetting system I have yet to find a way of disabling decides to target another oponent who's 5 meters away, at full health and off the screen. Simply unacceptable. Another thing that got ruined is magic, or rather lack of it. If you go with muskets, you'll kill anything that gets in your way before it even gets close. Magic is more of a funny gimmick than a character build.

I played gothic 1 2 and 3. still one of the RPG,s. Risen 2 feels exactly like those 3 older Games and im happy about it.

Risen 2 is a pretty fun game to play. It looks very pretty and has pretty good dialogue and lots of exploreing. Combat is a bit wonky but not the worst as some thinks it is, though it is not perfect. It is not as immersive as Risen 1 though, the thing that is not there almost, is magic and the whole medival fantasy about it, which Imo was a huge part of the fun playing it. But all in all i have great fun playing risen 2 that has a pirate theme over it. So if you like a pretty fun RPG with a fine story and love exploreing in a pirate world, then Risen 2 is a good choice. 7.0/10