Wasteland 2 is a solid experience that will not wow you. It is what you'd expect from a 90s WRPG but modernized. It employs a stat and combat system similar to the original Fallouts but better. Instead of controlling one character, you control many, making it a better character building experience. In Fallout the best way to build characters was to give them high INT, but since this game has a squad you control its better to specialize some characters as low INT and invest in other useful stats instead. The game is divided into two halves each with their own factions. Each faction tends to represent extremes in human nature which you are tasked with bringing them together or helping one overthrow the other. Hedonism vs. Religious violence, etc. These dualistic factions don't come until the second half of the game and they feel better thought out than the first half. Save often as this game still has some glitches years later that can cause crashes. Its dialogue and characters are okay. Part of the problem with the game is everyone you interact with is all on official business and you don't get to know a core cast of characters personally or make a deep relationship with those you meet on the way. The characters that do exist are interesting despite the surface level relationship you have with them. Here's quick build guide since this is the type of game with a slow start and will make you want to restart with better stat spread: Combat Initiative, AP, combat speed, and skill points are most important stats you will get out of your stats. Combat initiative determines how many turns you get. AP determines how much you can do in a turn. Combat speed lets you move more for less AP. Skill points gets you more skill points per level. Setting INT at 1,4,8, or 10 in the beginning is the best idea. Awareness gets you combat initiative every level so it's good to invest in this with points gained from levels. Speed is a great stat to invest in heavily at start.
Risen follows the same pattern of Gothic 2 where you start as a bum who has to work their way up in favor so you can join one of three factions to get you toward your goal. It has some extra polish and features that make it less janky than G2, but overall it is subpar compared to it. The people of the world are more stiff and boring, and the definition of bland voice direction. The main character rather than being a simple rogue character with some personality like in G2 lacks personality and could have been replaced with a silent protagonist for equal or better effect. Like previous PB games, the main quest and writing isn't good, but has a certain level of charm to it. The combat had a little more put into it this time, but it lacks the polish. Since the difficulty is still hard, what matters most is if you hit things and cause them to stagger and are able to not get hit. This means finding the right distance and animations to use. The problem is adding to your fighting skill increases your combo, but combos don't add anything more to this simple equation and mesh with the overall combat, so you might as well barely add to weapon skill. The system lacks polish and ends up being less than the first two Gothic games which while more simple on the surface, still used most their parts competently. While combat and storytelling are lacking, all of the small quality of life things have improved since Gothic series. It's not easy now to get super rich, the inventory system is better, and UI have improved. The game just lacks a lot of the qualities that made PB's first two games work, and the personality. It makes the game easy to put down half way through, as I have tried beating 3 times but never get past chapter 3 or 4. The magic system seemed like it could have been better than previous installments but I never got far enough to check.
