Risen 2: Dark Waters

 PC
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 847 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 338 out of 847
  2. Mixed: 219 out of 847
  3. Negative: 290 out of 847
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  1. renejr902
    Apr 30, 2012
    9
    i still dont understand the 4.5 user score. i played 15 hours until now. and i played Risen 1 to the end in 40h last year.

    Risen 2 is not as good at Risen 1. But its still a excellent game. I managed to convert my Beta savegame to continue it with the full game. until now a 8.5 out of 10. No less. The last 4 hours that played on the second island showed me a lot of depth. Although    i still dont understand the 4.5 user score. i played 15 hours until now. and i played Risen 1 to the end in 40h last year.

    Risen 2 is not as good at Risen 1. But its still a excellent game.

    I managed to convert my Beta savegame to continue it with the full game. until now a 8.5 out of 10. No less. The last 4 hours that played on the second island showed me a lot of depth. Although Risen 2 is a game a lot worse than the first Risen (because He was a masterpiece like 9.5 for me)
    still Risen 2 in my opinion is one of the best rpg that i played so far. and i played liek 200 rpg. there a few web sites that gave between 8 and 8.5 on 10. below 8 i disagree. There a lot of quests to do, really a lot. A lot of side-quests has to be mandatory, but it can be done in oany order. Some side quests will unlock the main quest. so you have to do them. There are several way to complete a mission, several ways. The story is quite complex on the second island. and thats full of suspense. There many things we want to know. who are really the Crow gang? Is that Crow a good guy. how to do to talk to him. are the primitive people really free. or the Crow gang force them to work for their own goal.

    The concept looks like Risen. This is the depth of the caves, the magic system, Item, the general structure which is worse than Risen1. Although the story, characters and suspense are beginning to be interesting on the second island, it remains that its superior in Risen 1. BUT NOTHING CANT CHANGE THAT RISEN 2 is a excellent game. graphics, especially on the second island, ARE amazing and I play graphic at medium. Probably the most beautiful tropical style graphics that i have never seen. they are working very hard to make the second island graphically great. The battles are less interesting than Risen1. and its unfortunately less tactical and a lot easier.

    if you like Risen 1 or want to play a great complex rpg game, Risen 2 is a excellent choice

    SORRY I KNOW MY ENGLISH IS NOT GREAT AT ALL ! sorry !    … Expand
  2. Dawn
    Apr 29, 2012
    9
    Yes the game is not perfect but Sorry guys ... some metacritic users are very strange... I play the game and I see some comments here that are abosotely not true. Sometimes I have the feeling that metacritic users are only happy if they can bash a game. Nice hobby, I have better things to do in my life! Risen 2 is good as Risen 1 with some cool character development, better cutscenes,Yes the game is not perfect but Sorry guys ... some metacritic users are very strange... I play the game and I see some comments here that are abosotely not true. Sometimes I have the feeling that metacritic users are only happy if they can bash a game. Nice hobby, I have better things to do in my life! Risen 2 is good as Risen 1 with some cool character development, better cutscenes, nice quests with cool dialogues and a very nice environment. The battle system is fun. I dont even understand the comments here. Someone said he cant avoid a spear attack...man, that is so easy if you hold the right mouse button and go left / right. That is only one example about those evil red reviews here. ;)
    So if you are a fan of PB games, buy it. I have more fun than in Risen 1.    … Expand
  3. AntoxaBes
    Apr 29, 2012
    8
    Risen 2 regular game for Piranha Bytes, in the best tradition of Gothic.I am encouraged by the progress in terms of firearms, albeit in small steps. The play of light and shadow is great! Those who love the series will not be disappointed, others pass by.
  4. jl78
    May 3, 2012
    10
    Ok, who keeps spamming 0 score to games they hate ?
    Grow up, if you don't like it 1 vote is enough.
    Someone with dozens of accounts is spamming the 0 score here; 120 negative 15min ago, now 130? right...
    This is one of the reasons that metascores don't work and can't be trusted.
  5. rpg_fan
    Apr 24, 2012
    10
    A great rpg. so far the games seems quite fun. Character animations are sometimes a bit weird, but overall its a game i enjoy. Graphics are good as well. The world is large and fun to explore.
  6. ninnisinni
    Apr 30, 2012
    10
    The 4.6 average score for this game is way exaggerated! I have to say, this is a great game, and except for the whole pirate theme, it's not even that big a difference from Risen 1 (and I mean that in a good way). Sorta better graphics than the first one, with lush jungle islands. I really think they have nailed the exploration part once again, and it follows Risen 1:s system prettyThe 4.6 average score for this game is way exaggerated! I have to say, this is a great game, and except for the whole pirate theme, it's not even that big a difference from Risen 1 (and I mean that in a good way). Sorta better graphics than the first one, with lush jungle islands. I really think they have nailed the exploration part once again, and it follows Risen 1:s system pretty closely. That means a smaller piece of land which is wide open for you to explore... that is, if you are up to whatever kind of monsters are inhabiting that particular area. Some graphics issues exist (wouldn't be a Piranha Bytes game otherwise), such as some foliage popping in in the distance from time to time, and the conversational animations are a bit on the stiff side.
    All that aside, in my opinion, Risen 2 is a great middle-budget, smaller scale alternative for anyone who's tired of Skyrim. So don't let the bombed user scores fool you!    … Expand
  7. amdfreak
    Apr 29, 2012
    9
    Risen is certainly not a perfect game. It isn't anywhere near perfect. But one thing is sure : it is a great RPG with a great setting. Let me explain. The story is very linear at the beginning, but never boring, and still lets you explore islands as you would have done it in Risen. Then, it becomes more and more interesting as you have to choose your faction, command your own ship etc.Risen is certainly not a perfect game. It isn't anywhere near perfect. But one thing is sure : it is a great RPG with a great setting. Let me explain. The story is very linear at the beginning, but never boring, and still lets you explore islands as you would have done it in Risen. Then, it becomes more and more interesting as you have to choose your faction, command your own ship etc. After a few hours, you discover a deep story and complex character interactions, with lots of interesting side quests and important decisions to take.
    The graphics are so-so : while what one would actually call "graphics quality", which means lighting, texture quality, character design is great, the animations are a whole load of crap, and vegetation textures plop in next to you and change size very strangely. Gameplay isn't Risen 2's best side, as the combat system has been simplified since the first Risen, and Auto-Lock during combats isn't helpful at all. However, the skill system has been improved in a significant way, since there are no levels any more, but you get skill points every time you complete a quest or kill an enemy. This lets you level up your skills when you want, given the fact you have enough points. Moreover, you can learn a lot of interesting abilities like dirty tricks or voodoo magic.
    So why would I give this game a 9/10 ? Because the setting is great, the character interactions/dialogues are funny and authentic, and the overall atmosphere is just awesome. As I already said, the lighting/weather system is amazing, and perfectly recreates the pirate setting Piranha Bytes chose for this game. When I look back at what I just played, I think of a brilliant RPG I will certainly play again, even if it has some flaws.    … Expand
  8. Nemeczek
    Apr 26, 2012
    10
    If you are a big fan of Piranha Bytes work, rate as 10. If you are not - rate 4-5. Why? This is Gothic successor. Old fashioned action RPG which generates a lot of fun and stress equally. Animations are crude, fighting system difficult and not so modern.... But that is not a game for "casual gamers" - You have to be hard and patient. If You will go to the wrong place, like na forest - theIf you are a big fan of Piranha Bytes work, rate as 10. If you are not - rate 4-5. Why? This is Gothic successor. Old fashioned action RPG which generates a lot of fun and stress equally. Animations are crude, fighting system difficult and not so modern.... But that is not a game for "casual gamers" - You have to be hard and patient. If You will go to the wrong place, like na forest - the wolves will kill You without mercy.
    This is Gothic style - NO MERCY.    … Expand
  9. ErdnussEnte
    Apr 28, 2012
    10
    Not as good as the first one or Gothic 1+2 but still an amazing game with a big world to be discovered. This game deserves a way higher score to be honest.
  10. and93hil
    Apr 24, 2012
    10
    I have not yet played very much of it. But its fantastic so far. Controls are great and so are the graphics. So far the gameplay was great. I would definitely recommend it.
  11. nirvycn
    Apr 24, 2012
    9
    It's Risen 1 minus the bugs and hitches. Graphics look suprisingly excellent, the game is very long, a good 50 hours here to play though at least. Its more hardcore than some RPG's. Pleasently suprised. worth a buy!
  12. Milb3
    Apr 27, 2012
    10
    Great atmosphere, good charakters, brilliant dialogues and quests. Better than Risen and a wonderfull RPG with some weak points like animations, KI, graphics.
  13. VitaminK
    Apr 27, 2012
    10
    Loved the first one, the second in the series take away the steep learning curve that the first had but is still just as fun. People are giving it a bad score because of animation or fps problems? Are you serious?! Huge environment to explore and good storyline along with a fun combat system that mixes things up.
  14. afIks
    Apr 28, 2012
    10
    I now will flow **** but I think that Bethesda went on a bad way to simplify everything. A Risen 2 - Dark Water, and vice versa did not think made â
  15. PaladinNH
    Apr 28, 2015
    10
    If I can do anything to improve this game's score, I will, because the current average score of 5.5 isn't fair AT ALL. Perhaps the game was buggy upon release, I don't know, but it is somewhere between a 7 and 8.5 out of 10. Unlike the latest AAA titles, there's actually a game world, complete with story, decent characters, humor (Jaffar!), CHALLENGING combat, and what's that word again?If I can do anything to improve this game's score, I will, because the current average score of 5.5 isn't fair AT ALL. Perhaps the game was buggy upon release, I don't know, but it is somewhere between a 7 and 8.5 out of 10. Unlike the latest AAA titles, there's actually a game world, complete with story, decent characters, humor (Jaffar!), CHALLENGING combat, and what's that word again? Ah yes, immersion. Brought back lots of memories of Gothic 1 and 2, agree with the other reviewer who said this. Actually preferred this game to the first Risen, better characters and more cohesive, immersive story. I'd give it an 8 but feel obligated to counter others by posting a 10.… Expand
  16. MatDerKater
    Feb 20, 2013
    10
    At the time of release, I was put off from playing this game by the hugely negative response not only from mainstream and largely US centric gaming critics, but also from the Gothic/Risen fanbase. It has been normal in the past for Piranha Byte games to get inexplicably poor ratings from English speaking gaming media, but Piranha Bytes have always had their band of loyal/hooked followersAt the time of release, I was put off from playing this game by the hugely negative response not only from mainstream and largely US centric gaming critics, but also from the Gothic/Risen fanbase. It has been normal in the past for Piranha Byte games to get inexplicably poor ratings from English speaking gaming media, but Piranha Bytes have always had their band of loyal/hooked followers who know differently. So why so much negativity this time around from the PB fan club? Risen 2 is a bit of a departure from the previous PB games in that; the world is split up into smaller areas/islands; that there is not as much freedom in the game world as previously; and also the fighting mechanics have been completely changed from what went before. Therefore, those of us who were chomping at the bit for another Gothic or Risen 1 re-run, were sorely disappointed that PB had for whatever reasons, opted to do things a little differently this time around. However, the fact that PB have made a slightly different RPG to what their fanbase was expecting, doesn't necessarily mean that Risen 2 is bad game. In fact, Risen 2 is an absolutely brilliant game, which is something I have only just found out after months of staying away from the game due to negative publicity.

    One of many the criticisms that is levelled at Risen 2 is that the overarching story is generic and cliched. It would be hard to disagree with this but I would like to suggest that it is not the quality of the story, but the quality of the story telling that really matters in an RPG video game. What Piranha Bytes do brilliantly well, is make the dialogue and interaction between the character's in the game interesting, easily digestible, and memorable to the gamer. The NPC's in Risen 2 are colourful, individual, and help to convey the personality and charm that the game has to offer. In this respect, Risen 2 stands in stark contrast to rave review generating American RPG's such as Amalur. Despite Amalur having it's story concocted by a professional fantasy author, the blase generic Disney-esque dialogue and instantly forgettable NPC's in the game resulted in at least this gamer, not giving two craps about anything in the game to find out whether there is a good story or not.

    Risen 2 succeeds in getting the gamer emotionally involved in the various plot and sub-plot intrigues in the game, resulting in the imagination of the gamer and his interest in the game world starting to bloom. To this end, Risen 2 also offers the gamer a myriad of neat character progression features, to give just one example amongst many, is the ability to train a monkey as a theif, or a parrot to annoy the f*ck out of other NPC's. In my play through, I made strong use of the trained monkey, vital for getting to some well tucked out the way stash at various points in the game. Another brilliant and fun feature that i have to mention is the Voodoo ability to take control of another NPC's mind. Aside from offering alternative ways to complete quests, stomping around the towns and settlements of the South Sea's as another character in the game, and watching how all the other NPC's react totally differently to this guy than they do to the Nameless Hero, can be great fun. Even better, in situations where the NPC under voodoo mind control is an unpallatable character, there are opportunites to land the NPC in a spot of bother by making hims do/say 'wrong things', or in one case during my playthrough, totally ruin his (virtual) life! There are similarly charming, innovative, and fun aspects to Risen 2 right throughout the game. Furthermore, much of these things are not spelt out for the gamer, but rather the gamer comes to discover them for himself through his own musings and thoughts on the game world. Through the interaction with the NPCs and the various tricks and skills in Risen 2, intrigue in the game world really starts to open up, thus the gamer starts to feel himself to be involved in the world and motivated towards overcoming the various hurdles and challenges that stand in the way of progression. For my money, this exercising of human imagination, supplemented by the lush beautiful graphics that contribute to the wonderfully ornate handcrafted environments is what RPG gaming is all about and is something that Risen 2 brilliantly achieves.

    Risen 2 however, does have many flaws. The combat can be a bit clunky and at times very clumsily implemented and the game definitely suffers from balancing issues. However, these and all its other flaws are meaningless to me because I judge a game by how much fun and entertainment that it offered me, and Risen 2 had me totally hooked for around 50 hours of game playing time in a way that no other game released in the last two years has.    … Expand
  17. wildstoo
    Jul 7, 2014
    8
    I didn't play the original Risen, but I really enjoyed Risen 2.

    Sure, it's not the most polished game in the history of RPGs, and the voice acting runs the gamut from "pretty good" to "lol wut?", but I just really enjoyed exploring the world and progressing through the quests. There aren't many pirate-themed games out there, and this one just managed to scratch that itch for me.    I didn't play the original Risen, but I really enjoyed Risen 2.

    Sure, it's not the most polished game in the history of RPGs, and the voice acting runs the gamut from "pretty good" to "lol wut?", but I just really enjoyed exploring the world and progressing through the quests. There aren't many pirate-themed games out there, and this one just managed to scratch that itch for me.

    There are problems, of course, both from a technical and a content perspective, but considering this game is now £2.99 on Steam, it's a steal.

    Believe me, if this was by a new studio - not PB - this game's user score would be closer to 8.0.

    Approach the game without preconceptions or unrealistic expectations and you might be pleasantly surprised.    … Expand
  18. OnlyOneWing
    Feb 6, 2013
    10
    Alright, i came back to this game after previously hating it... I must say, I don't know if the devs patched it or what, but I am seriously enjoying this game! Sure it could be improved on, but it really isn't horrible. In fact it is a lot of fun. I really regret judging this game previously without fully giving it a chance, because I have gotten hours upon hours of enjoyment out of it. IAlright, i came back to this game after previously hating it... I must say, I don't know if the devs patched it or what, but I am seriously enjoying this game! Sure it could be improved on, but it really isn't horrible. In fact it is a lot of fun. I really regret judging this game previously without fully giving it a chance, because I have gotten hours upon hours of enjoyment out of it. I must say, cliche as it is, the pirate theme is underused in video games. Every time I play this game it reminds me of vacation in the Caribbean, and rum. No complaints there. Approach it without expecting to be absolutely blown away and you just may be one of the people who loves this game.… Expand
  19. tngmarlon
    Jul 12, 2014
    10
    -The game has good graphics
    -This game has a good atmosphere
    -The pirate story is very nice

    If you dont have this game buy it i cant understand this metascore
  20. CoolDadTx
    Nov 14, 2012
    8
    Compared to the other Piranha Byte games this is pretty good. The game suffer from the same issues that pretty much every other PB does when it comes to balancing and combat. The combat is flaky at best and generally just relies on chance more than skill. The early part of the game is overly difficult because even when you're being careful you are going to die a lot. Yet the end of theCompared to the other Piranha Byte games this is pretty good. The game suffer from the same issues that pretty much every other PB does when it comes to balancing and combat. The combat is flaky at best and generally just relies on chance more than skill. The early part of the game is overly difficult because even when you're being careful you are going to die a lot. Yet the end of the game is really easy. The end boss is a pushover compared to the early encounters. One day I hope PB will learn to craft combat systems that rely on skill more than luck and then balance it so it is even throughout the entire game. As with other PB games every combat involves you swinging wildly with no real tactic in order to do enough dmg to kill your opponent before they kill you. But if your opponent hits you then you stop attacking. When you are surrounded (which happens often) your enemies can effectively keep you off balance so you can never attack. Worse is the fact that defense is all but useless. It works ok against humans but everybody else complete ignore it. Hence trying to defend yourself just doesn't work. Pair this with the fact that taking a defensive posture locks you onto a single opponent allowing all the other enemies to pound on you and you quickly realize that "attack, step back, attack" is the only way to reliably win.

    Another big area of failure for this game are the new things that PB added - firearms and voodoo. Both are pretty much useless. If you really wanted to use something other than melee then you're out of luck. Voodoo is just too weak. Firearms are powerful but the odds of hitting anything outside melee range is slim. There was so much potential here and PB just wasted it.

    For the most part the graphics in the game were really good. Most of the areas you go to look similar but that is to be expected given the story. But the caves are identical. Walking through any cave in the game and you'll know exactly where to go because they all have the same layout. This is really just sad for a game of this era. The story was good and the various NPCs were mostly satisfactory. I heard a lot of reviews mention racism, sexism and possibly offending people. Honestly nothing in the game could have been read that way. The terms used fit the timeframe of the game and the region. Sexism didn't exist at all. There were only a few women in the game and they were doing things that you'd expect a woman of that era to do. The language is the only thing that some people might take offensive over.

    One frustrating area of the game are the traps. There are places in the game where a trap appears out of nowhere. A QTE appears for you to avoid the trap. If you fail, you die. The QTE lasts a second so unless you know the trap is there you're reloading. This could have been handled better by either taking dmg from the trap of making the QTE last longer. It is only a surprise the first time. The quests, overall, are varied and not too difficult. Unfortunately you can't set custom waypoints on the map nor can you see any quest indicators without bringing up the map. So you spend a lot of time toggling between the world and your map which is unfortunate. I also never managed to break a quest line even though I did things out of order. In an RPG this is a really good thing to get right.

    Another area PB got right was the stability and performance of the game. I ran it on max settings and I never noticed memory leaks nor did the CPU usage or temperatures get high. This is rare for a modern open-world RPG. Nor did I ever crash the game. Kudos to PB.

    If you like PBs other games (like Gothic) and you can overlook the crappy combat then this is a fun, med-size RPG. If you didn't like Gothic then you won't like this game.    … Expand
  21. Starostin_Anton
    Dec 30, 2012
    9
    When I played this game the first time I didn't like it. But after playing a few hours I have change my point of view.
    So, it's awesome. I like all of Piranha Bytes' games, but Risen 2 is my favorite, I think. I like pirates at all and in Risen 2 they looks very cool and funny. There is a nice graphics in game, but it's not very important. First of all, I really interested in storyline in    When I played this game the first time I didn't like it. But after playing a few hours I have change my point of view.
    So, it's awesome. I like all of Piranha Bytes' games, but Risen 2 is my favorite, I think. I like pirates at all and in Risen 2 they looks very cool and funny. There is a nice graphics in game, but it's not very important. First of all, I really interested in storyline in Risen 2. And it is much more exciting than in Risen. There are some very thrilling moments, what made me feel nervous. Like scene with Steelbeard and Mara. I like RPG system, new features and atmosphere of Risen 2. Soundtrack is very nice. I have been played in Risen 2 43 hours in general and all of this time I was impressed.
    But this game is unpolished and it is the main disadvantage. Strange animation, some bugs and problems with graphics.
    Anyway, I have been spent my time with pleasure and I looking forward to Risen 3.    … Expand
  22. hillshtify
    Jun 26, 2012
    9
    A beautiful game with minor technical issues. I challenge anyone to find a game that is this deep without any flaws. A recent patch improved performance as well. I'm getting really nice frame rates on all High settings. This game doesn't deserve a 0 rating. Character development has plenty of options, but not TOO many. Voice acting is actually pretty good most of theA beautiful game with minor technical issues. I challenge anyone to find a game that is this deep without any flaws. A recent patch improved performance as well. I'm getting really nice frame rates on all High settings. This game doesn't deserve a 0 rating. Character development has plenty of options, but not TOO many. Voice acting is actually pretty good most of the time...character animations are hilariously over the top in some cases during dialogue. Also note: many people who gave it crappy reviews or called it "linear" didn't take the time to find all the side quests or stick with the game past the first few islands...it picks up dramatically towards the second half in terms of freedom and options. If you like RPGs then buy this game....Skyrim it is not, but I actually like that since I'm not trying to play another Skyrim clone. This game has charm. I have to LOL at the 0 ratings ... get a life.

    I'm giving it an 8.5    … Expand
  23. lama93
    May 20, 2012
    9
    If you always wanted to play a pirate RPG game, Risen 2: Dark Waters is definitely worth it. Risen2 is not based on the previous Risen, even though you still play a nameless dude. The game now takes place on several islands and you play as a pirate. There are new weapons as well, like musks and voodoo spells. You don't have to worry about a good reputation in this game. You are alreadyIf you always wanted to play a pirate RPG game, Risen 2: Dark Waters is definitely worth it. Risen2 is not based on the previous Risen, even though you still play a nameless dude. The game now takes place on several islands and you play as a pirate. There are new weapons as well, like musks and voodoo spells. You don't have to worry about a good reputation in this game. You are already thought about bad. Most quests are fun and not too hard to solve. But also not to easy.
    Even though the game is very enjoyable overall I wont give it a 10/10. That's because the combat system is really hard to get used to and the character animations and the character looks are sometimes a bit weird. The graphics a very good. The characters have (mostly) been narrated well. Risen 2 is not as open-world as the first Risen but the islands are still fun to explore. In quests there are many pirate themes like finding treasure.
    Risen 2 is more realistic than many other RPG's - if you want a lot of fantasy and magic this is not quite a game for you, even you do get voodoo spells. But don't expect the sort of magic from rpg's like the first Risen or Two Worlds II.
    For those who always wanted to play as a pirate, I can definitely recommend Risen 2. For fans of "classic" RPG's, like myself Risen 2 will take some time to get used to but will eventually get fun. But overall the game is really fun and I can definitely recommend it to those who always wanted to play as a pirate and those who want to play a RPG really different from the ones we are used to.    … Expand
  24. dryerlaw
    May 20, 2012
    8
    After the first patch, combat is considerably better and less clunky. The game itself is much more focused than the previous Risen and Gothic series. It's open for newcomers but at the same time still reward extensive exploration for hardcore fans of the series. Quests are simple but not too monotonic. Skill and leveling system is improved from the previous game, but crafting is lessAfter the first patch, combat is considerably better and less clunky. The game itself is much more focused than the previous Risen and Gothic series. It's open for newcomers but at the same time still reward extensive exploration for hardcore fans of the series. Quests are simple but not too monotonic. Skill and leveling system is improved from the previous game, but crafting is less useful now as buying the merchandise seem to be cheaper. Graphics is slightly above average; island atmosphere is deeply felt with lush foliage and superb lighting, but texture is not sharp at all. The game could use better voice acting and story presentation in order to increase immersion, but the pirate-natives-authority intricacies are well delivered. Overall a slight improvement above the previous games, albeit not a masterpiece.… Expand
  25. Chaeote
    Aug 13, 2012
    8
    In all honesty, I think the problem a lot of people are having with this game is a simple of of "They changed it, now it sucks".

    If you're looking for it to be identical to the first Risen, stop, cause it won't be... and that's a good thing. It's better. What they have done is revamped the systems from Risen in such a way that a LOT of it is streamlined. Sure, some things have gotten    In all honesty, I think the problem a lot of people are having with this game is a simple of of "They changed it, now it sucks".

    If you're looking for it to be identical to the first Risen, stop, cause it won't be... and that's a good thing. It's better.

    What they have done is revamped the systems from Risen in such a way that a LOT of it is streamlined. Sure, some things have gotten removed (The useless animations of turning lizards on sticks, or sawing wood comes to mind.), but other stuff is a lot better. Looting is simplified, in that, you automatically get everything from a corpse. The skill system is a LOT simpler. "Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, etc." are GONE. Instead it's more like your base skills have taken their place, and instead of going to a trainer to increase these, you can upgrade them directly from the character menu. Instead, you only need to go to trainers to increase your SPECIFIC skills. (It's like being able to increase your Axe skill from Risen, but then you have to go to a trainer to learn "One handed Wield")

    I've seen two major complaints though reading other reviews here, the first being the controls. At first, i was going to agree with this somewhat, until i realize what was causing it.

    In Risen, the character was locked to the camera. Turn the camera, and you turn the character. In Risen 2 this only applies if you are currently moving forward. otherwise, the game has a free-floating character. This can create the illusion that the controls are a little laggy or "floaty", but once you get used to it, it's a non issue. Skyrim has a similar style camera, the only difference being the character response to turning is a bit sharper.

    The second is combat... which honestly I don't understand. Original Risen's combat was unforgivably punishing. Especially at the beginning, and then once again when the Saurians show up.

    Risen 2, while still challenging, is a least balanced. You can parry pretty much everything (which is nice, since shields have ceased to exist), and the dirty tricks are actually a LOT of fun. For me, they taken the place of the magic spells I used to use in Risen. So instead of using Frost bolt to freeze an enemy and then charging in and playing "block, attack, block, attack". Instead I rush in first, get an attack in, parry for a bit, and once an opening happens, kick them away, get a shot off with my pistol, switch my pistol for a handful of salt, wait for another opening, toss the salt to blind them, then use a power attack, and a couple quick attacks while they're stunned, and I'm only a few hours in, and only have the basic attacks! I still haven't gotten parries and counter attacks (let alone power-counters), and I haven't gotten the bigger guns (or magic if you so choose) yet, so that will just add to my arsenal.

    Also, during most of the early game at least (and from the looks of it later on as well, from the looks of it), you have a crew member with you. With basically fills the role of the Summon Skeleton scroll from the first game... except for one major difference... they don't suck. lol.

    and I haven't even touched on the NEW stuff.

    My second favorite new addition to this game over Risen? SNEAKING... holy crap SNEAKING. You actually crouch down and SNEAK into a building in order to "liberate" them of their stuff, and as long as you stay out of the NPC's line-of-sight, it actually WORKS. Unlike the original where if you walked into someones house the owner and every guard rushes in from 100 feet away. That now only occurs, if you actually go barging in and full speed... which is much more realistic.

    As for my favorite thing? Simple, PERSUASION MECHANICS!!! =D

    Yo have "Silver Tongue" which is basically "Persuade", and then you have "Intimidate", which is... well, "Intimidate". These are awesome, I love being able to talk NPC's into doing stuff they don't want to do. =)

    Now, in all fairness, I HAVE used a few mods, and aside from the "Unofficial Patch 0.5" that is a fan-fix of a few bugs, none of them affect the base functionality of the game. I steer clear of those, I only use the ones that add eye-candy (improved textures, dynamic torch lighting, a couple minor tweaks to fix texture/tree pop-in). So while my version of the game is prettier than others, it plays the same, and I just cannot see while they're is so much hate for this game, and the only thing I can fathom causing it, is that fact that it's not exactly like Risen or the old Gothic games.

    It's been modernized, streamlined, and updated, and while some of the extra fluff things have been slashed in order to accomplish that. The core mechanics have been enhanced.

    So, while not perfect (what game is?), I definitely feel it's a step up, and I'm really interested to see where they take this style of RPG in this new direction.    … Expand
  26. nikolas0
    Apr 15, 2015
    10
    It is difficult to get to its mode but once you have got into it it's nearly perfect; a pirate song. A true successor to Gothic and Risen Series. After one hour of game playing you want leave it. As Jaffar says: **** yes!
  27. euu
    May 7, 2012
    8
    With all it's flaws, Risen 2 is still the best Pyrahna Bytes game since Gothic 2. It's so refreshing to play a fantasy RPG that doesn't involve orcs, dragons and armors with shoulder plates the size of truck tires. The main flaw of the game is the combat system, but it's nowhere near as bad as Gothic 3. Once you put some glory points and gold in your abilities the game gets a lot better.With all it's flaws, Risen 2 is still the best Pyrahna Bytes game since Gothic 2. It's so refreshing to play a fantasy RPG that doesn't involve orcs, dragons and armors with shoulder plates the size of truck tires. The main flaw of the game is the combat system, but it's nowhere near as bad as Gothic 3. Once you put some glory points and gold in your abilities the game gets a lot better. This is a PB game afterall, anyone who expects to kill 5 enemies with one flashy attack is better off playing Kingdoms of Amalur. The graphics are okay; character models look pretty bad and the animations are terrible, but the enviorments are beautiful and it's a great pleasure to explore, unlike Skyrim where everything is gray and brown. People are really unfair to this game, it may not be great( even compared to newer titles like The Witcher 2), but so far it's the best game I played this year..… Expand
  28. graywolf15236
    Feb 24, 2014
    10
    this is one of the most underrated RPG game ever!
    it might kind of annoying at first but once you get used to it everything will be great.
    the story is not the best, but I've seen worse in nowadays crappy games that people claim to be great. this game has fantastic music and the strongest point of the game is the atmosphere. player who don't know how to immerse themselves into the game    this is one of the most underrated RPG game ever!
    it might kind of annoying at first but once you get used to it everything will be great.
    the story is not the best, but I've seen worse in nowadays crappy games that people claim to be great. this game has fantastic music and the strongest point of the game is the atmosphere. player who don't know how to immerse themselves into the game will no doubt think this game suck, which is, sadly, plenty of them.    … Expand
  29. giskard
    May 4, 2012
    8
    Risen 1 had that cheesy feel about it but turned out to be a very good game, Risen 2 is an improvement over Risen 1 in most ways. The best way to describe it "Pirates of the Caribbean" in RPG format. Combat is the worst part of the game, it has that Assassins creed/Batman/Witcher 2 close your eyes and left click issue, not very good but that is the worst part of the game. The rest getsRisen 1 had that cheesy feel about it but turned out to be a very good game, Risen 2 is an improvement over Risen 1 in most ways. The best way to describe it "Pirates of the Caribbean" in RPG format. Combat is the worst part of the game, it has that Assassins creed/Batman/Witcher 2 close your eyes and left click issue, not very good but that is the worst part of the game. The rest gets better and better with each new island you sail to (which is a kind of cut scene based fast travel affair). At many points you have to make a choice that affects the rest of the game, the first choice is to help the natives or the Inquisition, which opens or closes various options in the game. Adding reply value to the game in the process. Spears thrown at you can be dodged by simply moving out of the way despite what somebody said in their review. But the secondary weapon, a pistol which you can shoot whilst fencing can also be used against you when fighting pirates which makes some fights more interesting than others thanks to this second attack. The NPCs are all unique, there are many laughs to be had in this game. Jaffar the Gnome has to be my favorite followed by the Native Chani and then Patty. I played the game for about 35 hours in the first play through but missed some quests, so it is over the 30 hour mark easily. The Story is interesting with many good settings for quest locations. There is an issue with distant items popping in to existence at close range making it hard to ignore, but I suspect this is to allow the game to work right on the consoles which might otherwise struggle to run this game if full detail was visible at greater distance. The islands and towns look great and the native villages feel authentic. Very nicely done actually. You can run this game in 2048x1152 with max detail on a 5 year old PC without issues. But it might be better if we had an option to increase the level of detail at a distance on the PC version in order to reduce the pop in effect. Much of what i have read from the low scores on Metacritics seems to come from people who have not actually finished the game yet or gotten past the first 2 islands. The only real issues in this rock solid stable game that I could see is the combat which is horrible and the pop in effect. Other than that, the game is great, hard to put down once you get going. I hope to see Jaffar again in Risen 3, he was so funny. As was patty :) Most peoples biggest gripe is the game costs £40. I have a value for money test which I apply to games that is a games value can be measured by the hours spent playing it. My test is £1 per how. This game lasted me 34 hours so its true value is £34 not £40. But since I enjoyed it and am likely to play it again, it may go to 70 hours next time making £40 look pretty good value for money. A great game, heartily recommend it.… Expand
  30. FaMy
    May 2, 2012
    10
    In my opinion Risen 2 is a great game. Sure there are weak points like the combat system: You have just to left-click against animals, because there is no option to block or evade their attacks (against human enemies you can block and even counterattack). Moreover the story is not the most exciting. However, on the other hand, there is a lot of good stuff that makes you enjoying the game.In my opinion Risen 2 is a great game. Sure there are weak points like the combat system: You have just to left-click against animals, because there is no option to block or evade their attacks (against human enemies you can block and even counterattack). Moreover the story is not the most exciting. However, on the other hand, there is a lot of good stuff that makes you enjoying the game. The atmosphere of the world is awesome, it´s so much fun to explore the area (even it´s all "jungle isle"-setting). For example there is lots of different monsters to fight and many chests to open. In addition i think the characters (everyone is unique) and dialogues are brilliant, i really love the humour (Jaffar is such a funny figure!).
    It took me about 35 hours to complete the game and i can assure you every second was well spent. :)    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

41
#41 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
41
#41 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 51 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 33 out of 51
  3. Negative: 1 out of 51
  1. Hyper Magazine
    Jun 13, 2012
    60
    The real trouble with Risen 2 is that it doesn't really do anything particularly right. [July 2012, p.72]
  2. PC PowerPlay
    May 30, 2012
    70
    Despite the puppeteer's strings getting caught, Risen 2 puts on a good show that you'll see through to the end. [June 2012, p.58]
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  3. Games Master UK
    May 27, 2012
    80
    A superior, super tough sequel that offers a persuasive alternative to the RPG big boys. [July 2012, p.80]
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