Risen

 PC
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 894 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 659 out of 894
  2. Mixed: 163 out of 894
  3. Negative: 72 out of 894
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  1. DrBrogbo
    Dec 6, 2012
    4
    The game world is richly detailed, expansive, and full of life. The graphics are pretty good (for the year it was made anyway), music and sound are well-done, and the voice acting is good too. It's a shame then that the combat is so insanely, brutally punishing as to prevent you from enjoying it. The combat may get better as the game goes on, but the 5 or so hours of this game that I couldThe game world is richly detailed, expansive, and full of life. The graphics are pretty good (for the year it was made anyway), music and sound are well-done, and the voice acting is good too. It's a shame then that the combat is so insanely, brutally punishing as to prevent you from enjoying it. The combat may get better as the game goes on, but the 5 or so hours of this game that I could stomach saw the combat devolving into nothing more than holding down block until the enemy attacks twice, then attacking 2-3 times rapidly before blocking again. It was idiotic. Couple that with how it is entirely impossible to kite one enemy away from a large group, causing you to get swarmed by 5 enemies at once, and you had better get familiar with the load game screen. This is not fun. Everything seemed so interesting that it was really a shame it was kept out of reach. It's like when you were a child, and older kids would hold things in the air out of your reach and taunt you. Eventually you learn to punch them in the stomach, and go do something else.… Expand
  2. loungegecko
    Jun 3, 2012
    4
    Probably the most linear RPG I've ever played. Crappy voice acting and the backing noise track doesn't fit the game at all. Combat is boring (and once again) linear. I already said this, but I'll say it again: crappy voice acting. At first I was actually laughing at how bad it was until I just stopped playing. Combat is just click-click-other click (hit-hit-parry) style. Third person withProbably the most linear RPG I've ever played. Crappy voice acting and the backing noise track doesn't fit the game at all. Combat is boring (and once again) linear. I already said this, but I'll say it again: crappy voice acting. At first I was actually laughing at how bad it was until I just stopped playing. Combat is just click-click-other click (hit-hit-parry) style. Third person with no option to go into first is obnoxious. Controls are absolutely horrid, and made me change the layout immediately. Good modeling and design is probably this game's only redeeming factor.… Expand
  3. NooblordFocker
    Sep 4, 2013
    2
    Perhaps I'm not giving this game a fair judgement,perhaps it was due to certain circumstances that I was unable to fully enjoy the game.There must be some reason why this game received so much acclaim,from players and critics alike.Well,the idea and setting are nice,the story sounded promicing...and that's pretty much it.This game has numerous problems.Let's start with the technicalPerhaps I'm not giving this game a fair judgement,perhaps it was due to certain circumstances that I was unable to fully enjoy the game.There must be some reason why this game received so much acclaim,from players and critics alike.Well,the idea and setting are nice,the story sounded promicing...and that's pretty much it.This game has numerous problems.Let's start with the technical ones.My pc exceeds the recomended system parameters,but the FPS I'm getting is complete sh*t (15-20).Changing the graphic settings doesn't really do much either.Turning shadows off is the only thing that makes a little better.Now,maybe it's not fair to blame the game for this,maybe it's just not compatible with my graphics card in particular.So ok,i can bear with low fps,but it wouldn't piss me off so much if this game's graphics weren't this crappy.I personally don't judge a game for it's graphics,but "Risen" just looks ugly. No AA,low res textures everywhere.And it's not just the textures,character models are unappealing and have very little variety.Combat system sucks,there's not a lot of startegy into it.Enemies are way to OP.Normally a little more challange is OK,but with this piece of sh*t combat system it's just plain frustrating.The story sounded promising,but I couldn't bare with this game long enough to get into it,because of the dialog.My god,the dialog is so boring.The voice actors sound like they're going to fall asleep.The quest log is the most useless pice of sh*t I have ever seen. Classic WoW had a more useful quest helper than this,at least there you could find the approximate position of the quest target by reading the actual log.Here it just shows a simple objective and highlights the f*cking quest giver.Not the objective,the quest giver.I get where they were going with this,trying to make a more hardcore RPG,but it just doesn't work.It's tedious and unsatisfying.Maybe this isn't such a fair judgement,because I only endured 2 hours of this game.Perhaps it picks up afterwards,but I can't see how with the horrible combat system and visuals.… Expand
  4. Predikit
    Jul 26, 2013
    2
    Playing Risen, a game I’d bought during the Steam Summer Sale along with it’s sequel, and am sorely disappointed already. Little to no tutorial in the beginning, no explanation of game mechanics, and most importantly when you die you just… lay there? It doesn't drop you back to your last save, it gives you no on-screen prompts, it simply leaves you there wondering what to do next (this isPlaying Risen, a game I’d bought during the Steam Summer Sale along with it’s sequel, and am sorely disappointed already. Little to no tutorial in the beginning, no explanation of game mechanics, and most importantly when you die you just… lay there? It doesn't drop you back to your last save, it gives you no on-screen prompts, it simply leaves you there wondering what to do next (this is the FIRST time I have ever played a game that, upon death, you are not prompted with at least a direction to reload a past save, I actually had to tab out and search to make sure this wasn't a glitch).

    If this is all supposed to be to amplify the sense of immersion into the game world, it’s not doing a very good job at all. If I were dead, I highly doubt I’d just stay there hovering over my corpse panning around uselessly, so the more likely answer is that designers were more concerned with making bank than ensuring their finished product had the information necessary to play. Barely five minutes into the game and I’m tempted to simply shrug it off and uninstall; why would I put my time and effort into something that clearly had no effort put into it where I am concerned? For the sake of not judging too quickly (though already, the first impression I’ve had is that this game was a waste of my money), I will continue to try to play… but I don’t see myself writing a comprehensive review on this particular title.

    Edit:

    Ten minutes later, and I’ve quit and uninstalled. I have never been more dissatisfied with a game, or more specifically with it’s complete lack of consideration for introduction to gameplay. Players are expected to somehow know beforehand (or stop playing the game to go through the menu and search) key bindings and core mechanics beyond WASD. On-screen ‘tutorials’ consist of a single, font-only floating text direction on what to do once something has already happened. There are no prompts to explain how to equip or ready your weapon unless you happen upon one specific area that triggers a particular ‘cut-scene’ of dialogue from your companion (and even then, the mapped key was non-functional and I had to remap it to another key for it to function properly). This game is not just raw, it is unprofessional in that those who chose it’s introductory mechanics must have believed what they were thinking was going to by magic or osmosis be what every single other person that chose to play their game would be thinking. Fighting mechanics, if you can call them that, are chunky and awkward, in where a player may be facing their enemy and swing their weapon, but the character will turn and swing in a different direction. On six separate occasions, versus three different mob types, this problem persisted until I finally decided it was practically insulting to myself and my computer to have this game taking up space on my hard-drive. I would give this game a 2/10, the 2 being only for the graphics, as this was the only portion of the game that seemed to get any attention. Would not recommend.    … Expand
  5. tanim
    Sep 4, 2013
    3
    Poor visual, no problem. Poor story, no problem. Poor combat, problem. Without combat progressing is not possible. I believe they tried to provide a realistic combat mechanics. Unfortunately they messed up. A counter system could probably solve this but there is none. Movement in battle looks joke and poor visuals make them even worse. They tried to reinvent the wheel and that's where theyPoor visual, no problem. Poor story, no problem. Poor combat, problem. Without combat progressing is not possible. I believe they tried to provide a realistic combat mechanics. Unfortunately they messed up. A counter system could probably solve this but there is none. Movement in battle looks joke and poor visuals make them even worse. They tried to reinvent the wheel and that's where they messed up. As a 2009 game, it is surprisingly poor.… Expand
  6. slappyface
    Sep 8, 2014
    4
    This game is the RPG version of a "B" movie. Sincere, ambitious, but ultimately flat and often absurd. I felt sick after 30 minutes of constant flashing of endless thunderstorms. How hard could it have been for them to simply tone down the lightning? I slept and it was still happening the next morning.

    My character jumps inhumanly high but in slow motion. The creatures in the forest    This game is the RPG version of a "B" movie. Sincere, ambitious, but ultimately flat and often absurd. I felt sick after 30 minutes of constant flashing of endless thunderstorms. How hard could it have been for them to simply tone down the lightning? I slept and it was still happening the next morning.

    My character jumps inhumanly high but in slow motion. The creatures in the forest apparently do not fight or fear each other because at one stage there were like 10 of four different species all attacking me at once, seemingly oblivious to each other.

    If you want to experience a game these guys pulled off right, try Gothic II Gold. It is flawed but forgivable, whereas this one got uninstalled after 30 minutes.    … Expand
  7. mcTwex
    Apr 8, 2011
    4
    Frankly I do not understand what the fuss is about this game: everything from go is positively frustrating: from the ridiculous jarring and frame stutter you get (specificallyon ATI HD+ cards) to the hideous character visuals (the environments are gorgeous though) and the lack of an apparent mini-map. That and the fact that it is ridiculously hard to the point of frustration = a game to beFrankly I do not understand what the fuss is about this game: everything from go is positively frustrating: from the ridiculous jarring and frame stutter you get (specificallyon ATI HD+ cards) to the hideous character visuals (the environments are gorgeous though) and the lack of an apparent mini-map. That and the fact that it is ridiculously hard to the point of frustration = a game to be avoided. Absolute trash with almost no redeeming value whatsoever.… Expand
  8. jamesyeah
    Oct 8, 2009
    2
    The combat in this game is STUPID hard. You have to constantly double tap around whatever you're fighting or you will die almost instantly. There is no way to defend yourself, parry does nothing as you still get hit just the same. They need to have some way to defend attacks.
  9. StuartC
    Oct 2, 2009
    3
    Another sub par game filled with glitches, horrid 360 controls and a bizarre menu system. Think Two worlds with no multi-player and slightly better voice acting, thats about it. Who knows it could be your thing, I would still wait till the bug are sorted out though.
  10. Camman0908
    Nov 18, 2010
    1
    Very lack luster game. with no quest log to give you guidance, you are merely wandering around half the game. You are very vulnerable to EVERYTHING! Rats will make you scream at the low levels. Could have been so much more. Really wish the developers had taken more time to CARE about what they were making. Story is bland and unentertaining. Don't waste your money on this when you could buyVery lack luster game. with no quest log to give you guidance, you are merely wandering around half the game. You are very vulnerable to EVERYTHING! Rats will make you scream at the low levels. Could have been so much more. Really wish the developers had taken more time to CARE about what they were making. Story is bland and unentertaining. Don't waste your money on this when you could buy Oblivion or Mass Effect for a much better story AND a better game. Again, stay away from this, its a horrid release and does not deserve your money.… Expand
  11. JubalH
    Oct 30, 2009
    0
    The game is very good, but the DRM is unacceptable, only 3 activations is an absurd. The support for revalidation at deep silver ignores you. Don't buy and don't loose your money.
  12. Kiblams
    Feb 3, 2011
    4
    This game could have been very enjoyable, thought his is stunted somewhat by the awkwardness of almost every aspect of the game from combat to levelling.

    I am a huge fan of RPG games and after oblivion and Dragon Age this simply does not stand up against modern titles. One thing that I will say for Risen is that the graphics are very pretty indeed, this may be of the only feature of    This game could have been very enjoyable, thought his is stunted somewhat by the awkwardness of almost every aspect of the game from combat to levelling.

    I am a huge fan of RPG games and after oblivion and Dragon Age this simply does not stand up against modern titles.

    One thing that I will say for Risen is that the graphics are very pretty indeed, this may be of the only feature of the game which held my attention for the duration that i played it, more a desire to see more of the lush surroundings than the want to develop my character and see where the story would take me.    … Expand
  13. WadeG
    Oct 8, 2009
    0
    This game was flawed in every way I could think of. The graphics are way too dark. It looks like a PS2 game. Lighting in the environment pops in a random when it feel like working. There is no collision detection on various pieces of the scenery. When swing your weapon at a wall or any object other than an enemy your arms simply go through the walls. The voice acting seems like it was This game was flawed in every way I could think of. The graphics are way too dark. It looks like a PS2 game. Lighting in the environment pops in a random when it feel like working. There is no collision detection on various pieces of the scenery. When swing your weapon at a wall or any object other than an enemy your arms simply go through the walls. The voice acting seems like it was ripped out of Troma movie. The difficulty is set way too high and the controls are horribly laid out. This game makes Two Worlds look like game of the year and thats saying something.… Expand
  14. OveM.
    Jan 26, 2010
    3
    This game could have been so much better. The RPG elements are very well implemented and the fighting is cool. BUT i the quests are almost impossible to do since there is NO quest tracking system. Thats why i uninstalled the game after a while.... i couldn't manage to do the quests... I mostly ran around wondering what to do next.
  15. MillersWeeb
    Nov 16, 2018
    0
    Калька с готики 1, практически полностью копирует старую игру. Квесты в стиле ммо. Неиграбельно.
  16. Matseb2611
    Apr 9, 2015
    4
    I should've listened to my skepticism, considering this game was made by the same developers that made Gothic series. This game is exactly like the Gothic games, except in slightly better graphics. Tedious menial tasks such as harvesting, collecting, and finding n number of some item are back again. No story hook whatsoever. It's just a random island your character finds himself in afterI should've listened to my skepticism, considering this game was made by the same developers that made Gothic series. This game is exactly like the Gothic games, except in slightly better graphics. Tedious menial tasks such as harvesting, collecting, and finding n number of some item are back again. No story hook whatsoever. It's just a random island your character finds himself in after being washed ashore. To add to this, the character's walking speed is very slow and the map isn't detailed enough and shows no landmarks, making exploration a real chore.

    There are a lot of items to find and the combat is semi-decent, but nothing in this game really stands out. Everything has been done before by other RPGs and done better.

    Some of the dialogue is not bad and can be kind of witty, but some of the voice acting isn't all that great, especially the main character, who hardly puts any emotion in anything he says, and this is coming from someone who is rarely ever picky about voice acting in games.

    Some NPC and enemy A.I. is a bit strange too. I got into the arrogant guard captain's house and stole stuff from his treasure chest right in front of him and he did not bust an eyelid. I then took a mug of beer from his table and he got all pissy at me all of a sudden. Another enemy was doing a decent job stopping a few feet away from me, letting me shoot them with a bow, then to chase me for a few steps, and to repeat the same procedure till he was dead.

    If you liked Gothic games, you'll probably like this one too, but it's way too slow paced for me personally. The most fun I got from this was when I decided to stop doing any quests and to simply mess around. Piranha Bytes just keep rehashing the same old boring formula in every single game, and until they make something new and different, I don't think I'll be buying any more of their games.    … Expand
  17. Danil
    Oct 7, 2014
    4
    Annoying voice acting. Poor combat system with Über-imbalanced enemies. In some early game quests you will have to spend 10-15 minutes of clicking-and-saving just to defeat someone and move forward in the storyline, which is EXTREMELY frustrating. Also the quest log is horrific, it simply saves dialogues in the journal and you have to keep track of all those long tedious conversationsAnnoying voice acting. Poor combat system with Über-imbalanced enemies. In some early game quests you will have to spend 10-15 minutes of clicking-and-saving just to defeat someone and move forward in the storyline, which is EXTREMELY frustrating. Also the quest log is horrific, it simply saves dialogues in the journal and you have to keep track of all those long tedious conversations narrated by crappy actors. Oftentimes it doesn't even place (or misplaces) quests on the map. Oh and there is no minimap as well.… Expand
  18. Thanatos4x
    Nov 5, 2013
    3
    Risen is buggy and frustrating. During my 38 hour play-thorough the game crashed 5 times with exceptional errors.
    The biggest problem with Risen is the combat which is very frustrating. The developers are trying to prevent a click fest of hacking your opponent with strategic combat with blocking, parrying and then carefully timed attacks. However, a good idea, it is poorly implemented.    Risen is buggy and frustrating. During my 38 hour play-thorough the game crashed 5 times with exceptional errors.
    The biggest problem with Risen is the combat which is very frustrating. The developers are trying to prevent a click fest of hacking your opponent with strategic combat with blocking, parrying and then carefully timed attacks. However, a good idea, it is poorly implemented. Enemies can block and parry all your attacks and counter attack you super fast that there is no way to block. Worse of all many difficult enemies attack in groups making the strategic combat a joke because the enemies gang rape you from all sides prevent any possible block or parry. Most of the time you hop around a group of enemies while quickly hacking them before they counter hack you. If you don't have full health death is certain unless you get lucky.
    Save very often because you will die a lot! Mostly from cheap kills like enemy gang bangs, but also traps that kill you without any hint of a trap being there. I feel like you almost have to die in most areas in order to proceed. Not fun.
    There are lots of glitchy things like NPCs pooping through things and how enemies cannot seem to follow you down short drops (exploit to kill them easily, but not fun), and the WORST thing ever is the NPCs can defect you anywhere in there house if your not sneaking. They will "see" you through a wall and know you just stole from them really?! But the worse is a stupid glitch that happened to me many times, if you accidentally or intentionally hit and/or stole from a NPC they will attack you this is normal, but after I sleep and the crime is forgotten other NPCs in a completely different area will attack me even though that NPC already forgave me. This glitch will try your patient to the limit. I never knew if all of a sudden NPCs were going to attack me. Many times one NPC would be fine and then they would call a witch hunt for a crime that they previously had forgiven or forgotten -really really WTF!    … Expand
  19. Ninja7Everin
    Aug 29, 2014
    1
    The combat system this game is absolutely horrible. The moment you let your shield down is when the enemy strikes, you die quickly, and is even worse than Dark Souls. At least Dark Souls is worth playing. Nothing about this game can make up for its lack of definition of enjoyable combat. BLEH. I HATED this game.
  20. reviewthis4u
    Jul 15, 2016
    1
    Who decided to separate magic from combat from plot from character customization from... well, everything? Did no one play test this tripe? I can see a developer shipping their ego out in a box, but surely someone, ANYONE else looked at this and thought, wait, maybe it should actually be playable?
  21. Broyax
    Apr 14, 2017
    3
    Techniquement c'est pas trop mal (et parfois assez joli) et Risen a le mérite de ne pas être trop exigeant côté config ! en outre la VF bien que caricaturale est bien faite. Passons à ce qui fâche, c'est-à-dire tout le reste... La musique par exemple est assez pathétique (elle a du être écrite sur un Bontempi), le système de combat est délicat et la difficulté élevée (la touche F8 est tonTechniquement c'est pas trop mal (et parfois assez joli) et Risen a le mérite de ne pas être trop exigeant côté config ! en outre la VF bien que caricaturale est bien faite. Passons à ce qui fâche, c'est-à-dire tout le reste... La musique par exemple est assez pathétique (elle a du être écrite sur un Bontempi), le système de combat est délicat et la difficulté élevée (la touche F8 est ton amie).

    La progression est très lente et laborieuse, les quêtes peu claires et pour couronner le tout, des bugs empêchent le bon déroulement des scripts et donc la résolution des dites quêtes. Enfin, l'interface est globalement perfectible sur bien des détails : on ignore si c'est pour faire chier ou si c'est tout simplement l'incapacité des développeurs. Bref, voilà un jeu bien pénible.    … Expand
  22. aecsuter
    Sep 5, 2022
    4
    It's a little complicated to talk about this game, because it's a little dated, but I'm going to talk about my experience with the game currently, which was when I played it.
    The idea of ​​the game is good, with great difficulty and an acceptable story, but it has several technical problems, which made me end up dragging myself to the end of the game.
    Pros: - History OK - Well done    It's a little complicated to talk about this game, because it's a little dated, but I'm going to talk about my experience with the game currently, which was when I played it.
    The idea of ​​the game is good, with great difficulty and an acceptable story, but it has several technical problems, which made me end up dragging myself to the end of the game.

    Pros:
    - History OK
    - Well done and well voiced dialogues.
    - Beautiful Armor and Weapons

    Cons:
    - Very ugly and clumsy Jump System. When he jumps from a high height, it looks like there's a ladder in the air that falls from step to step. I have often escaped traps by standing in the air.
    - First Teleport Stone was to appear after 21 hours of gameplay. Too tiring to go from one side of the map to the other, in that mequetrefe run. Even more that there are no arrows indicating where to go in the quests.
    - Boring and Repetitive Combat. (I found out later watching videos that as a Warrior he is much more boring than a Mage).
    - I went to find a Helm after 28 hours of play.
    - Complete imbalance between in-game weapons
    - Complete imbalance between classes in the game (Mage is much easier).
    - Final fight very dull and extremely easy due to quicksave.

    Basically in my opinion the game could be good, but the mechanics make it boring and very tiring not to say frustrating at times.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

67
#67 Best PC Game of 2009
19
#19 Most Discussed PC Game of 2009
21
#21 Most Shared PC Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Meristation
    80
    Fun, large and with many things to do, Risen is a good game for medieval RPG lovers. It has its flaws, specially due to technical issues, but overall it's a great experience, where every choice has its consequences. The great storyline and the different paths that we can follow are the strongest points of this game.
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  2. SpazioGames
    80
    While Gothic sails away to other developers, Piranha Bytes turns the tide with this return to the origins of true RPG. Deep, polished, compelling, Risen is an RPG for RPG true lovers. Some small glitches and a general lack of accessibility make it step down a little bit on the score, but it's still THE game to have if you love RPGs.
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  3. Everyeye.it
    80
    An old-fashion RPG, with an impressive number of quests and NPC, and a deep level-up system.
    Read full review
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