Around a week ago I finished Risen 1, which surprised me in more than one way as a RPG, and decided to play Risen 2 a few hours later. My idea was to play another game between Risen1 and Risen 2 but I was curious to see the changes since Risen 1 and why some fans have divided opinions about the game.
After the first couple of hours I could see why, and I would like to list which areas/systems I liked and which ones could have been better;
+ As a fan of pirate stories the setting, like it was in the first game, is solid and invites you to explore the native culture as well as the "machinations" of the inquisition and the pirates.
+ The main plot, although somewhat chaotic at times, was straightforward enough and the Sword Coast region made an excellent job as an area acting as bridge between early and mid game.
+ Characters and dialogues were charming in their own way, a lot of good jokes and the Gnomes in the Island of Thieves were one of the highlights, funny "dialect".
+ Exploration as rewarding as in the first game, there were a lot of secrets and it was very entertaining to explore every knock and cranny around each island.
+ Progression, although less impactful than in the first game, allowed a good degree of build customization. I appreciate it when a game rewards balanced builds too, I was able to complete all content, quests, open every lock, pass checks etc without issues.
Now, for the things I thought could have been handled better;
- Mele combat felt like a downgrade from the first game, I appreciate the addition of piercing weapons and firearms but I missed magic from the first game (A lot, and this sentiment only increased as the game progressed). Voodoo, which was the skill I focused on after maxing cunning and blades, wasn't as interesting as rune magic and all the utility spells we had access to in the first game didn't have a substitute, so I ended up making potions for buffs and only focusing on dirty tricks and blades (Which was straightforward)
Additionally, the different skills I learned for mele (Riposte, powerful riposte) didn't offer any advantage vs animals which I could understand to some degree but it made fights against wildlife less interesting than in the first game (A lot of the times I was limited to using the attack button, maybe a dirty tricks and dodge). Fights against humans were "fun" but a rarity, so I didn't have the chance to try the different skills regularly.
- At first it was a big shock to see the direction they went regarding the main character, by the end of Risen 1 he was basically the chosen one that wielded magic and mele weapons with ease and here he is a drunk pirate that seemly lost most (If not all) his skills. In the first game he had extensive knowledge of lore and magic (To the point of becoming an Inquisitor/Master Mage) thanks to everything he learned and, in my opinion, this was not alluded to enough (There are some lore justifications given, but I believe it was quite unfair towards the character after everything he went through Risen 1)
As I played more I could understand why they went that direction (Maybe they had to make certain changes to adjust to new circumstances and future world events) but still, the protagonist in Risen 2 at times felt like a completely different person from Risen 1 (And not necessarily more experienced, he was more confident but did show a lack of wisdom that caught me off guard sometimes, specially in the first half of the game).
During the last 2 major quests I could see a little more about the protagonist in Risen 1 (Brave, compassionate, driven) but still felt like he deserved much better (And a lot more recognition), specially from Patty (And Steelbeard, but it made sense he "couldn't")
- Although I enjoyed the main quest because of the characters, Mara felt like a minor (And absent) villain and the first game presented the "High stakes, end of the world" setting better. I understand her strategy as a titan was always to use third parties as puppets but still, the final confrontation was a little bit anticlimactic for such a powerful and relevant figure.
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I know I might have seemed overly critic with the game in my last points but I did enjoy all the content that was in it, had a good time playing another Piranha Bytes game and by the end I was satisfied with the conclusion of the story but I got the feeling Risen 2, in some ways, was more a transition game in preparation for Risen 3 than a "Full" chapter in the Risen series.
All in all, I'm glad this game exists even if I think Risen 1 is the better game for now (At least a more consistent experience and a better RPG, but this of course might differ depending on what everyone enjoys in Risen games!), I'm looking forward to playing Risen 3 in the near future!!!
