The spiritual successor to the great Gothic series. Great game. Recommended!

Old and Clunky. Thankfully I got it for free.

you probably own this game from a bundle don;'t bother playing it

If you had read my last 2 reviews of Risen then you would know I have given it Thumbs UP while still playing it.

Um..no more. Sorry!

Look....I get it!.....I do.... The whole -"we are not going to hold your hand and will make quests crap and the map is buggy and you can't kill anything so you will know your place!"

I get it!

I do like this game- I really do- so much is done right. But I'm sorry....with so much out there to play, to cling onto a patience-tester like this is just not going to happen.


Final Rivscore ( it hurts to do this..)- 65 / 100

I love this game. No other RPG trapped me in it for so long.
I played this game for 48 hours straight retrying whole campaign 3 times so i can go all three ways
You actually have to choose wisely which way are you going to go.
If you're going to become Don's bandit then you have to master your sword abilities/axe abilities
If you're going to become Warrior of the Order you'll have to learn crystal magic and staff fighting
and If you're going to become a Mage your going to learn crystal and rune magic with a little of staff fighting.
If you're going to go one way there is no coming back.
Every decision that you make is going to have impact in future.
Watchout for fkin mendoza, he's the evil guy :^

My my, friend; you're in an odd part of steam now aren't you? Welcome to Risen, a truly mystifying game by our friends Piranha Bytes.

See, I have a weird stiffy for ♥♥♥♥♥♥ adventure RPGs like Risen. I've played some of Gothic 3, I've watched lets plays of Two Worlds, I've experienced babby's first OHS(first Witcher), and I've a past time of exploiting physics glitches in the elder scrolls series.

So I'll be rating by five categories: Graphics, Leveling, Ambience, Gameplay, and Story


:First up, Greficks:

Visually, Risen is appealing and fully cranked has nice material effects on the items you wear. Everything has texturing and react well to ambient light. For example when you finally get an iron helmet it shines like it was really worked over with a hammer at a forge. Whoah, it's like we're playing a moden game! Some of the models look samey but there are enough human models and reskins of those models to make most characters you meet seem like they're different people. Monsters sometimes literally are green versions of other models with maybe a horn plastered on. meh

:Second, Leveling:

Leveling is done unexpectedly well in this game. When I say leveling I mean the developers putting monsters along paths that subtly coralle you to the way you're supposed to go. It's terrific because this negates the need for different difficulty levels. At the beginning gnomes gave me trouble and Sea Vultures fatigued me greatly and Ghouls hand delivered dread to my soul with their op shield breaking frost attacks. This isn't a game where you just run into weapons and armor like it's growing on trees, every weapon you replace your old one with is well earned, or bought for an exorbitant sum. I played a melee sword n board character for my first time through and when I beat the ♥♥♥♥ out of Brogar and took his spiked mace I felt like a badass to end all badasses then I got my butt opened fighting 10 grave moths in the same area.

But that's the thing, it's a game of raising the level of good that you are with whatever you're using to kill stuff. Later, monsters will use advanced tecniques like strafing and counterblocking. Not just 4 chain hits like the spiked rats do when you're barely level 2. The map opens up in piecemeal because of this and imo gives a very satisfying rate of progression because you can go anywhere(mostly) at any time but good luck killing that ogre with a stick you found on the ground m80. B)

Also, you learn new tecniques as well, but you actually have to go learn them. When you level up you get Learning Points that you can use -along with gold- to get a trainer to teach you new stuff. Like reloading c'bows faster or more chains for your sword combo. It's freakin cool and prevents all-rounders but allows for some cool multiclass builds. Like my character besides being buffman mcswordswing could brew potions. So I brewed 50 str pots and killed thick jaw sausage fingers in 3 hits it was a very big letdown honestly.

Save often.

:Third, Ambience:

This is a weird category but I feel like I need to say something about it. The reason I didn't lump with with graphics is because you can have ambience without good graphics I mean just look at morrowind. The lighting in this game is done gorgeously, the colors are perfect for their respective areas that lends a real feeling of being in a swamp, or a muggy little town, or on a fortress laden road build into a huge cliffside at dusk. It's very pretty. Roads are winding in places where you'd expect and wide like u're mum in others. Foliage is used well to hide things and there are some cozy little areas that with a keen eye and a levitation spell you can get to(I'm looking at you, Doyle!)

:Fourth, Gameplay:

Risen is an odd beast; it's not floopy and doofy like Gothic, it's strangely stoic and awkward. The animations are stilted and make Bethesda's look decent. I thought I was playing a game from 2009 not Runescape 2. Like Runescape though they have a certain charm about them. For example, you can break down certain walled off doorways later in the game with a pickaxe. The swings you make look like they couldn't tickle yer mum let alone break down a huge stone door, but it makes me smile when the pieces of door explode from their berth like you used a depthcharge and not a sternly worded pickaxe tap. Idle dialogue animations are hilarious and make it look like you're watching a school play animated by todd howard.

:Fifth, Story:

Here's the kicker for me, honestly. Though before I go into the story proper I'd like to mention the character you play. He's the biggest bumbler I've ever had as a main character. His dialogue, his stature, animations, dying noises, it all contributes to the image of a man that has no idea what he's doing. Even when I had my strength at 166 and could wield a two hander with a shield I never felt like I was some cooked up hero. I felt like I was learning along with this guy, that beating the impossible just took a few hours of learning the counter-counterblock.

The story though, left me deflated. Honestly most of this game seems like the devs stumbled into cool mechanics and ideas but they got no breaks with the main story points. The ending was abysmal and left me wanting when it dumped me back at the main screen with no aftergame to ♥♥♥♥ about in with my op quest armor. The villains that were hyped up were pushovers and honestly the grunts gave me the most trouble. Honestly I think I died most to wild animals out of everything that killed me.

The good thing is, that there's replayability. I barely touched anything relating to magic except near the endgame where you're forced to use levitation and telekinesis spells but you have scrolls for that and if you're a fighter you have a bunch of mana pots you're not using anyway.



Overall, I recommend Risen for the journey and goofiness along the way to the major plot points because the peaks in the story are very uninspired and full of mcguffins. The ending is ♥♥♥♥, just like the conclusion of this review. I'll probably play it again though.

Loved this game and the story would definantly recamend for anyone looking for a Story driven RPG with differnt story lines based on the path you choose.

Great game for fans of Gothic series.
If you are not Gothic fan then I don't suggest you to play this game.
Why ?
Cause many people nowdays search for games like Dragon Age and Skyrim and this game doesnt delivery in that "epicness i am chosen hero stuff".
Because this game is telling a mediocre story. ( I wont spoil the story for you )
Story puts you in a situation were you have to build yourself to become someone. You are not chosen one. You have to try to become one. It doesnt hold your hand in a way were you swing your sword and kill everthing. No! This game wants you to build and to train. Even a bird at the start of game can kill you.
It gives you three choices: Mage (Magic) ,Inquisitor (Warrior/small magic) , Fighter/Bandit (Warrior)
When you pick one of these three you have to work your ♥♥♥ to learn something. You have to have experience points to progress futher. To be able to kill a f*cking bird of a simple wolf.
Thats what i like about the game. It reminds me alot of Gothic series wich are my favorite games of all times.

If you are Gothic fan then buy this game you will not be disappointed.

If you are one of those who seek a game where needs hand holding,God chosen heroes. Then look somewhere else weakling.

This game puts hair on your chest and makes you feel like a man when you kill wild boar!!!

Became a bandit, told best fighter in the camp to ♥♥♥♥ off and got his hut.

10/10 - How to get a home without paying a piece of gold.

Veri naic doesnt even start