More dangerous than the whole Inquisition.
I loved Risen, even though it had more bugs than a termite nest. The fresh setting, the open-ended world, and the action-oriented combat all made for a very engaging game. So I was very excited to find out that a Risen 2 was being made, and not only that, but it would also have guns, pirates and voodoo in it. I really wanted to love this game, and believe me, it takes effort. I struggled through the first sections with a character who was an expert in Voodoo, but totally unable to use it. Then, 30 hours in, I ran into a game-breaking bug which corrupts all my saves after that point, and now I cannot find a way forward. (That last part is very reminiscent of my Risen experience, actually.)
Upon starting the game, I was shocked to discover that they had removed the ability to dodge. Dodge! This was honestly one of the best things about the original. Being able to dodge made it so that you could conceivably win any fight, if you were good enough. It was an action RPG, so gaining levels made fights far easier, but it made things exciting and helped counterbalance the unforgiving open world exploration. You’d regularly find yourself squaring off against far tougher enemies if you strayed off the beaten path even a little, and sometimes even if you didn’t. It also helped to even out the leveling system too, which I’ll get to in a moment.
This wasn’t the only change to combat either. Gone too are the different attacks based on the direction the character is moving. Instead, you perform a basic 3 attack combo (which is essentially the same with every weapon). I’m honestly not sure why they removed these elements from the game, and I think it’s a shame that they did. Combat is much less interesting and dynamic as a result. Perhaps it has something to do with the other characters you’re often accompanied by? Were the developers worried it would be too easy with them around? Regardless of the reason, I think this change was a mistake.
The skill system in the game has also been drastically changed since the original. Before, there were skill groups, like sword fighting, smithing, magic spells, prospecting, and alchemy. These could be improved individually, and doing so would unlock different perks, like new combat moves, crafting recipes, and such. This was paired with an attribute system. In Risen 2, there are attributes, talents and skills. Attributes are each associated with three talents. (For instance, the blades attribute is associated with the piercing weapons, slashing weapons and thrown weapons talents.) Improving attributes costs glory, the game’s XP equivalent. Talents get bonuses from certain items and certain skills. Skills are special abilities or talent bonuses which are bought from trainers for gold.
Combat moves like parrying, kicking, strong attacks and riposte are all skills which need to be bought, and not having them puts you at a huge disadvantage. Certain attributes and talents only become available or important a ways into the game as well. Consequently, spending points on them before you realize this at the critical early stages of the game (when even the most basic mobs will kill you) can potentially make the game unplayable, and ruin a character. Each area has a finite amount of glory and gold which can be gained and used for training, so spending it wrong can leave you unable to progress.
Kraken down on piracy!
Perhaps the greatest frustrations in the game is the combat against monsters or multiple opponents. You have no way to dodge or block a creature’s attacks, and they will very regularly just chain stun you until you are dead. You also don’t have any quick attacks to break out of this, and of course, no dodge. Your best option is to try to turn around and run away, jumping wildly, because you start to run very slowly. Expect to get hit in the back a lot. Needless to say, this quickly becomes both frustrating and tedious. And there are monsters everywhere on the islands. It’s not uncommon that you’ll run into multiple weapon-wielding humanoid enemies too. It’s not much better than fighting monsters, really. You can parry and block attacks from one enemy, but the other one will be hitting you in the back and interrupting all your attacks. And then, death. Often times the best way to fight enemies is to just kite them, throwing spears and shooting at them in between running in a circle. Again, doesn’t make for very exciting or fun combat.
Quests, plot, and dialogue are generally well written, interesting, and entertaining. That said, all characters look as though there’s conducting an orchestra while talking, which is fairly ridiculous. Patty, who I suspect is supposed to be some kind of love interest, constantly sways back in what the developers hoped was sultry, but comes across more as drunk. Voice acting is usually pretty solid, when it’s not missing entirely. (Turn on those subtitles, kids!)
Risen was set during a sort of high-fantasy middle ages, and the sequel is set during what is apparently the 1700s. This would be fine, but the protagonist returns from the original, apparently not having aged very much at all in that time. Which means that the world advanced about 700 years technologically, socially, and industrially in that time. Rune magic is completely gone now, forbidden after the events of the first game, and it’s almost unmentioned. You’d think there would be some people interested in keeping the power to control the elements at will alive, but that’s apparently not the case. All these aspects make the pirate setting seem very forced, which definitely detracted from the story, making it far less believable, even for a fantasy game. That said, the plot was the reason I found myself plowing through all these bugs, issues, and frustrations. I was genuinely curious to see where things went, and I actually cared about the various characters in the game.
Sadly, like the original, Risen 2 has no shortage of bugs. Bugged items which vanish, quests which cannot be completed, quests which don’t appear in your quest log, missing dialogue, and crashes to desktop are just a few of the veritable smorgasbord of issues you will encounter. (Hopefully they’re working on some patches!) Most can be worked around, but this only compounds the frustration of the annoyances in the gameplay itself. I wanted to love this game, but the frustrating gameplay teamed up with the horde of bugs to finally nail the coffin shut on my interest.
Update: Piranha Bytes, developers of Risen 2, have released a patch that adds dodging and the ability to block monster attacks as well as fixing many exploits and bugs. There may be hope for this game yet!
