If you like Old-school RPGs and don't mind a challenge, pick this one up.
- True successor to the Ghotic series.
- Challenging combat system and AI, which means a rewarding gameplay if you stick around.
- Beautiful world. Detailed grass, trees, lighting effects, day/night cycles, and weather changes make exploring the world a pleasure.
- Numerous quests. (At least it is in the first chapters.)
CONS
- Dated animations.
- Dated character models, too much "cloning", female models are all the same.
- Feels rushed in the last chapters.
- Some weapon classes are much better than others.
- The ending is a big letdown. (Has a single ending, gives no choice in the outcome, feels like a boss fight out of an arcade game, etc.)
REVIEW
You probably know the drill.. You'r on a boat, there's a storm, you wake up on an island with no memories of who you are. Pretty classical formulae, used and reused by many RPGs over the years. To that point nothing new or spectacular... but what will hit you pretty fast in this game is the difficulty level. The enemies run, dodge, block, time their attack, attack in gangs, coordinates to surround you, and so on. The first hours are a struggle to survive and gain some experience points to level up, and it really gets the immersion juices flowing since the survival aspect really shines here and your rise to power is meaningful and rewarding.
I probably died more in the first 6 hours of playing Risen than in my whole last year of play, all games included. It is the point where this game differs from all others, it challenges you and dares speak to the hardcore gamers in an age where games become increasingly easy (too easy sometimes) to appeal to the called "casual gamers". I personally welcomed the change of pace, and was happy to be challenged for once. In my opinion this is the single most important selling factor of this game.
Another positive aspect of the game are the graphics. Sure the animations and some of the models are outdated, but the world itself is rich in details and makes exploration that much more immersive.
The game is cut into 4 chapters. I really liked the first and second ones, they keep you on the edge as the fights are challenging and visiting the diverse towns and bases and exploring the island really shines. But the third and fourth chapters were kind of a letdown, dialogue with NPCs and side quests are virtually non existent at that point, and all is left is some pretty long dungeon clearing sequences and all too similar item retrieval quests. The game loses a lot of depth there and I felt it was rushed, especially with the single ending where there should have been more choice. However by the time you reach these two last chapters your character will be strong enough to handle most fights, and you will make much faster progress at that point...
Something you might appreciate after the slow progress of the first two chapters where anything can kill you in a blink.
REPLAYABILITY
I would not play this game more than a couple of times, and even that would be pushing it. The only difference between the mage storyline and the fighter storyline being the monastery quests (barely a couple of hours of play) and everything else being 95% the same.. If you play the mage, you will have access to everything (all melee and all magic + the monastery quests) especially if you do the swamps, then harbor city, then the monastery in that order.
What I realised on my second run is that what makes this game so great (and rewarding) is what kills its replayability : The difficulty. Picking up a ton of plants in the first run is necessary and ok. But doing it all over again on a second run? it becomes a hassle. Same with the animals and fights in general. Fighting in the first run is necessary and fun and rewarding, even if difficult. But in the second run it loses all its taste because you did all that before (clearing packs of wolves? Again?), and it becomes a chore instead of a fun adventure.
BOTTOM LINE
All in all I think this is a fairly good game, worth picking up. Just keep in mind that you won't be able to squeeze much replayability from it and it does have some rushed aspects, considering this it might be a little bit overpriced compared to the other quality games coming up now. However if you like RPGs and don't mind a challenge, then you will enjoy this game regardless. I certainly did.