Risen 2: Dark Waters reviews

I played many "Gothic-like" games, so I knew what to expect: a powerless start, slow progression, somewhat clunky combat, factions to choose from... Check, check, check... The combat is enjoyable once you get your hands on tricks and good weapons, but still quite simplistic overall. The story is very simple (get these X items to defeat evil boss), but it is well told with a few local nice twists here and there. The RPG progression is good enough; you feel the difference when your stats increase, you learn new abilities and mechanics -- some of which are very helpful -- and you have to pick a playing style while doing so (you would need unfathomable amounts of grinding to level up everything). I chose to play the voodoo path, and the game surprised me with a few "Voodoo Doll" sequences which were a nice break from the usual game loops. Bonus points: menu and inventory system were organized and easy to use with a controller; parrots and monkeys which bring new mechanics to the game. Non-annoying picklock mini-games. And, most of all: NO ENCUMBRANCE! YES! Another positive: the care the developers put into conversation trees (specially considering all the good voice work involved). NPCs change (however slightly, even if just once) their responses when something happens which is relevant to them. Many lines are superfluous from the "stats and mechanics" point-of-view, but add flavor to the game. But for me, the real star here is the Geography; these developers really know how to design a word which feels a lot bigger than it is, but not too complex nor too dull, which invites exploring. It is a lot of simple tricks really -- break line of sight between locations, and they feel distant from each other, even if it takes just 30 second to walk from one to the other. Make paths cross over each other, but not bifurcate too much, and the cave systems feel a lot more interesting. Now, a few negatives: a few bugs here and there (nothing too serious); boss fights were a little underwhelming, especially the flat spaces around them. And the final fight was very very unremarkable -- maybe my voodoo was too strong? Anyway, I had a great time exploring these islands. Score: 81/100.