This type of progression system is extremely frustrating in the beginning. At the, start you don't have the ability to travel between islands at will, so if you miss the blocking and riposting skill then fights become extremely difficult. There's no way to go back until you get a ship for free travel, so that means tough luck. It's an odd design choice — though it makes sense in theory — that brutally punishes the player for messing up. Since you have to cough up gold to learn skills, you might find yourself farming for gold if you don't have enough.
However, not is all wrong with the gameplay. The quests are interesting, despite appearing to be fetch quests, and the tidbits of narrative and clever dialogue make the distractions worthwhile. Most importantly, the quests don't feel like they they hold your hand with markers for every location you have to go to. Rather, sometimes you have to pay attention to the dialogue to know find your destination. Luckily, there's a dialogue log to run through in case you miss it.
Despite the gameplay problems, Risen 2's audio is an absolute stand out. Filled with great voice acting from various characters, the world is crafted to bring the vibrant pirate world to life. The main character sounds like an ass half the time — and rightly so — and his companions have a certain touch that gives a hint of their origin. In addition, the music is littered with tidbits of Caribbean feel. It's an exotic set of musical tracks that complements the theme of pirate adventures that's so prominent throughout the game.
To match the excellent audio, the graphics are lush with color. Beams of sunlight pierce through the trees, and wildlife are brimming with diversity. The technical power of Risen 2 really creates a sense of journey due to everything feeling so natural. While the environments are well done, the character models seem a bit lacking. Textures appear flat at times, and the facial expressions can be outright abysmal — leading to some awkward looking conversations. Even so, it doesn't detract from the entire visual experience the game has to offer.
Risen 2 is a mixed bag in ways; it is filled with excellent audio and visual parts that don't really match the poor gameplay mechanics instituted, often leading to the player's displeasure. Combat is dull and mindless, not even remotely entertaining, and the customization of your character can feel frustrating at times. Even so, the narrative and the cinematic experience that can be had with Risen 2 is something worthwhile. If you don't mind the trouble you will have with playing through tedious aspects of the game, then it's worth checking out.
Risen 2, despite its attempt to bring the pirate world to gamers, is a game that has a lot of potential on paper. However, its boring and unfulfilling combat combined with a poor leveling system leaves you wondering whether the game is even worth it. Fortunately, the entire experience isn't hampered thanks to its wondrous atmosphere, which helps to drive you through the dozens of hours the game offers.
Risen 2 puts you in the shoes of an unnamed protagonist suddenly thrown into a wet predicament. A horrible sea creature plagues the ocean and your commander in the Inquisition — an organization you're part of — asks you to find a way to kill it. It's not a derivative plot, and the premise is quite interesting, lending for a great pirate adventure. Unfortunately, the plot informs you of your entire adventure quite quickly, causing the minor plot twists to fall victim to a fairly flat narrative.
Even so, Risen 2 is worth it for the story due to the interactions between you and the various characters you meet. The locals for each of the areas you visit are amazing. For instance, early on you meet indigenous people that have accents and act in a way that are unfamiliar to civilized people. It's very immersive, and the realistic environments are crafted to really portray that Pirates of the Caribbean feeling.
The combat in the game is extremely bland, bordering on boredom and frustration. Part of this has to do with enemies that are uninteresting to fight and leads to mindless button mashing that requires no skill whatsoever. Fights are broken down into either monster or humanoid encounters. While the humans are enjoyable to fight because you can block and riposte for rhythmic fighting, the monsters are an absolute hassle. It becomes a mindless flurry of attacks until the enemy's health bar is depleted. There's no strategy involved, and if you don't have enough items to replenish your health in the middle of the fight, then expect game over.
To supplement melee combat, you have the ability to use voodoo magic. While it's not essential, it helps to round out a different aspect of your character. Unfortunately, there's no way to beat the game with just using voodoo magic, and as a result, it's more of a tool, rather than a dedicated type of play. As a result, this makes for an uninteresting dynamic between swords and magic.
The game's form of experience is called glory, which you earn by finishing quests and killing random creatures. You can use glory to increase your swordsmanship, toughness, and other attributes. There aren't many ways to build your character, but spending glory wisely and making use of certain attributes can help to alleviate various encounters in the game. Sadly, while you can increase your numerical stats using glory, you must earn skills by spending gold on trainers. Whether it be blocking, riposting, or using new voodoo magic, all the skills you need are from them.
