Risen 2: Dark Waters

[h2]It's Risen with pirates, gators (crocs?), and... uhh... boats. Yea, boats.[/h2] After revisiting Risen 1 and having a blast replaying it (mostly for the achievements, but also because it's a great RPG), I realized I never reviewed the rest of the trilogy. So here I am, picking my brain and trying to remember... Yep, Risen 2 is a good game. It's not all that much like the first game, but pirates are fun, so I dunno. The combat felt a little less stiff than Risen 1, although I kind of liked that stiffness at times. That's a weird thing to say out loud, isn't it? If you loved Risen 1, then yes, play Risen 2. Just don't go into it expecting Risen 1 with pirates. Treat it as its own game, and you'll probably enjoy it a lot more. [h2]7/10[/h2] [h3][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45905648-Gork%2527s-Game-Grind/]Check out my curated list of games[/url][/h3]

I played this a long time ago near its release, but I didnt finished back then because I jumped into it having never played the 1st one and, truth be told I wasn't really enjoying it. I'll probably never play it again but I'll give it a thumbs up because, even though it's not an amazing game, its never afraid to do its own "Piranha Bytes" thing, and that's praiseworthy for itself in a world where everything tends to look similar. I do remember that it was a bit too silly though, like it doesnt take itself too seriously, if that's something you like... that a plus. The pirate theme is cool, but if I remember correctly you wont be doing much "pirate stuff", if that's what you want, a game like Black Flag is a better option. Plays nicely at 60fps on the Deck using Proton compatibility straight out of the box.

Unplayable, locks up all the time.

I know people think this is the weakest of the Risen games, but for me, the whole pirate and island exploration just hit a spot I didn't know I had. The story is meh, but the whole setting had me hooked. I went with a ranged playstyle, and it was just a "blast" to play. I liked it, but I understand the criticism it is getting.

I replayed this game last year, starting on May 20th and finishing on the 23rd of 2025 and i feel i cannot really recommend this to start of, it does not feel like its in the same franchise as Risen 1 at all, story changes, lore changes and much more which were kind of breaking with the first game which to be fair didn't matter too much, Piranha Bytes never made good stories, they more made okay stories with peak progression Progression in this game feels... bad ngl, its just not done good, especially when comparing the choices between having an OP musket or a kinda good for questing but trash for everything else voodoo split speaking of voodoo, who the ♥♥♥♥ signed off on the native people in this game? I know that the PB community will crucify me for saying it (because they already did so on Reddit) but the Native peoples depiction is so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ racist they speak broken english/german depending on language, do voodoo, are primitive and on MULTIPLE OCCASSIONS are slaves and an entire NPC from them has his point being that THE WHITE PEOPLE WITH THUNDERSTICKS MUST BE GODS since they have their muskets, idk whihc world you life in that this isn't racist but it is, argueably this w…

+Pirate setting, which Piranhas romanced from Gothic 2, is handled with genuine care. This is not sunday afternoon grog-swilling Jolly Rogers swinging, but a layered adventure with political intrigue, fractured between several islands, and good ambitions woven through its bones +Voodoo and tribal aesthetics are handled with genuine respect, treated as a layered cultural mythology woven into the world's lore rather than mockery +Cunning-based skills add genuine personality to interactions, ability to shoot an NPC in the face mid-conversation being a particular highlight. +World is genuinely fun to explore, with tropical atmosphere, humid jungles, dank caves and imposing Mayan temples full of traps. -Combat is significant step-back from, intention of capturing the feel of climactic saber duels in flintlock smoke is understandable, but the execution in underwhelming and abandons the interesting direction the first Risen was pointing toward. -For a pirate RPG that gives you your own ship and then no ability to use it it any meaningful, just feels like a wasted opportunity, that stings even more knowing that there were older RPGs that gave you full control on your personalized vessel b…