One of the most hardcore
mainstream RPGs of this generation.
As the name
implies, Risen 2 is the direct sequel to Risen, if you are a PS3 owner like me, you are screwed, as the first one is a PC/X360 exclusive. You don't really need to have played the first one, but characters
love referencing it, so a lot of the jokes and returning characters might get lost on you.
The story sees the nameless hero turned into a Inquisitor drunkard(The reason as to why he is back to level 1), and the appearance of Mara, an ancient being bent on destroying the world. There's only one way to defeat Mara, and that is to gather 4 ancient artifacts, the main character is tasked with doing so, but he will need to enter the Pirate world and abandoning the Inquisition. The story is nothing special, and neither are the characters, the dialogue however is, at
times, quite entertaining.
The game plays like most western RPGs, being very open ended. As soon as you leave the first island, you are free to gather the artifacts at your
leisure. There are numerous sidequests to be done as well, which reward you with Items, Gold and or Glory. Glory is this game's Experience Points, and it's almost as hard to come by as Gold. Y'see, this is a very hardcore and unforgiving game, you need Gold for everything: Getting items and equipment, learning skills and sometimes, even to fulfill certain sidequests. Heck, the few equipment pieces that can be found are
pales in comparison to what you can buy, except that one sword that you can forge. Stuff is
very expensive, and gold is a very rare find, specially
early on the game. The worst part is, you use Glory to level up your stats(Blades, Toughness, Cunning, Guns, Voodoo), however, that doesn't net you any skills, oh no. You must find a Teacher that will charge
exorbitant amounts of money to teach you skills. At the outset of the game, your character cannot do anything besides attacking with the square button. Power Attacks, parrying, stealth, lock picking? All requires to be taught. And you will
require some of these in order to fulfill some sidequests and earn more money. As previously stated, the early game is really hard, I
easily died over 7 times in the first three hours of the game, save often.
The game lasts around 30 hours, and you won't get enough Glory and Gold to max out everything, so you must choose wisely. Furthermore, later in the game there's a
branching path in which you can choose to side with the natives and learn Voodoo, or side with the Inquisition and get access to better Gun teachers and learn to handle a Musket. Minor
happenings on the main quests also change up a bit, which is kinda nice. As you go through the game, you will aquire a small, but respectable crew. There's about 5 characters, one that needs the DLC to get, and a couple of "?" on the menu, which probably means that there was more DLC planned. Some of these companions, three of them actually, you can bring alongside you. They are really useless, and tend to get stuck on terrain. At least they help on the early game by attracting enemies towards them,
exploiting them quickly becomes second nature.
Graphics are really mediocre, siding on bad. Animations are stiff and dated, and models aren't too appealing. Even worse, a lot of character models are cloned and retouched a bit, leaving dozens of NPCs with the same face. The Islands themselves fare a lot better, offering some very
pleasing vistas. There also happen to be tons of framerate issues, fighting on watery areas, with a companion against more than one foe can become quite
taxing on the fram rate. Many times, it gets so bad that the game might mistake mashing the Square button for holding it, due to the slowdown, making you attack with an
unwanted heavy blow(Which you must learn, by the way). The music is alrightish, nothing to write home about, and the voice acting is merely adequate. There are many NPCs that share the same voice actor, and it's hard
not to notice. At least the dialogue is rather good.
As frustrating as the framerate issues are. As vexing as the game is at the start, I was having fun with it. Beneath all the technical issues, beneath it's unwelcoming exterior, deep down, there is a decent game. Still, it's hard to recommend, even to pirate fans, as the beginning can be quite offputting.
6 out of 10.
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