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Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 392 Ratings

  • Summary: An epic story in an authentic world hand-crafted with an eye for detail and populated by "real", plausible characters. A Mysterious Volcanic Island The heavy tremors on the island bode ill for its inhabitants. Ancient temples have risen from the ground recently, bizarre creatures are terrorising the area. Fear and terror is spreading among the population. The End of All Hope? A group of powerful men who call themselves "The Inquisitors" have taken it upon them-selves to put an end to these events. They send an exhibition to this remote island, but a storm takes hold of the ship and destroys it at sea. A Hero Will Come - As if by a miracle, the player survives the shipwreck and is stranded on the volcanic island alone. He finds himself amidst a chaos of rebellion, tyranny and mystic rituals. He must now decide to which side the pendulum of fate will swing. [Deep Silver] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 32
  2. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Risen is a great RPG with only minor flaws. A worthy sequel to the Gothic series.
  2. 86
    Its combat system isn't the greatest and its pacing is inconsistent, but for those who put in the time to see all Risen has to offer, it's an experience that won't be forgotten.
  3. Risen is a solid, engrossing and beautifully presented RPG that's well worth your time and money. [Dec 2009, p.72]
  4. I’d only recommend Risen to people who really enjoyed the Gothic series, or perhaps similarly flawed games like Two Worlds or Dungeon Lords.

See all 32 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 64 out of 88
  2. Negative: 11 out of 88
  1. When I first saw this game I had no idea how good it was going to be. I will start with the graphics. The graphics are the only thing that make me give this game a 9 rather than a 10. The character models and building have a polygon count a bit on the lower side. The aesthetics on the other hand make this the nicest looking game I have seen for a long time the use of depth of field is just astonishing. The gameplay can only be describes as classic RPG. It looks, feels and plays like a high quality RPG. In my personal opinion this is better than skyrim. Expand
  2. [Anonymous]
    8
    Graphics overall are decent,with plenty of colours(not just brown) and trees and bushes in the screen to make it look like a jungle island, but arent anything that would make your jaw-drop in awe, and most obvious reason for this is that the character models could be better and more detailed. The gameplay is quite good. Combat requires you to dodge, parry , and you cant just keep clicking the mouse and expect to win. Which is a good thing. However controls could be bit more accurate and fluid, but they arent bad, nor are the controls a major issue. Skill system COULD use few more skills, like a shield skill for an example, and the skill system doesnt have anything revolutionary in it, but it is sufficient and pretty solid. Improving skills requires you to get training and PAY for it. It fits the overall game quite well, even though it might seem unforgiving to people accustomed to easier games, its not a bad thing. Atleast the game doesnt pamper you too much. Writing is sufficiently coherent and well written, but it isnt amazing nor will it win any prizes for it. Also the voice overs could be better, at times they dont sound all that good , but otherwise sounds are again, good. UI is well done, and there is really nothing to complain here. Overall, its a good action RPG, but it isnt great nor a isntant classic. It manages to be actually challenging and entertaining, and is worth buying if you like WRPGs. It reminds me of better days , days where games werent pleasant strolls with no challenge. Expand
  3. First of all, Risen is very similar to Gothic. Based on this, Risen was well appreciated by Gothic fans. But Risen looks like a copy of Gothic. And it's not good at all.
    By the way, I like Risen. It's a nice game with gloomy atmosphere, very cool fight system and German humour. I think, fight system in Risen is best among Piranha Bytes' games. So, there are many interest quests in first half of game. But after completing first chapters storyline is becomes very boring and annoying. Problems with story are the main disadvantage of Risen.
    Anyway, I like Risen for its atmosphere. Dark colours in swamps or bright sun lights in mountains in combination with beautiful music from Kai Rosenkranz create an unforgettable experience.
    Expand
  4. The game world is richly detailed, expansive, and full of life. The graphics are pretty good (for the year it was made anyway), music and sound are well-done, and the voice acting is good too. It's a shame then that the combat is so insanely, brutally punishing as to prevent you from enjoying it. The combat may get better as the game goes on, but the 5 or so hours of this game that I could stomach saw the combat devolving into nothing more than holding down block until the enemy attacks twice, then attacking 2-3 times rapidly before blocking again. It was idiotic. Couple that with how it is entirely impossible to kite one enemy away from a large group, causing you to get swarmed by 5 enemies at once, and you had better get familiar with the load game screen. This is not fun. Everything seemed so interesting that it was really a shame it was kept out of reach. It's like when you were a child, and older kids would hold things in the air out of your reach and taunt you. Eventually you learn to punch them in the stomach, and go do something else. Expand

See all 88 User Reviews