Let me start this review by saying that I've never played any of the Gothic games. Or Oblivion. Or pretty much any RPG that has been released (for PC or consoles) in the last 8-or-so years. I lost interest in gaming a long while back, after a marriage, kids and work took up all of my time. I bought a new computer last week, and figured I'd take a look on Metacritic and see which RPGs were well-received -- I used to love the genre, and have played many of the classics (Wizardry series up to 7, Ultima Underworld, Betrayal at Krondor, etc.) and figured that I'd pick up a title to play for an hour or two in the evenings before bed. After considering a few, I decided on Risen and purchased it from an online retailer. I had no idea what I was in for! I have scarcely done anything but sit in my computer chair, jaw gaping for the last 4 days. This game is just incredible... the world is so fully realized it's almost shocking. People go about their daily lives, the days and nights cycle and weather changes, the world has very lived-in feel and a real sense of history. It is so easy to get lost in it, especially due to all of the distractions that the game offers you: collecting animal trophies, crafting swords and jewelery, mining... the list goes on and on. Should you decide to focus on the main quest line, the plot is gripping and voice acting accomplished. The game has a sense of moral ambiguity throughout that's very mature and thoughtful. There is no right and wrong side -- you are left only with your own morals and instincts to decide your friends and foes. Also, characters are multi-dimensional and not always as they appear... you will often serve as a tool for someone else's ulterior motives unless you're wise enough to catch on and refuse. I am, perhaps, not the best judge of graphics since I've been out of the loop for a while, but i'd argue that Risen is indisputably gorgeous. Beams of rust-orange light poke through the swaying trees at sunset, water flows convincingly around rocks and down falls, nights are inky blackness, broken only by your torch, which casts realistic shadows from everything around you. Just wow. Don't let yourself miss this game, it is really truly a classic and has single-handedly rejuvenated my interest in video games.… Expand

I tried to and really want to like this game. I just can't stand the combat, which is very frustrating. Your opponent gets guaranteed hits, but the reflex-based combat system implies that your mouse clicking skills will suffice. So the combat tries to be action-rpg because your coordination with the mouse is important and not so much your player's stats (as opposed to DA:O where 'stats' are everything). Even the simplest creatures seem to have more HP than you do and will take many hits to kill. Also the world is chock full of hostiles at every turn, just amplifying how frustrating the game can get when each fight seems rigged to be unfair. When you engage a hostile, you can't defend and attack (mele) at the same time, so you MUST release the shield and strike. And in this 1/20th of a second window where you release your shield and click to attack, your opponent gets a random chance at a guaranteed hit and you are forced to quaff a heal pot (which are hard to find early on). You can NOT hold the shield up and hit with the weapon at the same time. Other people who seem to have not noticed that the combat is unfair say it's fine, but they just haven't noticed the game is cheating in combat. Also the game forces you to do menial tasks to progress in the game like farm a farmer's field. Things like this serve the story, but absolutely are not fun to do. So from that perspective story is primary in this game, and RPG elements secondary. It's an adventure game with RPG elements, but as far as game progression, you must do many of the quests. What I like about the game is that the world is indeed as PB says, detail rich. The world is immersive. Everything is skillfully made. Time of day is very well done. I wish I could stand this game more so that I could see more of what it has to offer, because the scenery is very nice. I've also heard there are some big dungeons to explore and I'd love to see those. Oh well.… Expand

Great character voice acting, good storyline and progression of hero from fighter to battle mage. They avoided a lot of the annoying aspects of similar games (unlimited weight carrying, fireballs don't kill friends, no limitations based on good/evil alignment, etc).. Beautiful environment with sunrises, birds, rain, nice water effects. Lots of weapons, but not too complicated. Simple approach to magic that works well. Great game!… Expand

Very addictive, beutiful world full of secrets, secrets and secrets. Brings back memories of how awesome TeS III: Morrowind was, not as great as MW, but still a great RPG experience. Some minor flaws aren't enough to alter the overall experience of this game. PS. 360-commenters, the 360 version has it's own title.

This game is a gem of role-playing games. It is not perfect and let me tell you, if you are not up to the challenge this game will annihilate you. It features a beautiful, detailed and living world (except on the 360) and the best combat system ever made for a role-playing game. One that actually requires skill and where every fight is a challenge. The game's main flaw is its chapters. While the 1st and 3rd chapter are insanely well made and I literally finished them without exiting the game, I was disappointed that the 2nd and 4th chapter could not quite keep up with the other two. The game is probably the best RPG to come out since Gothic 2 and KotoR and definitely worth getting. And with an add-on to make up for the weaker chapters and a few flaws (which are so small I cannot recall them atm) may even be the best RPG ever made.… Expand

I recently played through this game and enjoyed it immensely. DO NOT get the 360 version and stick with the PC version. Don't even acknowledge that the 360 version exists and your life will be better. That said, I really enjoyed the overall design of the Island and really the most entertaining part of this game is just wandering around getting in trouble and accidentally coming across awesome treasure. I didn't think the story was all that great but I honestly didn't care. The game's characters are all somehow memorable and you'll be surprised how often you hear an NPC referenced and you know exactly where that person is on the island. I was planning on getting this to tide me over until Dragon Age releases in a few weeks but I got so addicted that I finished this damn game already!… Expand

Best single player RPG I've played in a very long time. I don't have anything else recently released to compare it to, but I enjoyed it more than Elder Scrolls - Oblivion or Fallout 3.

A solid RPG, with a lot of atmosphere. The combat system is at times not so responsive as one might wish for, in a game that requires you to master your keyboard in order to just survive. The upside of that is of course the good old Gothic feel. This game is difficult. The enemies are really dangerous, and your skill and your character's, will determine the outcome of combat. For some, this will be a let down, but for the rest of us, it heightens the feeling of accomplishment. As with any quest-based RPG, there are some glitches with the quests, but all-in-all I feel that it works out very nicely. A negative point is the horribly stereotype view of women, but to be perfectly fair, most role playing games on PC tend to be massively sexist.… Expand

I'm a great Gothic fan(real gothic: 1,2 and Night of the Raven) that's why I suffered really much when Piranha made IMHO very crappy G3. So I was looking forward Risen, hoping they would correct previous mistakes. And at the beginning I really enjoyed it - good optymalisation, nice graphics models, interesting plot. But it soon turned out that gameplay is dull, side quests almost don't exist, the map is huge however, there's nothing interesting to see except hordes of boring mobs. Main quests were all about annihilating more and more mobs to get milion pieces of very powerful artifact, and later another and another. But during my whole 'adventure' with Risen it didn't really bother me, because I was waiting for some development of plot when suddenly...the game ended. I was laughing whole day because I think it took me the same time I would need to get to the 3rd chapter of G2 for example. For me - better than G3, but still average.… Expand

Great RPG. with an unique and impressive fighting gameplay... you can kill much higher level enemies just by being able to control your character and avoid their attacks, block or counter attack in semi combos; the world is a joy to explore and the graphics are a real work of art. Story is captivating and even though I haven't finished the game, I can't wait to start over again and take a different path for my character.… Expand

A challenging and very rewarding game. One of the better RPGs to appear in the last few years. If you are prepared to invest in the game you will get your money's worth and much more. Even if you are only a semi serious RPGer you should give this game a try. I doubt if you will be disappointed. I won't go into specifics, I don't need to, just believe me when I say this game is very very immersive. Of course, if you are an instant gratification bod who wants to be walked through the game whilst playing it, simultaneously one shotting everything in your path, then I wouldn't bother.… Expand

Awesome game. One of the best RPGs in the last few years. Great to see that PB are back into making beautiful game experiences. Gothic 3 might not have received good reviews, but hopefully Risen gets the praise that it surely deserves.

great RPG and adventure. I was pretty much thinking that Piranha Bytes were done after Gothic 3 but i gotta say this is one of the most stable games i've played coming out of Germany. The engine is not really the best and brightest of them all but it delivers definitely on the atmosphere front. If you're into RPGs and adventures and like to explore and quest, Risen might very well be better than Dragon Age.… Expand

Risen, oh my god, this game deserves an award in my opnion. Never have i had so many fun in an rpg since a long time, let alone Piranha Bytes did a great job on the story and the graphics. The few doensides i had were a few little bugs whereas you run into a house and appear upon the roof, although it made me laugh more than it actually annoyed me. Let alone the many easter eggs ive found were not only funny, but also very original. All of this together makes me say 10/10, its been worth the 50 euros i've spent on it. If there's plans for a Risen 2 or any rpg game from Piranha Bytes it definately will be something for me to look forward to.… Expand

I've not played any of the gothic games but I'm finding this to be a solid and enjoyable RPG. There are a few minor technical issues and I've experienced a couple of annoying CTD's but this hasn't affected my enjoyment of the game too badly, I also feel that performance could be a little bit better. The graphics and world design are superb, despite the reletively small size of the island and limited number of major settlements there is still a great deal to discover in this game. The AI is of a reasonable standard and I find combat quite enjoyable, one thing that is a little annoying is the fact that NPC's etc. aren't drawn until reletively close to the player character and the fade in is quite noticeable. Voice acting on the whole is pretty reasonable and the story itself is quite interesting . There's a wide range of different quests and a good amount of different skills that your character can learn ranging from cooking to smithing weapons. Overall I'm really impressed with this game even though it has a few irritating technical issues, one of the better games to appear on the PC this year.… Expand

This is the game that Gothic 3 should have been. Game play is interesting and thought provoking. The graphics are beautiful. Game play and the story line flows nicely, and can be played leisurely. If you like Gothic 3, even in its broken state, or liked Oblivion or The Witcher, you will love Risen.

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

It's an amazing multiplayer game , the maps are well detailed , and the controls are easy to use and learn , i recommend this to any person who enjoys playing First Person Shooters.

Really good and exciting experience!! Amazing adventure, full of story, mysteries tied with a huge and complex combat system! Wonderful! I loved Gothic 1 & 2 and I really love this game: the real sequel of the Gothic series! I've appreciated the great job Piranha did! The maximum expression of it! Thanks Piranha!

Very lack luster game. with no quest log to give you guidance, you are merely wandering around half the game. You are very vulnerable to EVERYTHING! Rats will make you scream at the low levels. Could have been so much more. Really wish the developers had taken more time to CARE about what they were making. Story is bland and unentertaining. Don't waste your money on this when you could buy Oblivion or Mass Effect for a much better story AND a better game. Again, stay away from this, its a horrid release and does not deserve your money.… Expand

I've never played any of the Gothic games so this game was a quite new experience for me. A very enjoyable and engrossing experience too. I've logged 100 hours on this game without even noticing it - it's that immersive. Potions, cooking, mining, forging, stealing, freedom to go almost anywhere from the start and a fresh (to me) approach to combat, which I had to learn fast. Any game where spamming the left click button almost guarantees you defeat in battle is a welcome change. A serious or even semi-serious RPGer should find this game well worth their time and money. I had a few very minor grahical glitches (steam version) and the end could perhaps have been better, but this game is full of entertainment and I highly recommend it, especially if the you are disillusioned with the direction of other so-called RPGs.… Expand

It's been ages since I've liked an RPG this much. I loved Gothic 1 and 2 (BOTH of which are much better games than Oblivion - Oblivion just looked prettier) but Gothic 3 was completely broken. Risen is what Gothic 3 should have been. The engine is unbelievably smooth, even on my 2 year old rig with all the settings on high - no pauses before combat, and no loading or unloading when entering / leaving dungeons. The world looks great. There's lots to do and collect. Everything just works simply - see something highlighted? Left click to pick it up. Middle click to toggle combat. Right click to block. It just seems to do everything right. Looking forward to playing this for a LONG time because, unlike Oblivion, everything in a piranha bytes game is hand designed, no computer generated lego-block dungeons here - therefore, you never know what you will find, or where a dungeon will take you. On a technical note, even the shaders are spot on this time... none of the weird artifacts they had in G3, everything looks wonderful and performs flawlessly, no crashes or freezes or even slowdowns... THANK YOU piranha bytes!! Glad to have you back !!!… Expand

Quite possibly the most fun I've had in an RPG since Morrowind a decade ago. A solid, intriguing game with an absolutely jaw-droopingly crafted world that will have you exploring its every nook and cranny for hours upon hours. The amount of secrets, REAL secrets, in this game is absolutely staggering! Hidden passages abound in dungeons and treasure is tucked in the most out of way places. Hands down, Risen is the best PC RPG to come along in a very, very long time.… Expand

Piranha Bytes is back! After the undercooked Gothic 3 failed to impress, Piranha Bytes left the series, went back to the drawing board and came up with a next gen spiritual successor to Gothic 2 called Risen. It's just as hardcore and unforgiving as the Gothic titles, but also keeps the same immaculate attention to detail, deep leveling system and immersive game world. The combat system is a significant improvement over the mindless click-fest that was Gothic 3, and much more streamlined than the clunky system from 1+2, without sacrificing the complexity. The wide-open gameworld, the most dearly loved feature of the franchise, is back with a vengance. You can roam freely throughout the massive island without a single loading screen, indoor and out. Almost every quest has multiple ways to complete it, based on your moral compass or your character's skills. Every NPC is killable, and even four beginning-to-end playthroughs could not possibly be enough to see the many paths that are open to you throughout the game. As for the graphics, the environments are lush and gorgeous, but the character models are simply passable. I hardly noticed, however, since everything else about the game engine is top-notch and the world is filled with believable, organic exteriors and interiors. To sum it up, Risen is a godsend; a hardcore western RPG bursting with content. This may not be for everyone, but it's hands-down the best game I've played in years. If you love RPG's and are sick of the hand-holding, spoon-feeding games crowding the market lately, don't let this one fly under your radar.… Expand

Five minutes ago I completed this game, of almost 5 days of intense playing, I just could not stop! All the way through the game I was amazed by the freedom, the many path and of course the story. I liked the gameplay itself so much, that I want a Risen 2! - NOW! Seriously, try out this game, even if you don't play RPG, it's definitely worth it. I give it a BIG 9 of 10.

I thinks this a great game despite being a gothic esque clone (replace "magical barrier" with "island surrounded by storms") the game pulls from you a need to explore its dark secrets and a game that compells you to play it is agreat game indeed. oh and not every game needs to push the graphical limit because not everyone is a rich fat bastard who can afford a super computer then bash lower end games made for the rest of us!… Expand

Great rpg, Doesn't seem that great at first but beyond that it becomes excellent. Challenging (which some people may not like) but gives you a real sense of achievement when you finally off a tough beast or solve a major quest. It's free-roaming, has tons of interesting quests, and once you get used to the controls you'll find them natural. Only thing wrong I found is the combat controls for optimum combat are set too fast for me (but I'm useless at beat-em ups etc). Didn't really matter though since you can still have very fun and tactical combat without them (it's not that big a deal). Overall a fantastic game.… Expand

Actually I like this game now -- It's almost as compelling as Gothic 2. Can Metacritic delete 'AndyG's' review, given that he's me, and that I've changed my opinion?..

I base this rating on pure fun value. This is hands down the best combat system ever in any RPG anywhere; it is extraordinarily challenging without being gimmicky. No matter how strong you are, if you get lazy, a pack of wolves will eat you b/c they will use good AI and surround you so that one distracts you while another eats you. Progress is slow but steady and you can design the character you want. With perseverance, luck and skill, you *might* beat something relatively much stronger than you and then reap your xp and treasure rewards out of proportion to your level which is my favorite thing about well designed RPGs as they reward courage and creativity. But mostly likely you will be reloading a lot! (as you should). And don't even think about the toughest creatures until you are truly advanced. The graphics while a bit dated but beautiful render cilnky skeletons and icky giant moths; even the wolves have menacing yellow eyes and sping tingling growls. And the real star is the gorgeous FarCry-esque seascapes, with hidden paths and easter eggs everywhere. Even after 25 hours I still was surprised to suddenly realize an area I knew really well, actually bent back across the mountain to something else I knew... speaking of which, the map design is brilliant. There are shortcuts all over but you won't be able to use them until you are powerful enough to be where you should be because the monsters guarding them are either very tough or numerous - so it's not gimmicky at all, just well thought out and immersive. Honestly, I should rate this game a 9 b/c the combat was a bit tricky in the beginning and the quest system definitely needs a lot more help in figuring out, both of which sent me to the walkthroughs more than once. But if you don't mind doing that once in a while this game is a 10. Otherwise, it's still a 9.… Expand

I thoroughly enjoyed this game. Great music and atmospherics. Love the AI of the NPCs (.e.g f you stand somewhere high and be a douchebag like me taking crossbow shots at random people, they don't just come up to the building butting their heads on the wall, but actually climb up to come and get you lol). I think a good combination of a bit of hack and slash with solid rpg. BIG THUMBS UP!

The first two chapters are marvelous, they have everything that a good RPG should have. Sadly, the other two are exact opposite of that. 10/10 for the first half of the game, and 4/10 for the other.

Great game, fun combat(albeit a little annoying at times, but a fine representation of "you can't win them all" lol), fun quests that force you to decide how you want to go about the task, decent textures, nice water! I prefer this type of game on the PC, I'm not a console gamer anymore, but I couldn't imagine it being any worse than morrowind or oblivion console versions. This game, spawned of the Gothic series, is tough to start if you don't know how the series rolls. Gothic III and Risen, while they have their moments, seem to be lacking a little of the humorous edge Gothic II had. Also, I thought Gothic II had a much more compelling social environment aside from the humor factor. Don't get me wrong, though. The humor and compelling environment are still prevailent, it's just not delivered as well in my opinion. Risen is still a triple A title!… Expand

Risen is more of the same... That's the best way to put it. The combat is decent, though repetitive. The graphics are nice, if unimaginative. The story moves you through the game, but doesn't enthrall you. The game is mediocre. One of the strangest decisions is not letting you create your own character... Why do I have to play a premade character, when there is nothing interesting about him? He's the fantasy equivalent of a bald space marine.… Expand

Another sub par game filled with glitches, horrid 360 controls and a bizarre menu system. Think Two worlds with no multi-player and slightly better voice acting, thats about it. Who knows it could be your thing, I would still wait till the bug are sorted out though.

The game is very good, but the DRM is unacceptable, only 3 activations is an absurd. The support for revalidation at deep silver ignores you. Don't buy and don't loose your money.

Piranha Bytes is finally back with an extremely absorbing game, Risen is simply EPIC. Any service that will rate it below 80% must have people who judge the game by its cover. Loved Gothic I and II but hated all-for-money Gothic 3? You will simply love Risen, can call this game a piece of art, really.

Don't listen to this stupid "Bad Graphics" shouters.Its a really funny and well balanced game.The point of a game is that you can have some fun.Risen made me have fun all the time.Its absolutly pointless to rate a game a 0 because it has bad or average graphics.And Risen is very funny to play.

A thoroughly enthralling game. I feel I need to express my take on some of the issues raised in various critic reviews. Those who criticise the combat or leveling system have almost certainly not invested enough time in the game. This is game design by the old rules, back when you were rewarded for your time and commitment with depth and complexity. Piranha Bytes' are basically the Anti-Bethesda, whose games consistently present you with skin-deep gimmickery and utterly fail to deliver on their apparent ambition. This is a combat system that you have to learn as much as your character does, and a leveling system that rewards you with a genuine feeling of progression rather than just a page full of big numbers and an increased dice roll. All skills are useful and compelling, crafting and pickpocketing are just as meaningful as combat and magic. Lastly, it is one of the most consistently diverse and designed games I have played. The technology may not be the most cutting edge, but the attention to detail in all aspects of the game's design manage never to break the atmosphere. Even the english translation and voice work have come on leaps and bounds from their earlier work, and borders on genuinely compelling more often than not :-) If I had to describe this game in a single word, it would be "Solid".… Expand

I have not played Gothic 1-3, but Risen impressed me a lot. Beautiful graphics, exciting story. Of course it has some drawbacks, but you don`t notice them while playing. It is the third RPG me played after Deus Ex and Kotor 1-2, so Risen can compete with them.

Very good game indeed. Great graphics, combat, VO, world to explore. Quests in chapter one are fantastic, not quite so good in later game, just rather linear. Still fun because of combat system, which feels clumsy at first because your char is crap at fighting, with effort and skill increases becomes more and more fluid. Character system is okay, not the best, but sufficient. Definitely the most fun I've had in a game all year, hope it sells well.… Expand

There isn't anything I disliked about the game. Combat system is challenging, and I like that. I have to actually think and know how to move, when to block, when to hit. I like the fact that with enough experience in combat you can defeat monsters that are a lot stronger than you. Alchemy is nice - picking all those plants, looking for special ones in hidden places. This isn't something optional if you want to make your character considerably tougher. RP setting is great - I liked Don's Camp a lot, with the bad, tough guys. How they try to frame inquisition as the *real* bad ones, and how it turns out, when you meet them, to be quite nice guys. Sights are great - ocean, forests, sky - are very beautiful. Music is very, very nice. Miscellaneous: Climbing rocks and trying to get to previously unreachable places using Acrobatics skill is cool; girls are pretty.… Expand

The combat in this game is STUPID hard. You have to constantly double tap around whatever you're fighting or you will die almost instantly. There is no way to defend yourself, parry does nothing as you still get hit just the same. They need to have some way to defend attacks.

Wow, Piranha Bytes really amazed me this time too! Great game! You never get bored playing this game. There's really an awesome story mixed into this RPG and it should diffently be played by all roleplayers! Graphics are great and the leveling system really makes the game even better. The game is balanced, so it doesn't get boring after the first play hours, but it is more challenging. Try it out!… Expand

Everything are great but it very short after defeat the Titan the game end very disapionted it should be continues like go to the mainland or something interesting and never end.

First, Wade G, is smoking crack. To give this game a zero shows someone who is having a hissy fit - I have played Two Worlds (which I would give a 6-7) and this is much better and more fully realized. The graphics are a bit more "European" which mean they are more real and gritty than cartoony and colorful like Oblivion. Overall, this game is excellent - especially in that the main quest portrays a power struggle and you cannot remain neutral ... I have played pretty much every RPG that comes out and would put this as well worth the buy. Is it one I will return to again and again? No. I may play through twice and then it will be over - but it is an enjoyable RPG and I am glad I bought it. If you like RPGs, and if you enjoy the Gothic series, this is by far the most accessible one yet and is a lot of fun to play.… Expand

Gothic is Risen is Gothic..... - yes this game is not wat, in my opinion, everyone expected from gothic 3. All in all gothic 3 was a good game with some disadvantages like a real bad combat system - and a very disapointing story. In my opnion these two issues were the only issues gothic 3 had - and risen just fixes these issues and makes some thing s even better than gothic 3. The graphics are so beautiful - everything fits together in this game ... great work - looking forward to get an add on like the night of the raven for gothic 2 ...... i think there are some possibilities tie integrate such a thing into risen...... thanks piranha bytes, that you're back where you belong.… Expand

The Risen is great game. When you play you feel magic.If yo played Gothic and you like it Risen is game for you.It is in my opinion the best RPG in this year!!!

Right from the start, im a huuuge gothic fan (1,2 and 3) So i was very pumped for this game and i can say it was definantly worth the wait. The game is a true hardcore RPG but and i love it. Now i can only recommend this game to fans of the gothic games. Or games that were around as hardcore as those games, because there is no quest marker like in oblivion or some other **** rpg. Here you have to figure out yourself and thats what makes this experience so satisfying. The combat is great, it actually takes skill. It may be difficult at first but once you get used to it it starts to get fun. I love how people go about their daily life doing what they need to ITS GREAT. Dont miss this game, if you do its a grea tloss on your side of you're a big fan of RPG's. I just have a few minor gripes with some bugs but they can be overseen for this beatiful and rewarding experience… Expand

Risen is said to be the successor of the gothic series. I used to try playing gothic 1and 2 but never get into them, because of their weird interface and controls. but I actually liked Risen. the interface is intuitive and easy to handle. the controls are better than gothic games. you just use left mouse button to attack, right button to block and space to jump which makes it quite easy to get into battle and of course this game is hard, so at lower level, you'd better not get involved with some high level monsters or persons. In this game you have to learn skills from certain NPCs and they will charge you gold for that which is quite realistic. I suggest start with talking to various NPCs and get some easy fetch quests first. The exploration in this game is fun and level design is well-done though the characters' animations are very awkward. story wise it's not impressive however this game has several factions, when you joined one, the quests from other factions will be locked so there are some replay values here. overall if you want to find some realistic open-world RPGs, Risen is a good start but just keep in mind the world in Risen is dangerous even at the beginning if you used to a easy run like in oblivion you will be pissed :).… Expand

I just replayed this game for the 3rd time. If it wasn't for the short chapter 3 this would be a 9.5 for me. This game deserves many accolades, and I hope there are more great PB games incoming in the near future.

Very good open world RPG. Beautiful environments,fun combat, Gothic-like lvling, gameplay and guilds (Yay! :) ) , exploring... -minus, story is not so interesting , mostly weak characters, weak end boss fight

First, looks great, decisions have a large impact on the game. The combat works very well, as you upgrade skills. You'll have alot of trouble if you just button mash. The drawback of the game is that I had some very irritating bugs when I played - missing quest triggers, etc. On the whole a very fun game for RPG fans.

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

Best RPG since it's release so far. Piranha Bytes keeps my hopes alive that RPG genre didn't died out yet. And the graphich is really amazing for a 2009 game. Managed to get 30 FPS medium, 1024*768, Radeon 5750.

A fun little adventure, appropriately challenging combat, an initially engaging plot. Very rough around the edges upon closer inspection but not in a game-breaking manner. Ultimately what this game lacked entirely was character. No goofy cast of recurring characters like in the Gothic series. Just a series of faceless plot devices. An amusing game that is great need of some good storytelling, humor, drama, tragedy, something. Nevertheless, Risen is a rich game that is fun to play from beginning to end which is more than I can say for most games.… Expand

This game was flawed in every way I could think of. The graphics are way too dark. It looks like a PS2 game. Lighting in the environment pops in a random when it feel like working. There is no collision detection on various pieces of the scenery. When swing your weapon at a wall or any object other than an enemy your arms simply go through the walls. The voice acting seems like it was ripped out of Troma movie. The difficulty is set way too high and the controls are horribly laid out. This game makes Two Worlds look like game of the year and thats saying something.… Expand

Started fine, but very soon became apparent that I'd played it before. Piranha Byte's brand of RPG will die like 'Might and Magic' for its chronic inability to advance, improve or develop their creation. At least Bethesda take some risks to build on what they have.

Well... I'm very disappointed by new PB's game. Firstly, they were shouting about "NEWS, NEWS, NEWS, other look of their games". They even showed few concept arts with big nosed people, a dwarf. But they didn't want to work much, so we have a Gothic 3 except it's called "Risen". That's because i wouldn't rate it above 7 already. JUST THINK ABOUT SOMETHING NEW, PB! I played this game, almost the same, in 2001 when Gothic 1 had had realesed, and again when G2 and Night of the Raven came out, and once more in 2006. Just cut this out. But I leave that graphic and gameplay issues... Don't care, after all i wanted a great story in this game, which will memorize me great moments from G1 and NotR. But no. The beginning is SO, so BAD, with sucky "training missions", when i felt like an idiot, when the game had showed me how to jump or pick up an object. Later is a little better, i had been played almost 10 hours with joy, a great moment when I've entered with Mendoza into volcano, lizardmen showed up and... OH NOEAS, betrayer Mendoza! Fire Titan! GO, you nameless fella, with tragic voice actor! BECOMA LORD OF THE TITANS and gather 5 pieces of my SUPERDUPER ARMOR and beat the bastard! No, that's not a good and epic story. Sorry PB, you made 3 almost same games with much better stories. Cut it out and make something NEW!… Expand

The game has it's moments, but it completely fails to provide any kind of depth seen in for example Oblivion or Morrowind by Bethesda. Risen also suffers from some over-detailing the 'shallow spots', if such a term exists. The developer is trying to create an illusion of depth where there is none. As a comparison to anything with Bethesda or Black Isle on the cover, this fails miserably - but on it's own, or even when sitting next to the Gothic games, it's well above 'nice'. Unspectacular, kind of shallow but fans of the genre shouldn't miss it.… Expand

Blah dialog, blah combat, blah voice acting and character animations. Blah enemies, very very dull all around. Try gothic II or oblivion, this game is lame.

Its a bit like gothic 1 with new decent graphics, less interesting character development, boring and very repetitive fights and a bit dull story. Not a bad game, but waaaay behind what i would expect from Piranha Bytes.

A lot of glitches. Poor battle system. Poor maps. Not worth the price at all.

Dialogs are delivered in a monotone. Quests are obviously filler quests that are meaningless, at least at first, letting you see that you're up for a grind. Combat is fraught with false difficulty, meaning it's a kind of randomness instead of there being something you can do about it, like get better at controlling your chararcter, or upgrading your stats. The graphics are good, though. Overall, it's a pretty frustrating RPG.… Expand

I only played an hour of this game but that was all that was needed to totally bore me. First of all the graphics are mediocre, oblivion looks better and it's 3 years older, the music is great... if you want to fall asleep and i read that the voice acting was supposed to be great, it's not, it's actually the opposite (piss poor ) there voices are all expressionless. The actual presentation could have been so much better the dialogue is in a boring font and the dialogue options are very plainly done. The world itself may be big but it is also dull, lifeless and just to damn plain . Many people complain about the combat being very hard, how is simply clicking for attacks and holding in for block difficult it's just about timing although it feels as though the enemies attack at random which might make it feel hard, there is not much technique involved and ends up being more shallow than Fable's combat. I don't know much about the story at all but the intro did nothing for me and basically just showed how the main character got stranded. I applaud this game for trying to be a hardcore RPG which it does some what succeed with but overall it falls flat and if you've played oblivion or mass effect than this game will just be plain boring. 5/10. Waste of time.… Expand

Great game but takes around 10-15 hours to really get into if you don't already know what you're doing. You might be a bit disappointed at first but if you're willing to give it a chance and you will surely like it.

Pros: Great environment design, interesting quest design Cons: annoying combat system, difficulty spikes, stilted character acting, being trapped in areas before completing objectives, generally unhelpful and difficult quest system TLDR: A unique world hampered by annoying combat, tedious questing and huge difficulty spikes

Come on! I don't know how RPG's like ,,Risen" can still exists in this generation. Age of games like ,,Gothic" is ended. I don't like games that shows everythings in the start and then, there's nothing what can surprised.

a must play game for those who love rpgs.this game is fantastic.once you get into the game you will start to understand how deep and big this game is.there are some peoples and animals with whom you cant fight until you level up your skills.i played and finished this game after almost sixty hours.there are a lot of things to explore and loot.you need to make wise decision about what side you want to be with(don or inquisitor).i chose to be with don.ifv you havent played it yet then play it.… Expand

A very enjoyable game until the last act. Far too many lizard people in far to similar dungeons and a very low quest density make the end a lot less enjoyable than the rest of the game. It still gets an 8, a very low 8 at that, from me because I had a good deal of fun with it.

Risen is a good production, although it still needs a number of cuts. If you are fans, or just love the Gothic series, this work also fall in love with you. Additionally, if you plan to test the Risen 2, it is useful to first reach for the first part, because I secretly believe that it will close follow-up adventures. I leave you, you may miss the chance to buy this game and remember ... Do not let the counter bison!… Expand

Risen is one of the best RPGs ever. Its behind Gothic 2, because it is shorter an with less choices and dialog and the end boss is just not right for the game. But the combat is amazing, the world is beautiful as always with PB games. Their games are extremely involving and engaging and has a unique atmosphere. Piranha Bytes are the real kings of RPG games. Hope Risen 2 will be as good as Risen, that would give me a new chance to keep up playing games. I am extremely disappointed about games like Skyrim, Dragon Age 2 etc.. They made me thinking about quit playing games for ever. Sorry for my bad english, Im a north with an arrow to my knee..… Expand

This game could have been so much better. The RPG elements are very well implemented and the fighting is cool. BUT i the quests are almost impossible to do since there is NO quest tracking system. Thats why i uninstalled the game after a while.... i couldn't manage to do the quests... I mostly ran around wondering what to do next.

This game could have been very enjoyable, thought his is stunted somewhat by the awkwardness of almost every aspect of the game from combat to levelling. I am a huge fan of RPG games and after oblivion and Dragon Age this simply does not stand up against modern titles. One thing that I will say for Risen is that the graphics are very pretty indeed, this may be of the only feature of the game which held my attention for the duration that i played it, more a desire to see more of the lush surroundings than the want to develop my character and see where the story would take me.… Expand

For me this game is a solid 8. It has decent graphics, quite innovative attempt as for fighting and pretty looking open world which is neither too huge nor too small. We start off on the beach, after surviving a shipwreck, in an unknown island. Then we learn about the island and it's problems, and we get pulled into the story... Which is, I must say, so-so. There are too many similarities to Gothic series in the story, so it was a little bother to me. For someone who didn't play Gothic, it shouldn't really be a problem. As I said, the story is linear but we get the possibility to join one of two factions. We don't create our character, and neither we choose it's class. But it's up to us how do we want to develop skill-wise. With each level we earn skill points which we are able to exchange for strength, dexterity or other useful skills like brewing potions or smithing. Overall, it's really a game one can enjoy. Mostly for the gameplay. Side quests aren't really anything special, and main story line isn't all that fun, but it could be worse. I really think the gameplay makes up for it. As I said, fighting is really fun. It's partially about tactics, but mostly about our reflex, dodging and attacking at the right time... The more we boost up one fighting style the more various things we are able to do, like parrying an attack, then doing a counter attack.. or combos. We can play as a mage too, obviously. Overall, I think it's really a good solid RPG. It's all that Gothic 3 should be but wasn't. The game seemed a bit short in my opinion though. Doing everything what was possible, including killing almost every single evil creature on the island, it took me 25 hours to finish the game. Oh, and I won't spoil but the last boss fight should have been better. As for difficulty, I think it's just right. It may seem a bit difficult for some people, but mostly because most of the new games are terribly easy. Pros: -Innovative fighting. -Nice open world. -Decent graphics. Cons: -Story could be better. -Too many things seemed like in Gothic series... I could give many examples but I'll just throw one. A port city to which ships aren't able to come right now. This alone made me think "Again?".… Expand

Frankly I do not understand what the fuss is about this game: everything from go is positively frustrating: from the ridiculous jarring and frame stutter you get (specificallyon ATI HD+ cards) to the hideous character visuals (the environments are gorgeous though) and the lack of an apparent mini-map. That and the fact that it is ridiculously hard to the point of frustration = a game to be avoided. Absolute trash with almost no redeeming value whatsoever.… Expand

I will make things short. This game is really good itself. Fights, an island and some quests made me finish this game and I had some fun. But it's just a copied Gothic 2 mechanics with Gothic lore. It's unbelievable that everything in this game is just a renamed copy from Gothic series. Thing is, I don't appreciate "copy-paste" games, I have to give it just a 5/10. Because I could just play old Gothic games that I paid once for them. Same game for same amount of money isn't good. It's bad and I felt robbed by Piranha.… Expand

Risen 1 is the best RPG i have played in my life. ( except some japanese rpg) Its really better than skyrim, even witcher 2 that i love, dragon age... BECAUSE the STORY, the characters, the quests, the items, magic, the worlds, the difficulty in battle, ARE AT THEIR BEST !!! no game can beat that. Risen 1 is a game like no other. its the only game that i feel im really living in that world. i played 30 hours without sleep the first time i played. Try it for yourself, its really better than any other rpg if you have patience. i played both the PC and xbox 360 version. the xbox 360 version is not beautiful VS PC, but its still the same game. RISEN 1 is the best !… Expand

There are 2 important notes to take into account about this game: 1. If you are fond of Piranha Bytes games, you’ll mostly have no problems with this one. I’ll explain. The game is hard at times, though in most cases it is testing your sense of reason instead of your reflexes. It is hard when you rush into the conflicts, when you do not think about where to get armor/sword, but already look for a fight. The game rewards careful plants collecting, analyze of what quest to go through first, what places you can visit without risk and where you shouldn’t go yet. In this matter it is not very important that most of the quest demand you to collect things around town/island or beat the things out of someone. Because your main goal is to satisfy important people, to get yourself some money, clothes etc. to protect yourself. This is the system used in every Piranha Bytes game. You might love it, you might not. But it is definitely not stupid or irrational. 2. The crucial part of the game is that it has 4 chapters. It still might take you a lot of time to complete the game. It might vary between 20 to 60 hours. After completion of the final quest you are not free to roam the land, the game ends. No point in looking for hidden chests or other secrets, their main goal is to provide equipment for main character’s survival on the way. There are no bonuses, no making of-videos. But the most disappointing thing is that only the 1st chapter is great. All the rest take a brake in terms of story and in terms of gameplay. In the first chapter you are introduced to the leading powerful institutions of the island, you are free to decide whom to join. You complete some quests in favour of one or another, some quests are only available for one of these groups. You start to take advantage of the weapon skills, magic, alchemy, smithing, or pickpocketing and stealing, hunting etc. That is interesting, especially because weapon skills development does not simply increases your damage, but it grants you new abilities with this weapon. Everything is interesting and exciting. But when the chapter is finished, that is it. A long run from one dungeon to another starts. You do not get a lot of new side quests, you do not have many interesting adventures. Though every dungeon is dangerous, there are a lot of hidden secret doors, switches and killing traps. That is interesting too, it just takes too long. If you can live through that. I envy you and foresee many hours of enjoyment for you in this game. The graphics are good at landscapes, weather changing, day-night changing, grass, trees, shadows and lightning esp. at night, and very bad at animations, some characters behave like actors of dolls theatre during the conversations. Think about two points listed above and decide whether the game is worth your money and time. Good luck.… Expand