Risen is predictable and far too similar to Gothic

[Lord_Potato]

You are really selling Khorinis short. Its the best realized 3d RPG city out of all those you mentioned. Wyzima is great sure, but its parceled out by loading zones. Can you climb the rooftops in Wyzima? Khorinis even has that degree of verticallity to it. Tarrant is also great but its 2d and it loads some areas separately. Also npcs are loaded on the fly while in Khorinis they are just there. And npcs are just plain more reactive than in other RPGs and all kind of shit can happen at random. I dont think in The Witcher you can even attack people.
Then there is the city's surrounding area like the abandoned lighthouse and the little island which you can consider a "part" of the city too, making it even bigger. Also the nearby forest with the Orc and the little turnip village give it a degree of realism.

Agreed with many of the points you make. Although, despite Wyzima is parceled, you could fit whole Khorinis into every of its neighbourhoods.

However, keep in mind that in my initial post I have not been really focusing on criticizng Khorinis. I guess it was impressive considering the level of technology thay had back then (with seemless movement between bulidings and streets, a thing they had neither in Morrowind nor Witcher). I was just merely stating the harbor town in Risen is a downgraded Khorinis. It is (despite technological advancement) smaller and offers less content.

Its a natural continuation of Gothic and all the different aspects even if they are "worse" (smaller, easier, kinda streamlined) fit the laid back Caribbean setting. It isnt a prison colony anymore or convict overrun island or a war torn Myrtana. Its just some backwater peaceful little island so we cant hold it against them that Harbor Town isnt as great as Khorinis.

I am sure they could make it a bit more interesting and larger. The "better" neighbourhood is basically one square with 4 buidlings and a fort on the hill. There are almost no flavor buildings (every place is connected to some quest or two). I doubt even backwater Carribbean towns were so small. It seems more like some shitty fishing village. Harbor town was a big letdown for me. You march across the island from the bandit camp, then you find a way to get into the town without falling victim to the recruiters of the Inqusition, and in the end you see this.

I heard PB had low budget for this one and it clearly shows.