Why Risen 2 is shit?

[Murk]

Its a better RPG than Witcher 3

 

[Celeb]

Risen 1 was good, but it fell off the deep end in the second half and went to near shit. I know Risen 2 and 3 aren't held in as high esteem as the first game, but which of the two sequels is considered better? I have vague memories of one of them being considered dogshit and the other as competent, but can't remember which.

From what I have seen (and read), the third game received more praise than the second one but barely. Since I consider Risen 3 a vast improvement over its predecessors, I assume that awful memories created by Risen 2 influenced its successor.

Risen 1 falls "off the deep end" not in the second half but in the endgame. Which is p. much the case for every single PB game including G1 and G2.

Risen 2 is a decline but the game still has some heart and soul, at least in the first half. The 2nd half is a joke, more like a linear action adventure than a traditional PB open-world RPG.

Risen 3 is completely soulless, disinterested cash grab. It doesn't turn into a completely different game in the second half like R2 does, the level design is more consistent, but the game just sucks your will to live dry so the endgame is still shit.

Risen 1 actually starts becoming worse immediately after the first chapter but gets really boring and repetitive after the second one. Gothic series does indeed have similar problems but not to this degree. Endgame locations in first two Gothic games are nowhere near as mundane as dungeons you have to check in Risen.

Saying that Risen 2 has a soul is just a meme argument. You can't be serious. Risen 3 has a dick and a pair of balls because it introduces a new protagonist. There, this is my argument.

 

[adddeed]

Witcher 3 is a visual novel more than its an RPG.
There's absolutely no contest vs Risen 2, let alone the rest of the PB games.

 

[Ravielsk]

Witcher 3 is a visual novel more than its an RPG.
There's absolutely no contest vs Risen 2, let alone the rest of the PB games.

Razorfist is that you?

But on a more serious note. Risen 2 is bad because its a game trying to fix problems the first game did not have. It effectively abandoned its own setting for a pirate one expect without doing anything with that new setting. The way pirates and natives are handled is more or less identical to how they were handled in G2: Night of the Raven, the big difference being that in that expansion they were only a small intentionally basic side element. In Risen 2 they are the main attraction but still are handled the exact same way as if they were a minor part of a bigger expansion. Unsurprisingly that made the whole game feel like rather bare bones.
Another problem is that it moved from one big open world to a bunch of small islands(presumably to improve performance on 7th gen consoles) which all more or less look the same and have pretty much the same in terms of loot. So exploration feels and looks fairly uneventful. The worst part is that people were expecting to see some of the old world but instead Risen 2 immediately jumped onto the new world which at that point is literary nothing but jungle and with a barely developed settlement.
The combat was for some reason completely overhauled from Risen 1 and while its serviceable its obvious that it was not given enough time, mainly because Risen 3 does it again but better.

A lot of these changes came from the poor reception Risen 1 had but that poor reception was not because R1 is bad its just that its a different kind of a game. People though it was a Oblivion clone and it was a "soft" Gothic sequel. So you got people like Angry Joe complaining the game is not epic enough because joining a cloister does not immediately send you on a epic quest to recover the holy underpants(+6) but instead you are told to swipe the floors. The game was criticized for being a slow burn affair and Risen 2 tried to fix that but when you are essentially overhauling the core of the experience its more or less impossible to get it right on the first go.

 

[1451]

Risen 2 is the better game. Risen 1 is extremely unbalanced, fighting with one handed sword and shield is guaranteed win against any opponent. Meanwhile the spear is useless trash, have fun killing endless lizardmen during endgame.
The combat of Risen 2 is well thought out and deceptively deep. Different types of damage and various moves give you the chance to play the way you want to, instead of equipping a shield and cheesing all enemies.
The battle system in Risen 3 is even worse, you roll around like a maniac. I remember making fun of Gothic Arcania (fake Gothic) for this exact reason and piranha implemented it in one of their own games.
I'm not saying that Risen 2 is a masterpiece because it's not. But the battle system is much better than anything else we've seen from piranha, and it's too bad they didn't build upon it and abandoned it because they panicked after the bad sales.

 

[Dodo1610]

Holy crap what hive of decline did I wander into?
Even PB later admitted that they dumbed Risen 2 down because the publisher hoped that it will sell better on consoles. Animations were removed, but they added QTEs minigames and cooldowns. Of course It didn't work and it sold poorly.

 

[Falksi]

Risen 2 is pure incline. In the vid I've posted on the previous page it displays pure, anti-SJW white male humour & writing at it's best.

No wonder we get snowed under with multi-diverse decline SJW shit like Dragon Age: Inquisition, when the very guardians of white male supremacy on the Codex fail to support a game which embodies our standards.

From Destructiod's faggots:

I'm all for tasteless gags, but some of the dialog in this game may cross the boundaries of acceptably risqué patter and fall firmly into offensive territory. One early quest involves trying to force your companion into a kitchen job for no other reason than she's "a woman." Later on, characters openly refer to black natives as "spearchuckers" (a racist term in Europe) while several homophobic jokes crop up.

It's unnecessarily mean-spirited, and the whole thing's potentially offensive to boot

That's a 10/10 recommendation to buy & play right there. Where the fuck in today's world are you gonna find another game where you can hear the niggers referred to as "Spearchuckers"?

Some of you need to get a grip.

 

[Murk]

The pirates refer to women as "bitches" constantly too, and even mention beating them to keep them in line.

Also, I liked Bones. He reminded me of kind of a sad clown meets Morte kind of thing.

 

[Frank Capicoli]

I really hated how small and disjointed the island system made the game world feel. The combat felt like a decline from Risen 1. Lastly fuck the time wasting lockpicking minigame.

 

[razvedchiki]

Anyone tried out the balance mod?

 

[Grampy_Bone]

The combat was straight busted at launch. Maybe they improved it with patches but I never went back to it.

 

[Wunderbar]

The combat was straight busted at launch. Maybe they improved it with patches but I never went back to it.

yeah, they added a dodge function and the ability to block non-humanoid enemies in the second patch.

Imagine making a game without dodge and block, and implementing it later with a patch :D

 

[Falksi]

I played it in 2015 with all the additional patches & what-not added, and thought the run & gun style combat was perfectly fine and actually quite enjoyable.

You just have to play through the first few hours with the crappy combat, and not side with the negros so that you're not forced to use voodoo.

Even the games choice system rewards white supremacy.

 

[Celeb]

The combat was straight busted at launch. Maybe they improved it with patches but I never went back to it.

yeah, they added a dodge function and the ability to block non-humanoid enemies in the second patch.

Imagine making a game without dodge and block, and implementing it later with a patch :D

"The making of Risen 2" explains that Piranha wanted to make a system that looks like swashbuckling. Why did they put so many monsters in the game without a way to dispose of them then? No real armour. No dodge. No blocks. Only a sword and an RNG pistol at the beginning. Absolutely insane.

 

[Gnidrologist]

I thought 'kick' will be great to keep nasties at bay, while shooting them with a shot gun, but i don't seem to be able to perform it outside of melee stance. Did i just wasted 500 gold for a skill that will not be useful with mostly ranged character?

 

[razvedchiki]

Kick besides topling crabs creates distance so you can fire them musket in a proper 17th century way.

 

[Falksi]

I thought 'kick' will be great to keep nasties at bay, while shooting them with a shot gun, but i don't seem to be able to perform it outside of melee stance. Did i just wasted 500 gold for a skill that will not be useful with mostly ranged character?

Yes. I never used it.

Just run & gun son.

 

[Gnidrologist]

But does it mean you can't execute it at all, while holding the shotty?
Running is viable, but not that great. The guy is slow as fuck. It only works only because you can get enemies be distracted by your companion.

 

[Cyberarmy]

I only found bayonet strikes useful while holding rifles

 

[Gnidrologist]

I understand, but i want to know if kick is simply unavailable, while holding the gun or am i missing something. It says in the guide that you hold the right block/mouse button and push the space bar. But, when you hold the gun, the right mouse button triggers the aiming and space does nothing. Is there another button combo that still can trigger the move or is it just exclusive melee move?
For some reason this guide among other things says

Kick - a skill you should really learn. It not only helps in encounters with Giant Crabs, but also with any human opponent. Press Space while fighting to push the enemy away. It's particularly useful when you're using firearms and wish to keep the foe at a safe distance. Even so, fencers should buy it too, as it will give them a moment of peace between the rain of blows. Requires Toughness at 1.

I tried it on humanoid having shotgun in my hands and it doesn't seem to work.

 

[Gnidrologist]

So, no one even knows how this actually works. Well, whatever.
One more question. Stones is supposed to give me the lockpick for free, because he's in debt with Largo, who i need to free from his prison, but there is no option to in dialog about this. Only way i can get it is by paying 500g. Is that how it's supposed to be?

 

[Celeb]

So, no one even knows how this actually works. Well, whatever.
One more question. Stones is supposed to give me the lockpick for free, because he's in debt with Largo, who i need to free from his prison, but there is no option to in dialog about this. Only way i can get it is by paying 500g. Is that how it's supposed to be?

If I remember this correctly, you need some sort of evidence about Largo before Stone parts with his lockpick. Go back to the prisoner and check every dialogue option. You may need to acquire something from him or one of the guards who stole his items.

I don't remember ever using kick after I switched to musket. Bayonet's stab works similarly to kick anyway.

 

[Gnidrologist]

I don't mean that. I have his items as evidences that allows the acquiring the lockpick. You can also buy the lockpick, if you got the quest to open hard chest on Silverbeads ship. The problem is that Stone's is supposed to give the lockpick for free per words of Largo, because Stones owes him a favor. I exhausted the dialogue with Largo and have all the items, but no option to tell Stones about his debt to Largo. It's not that big of a deal, but i'd prefer to keep 500gp as money is scarce in this game.

Okay, think that settles it. I still have only access to shotgun so no bayonet for me.

 

[Gnidrologist]

One thing i like about this game is really fun and colorful dialogue. Even the cliche pirate shtick is done well. The pirate captains are peculiar and all have their own interesting personality. Lots of funny well written banter all around, but not too funny like with some Larian games. Of course it's shallow, but works very well for a swashbuckling adventure story. Also some nice attention to detail like, when i released a steal monkey to wonder around the woods and it came across a campfire with some guys sitting around, they immediately noticed the monkey and one of him said something like "where did this fellow come from" and another one was like "hey, maybe it's thirsty" and they kept watching how the monkey makes somersaults and stuff.
Even combat isn't as bad as i thought it would be. The weakest point of the game compared to other Piranha titles is exploration. Not only more linearity, which i can deal with, but kinda meh world outside of major hubs. Especially dislike the endless "jungle" areas.
Anyhow, much better game than Codex would lead you believe.

 

[adddeed]

I love dialogue in all PB games. Down to earth and unpretentious, to the point and often funny.
Enjoyed the island hopping and found there was enough exploration still. Plus finding the special artifacts was fun.

Anyway the retards form the Codex usually bandwaggon and hate on partiucular games like parrots.
Like all those dumbfucks hating on Pillars of Eternity even though its one of the best cRPG series you can get.