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[Deleted member 17706]

If I enjoyed the hell of of exploration in Risen 1, will I enjoy Risen 2? I heard it is a bit less open world than the first, and also a bit dumbed down.

In terms of mechanics, it doesn't seem dumbed down at all. The combat got shitty, but I wouldn't really say it was dumbed down.

Exploration is still a big part of this game, but it doesn't seem quite as good as in the original. The caves seem smaller, and there seems to be a smaller amount of interesting stuff off the beaten path. There also seems to be a lot less inter-connectivity between the areas, but I guess that makes sense since the individual islands aren't that huge.

With that said, there are a lot more characters, as well as more "town" locations to visit, which is kind of neat. They all feel less special to me than the three main settlements in the original Risen, though.

I plan on going back to the original Risen after I finish Risen 2 just to make sure I'm not being blinded by nostalgia at all.

 

[Sentenza]

If I enjoyed the hell of of exploration in Risen 1, will I enjoy Risen 2? I heard it is a bit less open world than the first, and also a bit dumbed down.

The world is overall probably bigger, and yes, you will enjoy it.
The problem is: it's also more fragmented, as instead of one unique landscape you have many smaller islands (they are... six, I think).

 

[CornBurrito]

In terms of mechanics, it doesn't seem dumbed down at all. The combat got shitty, but I wouldn't really say it was dumbed down.

Exploration is still a big part of this game, but it doesn't seem quite as good as in the original. The caves seem smaller, and there seems to be a smaller amount of interesting stuff off the beaten path. There also seems to be a lot less inter-connectivity between the areas, but I guess that makes sense since the individual islands aren't that huge.

With that said, there are a lot more characters, as well as more "town" locations to visit, which is kind of neat. They all feel less special to me than the three main settlements in the original Risen, though.

I plan on going back to the original Risen after I finish Risen 2 just to make sure I'm not being blinded by nostalgia at all.

I was never interested much in the characters.

Hmm... What exactly happened to the combat? Less timing/reaction based?

I'm really sad to hear about the exploration taking a hit.

 

[RadicalRad]

If I enjoyed the hell of of exploration in Risen 1, will I enjoy Risen 2? I heard it is a bit less open world than the first, and also a bit dumbed down.

Exploration is still pretty big. There's a lot of caves and canyon corners that hold rewards for the explorer. The coolest is while exploring you stumble into one of many ruins with some nice treasure in it.

Spoiler

If you have a monkey you'll find even more!

The sword coast is especially full of hidden treasures waiting to be found.

 

[Sentenza]

On a side note, the voice acting has some very good moments (and characters).
more specifically, I love the nameless hero remarks here and there.

 

[RadicalRad]

On a side note, the voice acting has some very good moments (and characters).
more specifically, I love the nameless hero remarks here and there.

The npc interaction is pretty damn good and genuinely funny. Speaking of whichend of sword coast voodoo path spoiler)

Spoiler

when you are controlling the commandant to hijack the ship you can optionally speak with patty and totally mess with her. She gets super pissed when you tell her it's you. Haha

 

[subversus]

did somebody figure out how to fix shadows "blinking"? It happens when the time of day changes, i.e. every 30 seconds or so. It doesn't happen gradually as in RDR or GTA and it doesn't move jerkily like in Skyrim. It just SWITCHES. I can't play the game for long because of that.

 

[mercenar1e]

the lighting in game is pissing me off lol

 

[CornBurrito]

the lighting in game is pissing me off lol

What's wrong with it?

 

[Hamplin]

What's wrong with it?

If you are not directly facing a lightsource inside a cave/house, the whole screen goes pitch dark. It's nearly making the experience unbearable.
Also, during ligthningstorms there's this wierd reddish flickering on character faces that doesn't look good at all.

 

[Orin GA]

Guys, did those two voodoo ladies (Kapua and cant remember the other one) disappear after you were done with Sword Island?

 

[RadicalRad]

Guys, did those two voodoo ladies (Kapua and cant remember the other one) disappear after you were done with Sword Island?

Not for me. They're still there.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Just finished the Treasure Island DLC. Kind of cool, but man, I'd be pissed if I actually paid for that.

 

[witchedwiz]

Combat-wise gaf censs?

 

[Doncamatic]

Combat-wise gaf censs?

The melee combat was terrible at the beginning so that pushed me towards firearms. Unfortunately, firearms are pretty dull: right click, place reticule over enemy, left click, wait 2 seconds to 'reload', repeat.

 

[Tanolen]

Just finished the Treasure Island DLC. Kind of cool, but man, I'd be pissed if I actually paid for that.

Yea that was definantly not worth 10 dollars, I think it took me 10 mins to beat.

Combat-wise gaf censs?

Not bad when fighting humans, terrible versus monsters.

 

[Pyrrhus]

Combat-wise gaf censs?

It's not good. It could be with a few tweaks, but it's too muddy and slow and you're too prone to being stun-locked to death. The range and general movement of the attacks is generally fine, but the way the hits fail to stagger enemies or let you interrupt, combined with the inability to block attacks from animals or sidestep dodge, make it a rather unsatisfying (even irritating) experience. It needs a complete rebalancing and I hope someone produces a mod to address that.

Even saying that, I still recommend the game. You play Risen 2 for the exploration rather than the combat. Combat's not unplayable, but it's not something that you'll specifically enjoy.

 

[Orin GA]

Doing the Inquisition Path now. Venturo kicks so much ass.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Combat-wise gaf censs?

One word: bullshit.

It's playable, but not enjoyable. I've gotten to the point where I can kill things easily with my nearly maxed out slashing abilities, but the combat is still really, really lame.

It's by far the worst part of the game by a wide margin. It's also the biggest part of what makes this game worse than the first Risen. I'm nearing the end of the game and I imagine I'll beat it tonight or tomorrow, but as of now, I definitely think it's not on the same level as the original. Some parts are better, but I definitely enjoyed the first game a lot more. Just to be sure, I plan on playing through the first Risen again after I finish Risen 2.

 

[Hamplin]

This shooting gallery minigame is pissing me off something fierce right now.
It's not like it's hard enough just to hit 8 targets with this floaty reticule? You have to throw bombs at me that at a glance could be easily mistaken for skulls? REALLY?!!

 

[Deleted member 17706]

This shooting gallery minigame is pissing me off something fierce right now.
It's not like it's hard enough just to hit 8 targets with this floaty reticule? You have to throw bombs at me that at a glance could be easily mistaken for skulls? REALLY?!!

Here's a hint that really helped me: Only go for the easy targets. As long as you don't fire and miss, you don't get an "X" against you. You don't have to fire at every object. The game continues until you run out of bullets--the objects that fly through the air aren't finite.

 

[Hamplin]

Here's a hint that really helped me: Only go for the easy targets. As long as you don't fire and miss, you don't get an "X" against you. You don't have to fire at every object. The game continues until you run out of bullets--the objects that fly through the air aren't finite.

I did just this for what seemed like forever. I'm just that bad of a shot i guess...
I just cleared it though. Thank god, was about to hurl my display out the window.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

I found the shooting mini game really easy, just hover at the edge of the screen and wait for them.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Just finished it. Clocked in at 25 hours... I did pretty much everything with the voodoo path.

I really enjoyed many parts of the game, and had a lot of fun, but overall I come away disappointed. I'm going to give the original a run through next, but as of now, I feel like Risen 2 doesn't quite live up to the first game.

edit: I just started up Risen and it controls so much better than the sequel it's kind of ridiculous. I didn't realize just how bad and sluggish Risen 2 felt. Ugh.

 

[syllogism]

You can supposedly activate all the dlc via console

Some people found a way around this in the Test Mode of the game, apparently one can enter a Test Mode by blindly typing "pommes" in game, it should display "TestMode Activated" and enable the console which one can be opened with the "^"-key left of the "1", after that apparently spawning "DLC helpers" seems to work:


spawn dlc1h

spawn dlc2h

spawn dlc3h

Allegedly fully functional except missing voice overs

 

[Spectacular Dr Dawg]

Just finished this.

I enjoyed the game but overall it's worse than Risen 1. So many of the things I enjoyed about the first game has either been dumbed down or removed altogether.
The combat is bad and doesn't really get better further into the game, it just gets easier. The controls are also less responsive which can makes the combat even worse. I actually liked the combat in the first game and it's a shame that they completely changed it. Enemies are also easier in general and there's a lot less enemies that will kick your ass.
The quests also feel like a step back compared to the first game and if there are multiple ways to complete a quest they just tell you your options upfront instead of letting you figure it out yourself.
One of my biggest disappointments about the game is the fact that they removed your ability to climb anywhere and the levitation spell, which makes the exploration far less interesting than in the first game.
All the interesting locations are tied to some quests and there's fewer interesting locations of the beaten path. On the plus side there's a lot more towns and NPCs which is great, even if none of the towns are as big as harbour town from the first game.

Despite all its faults I still enjoyed the game and had a lot of fun with it. The world design is still good even if it's not as good as in the first game. The graphics are really good aside from the horrible pop-in, short draw distance and annoying texture flickering. The pirate setting and art style was a definite improvement over the first game and there are more towns and NPCs than in the first game.

 

[rybrad]

I am stuck on Antigua after doing everything. I try to tell Patty to head for the Isle of Thieves and all she keeps saying is "Stop wasting time". Anyone know if I am missing something here? I tried respawning her with the console and same deal.

 

[Orin GA]

Anti-Warp Mod Released

AntiWarp is a Risen 2 modification that increases the high quality view ranges for SpeedTrees, thus enhancing the game's graphics and getting rid of the "warping"/"morphing" effect (in the original game, bushes and trees seem to grow when the camera approaches them). Optionally the mod also increases the absoulte view range for SpeedTrees.

Original Thread

Original:

After:

 

[Stallion Free]

Thanks for the link I am definitely using that when I get the game.

 

[Orin GA]

I am stuck on Antigua after doing everything. I try to tell Patty to head for the Isle of Thieves and all she keeps saying is "Stop wasting time". Anyone know if I am missing something here? I tried respawning her with the console and same deal.

Talk to the Sylvia on the other ship.

 

[eXistor]

Just finished this.

I enjoyed the game but overall it's worse than Risen 1. So many of the things I enjoyed about the first game has either been dumbed down or removed altogether.
The combat is bad and doesn't really get better further into the game, it just gets easier. The controls are also less responsive which can makes the combat even worse. I actually liked the combat in the first game and it's a shame that they completely changed it. Enemies are also easier in general and there's a lot less enemies that will kick your ass.
The quests also feel like a step back compared to the first game and if there are multiple ways to complete a quest they just tell you your options upfront instead of letting you figure it out yourself.
One of my biggest disappointments about the game is the fact that they removed your ability to climb anywhere and the levitation spell, which makes the exploration far less interesting than in the first game.
All the interesting locations are tied to some quests and there's fewer interesting locations of the beaten path. On the plus side there's a lot more towns and NPCs which is great, even if none of the towns are as big as harbour town from the first game.

Despite all its faults I still enjoyed the game and had a lot of fun with it. The world design is still good even if it's not as good as in the first game. The graphics are really good aside from the horrible pop-in, short draw distance and annoying texture flickering. The pirate setting and art style was a definite improvement over the first game and there are more towns and NPCs than in the first game.

I agree with this fully.

 

[rybrad]

Talk to the Sylvia on the other ship.

Only two people on the other ship are Slayne and Elliot the cook. They both just stay "We have wasted enough time". I am thinking I might be screwed here.

 

[Orin GA]

Patch notes

The changes include:

Features
- Players can now block most attacks by monsters
- Player has a "dodge" move in the fight - double press the arrow keys while holding the right mouse button

Balance / Tweaks
- Only a maximum of ten autosaves
- Improvement in the attack behavior of the monster AI
- Improvement in attack behavior when characters were attacked from behind
- Improvement in the representation of vegetation
- Improving the visibility of objects
- Improving the representation of the terrain

- Guns sabotage in Puerto Isabella is now much simpler
- Dealer of the Sword Coast now sells rum
- Exploit removed while shooting mini-game
- Increases hit points by Mara
- Steelbart's hat can no longer be sold

bugfixes
- Trees flicker in the distance is no longer on NVidia cards
- Solve problems with video cards in SLI
- Fixed crash when using a 7.1 sound system
- Fixed rare crashes occurring when climbing
- Fixed bug with "return to the ship" option
- Fixed an error when it rains indoors
- Crew members can no longer be killed by monsters
- Players will now receive the item-Foolsjuice after brewing
- Fixed an error in the learning of specific skills
- Various exploits removed

IF U INSTALLED THE 'Anti-Warp Mod' UNINSTALL IT AND DOWNLOAD THE NEW VERSION.

 

[NIN90]

woah

 

[Sinatar]

Patch notes

The changes include:

Features
- Players can now block most attacks by monsters
- Player has a "dodge" move in the fight - double press the arrow keys while holding the right mouse button

Balance / Tweaks
- Only a maximum of ten autosaves
- Improvement in the attack behavior of the monster AI
- Improvement in attack behavior when characters were attacked from behind
- Improvement in the representation of vegetation
- Improving the visibility of objects
- Improving the representation of the terrain

- Guns sabotage in Puerto Isabella is now much simpler
- Dealer of the Sword Coast now sells rum
- Exploit removed while shooting mini-game
- Increases hit points by Mara
- Steelbart's hat can no longer be sold

bugfixes
- Trees flicker in the distance is no longer on NVidia cards
- Solve problems with video cards in SLI
- Fixed crash when using a 7.1 sound system
- Fixed rare crashes occurring when climbing
- Fixed bug with "return to the ship" option
- Fixed an error when it rains indoors
- Crew members can no longer be killed by monsters
- Players will now receive the item-Foolsjuice after brewing
- Fixed an error in the learning of specific skills
- Various exploits removed

Looks like I can continue playing now, nice.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Holy shit haha... way to change the combat completely over a week after release. I should have waited for a sale or something. Oh well, I enjoyed my playthrough. Maybe I'll give it another go someday.

 

[Clydefrog]

Patch notes

The changes include:

Features
- Players can now block most attacks by monsters
- Player has a "dodge" move in the fight - double press the arrow keys while holding the right mouse button

Balance / Tweaks
- Only a maximum of ten autosaves
- Improvement in the attack behavior of the monster AI
- Improvement in attack behavior when characters were attacked from behind
- Improvement in the representation of vegetation
- Improving the visibility of objects
- Improving the representation of the terrain

- Guns sabotage in Puerto Isabella is now much simpler
- Dealer of the Sword Coast now sells rum
- Exploit removed while shooting mini-game
- Increases hit points by Mara
- Steelbart's hat can no longer be sold

bugfixes
- Trees flicker in the distance is no longer on NVidia cards
- Solve problems with video cards in SLI
- Fixed crash when using a 7.1 sound system
- Fixed rare crashes occurring when climbing
- Fixed bug with "return to the ship" option
- Fixed an error when it rains indoors
- Crew members can no longer be killed by monsters
- Players will now receive the item-Foolsjuice after brewing
- Fixed an error in the learning of specific skills
- Various exploits removed

IF U INSTALLED THE 'Anti-Warp Mod' UNINSTALL IT AND DOWNLOAD THE NEW VERSION.

sweet jesus! guess i'll start playing it now

 

[fizzelopeguss]

What the fuck...lol

 

[demolitio]

That's one way of convincing people to play through the game again, add something worthwhile to combat!

That was the main thing missing and was needed against animals and such. Weird how they never mentioned it and it just appears in a patch after launch almost like it was an easy fix...lol

 

[Kevtones]

What a sensible but utterly odd update. This better be in the 360 version!

 

[Alexios]

So is combat like Risen 1 now after that patch? On paper it sounds like it. Attacking, blocking, dodging...

Although it was quite clunky in Risen the concept was sound. Hopefully the next one can focus on polish and content, not the tech.

 

[stuminus3]

Hahahahaha <3 Piranha Bytes. The patch changes the game from being a massive disappointment to being exactly what I wanted it to be. You've gotta wonder if the way it was released last week was unintentional. It just makes so much more sense now.

 

[Sinatar]

So is combat like Risen 1 now after that patch? On paper it sounds like it. Attacking, blocking, dodging...

Although it was quite clunky in Risen the concept was sound. Hopefully the next one can focus on polish and content, not the tech.

It's better but still not quite like Risen 1, mainly because you don't lock on to targets so you're often facing the complete wrong way at random times.

But still, it's a *vast* improvement so far. Kinda bummed that I have to restart, but my existing character is a complete mess.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

It's better but still not quite like Risen 1, mainly because you don't lock on to targets so you're often facing the complete wrong way at random times.

But still, it's a *vast* improvement so far. Kinda bummed that I have to restart, but my existing character is a complete mess.

I made a save right before the "choose voodoo or muskets" part, so I think I'll restart from there when I do play the game again.

 

[Sinatar]

Played a bit more. If they can somehow patch it so that enemies actually respond to your actions (like getting hit, parried, blinded, etc...) then the combat will end up being pretty good. As it is it's still just a silly mashfest but at least you can defend now.

 

[Stallion Free]

Oh man I'm so glad I waited.

 

[pilonv1]

But still, it's a *vast* improvement so far. Kinda bummed that I have to restart, but my existing character is a complete mess.

You have to restart to get the patch to work? Or am I mis-reading this?

 

[Sinatar]

You have to restart to get the patch to work? Or am I mis-reading this?

No I have to restart because I had to switch from blades to guns in my last save and wasted a fucking ton of gold/glory on useless shit.

 

[pilonv1]

No I have to restart because I had to switch from blades to guns in my last save and wasted a fucking ton of gold/glory on useless shit.

That sucks. Didn't you have an earlier save?

Now if someone could fix the CPU usage like Skyrim I'd be really happy.

 

[Clydefrog]

um... the trees still grow/shrink for me and i'm still getting slight flickering. using an NVIDIA GTX 570