A lot of people seem to have a a fairly negative opinion of this game, especially in comparison to other games in the series. Personally, it's one of my favorite games ever made, which makes that a bit jarring to me.
The combat is admittedly poor, but i enjoy the ideas in it, from the sneak attacks mid conversation, the sand attacks, luring enemies into each other, figuring out surroundings... You'll get bored if you just want a regular fight, but if you're crafty it becomes a lot more enjoyable.
I consider the thieving and sneaking mechanics to also be a very enjoyable puzzle to work out. Treasure hunting feels exciting and the limited resources as things don't respawn in game adds a need to specialize, which in turn favors replayability and makes valuable things feel valuable.
While the writing is a mixed bag, i do consider there to be some very witty portions of it, and I enjoy the protagonist not only being kind of an awful person, but also wrong frequently, it's refreshing to feel like my main character really is just a pirate and not a hero. I also enjoy the supporting cast, again some more than others, and again most of them aren't good people, but they strike a good balance for the most part I find. Interestingly, a lot of 2 characters come back in 3, and I dislike a lot that was done with them there.
The environment is something I'm biased towards, I love Caribbean style settings and I think this game really manages to create a good one, exploring Antigua, the Sword Coast or Caldera is always a lot of fun for me. The soundtrack is also really, really good.
There's a lot of variance in your choices and it feels like you can really change the game you play with how you approach things, down to even unlocking new mini games based on approach, and I do think the Risen 2 mini games are all pretty fun.
Overall, I can very much understand why someone might not like this game, but most of its "flaws" were welcome improvements for me after not being particularly sold on the first Risen, and I genuinely enjoy myself every time I play this game.
The combat is admittedly poor, but i enjoy the ideas in it, from the sneak attacks mid conversation, the sand attacks, luring enemies into each other, figuring out surroundings... You'll get bored if you just want a regular fight, but if you're crafty it becomes a lot more enjoyable.
I consider the thieving and sneaking mechanics to also be a very enjoyable puzzle to work out. Treasure hunting feels exciting and the limited resources as things don't respawn in game adds a need to specialize, which in turn favors replayability and makes valuable things feel valuable.
While the writing is a mixed bag, i do consider there to be some very witty portions of it, and I enjoy the protagonist not only being kind of an awful person, but also wrong frequently, it's refreshing to feel like my main character really is just a pirate and not a hero. I also enjoy the supporting cast, again some more than others, and again most of them aren't good people, but they strike a good balance for the most part I find. Interestingly, a lot of 2 characters come back in 3, and I dislike a lot that was done with them there.
The environment is something I'm biased towards, I love Caribbean style settings and I think this game really manages to create a good one, exploring Antigua, the Sword Coast or Caldera is always a lot of fun for me. The soundtrack is also really, really good.
There's a lot of variance in your choices and it feels like you can really change the game you play with how you approach things, down to even unlocking new mini games based on approach, and I do think the Risen 2 mini games are all pretty fun.
Overall, I can very much understand why someone might not like this game, but most of its "flaws" were welcome improvements for me after not being particularly sold on the first Risen, and I genuinely enjoy myself every time I play this game.