Finally got around to finishing Risen. I really enjoyed Piranha Bites Gothic 1. Just something about Euro devs I like more than other ones. Even if G1 was clunkier than Morrowing/Oblivion I still like its world and story more though I liked all of them. I still need to get around to G2.
I thought the graphics did their job well. Only had 1 crash and the main bugs I noticed was voice not playing in chapter 3. I speed click after reading text and don't listen to the voices so it didn't bug me. While the game's island might be small compared to other games, it still had tons of content and unique locations. Took about 45ish hours total but I also tried to explore every nook and go back and smack all the tough monsters once I levelled up.
I did get bogged down and lost after getting to the swamp during the first few hours. Then once I decided to actually dig into the game, I found my way and enjoyed it. Quest log and map were useful in finding where to go. I did give up at the final quest and used a walkthrough, but by that time was ready for it to be over. Part of the issue was the underground/dungeon quests were all stuffed into the last 2 chapters. I think it would have been better if they were spread throughout the game since the early dungeons were just 1 or 2 rooms.
Combat worked well. As you improved you could use better weapons and had more attacks. Defintely felt improvement as creatures that once smacked you around were now laid waste as you came back for revenge. I mostly used swords with just magic for buffing, healing, etc. Quests were fun and many seemed to have different ways to solve them. The island was also 1 big world. No loads time once the game was going.
Of course once I finished it a patch was finally released. Maybe it fixed the annoyance of having to reinvert my mouse each time I started the game (Setting wouldn't stick even though it showed it was inverted). I really need to go back and play G2 but want to get through a few FPS and maybe some other shorter RPGs first.