Dodging is practically impossible with no quick-dodge button and the hero’s agonizingly slow acceleration from standing to sprinting. The overwhelming problem of any incoming damage sending the player into long hit recovery animations makes any group fight a crapshoot, and monster attacks are totally unblockable to start with. Some combat options like power attacks eventually get unlocked through the classless character progression system, and your inventory is soon clogged with useless one-shot items, but even the best of them – the timing-based parry/riposte system – is only useful in the narrow case of fighting a human opponent one-on-one. Not Risen 2 your only option is to mash on the attack button and hope that the awful enemy AI decides to run in circles or do nothing while you slowly chip away at your enemies’ health. Practically every other action game in the world would allow you to experiment with dodging, blocking, ranged attacks, and/or consumables. Sent into the jungle to kill boars, the player may well find himself locked into a hit recovery animation and killed with no recourse. While the writing stays above-average through the course of the adventure – our hero has no patience for fools or anyone who expects him to do much besides lay about and drink, and loudly proclaims such in amusing fashion at any opportunity – the crippling problems with combat begin right away. Unfortunately, the first rough edges show up immediately after this tutorial section ends and the nameless protagonist makes his way, barefoot and shirtless, into the first portion of the story proper. Rescuing a comely pirate lass from sea monsters and being sent undercover to uncover a conspiracy among pirate lords seems like a wonderful start to a grand swashbuckling adventure. Our hero wakes up with a hangover months in the making, missing an eye and full of irritation at the ungrateful citizens of the world he saved in the first game. Games still need to be played, though, and the complete failure of Risen 2’s combat system makes this a difficult story to get into. The world he reluctantly saves is a fantastic realization of the myths of the Age of Sail. The drunken anti-hero at the heart of Risen 2 is a fine fit, with often-amusing dialogue and superb voice work. Video games have a wide-open space waiting to be filled with non-traditional protagonists and mature themes.
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