Risen 2 is a pirate rpg, while it's predecessor, Risen, was a fantasy rpg. How they made that transition? Well they claim it was a result of listening to their fans. I was a fan of Risen, I don't remember asking for pirates instead of fantasy! Anyways, Risen was a pretty solid rpg that did the whole open world thing in an unique and interesting way, but it had flawed combat, a buggy quest system, and some linear late game dungeon design. On top of all that, it was a pretty damn gorgeous rpg, and Risen 2 looks more impressive in every way thus far, but they haven't detailed much about the game yet. The "they" I keep mentioning is of course the developers, whom call themselves Piranha Bytes and their producer Deep Silver. Deep Silver is also producing Dead Island, which we did a preview of at E3, and a couple racing games like SuperStars and Nail'd. Piranha Bytes on the other hand, had their hand in The Gothic Series.

Risen 2 is boasting some familiar rpg mechanics, like day/night cycle, morale/story choices, and an expanded skill system used for shaping your character. I am very curious if they use the same character customization system that Risen had. What? You say Risen didn't have a character customization system? Oh yeah, that's right. You didn't get to pick a character in risen, only develop his skills and customize his appearance, but I really hope that Risen 2 adds some actual character choices. For all that Risen had that was attractive, there was so much wrong, and Piranha Bytes claims that they are going to do all these huge improvements over Risen, but only time will tell. Until then, watch this video; at the very least it shows off in-game graphics.

Risen 2: Dark Waters Teaser

-Written by Sean Cargle