Risen

Steam Reviews

Read all reviews on Steam

• Recommended Posted December 15, 2025 on Steam The game nails that zero-to-hero progression—literally spending hours fighting for scraps just to earn an armor set of “worker cloths” that’s better than the ragged sheets you start with, all the way to acquiring the armor you’ll use to challenge a god (of course, by scouring the map to assemble it like some sort of Infinity Gauntlet). Honestly, any RPG fan would have a good time here—just meet the game on its own terms and don’t be afraid to cheese any advantage you can take.
• Recommended Posted January 11, 2026 on Steam After playing through all three games, my opinion is that this is the best Risen game. Although it is the least polished in terms of combat and graphics, it more than makes up for it with its story and setting. The difficulty curve is challenging, and beating the game feels like a very rewarding journey. I found myself exploring every inch of the world, and there was always something new to discover. This game is a great starting point if you’re looking to get into Piranha Bytes games, especially if you find Gothic lacking in accessibility. 8/10
• Recommended Posted February 6, 2026 on Steam So much better on the steam deck. I recently seen this game on sale so I decided to grab it. I knew it would be a little outdated but wanted to give it a try. So far I have not been disappointed. I initially tried it on my pc but it had that n64 feel so I decided to try it on my steam deck. That was a great decision. The game is a fun time filler and so far has a pretty solid lore. Im someone who naturally talks to all the npc to see what they have to say which is perfect for this game because almost all the npcs have something to add to the journey. The combat is a bit clunky but has some fun to be had. I also wish there was a bigger variety of character design as a lot of the npcs have doppelgangers. So far im enjoying my time.
• Recommended Posted July 30, 2025 on Steam My first playthrough took 35 hours. Over 20 of those were spent just on Chapter 1, exploring the island and figuring stuff out. Another 5 hours went into wiping out all the wildlife after I finally became a mage. And the last 10 hours - endless, boring, dragged-out dungeons in the final chapter. Honestly, the game is insanely stretched out. The only part that actually feels well-made is the first chapter, where your character is just a gopher for the local power players. After that, it's all just repetitive, bland dungeons. The most annoying thing is that most of the game's mechanics are useless. You can mine ore, but there's nothing worth crafting - iron, obsidian, gold, they all just rot in your inventory. You can forge swords, but every quest reward (and especially plot weapons) are better than anything you can craft. Jewelcrafting? Pointless too, since you’ll just wear whatever rings and amulets you get from story quests because of the tight equip limits. Hunting and collecting animal loot? Enjoy staring at a pile of meat and pelts that you'll never use or sell. Magic is nerfed by an unforgiving grind wall. You can find a skeleton summon rune super early (would be OP if usable), but you’re not even allowed to use it until chapter 3, by which point your crystal magic can already nuke anything in seconds, and your skeleton buddy dies to a sneeze. Crystal magic itself? It melts everything as soon as you put 7+ points into it, even if you went thief-blacksmith-jeweler before. Meanwhile, the big flashy "Hell" spell does like a third of enemy HP and eats all your mana. I got the "best" High Mage armor literally 20 minutes before the game handed me an even better story armor. So what you get is an awesome Chapter 1 in the spirit of classic Gothic, endless running and beast-clearing in Chapter 2, a short and forgettable story dungeon in Chapter 3, and a godawful Chapter 4 where you repeat the same boring dungeon five times with the same fat enemies and tedious traps. If you’re a hardcore Gothic fan, you have to try it. For everyone else - maybe, if you’re desperate. P.S. There’s not even a real ending. Kill the boss, roll credits. -_-
• Recommended Posted November 28, 2025 on Steam Nice old Gothic style game. It is basically Gothic where it counts except in the name..
• Recommended Posted June 24, 2025 on Steam Definitely a YES for a gothic fans. Once you get past a bit clunky melee combat and camera work (or its absence), or just get used to it, the game shines. Great dialogues, nice, calming and climatic music 24/7, pretty decent story, and most quests are connected to each other, and that makes exploring more rewarding and interesting. Thumbs up for Piranha Bytes and THQ Nordic \o/