Two open-world RPGs, both are the most recent examples of the genre. Which one is better? Let's compare them.
Skyrim:
-Easy, fluid combat with not much strategy other than spamming attack. Often feels like you are slicing through butter rather than attacking something real.
-Huge snowy and mountainous world, visually beautiful but not much variety.
-Puzzles are non-existent except for the ones in the dungeons which can be summed up by "find the symbols on the walls and copy/paste".
-Quests are rarely outside the categories of "bring me this item/kill this creature/follow me", and often feel like they have nothing to do with the rest of the game.
-Characters don't have much personality and too often look the same. There are about 4 or 5 great characters due to the acting of talents such as von Sydow and Plummer, but the rest are totally forgettable.
-Structure: The game doesn't really have one besides the main quest. There are chains of quests where one leads to the other but once that's done, nothing has changed and you're back where you were before.
-XP system: Points go into skills you want to improve, with Perks attainable once you get the necessary XP. It's easy to become good at everything if you want to.
Risen 2:
-Difficult, very clunky combat, with not much strategy other than spamming attack.
-Smaller world than Skyrim: tropical islands which look slightly different from each other.
-Quests are much more integrated into the world than Skyrim: main quest is everything, and side-quests are done to get more money/XP to make the main quest easier. The way you have developed your character also changes the quests significantly. It's not just a matter of killing a monster with weapons or magic.
-Characters have more personality than Skyrim, which is odd for a German game. But suffers same problem as Skyrim - too many of them look the same. However, it helps enormously that your character has a personality and a voice - this might be a negative for people who like to play as themselves rather than someone else.
-The game has much more structure than Skyrim: Accomplishing things changes stuff in the world. You feel like you're making an impact.
-XP system: Same as Skyrim but much more limited. If you want to be really good at swords you can't specialize too much in magic, and so on.
I'd say Risen 2 wins, but not by much. I'm no Risen fanboy but I doubt many people could argue that it isn't a better game, unless you put combat at the top of your shopping list when you're looking for games, which I don't. I liked Skyrim but it feels like a much more casual game experience. In an open-world RPG I look for a beautiful, immersive world, great and memorable characters and quests which are satisfying and make you feel like you have achieved something worthwhile. Skyrim makes you feel like you're a blank face with a list of various "attributes", while Risen 2 you are a character of central importance in the game world whose goal isn't always to run around completing a shopping list of quests. And finally everyone knows pirates>vikings.
Skyrim:
-Easy, fluid combat with not much strategy other than spamming attack. Often feels like you are slicing through butter rather than attacking something real.
-Huge snowy and mountainous world, visually beautiful but not much variety.
-Puzzles are non-existent except for the ones in the dungeons which can be summed up by "find the symbols on the walls and copy/paste".
-Quests are rarely outside the categories of "bring me this item/kill this creature/follow me", and often feel like they have nothing to do with the rest of the game.
-Characters don't have much personality and too often look the same. There are about 4 or 5 great characters due to the acting of talents such as von Sydow and Plummer, but the rest are totally forgettable.
-Structure: The game doesn't really have one besides the main quest. There are chains of quests where one leads to the other but once that's done, nothing has changed and you're back where you were before.
-XP system: Points go into skills you want to improve, with Perks attainable once you get the necessary XP. It's easy to become good at everything if you want to.
Risen 2:
-Difficult, very clunky combat, with not much strategy other than spamming attack.
-Smaller world than Skyrim: tropical islands which look slightly different from each other.
-Quests are much more integrated into the world than Skyrim: main quest is everything, and side-quests are done to get more money/XP to make the main quest easier. The way you have developed your character also changes the quests significantly. It's not just a matter of killing a monster with weapons or magic.
-Characters have more personality than Skyrim, which is odd for a German game. But suffers same problem as Skyrim - too many of them look the same. However, it helps enormously that your character has a personality and a voice - this might be a negative for people who like to play as themselves rather than someone else.
-The game has much more structure than Skyrim: Accomplishing things changes stuff in the world. You feel like you're making an impact.
-XP system: Same as Skyrim but much more limited. If you want to be really good at swords you can't specialize too much in magic, and so on.
I'd say Risen 2 wins, but not by much. I'm no Risen fanboy but I doubt many people could argue that it isn't a better game, unless you put combat at the top of your shopping list when you're looking for games, which I don't. I liked Skyrim but it feels like a much more casual game experience. In an open-world RPG I look for a beautiful, immersive world, great and memorable characters and quests which are satisfying and make you feel like you have achieved something worthwhile. Skyrim makes you feel like you're a blank face with a list of various "attributes", while Risen 2 you are a character of central importance in the game world whose goal isn't always to run around completing a shopping list of quests. And finally everyone knows pirates>vikings.
