Do I have to have played risen 1 or 2?

[lehmode]

Is this game, story wise, linked to the other two games at all? I dont want to go near them, im just curious if this game is like a continuation or something. If it is, does it matter that I havent played the others?

[Taron]

It is a continuation and there are references to the previous games, but you actually play as a different character in this one than in the previous two and it seems you don't really need to know anything from the previous ones to enjoy it.

In fact, some reviewers claim that the story is in many ways a re-tread of the story in 2 and that the devs basically wanted to re-make 2 but "do it right this time", so skipping 2 is probably a really safe bet and may even make 3 MORE enjoyable since it won't feel so much like "didn't I do/see this already?".

Personally I think Risen 1 was amazing but Risen 3 seems like mostly a better version of Risen 2. Risen 1 is quite a bit different than 2&3 though, so I'd say if you don't want to play all of them, play Risen 1 and Risen 3 (but you probably would be fine playing them in reverse order honestly, the only real strong connection is a pirate lady named Patty that shows up in all 3 but honestly her role in the first game was pretty minor).

NOTE: I'm not very far in Risen 3 yet, this is mostly based on what I've read and on my own comparison of the vastly different game mechanics between 1 & 2 but the not-so-drastically-different but much-improved differences going from 2 to 3.

[ignorance[is]bliss]

They are not 'totally linked'. But in 3d you encounter characters(friends or enemies)/areas from two previous games.
You can start your journey in Risen with Titan Lords. But I'd advise you trying first two games before. I beat them long time ago. And now going for 2nd completion, because I have 2 more days to wait for Tital Lords.

Trying old games may save you quite some money, in case you don't like it. I am personally fond of Risen 1 AND Risen 2. Despite all the whining on forums, these games are pretty decent and ridiculously interesting to play.

But I guess I am biased, since Risen series is amoung my favourite. So even if PB completely screwed Risen3, I'd play it anyway ^^

[hardwiredsin]

I haven't played Risen 1 or 2 and I'm enjoying Risen 3 quite a lot!

[hyperion]

Originally posted by Phil Collins:

Is this game, story wise, linked to the other two games at all? I dont want to go near them, im just curious if this game is like a continuation or something. If it is, does it matter that I havent played the others?

Have you played any of the Gothic games? That might help in the sense that the games are not easy and there is a learning curve. This apparently makes people without much patience, not like the game and stop playing it before they learn the game system.

Other than that, I would say it doesn't matter much.

Oh, but I would recommend that you pickup the first Risen and try it, you'll be able to find it cheap now and it will give you a very good idea if you will like this or not, before you spend $50.

[MIND ЯEWIND 2]

No,every risen game is different which is really sad
But I higly recommend Risen1 its fantastic RPG with gothic elements

[lehmode]

I actually did play Gothic 3 years ago and I absolutely loved it. Im thinking of buying it pretty soon on Steam and playing it again

[Kozzy]

Not really, but it wouldn't hurt!

Gothic 3 is fantastic and the best of the Risen games imo.

[Alex Fox]

Risen 1 tells you story about titans & Risen 3 seems to be continue of story Risen 2. Gothic series are not neded.
But you can play third part separately. All you need, you can get to know from the game itself.

[Sima Yeet]

if you liked Gothic 3 then you can go into Risen 3 with no issue. I'd play Risen 1 and Risen 2 at some point but Risen 1 is so different that you will get a bit of shellshock

[hyperion]

Originally posted by Kozzy:

Not really, but it wouldn't hurt!

Gothic 3 is fantastic and the best of the Risen games imo.

Finally someone who agrees with me about how good Gothic 3 is. PB really rushed the release of that game, something they are notorious for, and I think it was really buggy. Fortunately for me, I didn't play it until years later when all the official and community patches were out. It's an absolutely EPIC game. I still remember the horde of Orcs that I killed with flaming arrows that lined the road for what seemed like a mile coming out of a town. I would run back and hit them with 2-3 flaming arrows, then retreat some more and do the same. All the time they were yelling at me 'I'll kill you, I'll cut you to pieces, I'll...' then a flaming arrow to the face and they were going 'arrggghhhhh' and falling down, in flames, lol.

Although... Gothic 3 is still my 2nd favorite, the first one is the best.