I kinda am digging this game. Been a longtime fan of the Gothic series/Risen 1. I bought this game on Steam awhile back, just got around to playing it now and I like it. Don't know where all the "Risen 1 is better" stuff is coming from, because I think this game improves the Gothic/Risen formula in a lot of ways. Also, the pirate stuff is awesome and the writing (particularly the humor) really hits its stride.

I just came here to tell you that your profile picture is amazing. Well done sir.

Ive been dying to play it for a while now, when it came out it looked really interesting but combination of price and poor revies put me off a bit but ive seen a few cheap places to buy it now and i think my mind is made up, i need to play one good pirate RPG in my life

I enjoyed it a lot too. It's among my favorites this year as well. It does some very unique things and some very flawed things. Generally I feel it is the best Gothic/ Risen game since the glory Gothic 1 & 2 days. I quite liked Risen 1 and was just extremely glad the devs landed on their feet after the troubled Gothic 3 development and the beef with their ex-publisher but Risen 2 is a definite step forward in my opinion.

But I'm afraid exploring the old Gothic formula again and again without a serious change in philosophy isn't going to get them a new or bigger audience. I love what Piranha Bytes continues to do but it's binding them to a niche. Something about the free-form progression with oldschool systems and gameplay and a significant difficulty curve never reached the masses. It's unfortunate but I understand why there aren't more people enjoying that. I for one hope they can continue work in this direction and stay profitable. Only time will tell though.