Risen 2: Dark Waters Guide and Walkthrough

Risen 2: Dark Waters Walkthrough

Unofficial Risen 2: Dark Waters Guide by CM Boots-Faubert for SuperCheats.com

Before we get too deep into the Introduction I wanted to mention that in keeping with the established tradition for the guides in the Unofficial SuperCheats Series, this guide was written with a focus on useability rather than to as a reference-based factoid-filled text file.  The idea here is to provide the sort of information, help, tips, and strategies that are useful for a gamer playing the game, and that is what we have done!  In order to satisfy gamers who also like to have factoid-based guide content available to use as reference, we have also included that in the second part of the guide, but part one is a living play guide and walkthrough.

Another thing I want to say is this -- it may seem like the graphics in the game are rather crude and awkward, and in a way they are, but if you give this game a chance you are going to find that it is a lot of fun!  Considering that this gaming season has seen us get a plethora of RPG games, you cannot think that one more is one too many, especially when it is an interesting and fun play.  Risen 2 has a story that is actually better than the story from the first game, and I ended up liking Risen 2 better than I did Risen.  I suspect if you give the game a chance, so will you.

Now on to the proper Introduction!

Risen 2: Dark Waters is the direct sequel to the original Risen, which established the series, with both games being developed by the studio Piranha Bytes, and published by Deep Silver.

While the original Risen was a fantasy action-adventure game with a general RPG feel to it that took place in the lands of Faranga, a fictitious volcanic, Mediterranean island, the world of Risen 2 is more of a pirate-themed game, embracing the classic Caribbean Pirate theme in its fantasy action-adventure world.  Like the first game, players can expect to encounter monsters, ancient gods, and voodoo magic as well as the human denizens of the land, only this time around as you resume the role of the now older and wiser Nameless Hero from the first game, in place of the challenges that were presented by the wide powers of the Inquisition he now lives in a world where the Inquisition has been reduced to occupying just the Fortress of Crystal at the port of Caldera, which is the last fortress of the Inquisition.

That does not mean that the lands are free from strife -- far from it in fact -- as the ancient Titan Gods have brought danger to the people and the land.  The Titans Ursegor and Ismael are fighting each other for dominance of the region, and while this has served to help reduce the pressure on the human fortress of Caldera, the devastation that suffered previously has left parts of the city in flames and abandoned, with the bulk of the population holding its breath because when the epic battle between the Titans is concluded, the winner will inevitably then seek to destroy Caldera.

The only element left to protect the fortress is the largely mysterious power of the crystal cave located beneath it that gives the small garrison there some hope that they might be able to resist and survive.  With all these worries there is also the added onus of the Kraken -- a sea monster who attacks every ship that tries to travel to and trade with Caldera -- a sea monster that is under the command of the Titan goddess Mara, whose attention to the shipping has prevented the fortress from being resupplied and rebuilt.  Unfortunately for the human inhabitants of Caldera the Kraken is also preventing them from safely abandoning the fortress -- they cannot leave, and they cannot recover as long as Mara continues to wage her battle on the ships at sea that are its only hope of survival.  Oh, and then there are the pirates -- did we mention the pirates?  No?

An introduction to the dangerous world of Risen 2: Dark Waters

While the garrison struggles with simply surviving, the threat of the two battling Titan Gods, and the Titan Mara and her Kraken, their troubles are increased because of a band of pirates who is bent upon stripping the Inquisition of what little wealth still remains in its storehouses!  Of course the pirates are also suffering under the threat of the three Titans, and in particular from Mara and her Kraken, since the ocean is where the pirates more or less live and roam -- in fact as our adventure begins a pirate ship is sunk by the Kraken as it tries to make its way into the bay, and our hero is tasked by the garrison's commander, Commandant Carlos, to do what he can to rescue any survivors of the wrecked ship.

Among the survivors is the Pirate Patty, daughter of the infamous Gregorius Emanuel Steelbeard, who it is rumored may have possession of a secret weapon capable of killing the Kraken and thus permitting safe travel once again on the sea -- and so begins the adventures of Risen 2: Dark Waters.

The characters of Commandant Carlos, Pirate Patty, and her father Emanuel Steelbeard will be familiar to gamers who played the first game of course, and to a great extent so will much of the land and its inhabitants, including the mythical and magical varieties -- knowledge and experience that may very well come in handy as you are about to embark upon an epic adventure from which you will benefit from that knowledge -- and if you did not play the previous game, well, then you get the fun of discovering the lands for the first time, don't you?

As with the first game in the series the world in the game, while not strictly speaking an open-world architecture, offers the player a lot of leeway with respect to what missions and quests they pursue and when -- and this is a quest-centric game to be sure, with an incredible number and variety of quests and missions for you to immerse yourself in!  The game is largely land-based, and story-controlled, so there are some key missions and quests that are required in order to open up access to other areas, and the player does not get to choose a character class, but rather plays as the established hero -- though you do get to gain XP, rank up, and improve key skills that are required for your success in your adventure.

If you played the previous game you will recall how factions -- and who your character sided with -- had a dominant role in the game.  This time around the role that the factions play has been significantly reduced, allowing for a more character-centric path to be played through the story, but the faction elements still present a significance as far as missions and quests are concerned, and still control some of the kit in the game.  The magic system in the game has been considerably altered, with a more voodoo focused bent, but for most players it is the hack-n-slash aspect of the eyepatch and sword pirate adventure that is the real draw.

The console release of the game arrived on store shelves with the Special Edition proving to be dominant (it is the same price as regular games) -- which in addition to the base game also includes the Treasure Island and Air Temple DLC packs containing several hours of extra content.  The most important element to the game besides deciding which type of character you will play within the limitations that the game allows for that choice is the path that the player will take in their adventuring, which if you did not get the idea previously is semi-open-world in many respects, which means this is not going to be the same game for every player...

Having mentioned that I also want to say that every effort was made in creating this guide to permit you to make use of the information no matter what order you play through the game in -- that required the guide to be structured in a different manner than might otherwise have been the case, and it is certainly different in the sense that it is less a linear progression than it is a reference-based one...  Still you should find the following contents of the guide to be of use to you as you make your way in the lands of Arborea and try to save the world, defeat the Titans, and find true love!  Okay, maybe just make your way and defeat the Titans, but still...

I had a lot of fun writing this guide, and I hope that you will enjoy reading and using it as much as I did creating it!