i was looking at Piranha Bytes site and saw risen near all the gothic games,I was wondering if risen is anything like gothic 1 and 2 or is it more like 3,4.

In a way it's supposed to be a spiritual successor. Some people don't like it as much as the early Gothic games, personally I much prefer it.

Yup, it's often called the spiritual successor to the first two Gothic games. Equally fun and engaging, if smaller and quite a bit simpler. Good for beginners, I suppose.

i though Risen was more like Gothic 3..

and i like the game.. its very good..

note: i also liked Gothic 3 if you can look past some bugs

I played the demo just now but its like 20 min long,I got to see was a little bit of fighting some basic quest and ,bam!END OF THE DEMO*sadface*

Risen is very similar to Gothic 1&2, so if you liked those games it's a very safe bet that you'll like Risen.

Pretty much. Risen is actually an improved version of the same kind of game in a lot of ways, though it takes a few steps back as well. For the most part though they're basically the same game series.

The developers of Gothic I and II made Risen.

it's a very similra game in terms of game play and things. The setting is a bit different but overall, if you played Gothic, it will feel like home.

They are working on Risen 2 atm.

Risen is Gothic III to me.
Gothic III is a very different, yet still an awesome game.
If you liked the originals, play them both.

PS: I'm a huge fanboy and avoid Arcania like the plague.

Risen is basically Gothic. Revamp. I prefer Gothic's scenario, though. And combat in Gothic were harder.

Avoiding 3 is a mistake. It's a fantastic game.

Concerning the bugs: by now, the community patch team has done incredible work, v1.74 is available here: http://www.g3cpt.eu/download/list
I remember being pretty disappointed with Gothic3 at first, but quite a few years later, I replayed it with the community patch installed and really enjoyed it.
(I also used the Questpack, which is available, among other mods, here: http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/threads/593683-Modifikationen-auf-einen-Blick; however, I have no idea if there are English versions)

As for Risen... somehow, it didn't capture my attention like Gothic1&2 back then. I picked it up cheaply, played for an hour or two, and haven't continued since. Not that it seemed like a bad game, but I just couldn't get into it.

All I ever saw of Arcania was some (horrible) gameplay video before release and the final remarks of some testers...

I played the (modded / Patched) Gothic 3 for ours, but then I quitted. I was not having fun. I thought it was bland.

It's like Gothic 1 and 2... but better.