I'm just about broke from this summer sale - I can justify one more purchase and I'm trying to decide between the Risen Saga, and the Two Worlds Saga. I'm leaning towards Two Worlds but ....

which would you pick, and why?

Two worlds, I don't like either too much but I find two worlds ....worlds better than risen.

I've played about a half hour in Two Worlds 2: Epic Edition and about six hours in Risen. Get Risen if you like the Gothic games as it's pretty much a sequel to that series in everything but name. Two Worlds 2: Epic Edition looks much better graphically and is supposed to have a great unique magic system, but I got bored with it (as evidenced by my short time spent playing it). Not that Risen was anything great (in my opinion), I spent the six hours I played it wondering when it was going to get interesting...or fun.

To me:
Two Worlds II is the best out of all of those games.

But Risen 1 and Risen 2 are both better than Two Worlds 1.

I'm horrible at playing the first 1/4 to 1/2 of a game and then moving on. So I've only played the front ends of all of those games. Risen 1 felt sort of MMOish. A lot of "Kill 10 of these monsters and return to me for a reward." Risen 2 had a compelling story and rich combat, but after about 14 hours or so of play, the combat became so tedious that I took a (perma?)break.

Two Worlds II has a lot going on, but supposed to thin out in the later game. Skyrim stole me away from it when it came out, but every moment I had with TW2 was fun and rather unique. It has great graphics and the magic system is quite neat. The game has minigames and character aplenty.

You'll have fun going with either one if you like open-world RPGs.

My final say:
If combat and story elements are your favorite parts of RPGs, then I'd say Two Worlds 2.
If exploration and developing a character are your most favorite parts, go with Risen.


(another recommendation, if story elements are your favorite, would be the Spiderweb collection. Those games are, in my opinion, rather fantastic. I've certainly played those more than all the TW and Risen games combined.)

Two Worlds (the first) has some of the most unintentionally hillariously stupid dialogue in any game I've ever played. Also cringeworthy a lot of the time. There's a decent game hidden beneath that dialogue, but you need to consider whether you can stomach http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe (+ mediocre voice actors) or not.

TW2 improved on the dialogue quite noticably, losing the much of the unintentional hillarity but also dropping the cringeworthy stuff. The really good part of TW2 is the magic system, which allows you to create spells using cards that interact in different ways depending on how you set them up.

Haven't played Risen yet, so can't offer a comparison.

I'm a big fan of Two Worlds, I would definitely rate them both higher than the Risen games and the pirates DLC is well worth it, I have Two Worlds X2 and Pirates DLC on 360 and Steam and would still consider getting it again on gog just to support the devs.
Biggest problem in Two Worlds 1 is the dialogue, but other than that, verily,'tis is a good game forsooth.

Risen 2 is an improvement on R1 (which has a 2nd half that is just one huge fedex quest), but I definitely prefer Two Worlds..

Risen and Risen 2 are amazing RPGs. They aren't flashy but they are fundamentally sound, deep and engaging games.

Two Worlds was fun but not even close to the level of a Piranha Bytes game. The first Risen game is basically the "true" Gothic 4 and the 2nd Risen game is a blast to play.

Get the Risen series if you love RPGs, you won't regret it.

I can't really 'recommend' either of them, they're both very bleh overall.
Risen 1 is a pretty decent open world RPG, but Risen 2 is.. not.
Two Worlds 1 is not a very good open world RPG, but not terrible. And Two Worlds 2 has that same problem.

Maybe I'll skip both and continue with my Linux Gamble and pick up The Last Federation.

I played Risen 1, here is my personal (!) opinion:

Risen 1 is super boring! Theroretically there is a lot to do, but you simply don't want to. The story isn't very addicting or witty, the characters you meet are petty and replaceable, your tasks are boring (gathering stuff, walking from A to B...), the enemies are unimaginative (wolves, fire flies, some random guys with swords and shields, oh yeah...) and the worst: The ending is not satisfying. Depending on you playstyle you will need 30-50 hours to get there, but I found those hours to be a waste of time. The only reason why I didn't quit earlier was that I was waiting for something interesting to come, but... nope.

The only good thing I remember is the graphics. Towns, houses, the island in general looked pretty good at their time. But after all, Risen 1 is a perfect example for quantity over quality. That being said, I'd definetly go for Two Worlds 2!

Two Worlds II > Risen 1 > Two Worlds > Risen II

I'm curious to know what you think about the Gothic games in case you've played any of them.

I haven't played either of the Piranha Bytes series and still hesitate to buy any of the Gothic games due to criticism of the writing.

it depends on what you like, re playability it's the key,
i would pick Risen series, Risen 2 also pretty good if you play it
you can try to see a lets play on youtube

I would say risen SOUNDS good, UNTIL you play it.