I cannot run Risen after an update (1.0A PORT)! The game doesn't launch from Galaxy at all. When I try to launch it by Risen.exe file my System gives the next error with the message: "The program can't start because XINPUT1_4.dll is missing from your computer..." What the hell?.. Before the last update was brought all worked fine for me.
Devs pls make a fix for this problem.
P.S. I'm on Windows 7 x64 with the latest updates (OS, Drivers, DirectX, Visual C++, etc)

Here is a solution I found in steam forums
for Windows 7 users: go to Windows\System32 and copy xinput1_3.dll to Risen\bin\ directory, rename it to xinput1_4.dll

And... It doesn't work. I've tried all I know but no, the Game didn't work at all.

I don't know what else It could be. Maybe they stopped the windows 7 version with the new update? I would recommend that you contact the developer and let them know about this.

this is quite similar to Knights of the Old Republic II! they force an update on you and then, a perfectly good game that had been running smooth as silk all-a-sudden, no longer works correctly. IF enough people contact GOG they (may) fix it/add a download link for the original verision of Risen. then again they may ignor you!
this port starting with "push A button" is only a problem if you are not using the latest windows. (10/11) some games it is a total desaster no matter what OS you are using! I prefer Windows 7 for Risen too why waste a monster gaming machine on such an old game.

You don't copy the DLL to the Risen directory, you copy it to "bin" subdirectory of it as that's the one were the program is starting from, per its shortcut (hence why all the other DLLs are there).

Also, don't forget to rename it from xinput1_3.dll to xinput1_4.dll.

This solved my problem and I haven't had any problems since.

Whomever made the build of this specific version messed things up because they included a dependency on a version of XInput which is only part of the OS since Windows 8.