Risen won't hold your hand, no doubts. Despite that it's an engrossing game that never feels cheap or unsatisfying.
You start as nobody, washed ashore. Throughout the game you will face a couple of decision to decide your purpose and your path. There are a couple of factions to join, and a variety of play-styles to choose from. There are no classes to pick from and your progression is solely up to you. That being said, the wast amount of options will confuse you at first, and you may end up spending a couple of points on things you will soon find to be useless. Want to be a tank slashing through your foes with ease ? or a mage blasting waves of lizardmen away with your spells ? a combination of both perhaps? in form of a skilled warrior freezing your enemies with high level ice magic just to deliver a lethal blow with the mastered swords you have. Freedom of decision may evolve into a frustrating lack of direction though and lack of any kind of tutorials or guides won't help you much either.
Faranga is a beautiful yet untamed world. If you are in for the exploration, Risen won't disappoint. The world map may seem tiny at first but as soon as you gather the courage to explore it way past the secured routes you will be rewarded. Not only with the vast amount of secrets and hidden treasures the island will offer to you but also with the stunning views of the meticulously crafted multi-layered environments that never feel like you "have been there before".
You are free to explore most of the world right away that fact alone, however does not mean you should do so. The wilderness is brutal and you will never know what is lurking atop the cliff that you are about to climb on. There is no level scaling of any sort, neither there are ways to tell how strong your enemies are. You may find yourself dead very quickly in case you decide to find out where is the groaning sound coming from.
A rule of thumb: If there is a monster that you have never seen before, chances are that it is stronger than anything else you have faced so far.
Combat of Risen is an unforgiving one. Early on, you will find yourself struggling to defeat even the weakest of foes, making a pack of them look like an impossible task. It is quick and every bad move may cost you your life. Despite that it never feels cheap, whenever you die you realize it was because of your own fault. "Man that was such a stupid mistake I did right there" is gonna rush through your mind every time you reload. Do not fear though, soon enough you will find yourself beating the crap out of things you couldn't even scratch a few hours ago. And the overwhelming satisfaction you will feel after cleaning a camp of ogres with just a few splendid moves once you finally realize the best way of using your sword.
Some say the graphics are outdated, I do not know what merits those people have, the game is richly detailed the lighting effects are without a flaw and the whole world feels very much alive thanks to that, if you are a polygon freak that is where the game may feel weak but that, in my opinion, is not what defines a visual feast.
I'm not an expert at telling how "good" the voice acting is, frankly I give a crap, considering the main cast is being voiced over by hollywood stars who have filled up the major roles of such titles like Lord of the Rings it can't be all that bad now, right ?
Risen isn't without its flaws, the world may feel small once you have plenty of ways to travel fast.
The story isn't one of the best aspects of the game, the later chapters may feel rushed and too linear. Also there is the redundancy of some gameplay elements and occasional lack of balance between the plethora of combat styles, the most apparent in case of mage path as magic is slightly frustrating and hardly a viable combat option due to mana burning out way too fast, if executed in not such a restrictive manner playing the mage class could have been a total blast.
Ultimately once you grasp the gameplay you may find out there is apparent lack of content throughout the game and that it relies mostly on its cautious and challenging style of play to lengthen the overall gameplay time.
I would lie trying to claim Risen is without bugs. Yes there are some, majority of which are minor visual ones but there are some that may tick off a bit more (magic simply flying through your targets without hitting them) all the way to crashing the client completely or being unable to move off a cliff.
That being said Risen won't reward those who don't put the effort into the play. If you attempt to rush through the game from a story mission to another one, you may find yourself crushed by the overwhelming difficulty later on. Explore even the smallest caves ,creeks , hilltops and shacks. Don't let even the most insignificant treasure to slip through your hands. Because all that may make a difference between a victory or a shameful death.
If you are the type to rely on the narrative to guide you through, that or way too much freedom of decision would suffocate you, or you simply can't deal with the punishing difficulty it may prove to be then Risen isn't for you.
For everybody else I gladly recommend this game.