Two Worlds II (2010)

Two Worlds II is an ambitious open-world RPG that tries to deliver a rich fantasy experience but struggles with uneven execution. The game offers a large, explorable world with impressive environments, a deep magic system, and plenty of customization options. However, it's held back by clunky controls, awkward dialogue, and a stiff combat system, which for me was what made me not get past the 5h playtime mark.

While improvements over the original are noticeable, it still feels rough around the edges. If you can overlook the jank, there's a surprisingly deep RPG underneath, but it’s not for everyone, I would recommend againts this similarly to the first Witcher game, both had great ideas for the time, but were poorly implemented and already outdated even for the standards of the time they were released.

Despite its flaws, this game deserves some credit for its more experimental systems, especially its magic creation mechanics. The ability to combine spell effects, delivery methods, and modifiers allows for a level of creativity rarely seen in RPGs of its era. This system can be genuinely rewarding once understood, encouraging experimentation rather than reliance on predefined abilities. Unfortunately, the game does a poor job of teaching these mechanics, and many people may never fully engage with them before frustration sets in.

Ultimately, this title feels like a game with big ambitions constrained by limited polish and focus. It aims for the scale and freedom of genre giants but lacks the refinement needed to make its ideas consistently enjoyable. For patient people willing to wrestle with its quirks, there’s an interesting and sometimes even charming RPG buried beneath the awkward presentation. For most others, though, it remains a curious relic of early 2010s RPG design, interesting to look back on, but hard to recommend today.

3.5 stars

I love open world rpgs like the elder scrolls, dragon age, the witcher, and fallout franchises. And now I've found a new game to like. Notice I said like not love. However much I like this game there are definitely problems. First and most importantly the combat. Its not that great, kinda floaty and kinda easy after a little while of leveling up. And the most frustrating thing about it is that it feels unresponsive. While a game like oblivion has combat that is nothing too interesting at least you could trust that when you pressed the attack button, you attack. In this game its maybe a 60 percent chance that will happen. Second the voice acting is at its best average and at its worst absolutely awful. I would have recommended just not having voice actors at all and requiring us to read text the entire time. Third and last I think the story was alright, nothing incredibly original, but I think it was certainly decent enough. Much better than diablo 3's story, which I am still struggling to complete to this day because the plot is soo uninspired, its mind numbing. Anyway TW2's story was decent, but nothing special. Soo why did I enjoy it quite a bit regardless of these pretty major flaws that can outright damn other games? Well first, I love to explore and this game lets you do lots of that, swamps, savannahs, rain forests, regular forests, haunted demonic woods, caves, dungeons, seas, towns and cities all able to be explored at your leasure. Go wherever you want from nearly the beginning. The environment is beautiful too. Not the best graphics, but colorful and creative unlike the drab uninspired world of the first risen game. Second, its has nice music that weaves well into each area that you explore. There weren't too many great characters but there were a few that were nice and memorable, and the same goes for the quests. Some that were memorable and some that weren't so much. Lastly, it has that addictive shoot and loot gameplay mechanic that games like diablo and borderlands make use of. Always looking for the next best weapon or armor on every enemy you defeat. Constantly improving your armor and leveling up your character. Overall I had great time exploring the world of Two Worlds 2. Were there problems? Absolutely. Did they destroy my experience? No. Plus I've heard that its getting a sequel. If they can make the story a little more engaging, hire better voice actors, and make the combat a real selling point, I think this could turn into a fantastic franchise.

UPDATE: After playing risen I now realize that this game isn't as great as I made it sound. Soo ive changed the score to a 3. The dialogue and voice acting was bad, the controls are floaty, and the combat is not good in any way really. Still decent and I have hope that the next one will be great if improvements are made.