Resolution Magazine writes: "You may have heard that Risen is too uncompromising, that it's visually plain, that the story is run-of-the-mill and that the interface is unintuitive and unnecessarily complex. Well, those who have told you that are spot on. Risen is all those things, and because of that it has a very distinct personality - one that, for me, made it one of this year's most impressive and enjoyable games."