Lockpicking in Risen 2 is quite elaborate although not necessarily harder compared to some other games, the mechanical graphical detail is where it shines. cptmaxons link explains the methodology pretty well.
After sussing the system on your first lock all the rest are easy, even a barrel with a tumbler set of 100 would be no harder as the same method applies, there is no dice-roll or luck factor involved in R2 kickboxing .. er, lockpicking. In R2 just one lockpick will get you through the game.
A bigger lock - exactly the same and not more difficult, just takes a bit longer to open --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLZtlb2TtWk
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In comparison, Skyrim's lockpicking shows no graphical tumbler movement at all - just the turning method of the lockpicks - suggestively, you could say that a more 'delicate' feel of the lockpick is needed in Skyrim though you might need to carry several lockpicks as they can easily break -->
Lockpicking in Risen 2 looks a bit...weird. I would have to get my hands on it to see how it feels. I really enjoyed the lockpicking style in the first Risen game. Risen did a lot of things right, such as the hand-placed loot in chests, the lockpicking, and a bunch of other cool stuff. Haven't played Risen 2 yet but I hope it is as good as the first game was for me.
All you need to know is that:
1. You can't break a lockpick in Risen2
2. There is a real logic on every lp minigame/puzzle, it's not masked "guess some random number"
3. No save-reload needed
I actually liked the "guess the random number" thing that Risen had going on. Don't know why, but I just thought it was cool. And I never save-reload cheesed, I always took my broken lockpicks like a man . Plus, it's just part of the game to me to fail at lockpicking sometimes, so I just went with it. Maybe if I was down to one lockpick with no others in sight I would try the save-reload tactic