Yeah, Gothic 1 is fantastic, and Gothic II managed to be the rare kind of sequel that improves on an already excellent game.Fat_Hippo said:If you enjoyed this one, you should have a great time with the sequel, it's generally considered the best of the Gothic games. I think they're both absolutely wonderful. Just be prepared if you're playing the sequel with the expansion installed: it makes the game a GREAT deal more difficult. That was Piranha Bytes' reaction to criticism by the fans that the sequel was too easy, they released an expansion to kick everybody's ass. You may even want to play the sequel without the expansion first, as strange as that sounds, and then replay it with the expansion afterwards. It really is brutal, far more brutal than the first game in fact, and you were correct in stating that this is already a pretty unforgiving experience. I just thought you deserved a sufficient warning.
And Gothic 3 is, in my opinion, a total piece of crap. And then the first Risen was a lot better, 2 was atrocious, and 3 was pretty mediocre. I find it a bit insane that in all the years since Gothic 2, Piranha Bytes hasn't been able to release a game that was better than their first two in a lot of ways.
Hmmm...now I feel like replaying the first game...
Yeah, non-lethal duels is one of the things I like most about Gothic games. It's great so smack somebody up to show'em who's boss, without outright killing them. Strange that this feature hasn't found its way into other games.Imre Csete said:Oh yeah, this game was so good when it got released. Shame it's not as well known as it deserves, perharps because Morrowind came out a year later. Whenever I think of action-RPGs, I think of the Gothic franchise. Stats are cool and all, but damn you could ace this game if you knew your way around the combat mechanics. Fencing with NPCs was my favourite. Non-lethal duels were a great idea, and smacking folks into the mud fit well into the whole penal colony atmosphere.
One thing I'm surprised he didn't bring up was how as your skills went up in combat related stuff your character would actually improve his technique. It literally wasn't just "you get +5% damage", your character would actually adopt a better stance, make faster and more efficacious swings, and generally start resembling a fighter more than a farmer trying to figure out which end is sharp.Imre Csete said:Oh yeah, this game was so good when it got released. Shame it's not as well known as it deserves, perharps because Morrowind came out a year later. Whenever I think of action-RPGs, I think of the Gothic franchise. Stats are cool and all, but damn you could ace this game if you knew your way around the combat mechanics. Fencing with NPCs was my favourite. Non-lethal duels were a great idea, and smacking folks into the mud fit well into the whole penal colony atmosphere.
Do you want the sort of official German opinion about it?MacabreHeart said:Pick the collection of them all up a while back but never got around to playing it. Anyone got an opinion on ArcaniaA, the the supposed 4th in the series?
Yeah, spamming side swiping after you got to master was hillariously broken. And once I mastered acrobatics I never walked, ever. It made 24/7 bunny jumping people in MMOs look pretty normal in comparison.Schadrach said:One thing I'm surprised he didn't bring up was how as your skills went up in combat related stuff your character would actually improve his technique. It literally wasn't just "you get +5% damage", your character would actually adopt a better stance, make faster and more efficacious swings, and generally start resembling a fighter more than a farmer trying to figure out which end is sharp
I played "Gothic 4" Arcania, and you won't miss a thing by skipping it. It's an entirely different game, linear and heavily action oriented. The first half of the game is merely "OK", and it is evident that development was rushed in the second half of the game, because there is practically no more plot or NPCs anymore, just bashing monsters. Overall, its a mediocre game in the best moments, and just plain bad in the worst. With all the great games we have these days, not really worth spending time with something like Arcania.MacabreHeart said:Pick the collection of them all up a while back but never got around to playing it. Anyone got an opinion on ArcaniaA, the the supposed 4th in the series?
I actually didn't care about Gothic 2 too much because it lacks the defining aspect that made Gothic 1 great as mentioned in the article: you being no one special.Fat_Hippo said:If you enjoyed this one, you should have a great time with the sequel, it's generally considered the best of the Gothic games. I think they're both absolutely wonderful. Just be prepared if you're playing the sequel with the expansion installed: it makes the game a GREAT deal more difficult. That was Piranha Bytes' reaction to criticism by the fans that the sequel was too easy, they released an expansion to kick everybody's ass. You may even want to play the sequel without the expansion first, as strange as that sounds, and then replay it with the expansion afterwards. It really is brutal, far more brutal than the first game in fact, and you were correct in stating that this is already a pretty unforgiving experience. I just thought you deserved a sufficient warning.
And Gothic 3 is, in my opinion, a total piece of crap. And then the first Risen was a lot better, 2 was atrocious, and 3 was pretty mediocre. I find it a bit insane that in all the years since Gothic 2, Piranha Bytes hasn't been able to release a game that was better than their first two in a lot of ways.
Hmmm...now I feel like replaying the first game...
Yeah, I prefered the story in Gothic 1 far more as well. The whole "prison colony" thing was awesome, and being given almost a bit of "chosen one" status in the second game was lame. But at least people didn't realize you were trying to save everyone, so they still treated you like shit. BRING IT PEOPLE I NEED YOUR ABUSE!Fdzzaigl said:I actually didn't care about Gothic 2 too much because it lacks the defining aspect that made Gothic 1 great as mentioned in the article: you being no one special.
That was the best part of the first game for me. The second did improve much in many areas, but the story (except the last part) just didn't click with me.
If you can, also play this game with the German voice-overs, they're a million times better than the English ones.
This is so true. But I also love that a lot of these hurdles can be overcome with sufficient mastery of the combat system, as clunky as it may seem when you first start playing. With the right tactic, even a troll can be defeated alone without losing a single hitpoint...it just takes awhile. Pretty satisfying to solo trolls early on in Gothic 2.Aetrion said:The biggest thing I love about Gothic is the power level though, because the most powerful enemies in the game are orcs and trolls. Having a 7 foot tall orc warrior swinging a man sized axe at you means something in Gothic. Orcs aren't just a noob enemy, they are scary as hell, and being strong enough to fight one as a human means you are a major badass. There are a few trolls in hidden places in the game, and you often have to recruit some friends to even take them on.