Personally I found Gothic 2 to be broken. Even basic movement and combat is some of the worst I've seen. Some people manage to see past such fundamental failings, but personally all I can advise is that you go and play Risen instead. It's by the same people but infinitely better.

So what is the best game of the Gothic series then? I can't really afford to get the pack (as tempting as it is), but I may have enough to spring for one of them.

Gothic 1 is the best I think. I personally like it the most. Has the best story and the world is not too big. Don´t know how the english translations works but in german it has a very good atmosphere.

Gothic 2 has better controls and visuals but there´s a mod which makes G1 looks like G2. I think it will be hard to get into G2 without having played the first one because it´s a direct sequel and all the characters are from G1.

The 'Universe' edition includes 1, 2, and 3 sans Arcania (which is both mediocre and contains SecuRom) and you can pick that up for only $5.75.

I've a rough outline of Gothic 1 which you can find here:

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/gothic_series/thinking_about_buying_gothic_1

It's flawed, but the important thing is that it's fun. I had several crashes, and at one point I had to disable the sound or the game would crash at certain areas. But it's still one of the coolest RPGs I've ever played.

I started Gothic 2, but had to restrain myself from playing. God knows how many countless hours of sleep I'd lost to Gothic 1 - and Gothic 2 is basically Gothic 1 with an even more massive landmass.

I got my Gothic Universe boxed btw. Paid $25 for it, but even Gothic 1 alone is worth that value (though my judgment may be clouded by the fact that it's a boxed copy I'm holding on to :P)
Go with G1 then. You'll appreciate Gothic 2 better only if you'd played through Gothic 1 first, as there are many recurring characters.

I must have skimmed over that. Am I really missing anything if I don't grab Forsaken Gods?

Unless you can tolerate even now, horrible controls, get gothic 4 and not the previous games. Especially 1.

If on the other hand you don't mind stupid controls and unfair battles, get the previous games.
But gothic 4 still deserves to be played.

Trying to figure that one out myself on the Steam forums. From what I gather Forsaken Gods is a standalone expansion set in the Gothic 3 world but does not contain the same quests/content/etc. that Gothic 3 contains. So, at least, you are safe in buying the Universe bundle without worrying that Forsaken Gods contains all of the same Gothic 3 content. Now, as to whether or not Forsaken Gods is worth another $2.50 on it's own -- I've heard mixed reviews. Some people say it is nice but others say it's horrible.

Gothic 4 is not even worth to be called Gothic, same goes for G3 and its Addon without mods. Sure, G1 and G2 have horrible controls by today´s standard but its nothing you could get use to with time. What they lack in controls they make up with one of the most believable worlds, still much better than most RPG worlds today and a lot of character.

Everyone whos wants a challenge and immersional world should get G1+G2+G2addon. G3 and G4 are not even worth the low price.

Indeed. G1 and G2 have fairly steep learning curves especially in terms of controls but they are far superior games to Arcania and Gothic 3. Unfortunately you need to buy at least the Universe bundle that contains G3 in order to get G1 as it isn't sold separately on Steam. Rabble, rabble, in before 'just buy it on GoG' -- well for people unfamiliar with the games who want cheap access I doubt you will ever see G1 and G2 as low as $5.75 total on GoG given their current price points and reluctance to drop below 50% discounts. And hey, you basically get G3 thrown in for free with Steam and while I admit it isn't as good as the first it isn't anywhere near as bad as Arcania provided you install the community patch.

Can anyone tell me if the Steam version of Gothic 1 has problems that are not in GOG's version?

I already have Gothic 2 and 3, but I'm seriously considering buying the universe edition for Gothic 1 alone. I've been waiting for a good sale on it since I joined GOG, but the best I got was a lousy 30% off on christmas.

EDIT: On second thought, I will wait for a sale here or on GamersGate, where I can at least gift the others.

I still say Risen. Unless you're a massively prolific roleplaying gamer then there's no real reason to go back to the Gothic games now. They've been surpassed... well that implies there weren't better options at the time which there were. But you get the idea. Unlike certain classics, the likes of which we haven't seen since, these games are pretty obsolete.

I don´t think Risen is the better game overall. Sure it´s more up to date by modern standards but it plays exactly the same in the first two chapters, just with better controls and its easier. But the story, world and characters are much weaker than in Gothic 1 and 2. The atmosphere and overall world design is also no match for G1+G2.

But as it was said before it all depends on what kind of gamer you are. If you need easy access, striking visuals and dont want to invest some time to get the game running smoothly on modern systems then go for G4 or Risen. Otherwise I cannot recommend G1+G2 enough because for me they are far more superior games and make a lot more fun.

Well that's just it. It doesn't play the same. The controls and particularly the combat are hugely improved in Risen (meaning they're now average). Both controls and combat were appalling in Gothic 2 and that's not something I can easily overlook given how fundamental they are to the game.

Oh and yes, the fact that Gothic 2 no longer seems to run at all is not the kind of problem you can easily gloss over. When even the GOG version doesn't work anymore that does kind of drive home its obsolescence.

You might prefer Gothic's storyline. That's pretty subjective though and personally I tend to prefer games I can actually play over ones I can't and were never very much fun when I could.

Well, there´s no use to argue about which game is more fun or appealling because everyone has a different taste. I have played all the Gothic games and still find G1+G2 the best. Why does G2 not run on your PC? I can still play it even though i have a GeForce 460GTX. Maybe it´s because still ude Win XP for gaming.