All right, I'm in a dilemma. I have been testing out Gothic and Arx Fatalis for 3 days now and need some purchasing advice.
Gothic.
Pros:
Big world.
Nice for a (2000?) game.
Cons:
Lack of any fuckin tutorial whatsoever.
Combat feels....pathetic.
Controls are odd at first.
Arx Fatalis.
Pros:
Easy combat and magic system.
Bloody executions.
Simple Controls and nice graphics for 2001 game.
Tutorial is present....
Cons:
But doesn't explain some things thoroughly.
Game, even in demo, is prone to crashing.
From what I've read, the game STILL crashes frequently unless ran in 98 compatibility mode, but crashes less often.
So...any ideas or pros and cons?

Re: Gothic
The combat requires a good sense of rhythm, and fighting becomes more and more like a well-timed dance as you put more skill points in "Use Swords." It takes some getting used to, but I think it's a fair sight more interesting than mere button-mashing... And, f all else fails, you can always just try to become a mage and blow stuff up with fireballs.
Also, more pros:
*Non-linear plot
*Greater variety of monsters
*Prettier scenery
And Cons:
*Very unforgiving world. Expect to die/run away a lot, even at mid-to-high levels, as a result of careless mistakes. Don't be fooled by the vast expanses of land that are too dangerous to cross.
*Everyone and their mother can kick your ass until late in the game.
*World-setting is kind of generic, even if the people/places are interesting.
Re: Arx Fatalis
Magic and combat in Arx are relatively easy, yeah, but bear in mind that combat balance is way off. There's generally not much reason to get into ranged combat at all (You're in a cave! It's an ENCLOSED SPACE! Why would you think about using a bow?), most of your enemies will run straight at you and try to swipe your head off regardless of your character type, and the final boss, at least, is highly magic-resistant. If you're NOT playing a swordsman with limited magic skills and the ability to identify items, the game can get even more arbitrarily hard than it already is.
Pros:
*Interesting and novel setting.
Cons:
*(English) Voice acting is absolutely terrible.
*Unbalanced character creation system; there's only one way to play.
*Yes, the game MAY crash every few minutes.
*Only slightly more forgiving than Gothic.
OF the two games, I'd recommend Gothic as the more enjoyable one.

Gothic.

You probably won't like Arx Fatalis, not because it's not good but because it's a throwback to Ultima Underworlds and the Eye of the Beholder style of dungeon crawl. They don't really make games like that much anymore, and from what I remember about you you're younger (teeenager, right?). It doesn't really play like modern games so it tends to be more popular with the nostalgia crowd. Game has virtually no plot, and won't explain anything for most of the game. That's how these games played.
Get Gothic 2. It's better than the first one. You won't miss anything storywise that they don't explain in the first 15 minutes.

Actually I've played Arx when I was 18 (2 years ago) and absolutely loved it, while I still hate Gothic. Oh, and I dislike dungeon games as well.
Well, so I can add to your pros and cons list as well:
Arx Fatalis:
Pros:
*Atmosphere. This game is just so damn atmospheric, with it's very ... lookable graphics and stuff you can do (yay for baking bread! :D )
*Magic. I loved it's magic system.
Cons:
Well.. I really DID love the game, you can't expect me to be unbiased, can you? :D
Gothic:
Pros:
*Well... Living cities I guess...
Cons:
*While cities are nicely presented, wilderness is something HORRIBLE. Their nature is... Let's say slighty overpopulated. And it makes walking from a place a) to place b) hell, combined with it's combat
*Not... Really that interesting, I didn't really see anything original in G2 and I didn't play G1 too much

I'm going off of Gothic 2 here so expect some changes. Tried the demo for Arx also so I have a bit of an idea for the game.
Gothic:
Pros:
Lot of people to interact with.
Lot of monsters to kill.
Every line of dialogue is voiced (not sure about this in Arx)
Very open which can also be seen as a con, look at balance below.
Cons:
Combat starts off unforgiving and only gets to the point where its something without lube not even 3 hours in.
Generic setting where your the chosen one.
Too many bloody enemies.
Horrible balance, you can find an Orc within 20 minutes of starting but he completely wipes the floor with you where his weapon is needed for a quest.
Arx:
Pros:
Unique magic system.
Atmospheretic.
Unique setting.
Cons:
Magic has to be prepared.
Voice acting is bad from what I saw.
Seems linear.
With that said I would avoid Gothic completely because of the combat. It has good ideas but if you have no sense of rhythm (a good comparison someone used is like a dance) like me then it immediately becomes frustrating to the point of tossing the disc (if I had one) against the wall.

No, its my first one.
I have mentioned in 2 threads this dilemma though! ;)

I would say get both. Just pick one to buy first, and buy the other later on. Gothic is quite a bit longer than Arx Fatalis--especially if you are like me and want to explore every corner and do every quest--but they are both excellent. Both are very hardcore, however, and have little or no hand-holding; most of the time it's up to you to work things out. If you like games where you are told where to go and how to solve a problem, neither of these games fit that.
Gothic's combat feels pathetic at first because you start out as a weakling. Once you build up enough experience (in the form of "Learning Points") you can learn to be more efficient with a certain category of weapons. As your skill improves with a weapon type you will gain access to faster and more graceful attacks as well as an increased chance of getting a critical hit. The hero's movement and actions will visibly change as a result of this learning; for instance, once you have basic knowledge in one-handed weapons he will no longer hold a one-handed weapon with both hands.
Arx isn't quite as well balanced as Gothic; a magic user will be more successful against late-game enemies than a fighter would, even if the two have the best skills in their respective areas. Because of the way the levelling system works there aren't many skill points just going to waste like there are in Gothic (at least if you explore thoroughly and do every quest).

I would but I got a better deal on Steam.
Half-Life Anthology and Half-Life 2 for $11.88. Made my day cause I now own em all and can get loads of mods for HL2. Oh, and Halo...

This reminds me of Gamespot..
Arx Fatalis gets my vote, but I've never played Ark Fatalis before (its probably similar, but more nautical and/or aquatic)