As a rabid fan of the Gothic series I'd like to have my say.

I won't dwell much on the first two since you've already played them, yet I agree that I has a better story but II is the better game due to being longer, having more gameplay elements, etc. II is my favourite of the series.

I despised Gothic 3 when it first came out, however about 2 years ago I installed it and played it with the fan made patch and have to admit, it is a very very fun game. Yes, it is very different from the first two games, almost everything has been changed. That being said, with the fan patch, it is not a bad game on its merits. It offers a compelling storyline and above all - a ton of content. There are a lot of cities to explore, a lot of paths to be played, etc. Once you stop looking at it as a Gothic game (in terms of mechanics) it turns into a rather fun Gothic-themed RPG.
Now my recommendation is - play with the fan made patch but at least on your first playthrough, do not use alternative balancing (but DO use the revamped AI feature). The alternative balancing makes the game a lot harder, much akin to the first two games. Personally, with the amount of content an fighting that Gothic 3 has to offer, I find a comprehensive playthrough on such grounds tiresome. You will be fairly weak in the beginning and early-mid game but smashing face in no time - and it will be at about this time that you start getting rid of the huge map riddled with enemies (read: experience grind). Also, this will let you try different gameplay choices, i.e. magic and melee (which in my opinion in a sense does lead to a more realistic gameplay experience). Nevertheless, choose what you will focus on and leave the rest of the stuff for another playthrough.

Oh and Gothic 4 - played that game for about 8 hours and my verdict was: utter garbage. I don't think I've ever regretted spending money on a game as much as I did on G4, not to mention the hours of my life that it consumed that I will never get back.

Instead, if you have't yet - play Risen. It is very much in the spirit of Gothic 2 and a great game overall!

I do not recommend the Gothic series at all. I bought G2 and G3 based on comments on these forums saying it was among the greatest RPG's of all time.

Maybe that's true for Gothic 2...I wouldn't know. Considering *the game never once loaded correctly* for me. Period. Never once loaded. It'd either crash or black screen.

Gothic 3 is a piece of junk and should not be paid for. End of story. The game was rushed out of development and sold completely broken with every system from simple walking mechanics being so inhumanely broken to be unplayable. The only way to play the game is by fan patch, and even then after almost a gig patch download the game doesn't feel right. You don't move right. You don't swing right. There's no context. You don't feel what you're doing in the game. It was like floating through all my actions completely detached. That's a terrible aspect for a game. Even with fan patches, and a strong PC the game still lagged. It's not optimized at all. And in general I found every thing in the game to be poor creation. The world looks pretty to an extent, but that doesn't make up for it's many flaws.

A developer who puts out a game like Gothic 3 does not deserve to be paid. Do not buy it. I wouldn't even recommend pirating it.

Ah, well if you're coming from that perspective then obviously we're pretty far apart.

Clearly, gentlemen, we have a "love it or hate it" case.

It comes down to this:

- Are you willing to look past hideous design flaws (or a completely broken game) to see the beauty of a game underneath?
- Are you willing to put hours into fan-patching a game to make it work, and then compromising with the game to actually enjoy it?
- Does the idea of a game not working at all not bug you because it's only a few dollars?
- Do you find "Old School" RPG mechanics like Trainers preferable over more modern RPG systems of leveling skills and find most modern RPG's not enjoyable because they are too easy?

If you like those ideas, then by all means. Pick up the Gothic series. if you don't find yourself agreeing with those four statements, by the love of god stay away.

Please don't lump in Gothic 3 with the other titles.

Gothic 3 is 'ok'. It's not nearly as good as Gothic 1 or 2, but it has a lot of quests and things to do. It added several towns to it, but they feel kinda hollow. A large world to explore but it isn't as interesting as the old games.

Arcania is also 'ok'. It looks very nice and you constantly travel to new areas that look different from the last so it doesn't get boring. However, theres very few quests to do aside from the main story ones. It's pretty short in comparison to the other Gothic games as well.

Quick question: Do the Steam versions of the first three Gothic games have any major issues when running on Windows 7? I'm thinking I might just get the bundle with the first three games.

Some report issues, some say they work fine. Out of caution and for future proofing I would recommend the first two games here and Gothic 3/FG there (unless you want to wait for them to come here).

Well, it's cheaper to get the whole bundle with every Gothic game on Steam. From what I read on the Steam forums, aside from the usual problems that come with every PC game, they seem to run fine on 7.

I have Gothic 2 Gold and Gothic 3 from Steam and they are working fine on Windows 7 64 Bit.

Faction-related actions can lock you out of the Innos and/or Beliar endings if you go about it the wrong way, but unless you killed Xardas the Xardas ending remains available (you don't need to pick a side to achieve this ending).

Well, I've decided that I shall attempt to acquire these games then. :)

It solves the main issue, which was bug, but Gothic 3 is still very average : non-sensical quests, not-rewarding exploration (random loots everywhere), Nintendo geography, no "global quest". Basically, you go from town to town, solve the local quests, and go to the next town...

Not bad. Very average.

From what I have read, Gothic 4 is teh meh.