I posted this in th general foum because I want everyone to rad it - not just those who already have the gothic games. I didn't play any of the games in the series until this mont hactually, AND NOW I CAN'T STOP! Bought the second one first, when it was cheap, saw it had a lot of potential but also saw that it depended heavily on the first one so i got that one as well. And boy was i amased! Now I've played both game SEVERAL hours (sadly havenä't compelted any of them, will do them in correct order). And What I like about them is the feeling. You are always relaxed when playing them but not in a daunting way, i could compare it to playing an mmo, they are actually wuite similar. On the other hand, gothic is better, it's made for one gamer and therefor more storybased (and what a story!!) and there a a lot oc choises to be made, whether you will join one faction or antoher (which will really change the gameplay) and how to complete wuests. Therefor I find it very modern in a way, and very rewarding. So you who played it; what do you think defines this game? And you who haven't any questions?:)

For people like me who love RPGs for their exploration, interactions and choices Gothic excels at all three. For people with other priorities like combat or the main narrative they might fall short.

Glad to see I didn't make a mistake when I picked Gothic 1 as my prize in a contest. The three things you listed are exactly what I look for in RPGs. It's... uh, in my backlog. I'm hoping to get to it soon. >.>

Meaningful choice and consequence, fairly interesting story, challenging combat, trade-offs involved in character progression/specialization -- Gothic 1 and 2 delivers all of the factors that make a good RPG. The first does sort of taper off after the initial act and becomes fairly linear but that -- aside from horrific voice acting and awkward inventory -- are probably the only negatives. The second is one of the greatest RPGs of all time and has a substantial amount of content with the average player taking around ~70ish hours or more to complete the 'Gold' edition (expansion included).

I'd add horrid controls in Gothic, but all the positives you listed are there in spades, I really enjoyed it.

It's a high fantasy RPG that largely does away with black and white moral choices. Granted, the orcs are still a standard Big Bad but when it comes to the human factions and the politics between and within them, as well as moral choices your character can make, it certainly does a lot better than any other fantasy RPG I've played.

I've never played Gothic, sounds like I should give it a go.

You have to put up with a truly horrid UI, if you can get past that you should very much enjoy the game.

Action key + some other key to do everything is fairly uncommon, I think that's why the controls get knocked as much as they do. Once I learned that LMB could be used instead of the ctrl key for action, and got in the habit of holding LMB down most of the time, it became much more bearable.

I tried the Gothic demo back in 2004 or so and I wasn't really impressed. It was on my to-buy list of course, but not something that I was compelled to buy.

Then, I bought Gothic Universe for $20 at a shop 3 months ago. Like you too, I couldn't stop playing. I tried to...I really couldn't. Even the game-stopping bugs couldn't stop me (pardon the pun). I had to play the last level without sound, but screw that I had to complete the game. It wasn't just for the sake of obligation - the game was like a bad wart for the first 15 minutes that genetically mutated to become something really special once you made your way to Old Camp. Of course I might have been really bugged (HA! again) if the bug had existed before the final level. It took a strain on my patience, but not enough for me to stop eagerly seeing through till the end.

It's also hard as f*, and that actually gave me a huge sense of satisfaction when I took down my first shadowbeast.

I believe Gothic was also one of the first few games that really gave you the sense of a lived in world. I love Morrowind, and it was easy to ignore the problem at that time, but in retrospect, it did seem silly that Gothic was able to do what Morrowind couldn't - having NPCs visually engage in menial but believable tasks.

Yes, in Gothic you have a living world around you instead of invisible walls of storyline, that's what makes it special. Too bad i've never played Ultima VII, heard it was close enough.

Atmosphere and dialogue are its strengths, I think. Character progression ain't too bad either. Weaknesses are graphics and controls.

As unpolished as it was, I enjoyed the first Gothic (have yet to complete the second). I thought it really nailed the atmosphere and immersion aspect, and I liked the uniqueness of the setting; a prison colony encapsulated by a magical barrier. All three major camps in the game felt like a living breathing place with NPCs going about their routines; sure, they were following tightly scripted schedules, but it was a LOT better executed than the radiant AI featured in Oblivion.

I'm not sure I buy the whole "choices" thing though. Sure, the game gives you three factions to choose from in the beginning, but the end result is always the same; no matter what camp you join, the story follows a linear path from that point to the end. That, along with the bugs and the clumsy UI & controls were among my only gripes with the game.

The second one fixes a lot of the first's shortcomings, but doesn't have the strength of the setting and atmosphere that the first one did. I'd still recommend the series.

I'm so glad to hear all this! I've been collecting the Gothic trilogy games over the years, but haven't played any of them yet. But I did play "Risen" on the PC a couple years ago, and like you guys describe, I just couldn't stop playing it. I had no idea (at the time) it was made by Piranha Bytes, the same developer as Gothic!

So if you don't know "what's next?" after Gothic 3, you might try Risen. (I'm not saying it's a "sequel" to Gothic, it's just another addictive game by PB). I even chose Gothic 2 as my "free game" for pre-purchasing TW2 just so I could have it DRM when I get around to playing it.

Which (now) sounds like it might be sooner than later...