Is it worth getting? How does it compare to say, Morrowind? Are the environments hand-crafted? Is there nice loot to grab? Secrets to discover? Entertaining quests? How's the combat? I have g2+expansion but the game was too inaccessible (getting killed by everything) and the graphics (understandably) poor.

Hey,

You shouldn't really compare it with Morrowind. Rather with Oblivion (in certain terms).

* Landscapes (the whole world, in fact) it is indeed hand-crafted, and, in my opinion, surpasses Oblivion auto-generated and repetitive maps in many ways. I like Oblivion, but I consider G3 superior in terms of landscapes.
* While I never understood why people complain about G1 / G2 controls, I must say they are completely reworked in G3, each weapon type having unique animations (like dual-wielding vs two-handed weapons) and fighting styles. Well, mostly you can click-click-click-click-to-win, if you play on Easy difficulty, and without Alternative Balancing.
* Magic effects are also superior to those from Oblivion (imo).
* Be ready however to die a lot, at least in the beginning of the game if you're adept of a more reckless playing.


This is how Gothic 3 looks with the latest patch (included in GOG version) near the starting area.

I prefer Gothic 3 to the first 2. It's alot easier to use, and the world seems so much more alive. I really want to level up, and it doesn't feel like a grind.

WITH the community patch, this is a great game. The graphics are beautiful, the combat is fun, and there are hundreds of hours of gameplay to be had.

I have played G2 with and without the expansion. My advice is download it again WITHOUT the expansion - probably my favorite RPG of all time. I did complete it with the expansion, but found it annoying to have to be so careful with my experience points - took some of the fun out of it for me.

I personally prefer the Gothic games to Elder Scrolls (and I've played all but Skyrim), mostly because there isn't the annoying level-balancing of Oblivion here. There are simply places you cannot go until you are strong enough. This makes the beginning of the game a bit linear, but after you buff up, the world is pretty much your oyster.

From what I remember of Morrowind, it was a good game, but I sold or dropped some item that was key to completing the game, couldn't find it for the life of me, and kind of gave up. The interface in G3 doesn't allow you to sell or drop quest-related items. G3 is similar in that there are different factions to deal with, and it's your choice whom you help or destroy. In my opinion the G3 graphics (this is subjective, of course) are far superior. Plus, once you find the teleporter stones, the endless running from place to place is eliminated - I remember one town in Morrowind built like a huge square pyramid, that I must have run around a hundred times - made me feel kinda barfy. Selling your loot is much easier in G3 than in the Elder Scroll games. There is no 'per item limit', you are only limited to the amount of gold the shopkeeper has on hand.

I got fed up with the series after playing through them all. Especially with Gothic 3 with it's "find the 5 artifacts" with hardly a hint of where to get them/where to go.

I am getting to the point where i just want to either play games on super easy mode, or just watch movies instead. I would rather have fun and cruise through these games to have fun. A challenge is tedious and frustrating for me.

It's a shame, because the world in gothic 3 is so alive. The amount of wildlife in the game is outstanding.

But, you're given maps with "X" marks the spot for the water mage artifacts and one for the tombs of the ancestors. I think all except the find the guru task. Can't be any plainer then that!

I was never given any maps for the tombs by anyone. I didn't even know where the water mages were. Gothic 3 was a lot easier to navigate, but it just doesn't point things out enough.

The others were more structured and I did like that better. Really only needed to find one to get the artifacts task , the head water mage (my memory fails me). I just stumbled onto him (and the others). I think he gave the nameless one the map but it has been a long time.

if you hated getting killed a lot in the first two gothic games, you will probably find it hard to play the third one, becuase you die all the time in the third one as well.

I keep holding the block button, and the guy never blocks! what gives?

Blocking isn't particularly effective in Gothic 3 (as opposed to Gothic 2 where it could be quite useful). Like the other Gothic games animal attacks can't be blocked, so there's no point in even trying to block those. And while weapon attacks can be blocked, every time you block in decreases your stamina by quite a bit, and once you run out of stamina enemy blows start taking off your health even if you try to block them. Combined with how easy it is to stun-lock humanoid opponents in G3 fighting defensively just doesn't make much sense.

G3 beats Morrowind hands down. Superior game, IMHO, though it does tend to get tedious at points.

Correct (pinpoint) directions and timing mostly. I rather prefer backpedaling/dodging more