LoneNite: i've heard gothic has quite a few issues tho....well i guess you could call them downsides. the control scheme and inventory stuff is a complete pain in the ass and the combat takes a while to get used to. if you like more free-roam open-ended type games then i'd say gothic, but as far as hack-n-slash awesomeness i would recommend sacred. personally i would rather get sacred.
Well. I think both Gothic and Sacred Gold are very good. I'd say pick Gothic if you are more into your character and the story, and like a more "intimate" environment. It's more RPG like. Sacred is a great "action" RPG. I never could get into Diablo for very long, but I love Sacred. It has a great deal of freedom, you can go anywhere, do the quests, don't do the quests, whatver you're in the mood for. It did remind me of Diablo a lot, but only because of the similar look and combat, the actual gameplay was much better to me and had a lot more of the RPG aspect in it. (But maybe I just never played far enough into Diablo?)
At GOG's prices, there's really no reason not to play both. ;)