It's very surprising to me that I loved this game. I'm something of an old school RPG fan, I cut my teeths on Bard's Tale, Wasteland, Might & Magic, and the like. I never really liked any of the Elder Scroll games (not even Morrowind). Despite the similar presentation, this game does have an old school feel to it. The difficulty level is high enough, particularly in the beginning, though I don't believe it was ever unfair. The biggest hurdle I've faced was the combat system, which to be honest I probably never got very good at, but I managed to be good enough at it to succeed. Regardless, you are definitely not an invincible hero that destroys everything in his path, you must learn how to survive. But it is refreshing that, whereas in other games you would simply be grinding random encounters to "level up," in Gothic you hunt animals for their meat, teeths, claws, and other tradeable or useful items. You hardly ever just "find" weapon, armor, or gear, you must have it crafted, loot it from other less fortunate explorers, or join one of the factions. And since the place takes place in a colony filled with convinced criminals, questions of ethics and morality will occasionally rise and are handled in what I thought was a sensible manner.