How does Gothic 2 compare to Gothic 3? I remember reading that the control scheme for Gothic 2 takes some getting used to.

EDIT: What difficulty would you recommend I start with for Gothic 3?

Gothic 2 is better in pretty much every way. Story is much tighter, world design is excellent, and it does a good job keeping you hooked from beginning to end with new places to explore and new challenges to overcome. Controls can take a little while to get used to, but actually work pretty well once you do get used to them. One warning I'll give, though, is that the game is hard- you'll spend the first several hours dying many times.

Start with normal difficulty then go from there depending on whether you find it too easy, to hard, to fine just the way it is.

I'll try out Gothic 3 and maybe pick up Gothic 2 at a later date. I'm not a fan of games that come with unforgiving difficulty.

For what it's worth, I started the Gothic series with Gothic 3 and it's still my favorite game in the series. The only issue I have with Gothic 3 is the lag/stuttering, other than that it's a fine game, in my opinion.

I should probably say a little more about the difficulty of Gothic 2 (and Gothic 1 as well). It isn't so much that the games are unforgivingly difficult along the lines of games like Dark Souls and various platformers, but more that the game is presented to the player differently than many other RPGs, which can lead to a lot of early deaths. Most RPGs start out the player as at least reasonably competent, while in the Gothic games you start out quite weak and most NPCs and critters can take you out pretty quickly. To add to this, there isn't much in the way of hard barriers regarding where you can go, so you can very easily run into enemies that are nearly impossible for a low level character. A big part of the game in the beginning is getting a feel for just what you can actually handle (which often involves lying face-down in the dirt). Plus quite a few NPCs you'll run into are serious assholes, but getting smart with them will quickly lead to them knocking you around and taking your money. Once you learn how the world functions, though, and take to heart that discretion is the better part of valor, then you shouldn't be dying all that much. It's just that for most people getting to that point involves the character first taking lots and lots of abuse.

1. The story in Gothic 3 is generic but decent. I wouldn't call it mediocre but seeing how the game is so large you begin to lose focus at one point. One thing I really liked is that each village has its own problems and its own small conflicts. It really makes you feel as if you're entering a community.
However, Gothic 1 has the best storyline in the series.

2. Depends what kind of character you're playing. As a fighter it can be frustrating at start but very easy later on. The bow mechanic is very well implemented however it's too "realistic" for gameplay purposes. Your enemies will catch up to you before you can kill them usually. I would say the best mechanic is magic, The system has been redesigned almost 100% compared to previous Gothics and it is very satisfying to use.

3. Community patches made the game playable, there are too many changes to list here but you should definitely play with the latest 1.75 patch.

4. Frankly I wish the game was more gory but in its current state there is nothing like that.

Gothic I and especially Gothic II + NotR were quite difficult for me to adapt to, since the difficulty is set different than in other games. Where you just cannot enter difficult regions in other games because of the restricted world, in the Gothic games you can walk to any place right from the beginning.
And of course you will be able to kill a sheep, but you better should not confront the troll back in the woods yet. You will die often, so you think it is difficult, but actually you just have to learn about your own abilities.

Oh, and I never really understood why people complain about the controls, I found them to be really good and fitting, after a short while of getting used to it.

I remember that many years ago when I played Gothic 2 the first time, my char was really weak because I didnt really understand all the skilling stuff (my weapon abilities were always 10% because I couldnt see any benefit in putting points there - a big mistake). So that my char was almost as weak as in the beginning at the game, but I still did it to chapter 3 or 4 with him, even if it took some time to do so.

Also I found out many tricks how to kill most monsters, sometimes even without loosing energy. Now I am even able to kill the black troll in close combat right from start, with the wooden weapon you will find at the very beginning at level 1. It is really funny that you can even kill the second strongest monster (just dragons are stronger) so easily if you know how to do it...

My tactic is: run to the troll and try to be fast enough to get behind him, now get your weapon in your hands and hit him from behind one or two times, while he tries to rotate, walk around him so that you are again behind him, 1 or 2 hits, walk again behind him, 1 or 2 hits, walk again behind him and so on until he dies.

He gives a good EXP boost at the beginning, as I remember you will even climb 2 or 3 levels up just by killing him at the very beginning.

What I want to say is that while you get easily killed when you go to a place that is to strong for you yet, you in the other hand will be also able to survive, when you know how to do so.

But one of the biggest difficulties in this game compared to others may be that everything is limited. You just cant level up with unlimited amount of weak monsters and then go to a strong place. Also you have to think twice where to put a skillpoint and when to put it there. You also have to manage all your potions. If you dont do so, you will went in to big trouble later in the game. I think this is one of the biggest difficulties in Gothic 2, especially if you play it the first time.

True true, but I would recommend to think about your skill points three times, instead of twice :D.

But in Gothic 3 everything isnt that serious, you can at the end even pump up two skill trees completely and have enough left over to get some other skills. Just at the beginning I would recommend to choose one of them and keep it until you are strong enough.

Thank you to everyone who has responded so far. If I enjoy Gothic 3, I'll pick up Gothic 2 at the next sale.

I'm planning on trying to create a Warrior with the capability to cast some spells.

You can certainly do that, but I do suggest playing Gothic 1 and then Gothic 2. Together they are one continuous story. Many of the NPCs you meet in Gothic 1 play prominent roles in Gothic 2, so you'll appreciate it more if you play them in order.

Gothic 3 is sort of a continuation of the story form Gothic 1 and 2, but it's different enough that it won't be too bad if you start there. My personal opinion is that 1 and 2 are vastly better than 3, but not everyone agrees with me.

The controls in the Gothic games are neither particularly good or particularly bad, but people have problems with them at first because they don't follow the conventions you find in 90% of other games. You have to spend a little time learning how they work, but once you've got it down the controls are just fine.

As others have said, the games aren't that hard except that you can wander into situations you aren't ready for. Often you will be warned before you end up there, though. For example, at the beginning of Gothic 1 there are guards posted at a gate who tell you you're going to get ripped to shreds if you keep travelling down the road you're following. They won't stop you from continuing however, so if you want to take the risk it's up to you.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Just to confirm, is 1.75.14 the latest version of the community patch for Gothic 3?

Yes, 1.75.14 is the latest version.

Thank you for the clarification Arkose.