I'm wondering if I should play the Gothic series. I recent played Risen and found it to be one of the best recent gaming experiences. It was fairly challenging at first and I felt that it greatly rewarded exploration. I also felt a connection to the explored theme of freedom and I felt most of the quests were well put together/interesting. It was also pretty to boot, but that wasn't so important to enjoying the game. The only "problem" with Risen is that I explored mostly everything on my first run-through. Might have to replay as a mage though and join the other "faction."

I've got Gothic 2 and 3 already, but I don't like starting series in the middle. So I guess my question is if it would be worth it to purchase Gothic 1 :P I know the control schemes are supposed to be fairly awkward at first, but combat isn't my primary concern.

Basically, was my experience with Risen something similar to what I should expect from the Gothic series? Thanks in advance!

If you enjoyed Risen then it's a good bet you'll enjoy Gothic 1&2 (Risen was basically a return to the roots of the series, after a bit of divergence with Gothic 3). The controls in Gothic 1 will feel pretty awkward for the first couple of hours, but once you get used to them they'll end up feeling pretty natural. You can expect the same kind of challenge as you got with Risen (a bit more actually), along with the same kinds of dangers and rewards of exploration.

Gothic 2 (+NOTR) is definitely the best of the bunch, but Gothic 1 is still a very good start for the series, and Gothic 2 draws quite a bit upon the characters, events, and locations of Gothic 1, so it really is worth it to play Gothic 1 first.

I totally agree, you should go for it.
Risen feels quite like Gothic 1 and 2.

It's also a good idea to start from G1, you'll get some nostalgia moments in G2. And definitely install G2 with the NoTR expansion. It blends into the main game so you can't add it later and if I recall correctly the savegames were not transferable as well.

If you don't expect to be the hero right from the start, Gothics are not that hard. You just have to accept the fact that running away like hell is a totally acceptable combat strategy :D

Absolutely , you must play Gothic 1-3
I loved them all ,just be aware that Gothic 1 takes some time to understand the interface and is relatively hard . But its well worth the effort

Alright, I am convinced! I have to put it off while I finish Arcanum (great game!) and Skyrim (okay but somewhat disappointed in my opinion).

Thanks everyone!