Gothic

I never played the Gothic series until downloading Gothic 1 from GoG. I've always heard great things about them, and as I am an RPG fan, I thought I'd give it a go. The graphics aren't great, but this is still an old game so you shouldn't be expecting a master piece. The most annoying thing is the drawing distance and how certain things in the distance flicker at times, but you get used to the graphics fairly quickly and they don't detract at all from the experience. In the beginning this game is very, very unforgiving. Near anything you fight will kill you quickly, especially in groups, and you will fall of frequently from high places and have to load (watch out for ladder glitches). The game requires a certain level of patience early on and a lot of walking. The controls are also a bit strange but not complicated, you get used to them very quickly (only the menu system took me a bit to figure out). But, the setting, atmosphere, and voice acting are all superb. The voice acting especially kicks the butt of more current games like Oblivion; pretty impressive for an older game. Although the general plot is basically linear at later stages, the early sections give you a lot of free reign in choosing your sides and who you want to align with. The leveling system is more innovative than the standard allocate x points here (although you do do that) since you have to find a person to train you in the skill to have it in the first place. Everything is a little tougher than usual, but more rewarding in the end. Overall this is a great game and very immersive.

This is a title that any fan of RPGs would enjoy. i have played this title several times, each time choosing to align myself with a different faction in order to experience it from multiple angles. Well written and balanced. I can't recommend it highly enough!!!

Gothic was and still is one of the best action rpg, excluding all hack&slash (were Divine Divinity rules ^^). When it came out it was a nice refreshing breeze on the genre (with too much BG wannabees). A renewal for the genre with a dark setting and a realistic approach. It has its flaws: some bugs and a unintiutive interface (that becomes very easy to use after one hour or so), some unfinished contents (strange altar in the swamp anyone?), a bad unrealistic inventory system (welll we have seen worse elsewhere), a machist settings with few females and none of note (in keep and true to the setting). But the good points are worth it: enthralling combat: you never know if you can survive when you encounter something new. Strong creatures restrict your exploration... and if you are witty or perseverant enough, the rewards are just behind them. good intelligent scenario with multiple paths and some well developped characters world interactivity: a nice change, though it remaims light compared to Ultima VII good voice acting (german version), free live concert (german version) interesting and rewarding side quests some rewarding bugs (that may prevent you from dying stupidly)... exploits really well contained (time & difficulty), sustaining your interest beautiful world, well made, using the 3D environment as should be fun critters and badass monsters difficult while being reasonable some nice touches here and there (that I won't spoil) magic is hard to acquire, and though it is worth it, it won't make a god out of you. The challenges will remain. One of my favorite CRPG with Ultima, Fallout and BG. The German original version is superior to the English port sadly.

There's not enough words in the world to describe how great this game is. The story, the characters, the enviroment...everything in this game really feels alive. Try it, you won't be disappointed