Gothic

In Gothic 1 you are useless walking bag of meat, disrespected, despised, you are worthless worm, every living creature including the humans in the 'home' area wants you dead, sometimes just for a laugh. And this can be changed through hardwork. The feeling alone when you overcome all the odds to be the hero is so fulfilling, never felt that in a game for years! And the true challenge you need to work through is patching the game until it works! It's worth it. If you want a 'similar' experience to Gothic skip the Witcher and play Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

Gothic is an early 2000s action RPG that stood out by putting the player at the very bottom of the food chain as an anonymous prisoner in a mine colony sealed off by a magical barrier. Inmates control the colony, forming factions with their own rules and hierarchies. Early on, most NPCs are stronger than you, making reckless fights costly. The game encourages patience. You must earn trust in one of three camps, each with distinct culture, ideology, and skills. And the choise also add to replayability, since seeing the story from another point of view, might also be interesting. Instead of a destined hero, you're just another survivor clawing your way up. NPCs are often hostile or manipulative, which makes eventual progress and payback feel satisfying. Progression is even shown in animations: a beginner swings a sword clumsily, while a trained fighter handles it with fluid precision, a rare touch that makes development tangible. Exploration is open but dangerous. The world is accessible from the start, yet enemies like orcs for example are nearly unbeatable early on. There are no quest markers or minimaps, information comes from NPCs, and quests are tracked only loosely in your journal. This lack of handholding strengthens immersion but demands patience. Controls, designed without mouse support, feel clunky today: attacks and interactions rely on combining action and movement keys. Graphics are dated, with blocky models and short draw distance, yet the atmosphere remains unique. Muted landscapes, desolate ruins, and the glowing magical barrier create a painterly almost romantic mood. Gothic is rough, but its grounded world, social rules, and unforgiving progression make it stand out even now. The first half in particular offers a brutal but immersive sandbox where survival and social maneuvering matter more than simple enemy clashing. Later it gets unfotunatly a little bit too linear but despite the quirks, it's a memorable RPG for those willing to adapt.

Thulis ist what Games are made for! You can feel the programmers' passion while playing.

I love this game since played it first time in December 2003. This is my first RPG in 3D. Comparing to Morrowind world is smaller but we don't have wastelands and almost every corner is packed with something interesting to discover! NPC are very interesting, so the plot witch is not pathetic. I have installed the game yesterday and will be playing with some mods :)

This game took me 30h to complete. The novelty of the first 10h made it stand out as the superior portion, though the combat became far better with the new skills gained in the latter half. Unlike most games, it starts out hard and gets easier as you progress, which is strange to most games but more natural. Some complain about the controls, but I love the controls. These are better than many WASD schemes, and allow for higher precision in object/enemy targeting. I am right-handed. What I've heard about them being made for left-handed players sounds like BS. Yes, it takes a moment to get used to, and you might even have to look at the manual (*gasp*) but you will adapt. The game is very buggy even with patches, especially toward the end. A few times I sadly wondered whether I would be able to finish the game. 1. Roaming around I discovered the Troll den with the black goblins in the north country and managed to defeat them using the shrink scroll laying there. As it turns out, this becomes a major quest point later on. Basically, since I'd killed the troll and used the scroll already, this part made no sense anymore and the game bugged out but I still managed to make it through (barely). 2. The final part of the sleeper temple was a sloppy mess and a disappointing conclusion to a fine game. Kor Calom got stuck behind a statue while I picked off the templars and stabbed the 5 hearts (it's far too easy to exploit the terrible NPC navigation). The orc priests in the sleeper temple were obnoxiously dumb and easy to beat. These endgame bosses couldn't even scratch me in my magic robe. No challenge at all and therefore just a slog to get through. In sum, it's buggy and the ending is lame and unsatisfying; but the controls are fantastic, the combat enjoyable, and the sense of progress bar-none. Try this if you're in for something different than the standard fare.