Gothic

A lot has been said about Gothic, so I'll try to keep this relatively short. It's an RPG with lots of issues. The entire control scheme is wonky, and if you can't get past that, you can't enjoy the game. Combat is wildly unbalanced: the most overpowered move is dodging backward, as it grants you invulnerability for several frames; if you start using summons you can overwhelm anything; at the start you are weak as a newborn and so on and so forth. The game gets severely linear after chapter 1-2. Often, you can find glitches and assorted issues, ranging from annoying to hilarious. Despite all these problems, the game shines with an interesting story and setting, a rewarding progression (from very weak to force of nature) and an open world full of things to explore. There is an atmosphere to the prison micro-cosm you are thrown in which makes it all seem more alive than it actually is. The plot twists are nice and the game accomodates several playstyles for you to enjoy. The music could use more variety, but it's also good. It's clunky, and you can kind of tell they ran out of money and had to really rush to wrap things up, but it's the kind of game that truly resonates with a certain crowd, and I really enjoyed its clever ideas and designs, despite the all-present flaws. The jank is real, but so is the charm.

The strongest aspect of this game is by far it's overall atmosphere. The world design and layout are also pretty good... as for the rest... they are somewhere between "okay" to "pretty good". When put together they would have been enough to consider giving it "good" grade (aka 4⭐) with the atmosphere and vibes arguably pushing it towards 5... Unfortunately the flaws of Gothic are apparent. It could have been phenomenal, but it is merely good... and if the atmosphere and "vibes" of the game don't click for you, probably not even that. However as I do enjoy the overall atmosphere quite a lot, I'm giving Gothic a 4. It's too good for anything less... but even my personal bias can't make me stretch the grade beyond that... albeit I did strongly consider adding in a plus there... (I have a longer post on my blog, if you'd like to read through more of my thoughts on the game)

An interesting world with lots of detail and care put into the entire game. Now that GOG has updated Gothic 1 you can play it without a single mod which makes this an easy recomend for anyone that's a fan of janky rpgs.

Fun game, though I died more in this game than any other game I've ever owned, which sometimes had me howling at the computer out of sheer frustration. But I always kept coming back.... The early part of the game is really tough! My advice: read up on tips and tricks before playing this game, and get a hold of a partial walkthrough of the beginning, at least. It will definitely help avoid some of the most frustrating aspects of the game.

Long time ago i bought the game but it was in my younger years and i tought it was too hrd for me to enjoy. Later on i saw it again resently I bought gothic 3 and i heard 2 and 1 are much better to start with because of the story so i Descided to buy it at Gog again, and i must say i was suprised how much you can do things likw choosing your own camp wich you want to join. And i felled hardcore because you can explore a lot of places but since your still green behind your ear you dont dare to go to far because most of the monsters will chew you and spit you out. The skill system is very realistic nit like other rpgs where you suddenly get better with a sword because you go up a lvl. Instead you must learn your skills and it is fun how the teacher tells you how to use your skill with makes the game give a more living breathing world. You dont feel like a hero but more of someone who is kicked in a harse bitter world and you need your wits and strenght to survive. I wish more companies make games like this. The bad side? Well it has a hard learning curve its not a pick up and just play. You have to learn from your mistakes and die a lot/ But then again when you get to the point you can fight most monsters you get the feeling of proudness that you have worked hard to get that far it gives more rewading feeling. If you like a challange get this game and before you know it hours has past abd you had a great time.