Gothic

I can't help it: I simply adore eurojank, and Gothic is a prime reason why. I love this game because it's unpredictable. Most modern games lead you around by the nose, telling you exactly what to do, where to go, and how to get there. And after a while, those modern games all start to put me to sleep. Not Gothic. What happens in this game doesn't always make sense, but it holds my interest and keeps me playing long past my bedtime. Gothic, along with Gothic 2, are among my favorite RPGs. Combat and controls really try my patience, but with dedication, these things can be mastered. The graphics, given their age, really hold up quite well and are sharp and clear. I love these graphics. Difficulty can be high, but again, with perseverance, you can push through! However, if what you want is a smooth triple-A experience, this game is not for you. For me however, playing this game again takes me back to my early days of gaming, when you never really knew what to expect from PC games, and when a new game came out, half the fun was installing it and figuring out what kind of game you just bought by actually experimenting with it and getting drawn into its world. My most enjoyable gaming years were between 1993 and 2004. Those were exciting and unpredictable times. After that, games began to really become a lot more standardized and less interesting to me, in part because bigger companies began to get involved, making profit the top priority rather than interesting worlds and interesting gameplay. Gothic 1 and 2 represented for me the end of an era. I recommend these games.

This is my first real PC RPG, and I'm glad this was the one. Never played before until it came to GOG, and I can't recommend it enough to others. Two things first: the graphics looks much better than the screenshots you see here, particularly if you use the resolution hack found in the forums. Ages pretty well! The other thing is the controls: a lot of people complain about them. I couldn't get into the game after FIVE TIMES of trying the demo because of the controls, then I had them explained to me. Once I figured them out (in a matter of minutes for the basics), it was smooth sailing. Basically you use the left mouse button and the WASD keys for a lot of stuff (to attack, hold left mouse button and use the keys to swing your weapon in a given direction or cast magic, for example). It feels really "interactive" and I grew to love it. That stuff aside, Gothic is a really classic RPG in every sense of the word, in terms of that old gritty feel, all the staple elements (quests, open world, magic, weapons, etc), and is just an overall great package...there's a lot of things that can't be explained, only experienced. On top of that, it does a lot of things very uniquely (again, can't really be explained) which will make this a game you reference often when talking about RPGs. The dialogue is very funny at times, and personally I found the story pretty innovative. Some of the voice acting is really good, some really bad...the bad doesn't hurt the game much, but I did find myself wincing a bit at some of it. Combat is very fun -- I played as a mage, a very satisfying experience. Be sure to tweak the config and crank the blood to 3. ;) There's also great music (don't forget the In Extremo patch!), lots of quests, routes to take, etc. Just try the demo and you'll likely be hooked. It gets a whole lot worse after that. ;)

No other game has a world, that is created as well as the world of Gothic. Add on top of that a very well balanced and paced gameplay, and you get this masterpiece. Gothic 1 for me still is the Gold-Standard of open world games, that no other game ever reached. There is no other World where exploring ever felt as rewarding as in this one, without holdind the players hand to much. The game strikes a perfect balance in that regard. The Characters are very believable, and a lot more lifelike than in traditional fantasy games as well. Gothic 1 does not try to stuff its pretty good story down your throat, it let's you experience it. Can not recomend this game more, everybody should have played it, it's a absolute masterpiece.

I somehow completely overlooked the Gothic franchise when it first arrived in the USA those many years ago, like so many others. I only discovered the game when I was looking online through forums and videos for a fantasy-based gaming experience with a fun magic system and plenty of depth. It has both of these and much more, with a world that feels much more fleshed out than many current games could claim to boast. Yes, there are quirks to the game system, and sometimes things won't function as intended, but all in all, it's worth the time to dive into this adventure.

Tried to run after install, nothing. So then tried to verify and system hung on 94% had to reset computer. Attempted again and eventually did verify to 100 % but still doesn't run. Read about some players patch that solves this, downloaded and it does start the game somewhere in the background according to task manager, everywhere except on your screen. Gave job up as a bad do, uninstalled. At least it was in sale really cheap as if i'd paid £9 i'd be narked to put it politely.