Gothic 2 Gold Edition

This game is VERY BUGGED, even with the latest official patch (v2.7). I've only finished chapter 1 so far but I've encountered so many bugs it's mind boggling. For example one character was starting conversation whenever I got close enough to him and I had difficulties to escape the loop. Some enemies would just disappear (a lizard on a small island to be exact), sometimes I or enemies would jump super high when attacking, at one of the bridges there is an invisible wall and there are invisible walls in general. Bugs are just everywhere and some of them prevented me from finishing a quest (sometimes reloading to an earlier moment would help but that's still super annoying). There are also invincible NPCs and there is a very, very annoying bug with Greg. What's more the game is not balanced well, you need to meta-game in order to progress. That's just crappy design. After over 20 hours I realized that I shouldn't have invested LP to more than 29 STR or that I shouldn't have used Innos statues or that stone tablets shouldn't be given to Vatras or that you should invest in dexterity first because you can get a much. much better weapon that way (either Master sword from Martin that requires 60 Dex or a sword near trolls which requires only 50 Dex but deals 100 damage). On the other hand strength based weapons require isnane amounts of LPs invested and at the start at least are sh_it. Which makes the game a slogfest. I haven't played Gothic 2 before playing G:NoR so I didn't have the meta knowledge and by the time I realized my mistakes I was too far ahead to restart. I assumed that min-maxing won't be necessary in order to progress but in reality it is. I still can defeat most opponents but only by using some cheap tactics and awful AI of my adversaries. Anyone praising this game must have either played through much easier Gothic 2 before or just used a walkthrough.

[If you are an RPG games fan and haven't played this game, please do yourself a favor and buy it and play this game. You will definitely be glad that you did] This is the first RPG game I played. I am glad that I started with this. This is still one of the best games I have ever played. I don't want to rank all the games I had played. I enjoyed all of them. But Gothic 2 will remain as one of my most favorite games of all time. The story is awesome, the combat is (very very) challenging, Free open RPG, three different paths each have their own play style providing replayability. The game doesn't have difficulty level (and is always at hard level) which will be a problem for casual players playing for the first time. If you survive the first few encounters and get used to it, it is actually enjoyable. There is so many awesome things about this game that I can't list all of them. Till now I have played this game four times (as a Paladin, as a Mercenary, as a Fire Mage, and as a Complete Archer Strat) and it was enjoyable every single time. After playing this game couple of times, I bought and played Gothic 1 (which is also a gem) and then played this game again couple of times.

Gothic 2 is one of the most hardest games i have ever played in my life. The game is really punishing, one slip up in combat and you're dead. However, there is alot of bugs, alot. And even after learning the strange controls the melee combat and targeting is still very clunky. Most of the time i die because the controls doesn't do what I want them to do. It's still a good RPG, with a relatively good story.

Buy this game ONLY if you're out for nostalgia like myself, or if you like extremely steep learning curve RPGs and it goes without saying only on a big discount! Don't be blinded by all these reviews from the cult like fanbase that talks based on nostalgia. I decided to have a go at Gothic 2 again, for the sake of nostalgia. This is how I see the game now, when I played it with my mind a bit more … matured. Pros: Entertaining plot that's quite enticing. Story: it's an awesome story, and if you can put up with the pathetic voice acting, you will get your money's worth out of the story alone. Music: amazing Atmosphere: amazing Cons: Gameplay is a chore. Combat: it's a piece of crap, and here is why: The controls often are unintuitive (ok, you lose time changing them) and unresponsive (often the buttons you press yield no action). The game forces you to play like a retard by not allowing you access to its combat system until you invest hours in the game to progress with your combat skills. Some praise this as the game actually rewarding your combat development, whilst I fail to see how fighting with 1 hand tied to your back for half of the game only to enjoy the complete experience at the end is rewarding. Often the swings lag during combat, no clue why, but you will get hit during these openings. Awkward hitboxes on your opponents. AI derps A LOT, thus expect a lot of awkward moments. Quests: a lot of quests bug out so save often (even when patched). Voice acting: its a joke...and not a funny one at that. 2 stars thanks to the pros. The cons, which you get to experience too often, bring the game down. Disclaimer: This was the first true RPG I have ever played. I was a diehard fan of the Gothic series, however not anymore after this 'awakening' I had. Completed the Gothic 2 classic in all possible ways, *spoiler alert* killed the last boss with just 2 destroy undead spells, been there done that, you name it. I also don't like what PB did with Elex.

Do not bother with negative reviews, they just do not like old games in general. Gothic has it's charm and issues (aren't all games like that nowadays?), it has incredible music, amazing story, multi-class/multi-guilds, weapon making, unique type of magic system (scrolls and runes) and much much more and keep in mind it is a game from 2005! Graphics are old, combat system is weird and clunky but millions of players loved it for immersive world, dialogues and main character. If you are still unsure if you should buy this game just wait for sale.