Posted on: September 17, 2015

awsomewelles

Games: 381 Reviews: 3

Impressive world - unimaginative quests

I've been a long-time fan of the Gothic series as well as of their precursor Arx Fatalis, but I only just got around to playing Gothic 3 (with the mandatory 1.74 patch). Gothic 3 drops the nameless protagonist into a familiar setting; explore a vast world and side with one of three factions. However, it seems that they have focused on building a larger rather than a better mousetrap. None of the characters in the game have any, well, character. Shift the names around 9/10 of them, and I wouldn't even notice any difference. Since the people in the game don't seem real and their motivations rarely amount to anything other than that of the view of their faction. This is also reflected in the quests which seem all to have been cut from the same tree. A lot of them are either of the 'get me my lost item'- or 'kill them all'-variety. There has been some effort put into creating economic or other rationales for towns and communities (i e hunting, artefact gathering, smithing). However, the towns don't really interact and actions in one town will rarely affect dealings in another. Even the main quests are rather tedious and I never once really cared much about their outcome. As regards exploration, I was disappointed that you cannot dive or swim under water. I also felt that the Minecrawlers and Shadowbeats had been made extremly easy in relation to their terrifying bretheren in the previous Gothic games. I generally think that going large and not having content to backing up is a pity. The first game was the smallest of the three, and yet I never reallly knew what was going to happend next. As a gaming experience, that is far superior to what we have here. To conclude, I think it was nice to revisit the series and get a Gothic-feel once again, but there is really nothing left once once you've finished playing. I would say it's worthwhile playing if you're already a Gothic fan. If that isn't the case, I don't recommend playing Gothic 3.

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Posted on: August 13, 2014

RafaelLVX

Verified owner

Games: 510 Reviews: 12

So close yet so far

Gothic 3 follows the trend of the rest of series in presenting a dark medieval setting in bright, epic color, only this time with an ambitious, much larger scale. The game stands out for its immense open world where you can explore three kingdoms with their cities large and small, their political agendas and cultures. As far "openness" goes, Gothic 3 has it covered. You can explore the vast world in any order, and it's LARGE without being overwhelming or impractical, while also not feeling somewhat clustered like Oblivion where you can literally spot most cities of the realm at the same time from a tall enough mountain. The possibilities are many: liberate human cities from orc domination (or crush the human resistance), talk to kings, hunt wolves in the frozen steppes, worship gods, unbury treasure in caves in the desert, climb, hide, steal, attack, run, hurl spells. It's just pleasant that it offers so much to do. Also like other Gothic games, Gothic 3 has a high challenge throughout most of the game, which is just awesome. You can go anywhere, but opposition strength will vary and you WILL die. What I think is much inferior to other games in the series is combat. Other Gothic installments had a challenging (and rewarding) combat system where you had to time defense correctly to overcome the strongest orcs. Also, tackling too many enemies could overwhelm you quickly. Both these things rarely happen in Gothic 3. While you (Review clipped by length limit, have a nice day!)

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Posted on: December 6, 2011

carnival73

Games: 603 Reviews: 20

Community Patch Much Needed

Be warned that even despite the community patch Gothic 3 is very finicky about what rigs it will run on. It can even be a slide show on high end computers if it doesn't like your setup. The Community Patch really does wonders for this title. I was able to play the first twenty minutes of the Steam version before giving up with the poor performance and can say that if you can get it to run, it is even better than newer Gothic released like Risen. On a side note: The epilogue release to Gothic 3 - "Forsaken Gods" looks and works near perfect with it's most recent update and modification.

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Posted on: December 7, 2011

ukozo

Verified owner

Games: 39 Reviews: 1

not perfect, but still one of the best games of all time

Gothic 3 doesn't do anything cool with its story, characters, or combat. and obviously there was a time(before the community patches) when G3 was barely playable, indeed unfinished. however... there is no RPG in history(probably not in the future either) which grants the player more freedom and meaningful choice than this. suffice it to say that in Gothic 3 you can randomly murder even the most important quest-givers in the entire game as soon as you are powerful enough. and you can go anywhere in the world as soon or as late as you want. certain very rare RPGs such as the first Fallouts give you an equal amount of freedom and choice, but nothing tops Gothic 3. although G3 lacks certain elements which some fans consider essential to the Gothic series, there are many really good things which are still intact: the realistic skill system with teachers, the organic, truly hand-crafted world design, awesome magic spells which put The Elder Scrolls to shame, a completely interactive, reactive world with advanced AI(better have a reason if you draw a weapon or cast magic in town!) dinosaurs, unlimited inventory space, and of course the charming personality of Nameless. I have to mention the graphics. Gothic 3, when patched and tweaked, at high settings on a good computer, is absolutely one of the most beautiful video games ever, and not just among RPGs. any type of game. G3 was one of the last AAA PC RPGs made specifically for PCs and not the Xbox 360. for example, Gothic 3's graphics are significantly better than Skyrim. and then there's the music. its done by the same(brilliant) composer as the first two Gothics, but G3's music is in a different style. its more dramatic, operatic, less subtle. it tends to hit you like a ton of lead, but if you're a fan of metal music(or opera music) you'll love it like I do. its the sort of soundtrack I'd actually listen to outside of the game. bottom line is: if I want good combat, I'll go play an Action game, or a full-blooded RPG where I control a party and make strategic decisions. not an Action-RPG like a Gothic. if I want a good storyline with characters I care about, I'll go play a JRPG. JRPGs are entirely focused on characters and story. above all else the reason PC-style WRPGs interest me is choice and freedom, and no game ever made me feel like my choices mattered, or made me feel as free as Gothic 3 does. I've put multiple 100s of hours into it, and I'll put 100s more too, because there's nothing else like it at all. in conclusion, I'll say Gothic 3 is not a masterpiece, but it is timeless, it is still relevant and always will be, because no developer has the guts to give the player any more freedom than G3 does. most of them give us much, much less. although many fans of the first two Gothics have little respect for G3, none can deny that Gothic 3 has never, will never be outdone in what it set out to do.

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Posted on: August 9, 2016

greglevitz

Verified owner

Games: 114 Reviews: 3

Great conclusion of the Saga! (with CP)

As a G1 & G2 fan I can confess: G3 Enhanced Edition is a great conclusion of Gothic saga! One thing to remember: you should play it with the tenets of Community Patch (Alternative Balancing and Alternate AI) turned ON. Why? As you read critical reviews of G3 bear in mind many of them were referring to G3 from the times BEFORE the Community Patch (CP), which essentially reworked all the problematic/irritating issues, thus fully polishing the game. With Alternative Balancing ON you cannot get all possible skills in one gameplay and - as a consequence - you have to focus (like in G2: for example I finished the game on level 73, first developing basic hunting skills and swordplay, then learning selected low-level spells, to finally learn the best spells and return to development of sword skills by the very end; I finished the game with a battle mage who relied on tools such as lesser summoning, fog and fire rain, occasionally whacking enemies with 1-handed sword and a shield). Another thing with alternate balancing is that you can learn the "highest" magical knowledge with ultra-powerful spells such as Fire Rain, Meteor, Army of Darkness only after you choose one of the Gods as your ally. So in principle you use them to conduct ethnic cleansing by the end of the game :) In turn Alternative AI, when ON, fixes the fighting system that ruined original gameplay. It makes physical confrontation more demanding and realistic, as the enemies can block effectively (whereas original G3 allowed for killing everyone simply thanks to mad mouse-clicking). Other great things to mention are: a very huge world, wonderful landscapes and great climate (the deer crossing your path under the moon, the snowy villages of the clans, the sleepy Cape Dun by night or the moaning ruins of Vengard... this is a work of art in itself), interesting subquests, great orchestral music by Kai Rosenkranz recorded in philharmonic hall of Prague and many other things. In sum: with Community Patch Gothic 3 is as cool as it should be. Get it an enjoy it!

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