Gothic

I bought Gothic just by chance when it was released around 10 years ago. Having been a RPG fan since I started playing computer games I had to try it. What a great surprise it was REALLY AWESOME. But it has its own ways. It is not a game for Neverwinter Night fans. Here you don't have a huge amount of personalization choices, nor races, nor professions, nor anything. Here you have just a nameless hero and a world that catches you and never lets you go. Here you really feel you are roleplaying. You can hunt, trade items you have made yourself (out of wolves skins, for example) you can use a wetstone to sharp your blade if you choose to, you can join any of the three camps and climb the ranks of fighters or mages, you have a beautifuly made valley to explore and a lot of thigs to discover in it. Some people say the fighting part is cumbersome at times. That's true. I wish they had made that better. But it works in the end. Don't let that make you miss the rest of the game. It really appeals to you. Just give it a try. Don't wait for too much and you'll see that what you get is not a very big thing but a very good one.

This is one of the few games which I have finished several times without getting bored. For me, Gothic is still the best RPG experience even after all these years. Sadly, it is still innovative because there is no game that developed the features of the first Gothic game such as NPC daily routines and an original plot. Personally, I think that this is the best Gothic game because of its unique mysterious and dark locations and characters that build up an actually Gothic atmosphere. Gothic offers an open-world setting in a prison valley surrounded by a magical barrier where every action and choice has consequences. You are at the beginning only a common nameless guy who wants to survive after being imprisoned. The protagonist is an excellent choice for an RPG game because every player can resemble this nameless character. You must fight your way to survive and gain the respect of your fellow convicts, but there are many quests which can be solved in different inventive ways and the game is fully voiced and the voice acting still holds up pretty well. The world is rather small, but it is hand-crafted and every location is well used and interesting . In this gritty world every person has a specific daily routine. The NPCs aren't only quest-givers and they move through the world along with the player. The ingenious story gives enough freedom to the players to explore the world and feeling that they are part of the game setting. However, one of the best characteristics of Gothic is the guild-based progression. The nameless protagonist must join one of the three camps in the colony in order to progress through the story. Every guild is unique and gives the player a sense of belonging. This aspect also offers a lot of replayability. Each one guild gives the player specific armors and helpful skills. Besides the combat is not just mindless clicking. In order to play Gothic on Windows 10 you should install Playerkit v1.08k and the System-Pack-1.7.

The game wouldn't work without the help of some mods. The open world in Gothic beats open worlds in many games today. It's not a huge world, but packed with cool places to explore and monsters to hunt. Early on, most things can kill you and most characters don't care for you until you prove your worth. But Gothic is not all serious and still knows when to crack a joke. All of that combined creates a unique atmosphere that still brings me back to this game. The first chapter, which consists of visitng the main three camps, is in my opinion the strongest part of the game that fully displays the aforementioned atmosphere. Every chapter after that is more focused on the main plot, which moves at a good pace and has some neat twists and turns along the way. The unique, and frankly pretty janky combat, cannot go unmentioned as it's the biggest turn-off for newcomers. While after many replays I've gotten used to the combat and don't mind it anymore, I do remember struggling with it on my very first playthrough. It's a significant weak point of the game, but I highly suggest people try to get used to how it works so they can experience what made Gothic so beloved. Lure enemies one by one, use ranged weapons, heal and save often. Good luck.

Does not run on Windows 10. None of the compatibility mode configurations work.

Last year I played the retail versions of Gothic 1 and 3. Both games are very good. Everything is fine in Gothic 1: the graphics are good enough, the different landscapes are varying. The voice acting is amazing. The world is small, but filled with life in each corner. The bestiary is good modelled. I like this kind of black humour. Over the years I needed four attempts to play Gothic 1 to the end titles. Three times I got the hang of it reaching the camp with the religious sect. To get the orientation at this point was the hardest task in the whole game. This camp is confusingly big. I played Gothic 1 only with the keyboard and it worked fine, mouse support wasn't really necessary. Gothic 1 shows a kind of big prison world with different factions. I chose the way of the fire mage in the story. At the end you are very mighty and you will be able to kill everything, but at the beginning there is a strong learning curve, because you are totally weak and untrained, the pure victim. There is enough variety of weapons in this game. As a mage you can use swords and bows, too. The collecting mania works. You can learn skills at teachers to be able to make coats of animals e.g. to trade them against other goods or restricted ore. The given tasks in this game are well done and have a lot of variety. A lot of people critized that Gothic 1 didn't aged well, but this is not my opinion. This game has enough character at all.