I wasn't even expecting this game, got it most likely for free on a giveaway, as many people do with games. On a boring weekend I decided to fire it up, and was not disappointed. For the time (2009) this game would look nice. Graphics do still hold up to some extent, or I'm just nostalgic for that style. The city of Venice (where most of the game takes place) was a really unique setting, and I enjoyed trekking and exploring all it had to offer. It was visually stunning too, at times. Had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery with the low frames in places. You play as Scarlet, a girl from a small village in the mountains of a mysterious world. Best I could describe it is "another chosen one story" but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of it in the slightest. During her adventure, she can use a variety of weapon types. That was genuinely surprising. 4 perfectly functional gameplay styles avaliable at a press of a button. Combat is smooth, but does feel boring after 20 hours or so. Lots of dodging and hoping the enemy won't be able to block your attacks. There's also magic available, but I haven't used it much. Seems like an afterthought, most of it is closely tied with your plot and character progression. The story was satisfying, full of memorable characters, but I wouldn't say it rivals any of the known variants. Pretty run of the mill, enjoyable to a point. Ending seemed rushed, and thus I decided to rush through it too. There is something to be said about the bugs and the glitches that can have you be stuck in the skybox forever. But with a little bit of elbow grease, it can be a really enjoyable experience. I can compare it to Arcania, but I feel like this actually justified itself being an RPG. And way more playable. Cheaper, too! Recommended for mid-2000s RPG buffs.
This. Game. I can't believe they relased this as it is. It's so clearly unfinished. Out of the good things I can say about it : At the time the graphics were impressive. Weather effects looked good when it came out. That's about it. Even with this said, that is not the case everywhere. This is not an open world game. Older gothics used to be open. You could walk around, and get your ass kicked by strong monsters. In this you can't, as stronger mobs appear only in areas further in. In previous gothics, there was some decent, albeit clunky and buggy platforming. You could get used to it, and then it was like second nature. In this, you get the ability to jump, but more often than not it leads to your death. Invisible walls are everywhere. In this game, you are in enclosed spaces. One after the other. They got themes like marsh, jungle, frozen mountains etc. Basically no exploration, other than for filling your map. You might stumble upon a cave, but there is a big chance that cave is a part of a quest you need to do. You can clear it anyway, and complete the quest instantly. At worst, you'll find crafting reagents. Crafting is straight up boring. At best, you'll find some new equipment to use in combat. And the combat is boring as well. Not a good game. Not a good gothic game. Get if it's heavily discounted and you're bored. Slight spoilers below, avoid if you want to play this. The ending does not even make sense. You kill the gargoyle demon lady, and then some random orc, some other guy who is undistinguishable from any other npc in the game, and of course Thorus (because all of the main characters from the previous games are shoehorned into this) sucks a demon out of Rhobar III and it just cuts off. It's absolutely unfinished. Unless the DLC makes sense of this. I'm not willing to find out.
The game by default does not launch on windows 10. Which is not good, especially since you probably paid for this. Not to mention is says clearly on the sidebar that it has windows 10 compatibility. You can fix the base game to work with a mod. Fully recommend everyone to do that. The mod doesn't make the expansion work. Still waiting for gog to fix the port. Will change my review when it gets fixed.
