GOG Patron
www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/10/15/wot-i-think-gabriel-knight-20th-anniversary/ A much more in-depth review than I could give it...
Well, that's interesting. That EULA appears to be EA's current EULA, because it makes reference to their Origin client, and to collecting information about you, and to publicly displaying information about you... Probably harmless, but unusual. Just make sure that you have actually read and agreed to it. As for the game, back in college I played SF2. One day I played it for 22 hours straight. So I must have enjoyed it ;)
Just to clarify some of the "really buggy / only one patch" comments -- New World Computing went bankrupt while they were still developing this game. Given that, I am somewhat amazed that it is possible to get to the end at all, and still don't quite know how the patch got made. That aside, how is the game? Fugly would be a good word for it. Low polygon count characters. Every face is only half a face that is then mirror-flipped to the other side (so every face is perfectly symmetric, which looks stranger than you think it will). Lack of polish makes some things problematic. At one point, you will be presented with a monster that is basically a scripted set-piece (which I don't remember ever having in any of the other MM games, so I wasn't expecting it). The thing is indestructible. You can cheat boost your characters to god levels, save in the middle to restore your health, whatever you want -- it won't die. You apparently are just supposed to stay out of its way and let the guards sacrifice themselves to it. A very unusual choice, given that your party is out to "save the world." Class-based skill trees -- you're either going to love them or hate them. I personally preferred the fairly loose requirements in MM6 that let everybody learn archery to a level sufficient for basic crowd control. MM7 and MM8 each progressively made the skill system more restrictive and (for me) more annoying. But for some people, that makes the game more replayable, because it requires totally different builds to get to the advanced capabilities. If that's you, you'll like MM9, because it is the most specialized skill tree system of the MM series. So... I did play this game all the way through with the first patch. I don't remember hitting a game breaker bug, but I did end up using a walkthrough for some of the places where it was very unclear what you were supposed to be doing. It's been a long time, but I remember the final part of the story having both interesting twists and a "well, bleah" ending. On the up side, it does seem like some of the dungeons were more interesting than in previous installments -- but the difficulty level went up quite a bit as well. I leave it to you if that is a Good Thing or a Bad Thing.
I own this game already, and let me tell you -- this game is bad. "Benji Saves The Universe" bad. "Green Lantern (The Movie)" bad. "Wouldn't play it if you paid me" bad. Just look up a walkthrough somewhere, and you'll be able to see for yourself just how poorly thought out this was...
OK, the graphics are going to be dated now -- it's an old pre-3D accelerator game based on an engine designed for a point-and-click game (Normality, I believe). Just set that aside, or have enough beers that you don't care anymore, and then settle in for a great game. I will always remember the first time I played this game. I'd just worked my way through a series of creepy tunnels and rooms, getting periodically jumped by baddies, and watching creepy cutscenes. I got to the end of a hall, turned the corner and saw a huge, brightly lit, beautiful spa-like chamber. Something very deep in my brain said "it's got to be a trap", and I looked over at my wife and said "I can't do it. I've got to stop. I'm too freaked out." That's a great game... I don't know if it can still do that today or not. And I know that you need to have all the volume levels set right, because part of the mindwarp is that if you're set up right, the music works subtly on your nerves. Then you've got the squish of dead mice underfoot, and other things that just mess with you. I really hope that this GOG release has proper sound. If it suffers from the same problems that Journeyman Project 2 and Outcast have in the sound balance department, it will damage the experience immensely...
I would assume everybody knows about this one, but in case you don't... OK, so those of you who get off on twitchy combat or intricate tactical battles may not be interested. But for anyone who wants a story behind their game, if you've somehow missed this, buy it NOW. And for those of you who hate having to reload multiple times because you keep dying in a battle -- while your party members can die, you can't. Your primary character is immortal. In fact, there are places where you need to "die" to progress the story. I don't even really like D&D games, but this is a must, because it is so different and has so much stuff to discover.
This game's major problem is that it doesn't make a good first impression. The intro sequence is somewhat disjointed, the dialogue is sometimes cringe-inducing, and so on. But keep playing, and you'll find a surprisingly enjoyable game. From the standard "wolfs in the woods" beginning, you'll work your way out to regions with soft-lit bamboo forests, shimmering deserts, creepy fog-laden swamps and graveyards (this game has THE best ground-fog I've ever seen), and frozen mountains (not necessarily in that order). I also enjoy the inventory system, though I've since been told that it was done in other action RPGs that I just never played. In particular, the ability to combine items that are the same to increase the damage or protection of those items (makes the 100 leather vests you inevitably end up with actually somewhat useful). But it's a tradeoff -- if you're loot collecting, it's better to keep 'em separate. Enhancing weapons with elemental crystals for special damage types is also quite useful. If you get your character build wrong and don't feel like starting entirely over, the larger cities have people that will wipe your brain and give you your development points back -- semi-randomly and expensively, but it can be done. So, as another reviewer said, there's probably nothing here that hasn't been done elsewhere. But (other than the dialogue :P ) they seem to have taken the best ("most fun") parts from various games and put them together. Oh, and the expansions do make the game very solid and fill out the desert region. In the original release, it's clear they had to cut and ship, because the entire desert is empty. Some un-populated ruins and other signs that development was in progress, but absolutely nothing there worth looking at. With the expansions, there are actually multiple villages and several quests, and part of the main quest actually goes through it. If you already own Two Worlds AND you've already patched it up with the latest patches, I believe you have the equivalent of this edition. But having it all in one single installer and DRM free is still tempting to me. If you don't already have it, and you liked Oblivion, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet for your $10. It'll keep you busy for a LOOOONG time. For context, because my idea of a great RPG may not be yours, here are my thoughts on some other major RPGs: Morrowind -- my all time favorite for blend of openness, story, varied settings, and user-expansion-based longevity. Oblivion -- pretty, but I've only played it twice compared to the 5+ times I've played through Morrowind. Two Worlds is at least as pretty (to my eye) and is more varied and more fun than vanilla Oblivion. Shivering Isles balances the two out closer together. The only reason I'd place Oblivion over Two Worlds is because of the huge mod scene for Oblivion and the inability to mod Two Worlds. Betrayal at Krondor -- for you old schoolers, I love this game. Hard to compare, because the graphics are 20 years different and the combat is turn-based. I only mention it from the "poking around the wilderness looking for stuff" standpoint, I suppose. Gothic 3 with the latest Community Patch (and not Forsaken Gods) -- just finished this, and with all the hard work of the community, I've gotta say it was quite nice. The difficulty/grind/tedium factor kinda shot up about mid-way through, and I ended up god-moding it because that started boring me. I just don't get that much out of "fight these twenty guys all at once, and don't ever mess up or any one of them could kill you in two hits". But the first half was fine and the variety was fun and it's a huge game. But definitely get the latest and greatest community patch. And stay away from Forsaken Gods unless you just get it for free and want a good laugh... Jade Empire -- I enjoyed it. Very linear, so not directly comparable. Silverfall -- sorta fun for a couple of hours, then grind-tastically annoying. Never finished the first "level" because re-grinding through the swamp over and over just wore me down. Guild Wars and probably any MMORPG ever made -- I believe I mentioned that I dislike pure and obvious grinds, so, um, none of these really work for me. Drakensang -- another surprisingly enjoyable game that many people have probably never heard of. NWN -- hosed me part way through Undrentide, when they stoned my melee follower and told me to go kill a bunch of magic immune golems to get them unstoned -- not helpful for my magic-only character... More fun when I started a new char in the last chapter (so I got the free 15 starting levels) and then blasted my way through everything with my invincible monk... NWN2 -- too highly scripted, I always hate knocking somebody down in two rounds and then the script pops up and magically kicks me down and tells me that my opponent is just so tough that I can't win and then stuffs me in a dungeon somewhere with no equipment. Major suckage. Complete break of any self-determination and role playing... Haven't finished it. BG/BG2 -- similar, but older, experiences to NWN and NWN2. On the whole, AD&D-based games have not been my favorites, mostly because I like to be a magic user in my RPGs, and (computerized) AD&D wants that to be a pain. Planescape:Torment -- Really, really enjoyed it. The last stages are kind of annoying, but the story was incredible. Sacred -- fun for awhile, grind and respawning wore me down. Divine Divinity -- can't seem to force myself through the opening village -- user interface seems to annoy me for some reason. Too much clicking, or too many tiny things to have to slowly pan over, or something. Can't quite put my finger on it, but I know it makes me tense and annoyed very quickly. Sorry for the rambling, but maybe it will help you know if you're like me or not, which might help you guess if you'd like Two Worlds or not.