To bring clarity over the 2-3 star reviews one might see, they are absolutely deserved by the game because the gameplay itself is horrible, and this comes from someone with over 400 hours on Steam and someone who created builds to trivialize hardcore with all negative perks whilst being merciful and virgin runs. What this game does very well is creating a believable world, which was the main reason why I spent so much time playing it, whilst studying various objects within. I can tell you every historical inaccuracy this game has. If you are passionate about that, like me, 5/5 stars. The game's codex is a gem. Why the 2 stars? Most players want gameplay, and that is just boring. Fights are challenging until you level up a bit and then with the right perks and armour it becomes trivial, even on hardcore merciful runs. A lot of QoL features are missing, with the excuse that 'the game is highly realistic'. Spending half of your time looking at a time wheel passing by is NOT realistic. Awkward combat that can be easily abused by master striking is NOT realistic. Eating only raisins is NOT realistic, because if you eat normal food, then your energy drops and you can do less in a day, leading you again to the stupid time wheel watch, so you need to consume medieval potions equivalent of taurine based drinks to get energy. 90% of the time you spend grinding and doing boring chores until you become rich through the dlc town, or by boringly looting and selling stuff. After that the game becomes hollow since you have the stuff you want and the story is rarely interesting. Even selling is a chore because sellers need to be constantly traded and tipped in order for them to get more funds. The story is a chore, and besides a few nice moments and quests it is lackluster and very disappointing. What's more sad is that the story turns sour exactly after its best moments, ruining them, not to mention it felt unfinished.
You get your money's worth from this awesome boardgame and quite some hours of gameplay spent 'Offline' or 'Online'. Best when played with friends. + Exceptionally polished game, works terrific on aged tablets and laptops! + Graphics are astonishing. Animations are crisp. + Soundtrack and sound effects are awesome. Its imported from Witcher 3 for the most part. + Tons of fun repliability value, since most of the development and foul fate cards are randomized very well and the order you receive them (when and where) can change your gameplay experience drastically ( from a horrible lose to a decisive victory). + Player interaction is just right: depending on foul fates card that are in play and hero positioning you can make someone's life more miserable, or quite the opposite. With friends or random folks online you can strike deals to work together to achieve some goals, especially when you are not in the lead. The negatives most other reviewers find are rubbish, or they compare this board game with some very high end expensive board game they have in hard copy. - The AI can sometimes goof up and do poor choices on 'Offline' mode. It happens rarely, and its usually just 1AI hero, not all. When it happened I looked at it like playing with someone new to the game, therefore a negligible minus. In conclusion: buy the game, especially on a sale and have fun with friends. If you look at it as a single player game... well it will still give you 10 or so hours of gameplay, but this is at its core a board game ment to be played with friends, something most GoG reviewers seem to forget.
It was a must play 20 years ago. Now its just a waste of time. Only buy it if you're out for nostalgia, or you want to show your kids what game you played when you were young. There are far better games on GoG for a more fairer price. $10 is Blizzard milking the game.
This is the best game I have played in 26 years. I cannot recommend it enough. Thank you CD Projekt Red, thank you GOG! Absolutely amazing and inspiring.
Most of the people write about this game saying that it doesn't have this and that, however one can write as well about what this game has: nice environment, check; nice loot and themed items, check; themed world with ok-ish characters, check; fresh abilities and combat that does an ok job, check; a ship ( with which you don't do that much), check; good dialogue, check. The game makes you feel like you are a survivor at first, an explorer, though I wouldn't say it's as good as any other PB game. That doesn't mean it's not good! It's a decent game, which I say, is worth the money on special offers like now for instance, at release. If you see it in the future on sale, and you didn't play it, then buy it. To pay 30 $ for it I would say you really have to not care about $$$. It's a 11.99$ game at best. So, buy it at sale price, and embark on the journey of a soon-to-be pirate and shiver me timbers! Hoist the sails mateys!
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.
