Those of us who were around to play Gothic 1 and 2 when these games first came out know that there was nothing quite like them back then in terms of sheer atmosphere and immersion. The experience of exploring the Valley of the Mines and the island of Khorinis for the first time, this gritty, medieval fantasy world that felt alive like no other, with its memorable characters and hauntingly beautiful music, will forever be one of the most cherished memories of gaming for me and many others. If you feel similarly and have enjoyed returning to these games over the years many times over as I have, do yourself a favor and play "The Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos" now. I regret not having overcome my skepticism and hesitation to play an RPG in a language that I do not know at all sooner. It honestly almost made me want to learn Polish just to be able to appreciate this jewel of a game even more. It's unfathomable with what an insane amount of love, dedication, and pure talent this was made. In many aspects, it goes above and beyond the games that inspired it, and is at the same time a love letter to them and to a bygone era of gaming before every semblance of challenge was watered down to be more appealing to a mass market. Archolos may be clad in an old (albeit highly polished) visual style and mechanics, but it is in every sense a game to which many of today's AAA games cannot hold a candle when it comes to those aspects that made the original Gothic games so brilliant: storytelling, atmosphere an immersion, and a love for detail that can bring a tear to one's eye. In my first (and possibly not last) playthrough, I investedd almost 120 hours in it, and rarely has completing a game felt similarly rewarding. I can only hope that gamers of younger generations and are not motivated by nostalgia can find a way to look beyond the seemingly dated visuals and mechanics -- because, seriously, this is one of the, if not the best RPG I have ever played.
If you enjoy dark humour, strategy and management games, especially of the fantasy genre (heavy D&D inspirations), this game deserves the foremost recommendation. And if you enjoyed Dungeon Keeper and its sequel, this game (being the inofficial third instalment of the series) is an absolute must-have! I discovered the game only a couple of years after it came out and recently re-played it. Even after dozens of hours of gameplay (including the DLCs), the game still offers new details to discover and some hilarious jokes, brilliantly delivered by the uniquely charming voice of Richard Ridings (the same narrator as in DK2). Due to the vast array of options at the player's disposal, it may take a bit of time to get the hang of it, so it is advisable to play the main campaign and/or the My Pet Dungeon mode before moving to some of the more challenging scenarios (like Skirmishes or The Under Games DLC). The second time I picked up the game I enjoyed it even more. The replayability-factor is also quite high, considering the fun and quite challenging achievements. I finally decided to write a review because I found the game to be heavily underrated here. Not much more to say about it here, treat yourself to it and form your own opinion. If you're a fan of the genre(s), you won't regret it!
