Gothic

I first got my hand on this back in 2002 or 2003 on a bootlegged disc a friend of mine bought in Turkey i think? Anyway. it did take some gettting used to the controls, but once you learn, you'll like it. This came from nowhere, out of nowhere and it blew my mind. this is how an RPG is supposed to be! Immersive, compelling storyline with the quirks you yourself can change wether you play as an old or new camper or whatnot. You control some story elements, which was kind of revolutionary back in that day. So if you ever played and liked an RPG that isn't top-down hack n' slash. Try this game! Worth every penny, dime and öre!

I didn't play this game until 2012. It wasn't my first video game, and it wasn't my first RPG. So I am not speaking from nostalgia. This game is a computer roleplaying masterpiece. But no one ever talks about it, not in the USA at least. It has a very niche and loyal following here. I am under the impression it is far more popular in its home country of Germany. Here, people usually put games like Morrowind on the computer roleplaying masterpiece throne. Now I'm not saying that Morrowind doesn't deserve its praise (it does), but I think Gothic deserves a place there too alongside it. There was something that these two RPGs did that made the worlds feel real and believable. It's really hard to put your finger on it, but if you've played either game, then you know what I'm talking about. The refusal to hold the player's hand, the dangerous early game, the mundane yet realistic and believable quests, the soundtrack, the slow exploration and discovery of the game's landscape. Your rise from a feeble nobody to a powerful godslayer. These games just had a sensibility to them that's been lost in recent years to games like Skyrim and Fallout 4 that seem to just want to give the player a shallow power fantasy with instant gratification for everything. Why can't we go back to the days of Gothic and Morrowind? Morrowind is a well-beloved game with a lot of respect, and I wish for Gothic and the Piranha Bytes team to have that same exposure and love.

First played in 2002 on my dad's work PC, I had to be very stealthy, because he really disliked me playing games. A couple of times I got myself caught which resulted in my ass turning red with a help of the belt, but hell it was worth it. 10/10? no, this is literally Gothic, an absolute legend, one to rule them all. Game's mechanics are a bit confusing at the beginning, but don't worry, it's worth it anyway. Hand made maps, amazing story, characters rich in personality.

I'm giving it 2/5 and not 1/5 simply because gameplay actually looks really good in gameplay videos, it is even getting a remake. Sadly, it seems I will have to wait until the remake since the GOG version outright refuses to start. It only started the first time I launched it but the game's font is barely visible in 1920 x 1080 resolution, after seeking a solution to such issue, the game didn't even start at all. I hate to be a Karen but at this point I am truly disappointed since I thought GOG's marketing strategy was selling classic games.

I can't thank enough GOG.com for this game. !! Gothic 1 is perhaps my favourite game ever!! (*certainly in top5 games), but all the versions i've bought and tried , either from STEAM, or physical copies as well, have been unplayable for me, with crashes and messages such as "access violation error" !! I was desperate that i would never again play my favourite game, but thanks to GOG.com i bought a patched version of this game , and plays smoothly, like back at the good-old-days !! I'm so happy with this purchase that from now on GOG.com will be the first on my list whenever i'll buy another game!! Thanks!!!!!!!!!