There is a saying that “if something is perfect, then why change it?” That happened with Gothic 3! While we had the masterpieces Gothic 1 & 2, the developers gambled and tried to copy some successful rpgs games by western studios, but unfortunately failed miserably! Gothic 3 has not the spirit of the previous games, it is just a general-bland RPG game, with poor (main) plot, most npcs were boring and the while the world was very large in many situations if felt uninteresting (quantity vs quality). To make matters worse I was one of the many that played the initial versions of Gothic 3 which was a buggy mess and it felt like torture to play it! Now with all the patches and extra contect it is a good RPG game, (not a good Gothic game) so instead of 2 stars, I put 4
It hurts me to say it, especially as a fan of the first two games, but Gothic 3 has little substance underneath its rather tempting exterior. The world PB crafted here is undeniably beautiful and epic in scope, featuring three distinct environmental regions, and with secrets seemingly around every corner, but all that promise withers very quickly.
The story starts off promisingly enough, picking up where the second game ended, but things take a sour turn almost immediately by introducing players to one of the worst combat systems ever featured in an action RPG. Gothic 1 and 2 were notorious for their clunky controls, but they were designed in such a way to make players feel like nobodies in a dangerous, foreign world, and ultimately it was a brilliant system that rewarded skill and patience. Gothic 3's combat is simply a stun-lock race, with weapons having little weight behind them when used.
Unlike previous games, the overworld of Gothic 3 is filled with tedious and unimaginative quests (many of which are basic fetch quests). The more interesting quests involve town liberation, but they too suffer from repetition and a feeling of grind as opposed to meaningful progression. This would have been more tolerable if PB delivered on the story and atmosphere... however, the simple truth is that Gothic 3 stumbles here too.
The music is beautiful, but it lacks the air of mystique and dread from the first two titles, and the voice acting, while competent enough, lacks... character? The Nameless Hero especially sounds like a completely different character here, and many of the familiar faces also sound off. The storyline, meanwhile, is absent for much of the game.
I wanted to love Gothic 3. Unfortunately, after many frustrating hours I had come to the realization that this wasn't a true Gothic game, and even as its own game it falls flat much of the time. Even the Community Patch-which is an amazing effort- can't undo the bad writing, and poor game engine.
