the_shadow
Arcane
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2011
- Messages
- 1,179
A long, long time ago, I decided to cave into RPGCodex pressure and play Gothic. I suffered from the steep learning curve, but eventually learnt to appreciate the game. After numerous recommendations, I played Gothic 2 (with NOTR), and was completely blown away. Gothic 2 is perhaps the only RPG that has come close to surpassing Baldur's Gate II as my favourite cRPG.
Strangely enough, nobody mentioned Gothic 3. Hell, I didn't even know it existed until I stumbled across a web page while searching for Gothic 2 information. Why was Gothic 3 consigned to the memory hole? Is it really *that* bad.
I managed to get my hands on Gothic 3, and applied the most recent community patch. And I have to admit, I have sunk a large amount of time into this game (although not always for the right reasons). Overall, it's a bit of a disappointment, not just because it failed to meet the quality of Gothic 2, but also because it clearly had potential to rival Gothic 3.
What I like:
- Gothic 3's gaming world is *lush*. Myrtana is possibly the most beautiful setting I have seen in a game for its time, with an abundance of detail paid to the environment. There is an abundance of statistic raising herbs in the starting zone alone, and it only gets better. There are lots of nooks and crannies to explore. Each town also has its own characteristic appearance.
One experience I'll always remember: I had managed to clear out a mine full of minecrawlers with nothing but a two handed sword and perseverance. I then proceeded to harvest all of the gold, sulphur, iron and magic ore. As I emerged from the dark cave, I was greeted with a beautiful sunset. This is the perfect RPG moment. Not your bullshit 5 minute cinematics.
- The political setting is well thought out. The orcs resemble a ravaging army who has successfully subjugated the humans in Myrtana, with only a ragtag rebellion being left in the woods and mountains. However, as much as some orcs would like to kill/enslave all humans, they realise that they need the cooperation of some humans to administrate occupied territories and manage the Morras. The orcs are also engaged in a stalemate with Nordmar, and have an uneasy truce with the Hashishin (resemble Middle-Eastern culture), who also have aspirations for world domination.
- There is a huge degree of freedom. Much like Morrowind, there is a main mission which you can pursue at your leisure. Nothing on the huge game world map is closed off to you by contrived game designers leading you around by the nose. You can swim to Varant in the first 5 minutes of the game, or sneak into Nordmar if it pleases you. You can side with the Rebels, the occupying Orcs, or even the dark god worshipping Hashishin.
- The quests aren't the least bit boring. Well, occasionally you'll get the bullshit "Fetch me X amount of Y", but usually the quests are appropriate for the game setting, and facilitate exploration and plot development. I enjoy the local and worldwide reputation system.
- Combat is *great* (at least with the Community Patch). Sword-fighting is tactical, and every type of weapon has a certain application (single handed swords are good for killing beasts with fast strokes, halberds are good for creatures who use lunge attacks). People complain about the stun lock, but I *love* it. If anything, it's realistic. It doesn't matter how tough a fighter you are, if a pack of dogs were to attack you all at once, you'd be brown bread. *This* is how you keep enemies challenging, without level scaling.
- Potion making and sword forging are useful. About time.
- The looting system is great. Precious items are found in certain chests, in a particular order, which rewards exploration.
Stuff I hate:
- God damn, the Gothic 3 engine is poorly optimised. Even on low performance settings with the Community Patch, my frame rate nose dived on multiple occasions. Loading times are atrocious.
- Nordmar's environment is damn confusing to navigate. I wasted way too much time trying to find my way between the three camps, and finding Xardas is near impossible without some sort of Youtube video.
- In stark contrast to Myrtana, Varant is barren. It's almost like the game developers were running out of time, so instead of fleshing out Varant, they just plunked in a whole bunch of sand dunes between cities and called it a day. The temple ruins aren't very inspiring, either. *sigh* So much potential lost.
- The main characters aren't fleshed out, and seem to have very little involvement in the story. Xardas, Lee, Lester, Milten, and Diego each might get a few lines of dialogue. Hell, finding Xardas is the main overarching quest for the first half of the game, and he only gives you a few sentences of exposition. When I think of the Diego which saved you from Bullock and oriented you into the Old Camp, or the Lee who gave you the moving speech about his betrayal at the hands of the king, or the Milten who greeted you after Sanchez turned on the Fire Magicians, the NPCs in Gothic 3 feel stale.
- The skill system sucks. Skills are bugged, or aren't adequately explained by the documentation. Most spells are useless, except for the basic attack spells, which are ridiculously overpowering when you ramp up your ancient magic. Hell, the fireball is *heat seeking* when charged. Why would I want any other attack spell?
All in all, Gothic 3 shines when you're exploring Myrtana, drags in Varant, and is bloody frustrating in Nordmar. If the engine were better optimised, the spell/skill system balanced, the main NPCs fleshed out, and a bit more detail added to Varant, this would have been a good game. I don't think it is a good game, but I can't deny I've derived some enjoyment out of it.
Strangely enough, nobody mentioned Gothic 3. Hell, I didn't even know it existed until I stumbled across a web page while searching for Gothic 2 information. Why was Gothic 3 consigned to the memory hole? Is it really *that* bad.
I managed to get my hands on Gothic 3, and applied the most recent community patch. And I have to admit, I have sunk a large amount of time into this game (although not always for the right reasons). Overall, it's a bit of a disappointment, not just because it failed to meet the quality of Gothic 2, but also because it clearly had potential to rival Gothic 3.
What I like:
- Gothic 3's gaming world is *lush*. Myrtana is possibly the most beautiful setting I have seen in a game for its time, with an abundance of detail paid to the environment. There is an abundance of statistic raising herbs in the starting zone alone, and it only gets better. There are lots of nooks and crannies to explore. Each town also has its own characteristic appearance.
One experience I'll always remember: I had managed to clear out a mine full of minecrawlers with nothing but a two handed sword and perseverance. I then proceeded to harvest all of the gold, sulphur, iron and magic ore. As I emerged from the dark cave, I was greeted with a beautiful sunset. This is the perfect RPG moment. Not your bullshit 5 minute cinematics.
- The political setting is well thought out. The orcs resemble a ravaging army who has successfully subjugated the humans in Myrtana, with only a ragtag rebellion being left in the woods and mountains. However, as much as some orcs would like to kill/enslave all humans, they realise that they need the cooperation of some humans to administrate occupied territories and manage the Morras. The orcs are also engaged in a stalemate with Nordmar, and have an uneasy truce with the Hashishin (resemble Middle-Eastern culture), who also have aspirations for world domination.
- There is a huge degree of freedom. Much like Morrowind, there is a main mission which you can pursue at your leisure. Nothing on the huge game world map is closed off to you by contrived game designers leading you around by the nose. You can swim to Varant in the first 5 minutes of the game, or sneak into Nordmar if it pleases you. You can side with the Rebels, the occupying Orcs, or even the dark god worshipping Hashishin.
- The quests aren't the least bit boring. Well, occasionally you'll get the bullshit "Fetch me X amount of Y", but usually the quests are appropriate for the game setting, and facilitate exploration and plot development. I enjoy the local and worldwide reputation system.
- Combat is *great* (at least with the Community Patch). Sword-fighting is tactical, and every type of weapon has a certain application (single handed swords are good for killing beasts with fast strokes, halberds are good for creatures who use lunge attacks). People complain about the stun lock, but I *love* it. If anything, it's realistic. It doesn't matter how tough a fighter you are, if a pack of dogs were to attack you all at once, you'd be brown bread. *This* is how you keep enemies challenging, without level scaling.
- Potion making and sword forging are useful. About time.
- The looting system is great. Precious items are found in certain chests, in a particular order, which rewards exploration.
Stuff I hate:
- God damn, the Gothic 3 engine is poorly optimised. Even on low performance settings with the Community Patch, my frame rate nose dived on multiple occasions. Loading times are atrocious.
- Nordmar's environment is damn confusing to navigate. I wasted way too much time trying to find my way between the three camps, and finding Xardas is near impossible without some sort of Youtube video.
- In stark contrast to Myrtana, Varant is barren. It's almost like the game developers were running out of time, so instead of fleshing out Varant, they just plunked in a whole bunch of sand dunes between cities and called it a day. The temple ruins aren't very inspiring, either. *sigh* So much potential lost.
- The main characters aren't fleshed out, and seem to have very little involvement in the story. Xardas, Lee, Lester, Milten, and Diego each might get a few lines of dialogue. Hell, finding Xardas is the main overarching quest for the first half of the game, and he only gives you a few sentences of exposition. When I think of the Diego which saved you from Bullock and oriented you into the Old Camp, or the Lee who gave you the moving speech about his betrayal at the hands of the king, or the Milten who greeted you after Sanchez turned on the Fire Magicians, the NPCs in Gothic 3 feel stale.
- The skill system sucks. Skills are bugged, or aren't adequately explained by the documentation. Most spells are useless, except for the basic attack spells, which are ridiculously overpowering when you ramp up your ancient magic. Hell, the fireball is *heat seeking* when charged. Why would I want any other attack spell?
All in all, Gothic 3 shines when you're exploring Myrtana, drags in Varant, and is bloody frustrating in Nordmar. If the engine were better optimised, the spell/skill system balanced, the main NPCs fleshed out, and a bit more detail added to Varant, this would have been a good game. I don't think it is a good game, but I can't deny I've derived some enjoyment out of it.