Review GamesDomain and Gothic II review

Tags: Gothic II

<a href=http://www.gamesdomain.com>GamesDomain</a> also <a href=http://www.gamesdomain.com/gdreview/zones/reviews/pc/nov03/gothic_2.html>reviewed</a> Gothic II</a>. They thought it was mostly okay, citing the combat system and difficulty as bad things, netting Gothic II a <b>three and a half dealies out of five</b>.
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<blockquote>Sneaking around is a huge part of play, especially in the early going when you're as weak as a kitten and have to run away from packs of fairly wimpy wolves and goblins. At least the game warns you off foes that are too powerful for you to handle by providing a "Better Think Twice" pause where the monster adopts a threatening stance before attacking. It's good that you have to learn the better part of valor early on, too, as stealth comes into play later as well.</blockquote>
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There's nothing better than being a low-level nothing and having to run away from everything.

 

Game is too hard? HAH. Rather player to stupid, I'd say. Nothing is as rewarding as actually being able to go back to an area that kicked your ass and instead KICK ass. As for the combat system - waaay more complex that Snoozerwind.

I'd give it a 4 out of 5. Easy.

 

Agreed. On all points.

I'd go as high as 4.5 out of 5 and Game of the Year. Not that it had any competition.

 

Ditto.

 

Teh dumbass review

Ok, it's time to poke some light-hearted fun at the reviewer!

Oh my god! Imagine actually having to do something with the controls in a combat-oriented, real-time RPG! It's obvious that the interface should be based on one's skill level at clicking the left mouse button quickly - it's the industry standard!

You know, more American teenagers should experience the hands-on joy of good old-fashioned gang violence. Maybe then they'd realise that things really do "get out of hand" when more two people are trying to inflict injury on you.

This is simply not true. Gothic I ran fine with two-year old hardware when it was released, and so does Gothic II. I don't think these requirements count as steep when the average PC sold nowadays comes with a 2Ghz processor.

You know, something (actually, most things) about this review tell me the reviewer hasn't bothered to play through the game.

You know, something (actually, most things) about this review tell me the reviewer hasn't bothered to play Gothic I at all.

One of the biggest things that bothered me about Gothic II was the total wimpiness of wolves (compared to G I) and the lack of wolf (and orc-dog) packs. Those were probably the most fun and challenging combat encounters in Gothic I. Thankfully, this is somewhat compensated for by the smaller but tougher Orc and Lizardmen bands. But this brings another point of note: G 2 places two-handed fighters (which pretty much means mercenaries) in serious disadvantage compared to one-handed ones when it comes to fighting said bands. My first time through, I really regretted becoming a mercenary for this reason.

I think this misses an important (and, for what passes for serious gamers nowadays, subtle) theme of both the Gothic games: you're <i>not</i> Conan the Barbarian. You really are a schmuck (albeit one with extraordinary self-development skills) stuck in peculiar cicrumstances. The combat system is designed to reflect this point. The story and dialogue play on this in quite a few places for immersion and humor.


Spoiler alert!!







Considering the ending of Gothic 2, the Gothic guy may not even be the "chosen one" at all - the whole prophecy business may just be something Xardas made up to manipulate him. This theme is certainly present throughout the game. The Gothic guy always seems to be used by someone or other, forced to join factions to get anywhere, etc. Hell, you don't even know why they stuck you in the colony in the first game!

This certainly would make the story a lot more consistent (not to mention entertaining) than most of today's RPGs, where you may have god-like powers and the illusion of being able to use them, but are really led around by the nose by what the developers designed.

 

Let me join onto the back of this congo line. If a person is having trouble pressing the "W" key every half second to string together attack combos I'd seriously have to question their co-ordination to the point where I'd assume they'd have some sort of disability. As for the reviewers point about having to be remarkably dextrous in a fight surrounded by enemies, I think he's missed the point. If you wade into combat with three Orc Elites you can expect to take some damage (or a lot of damage, they'll flank you and try to box you in so you can't run away.) Conversely you can find a way to battle that is more advantageous to you.

I had to dock some points for the dragons, but added them back on for the nutso ending. Mind you, the same site gave DS : Legends of Aranna 4 out 5.

 

I haven't played it, but based on the comments made by the reviewer, I'd have no other choice but to assume he's suffering from some sort of disorder, most likely Asperger's Syndrome - which makes it difficult for him to coordinate anything, let alone come up with a good argument about the game being 'crap'.

 

Re: Teh dumbass review

I hated the combat in Gothic as well, mainly because your character's skills with weapons was basically little more than a really simple Virtua Fighter combo move unlocking system. I'll take something like ToEE over it any damned day - or even Diablo.

 

Re: Teh dumbass review

Hmmm...I really do hope that G3 will have a much better fighting system, as it really did suck in 1&2. Too much like a console doodz control scheme. If I wanted to mash my fingers trying to find the latest freakin' special move, I would own a bloody PS2.

It just made playing a Dragon Hunter too painful on my poor old fingers. I did beat it though, and I hope that the RSI will heal soon...

 

Re: Teh dumbass review

I thought the fighting system is much more about timing than using the right combo. Having high enough strength (so as to kill almost everything with one blow) timing is everything
What was so fascinating to me about this game, especially G1, were (the story and setting and) the cool german voices in the german edition. Simply terrific! Don't know about the english version though