Editorial RPGDot finally gets to the friggin' point: Gothic II wins

[Spazmo]

Tags: Gothic II; Piranha Bytes

<a href="http://www.rpgdot.com">RPGDot</a>'s awards dealie has come to its logical conclusion: the winner for Best RPG of 2003 was announced today and <a href=http://www.pirahna-bytes.com>Gothic II</a> took the prize. <a href=http://www.swkotor.com>Knights of the Old Republic</a> was a close second and <a href=http://www.greyhawkgame.com>Temple of Elemental Evil</a> a distant third.
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<blockquote>With the popularity of the Gothic series among RPGDot regulars it didn't really come as a surprise that 'Gothic II', the successor of 'Gothic' by developers Piranha Bytes, was voted the best RPG of 2003. Despite some residual bugs, the excellent combination of a gripping atmosphere with unique NPCs, full voice-acting and a living, breathing world earned the game which topped German sales charts for quite some time) its well-deserved place at the top.</blockquote>
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A proud day for the Fatherland, I'm sure. The RPGDot awards are notable, though, because it marks at least one Best RPG award that KOTOR didn't win.

 

[Volourn]

I haven't played Gothic 2 so I can't really comment on its victory.

 

[chrisbeddoes]

I haven't played Gothic 2 so I can't really comment on its victory.

You would have hated it if you did play.

An extremely hard not as a challengebut mainly as extremely hard with a stupid interface.Of course it has loots of great stuff but still.

 

[Volourn]

Phat loot? I'd love it since that's obviously why I love BIO's game so much. :D

 

[taks]

phat lewt is cool. a game requiring keyboard skills to play is not cool. gothic (1 or 2) is a game you just CAN'T win if you don't get a hang of the combat... that blows.

mark

 

[triCritical]

Well I haven't played G2 and have heard that it is really good. But everyone who talks about it finishes with the caveat that it isn't really a CRPG?

 

[Flarnet]

Any news on when the expansion is getting a non-schnitzengrüben release?

 

[taks]

i haven't heard that... i've actually heard it's MORE of a crpg than most others wrt roleplaying. it's just that combat is more along the lines of "action" since it requires player skills to master.

mark

 

[taks]

Any news on when the expansion is getting a non-schnitzengrüben release?

expansion? already? only in deutsch at the moment, i assume?

mark

 

[triCritical]

i haven't heard that... i've actually heard it's MORE of a crpg than most others wrt roleplaying. it's just that combat is more along the lines of "action" since it requires player skills to master.

mark

How is the combat handled? Action doesn't bother me, however, if its anything like SoulBringer I want nothing to do with it.

 

[taks]

you have to time your actions with the keys to get maximum impact and continuous action, i.e. hit the swing button right as your PCs backswing nears its apex, etc. i never played soulbringer so i can't comment. they supposedly modified the combat a bit from the first gothic (which was awful for a crpg) but, according to sammael, it was still hard to get used to.

mark

 

[Ausir]

Yes, there is an expansion (only in German for now), which you could have easily checked in our game database:
http://www.rpgcodex.com/gamedetails.php?id=48

 

[Jora]

I played the Gothic demo and hated the combat. It was so bad I decided not to buy the game.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm very strange and I rarely have complaints about doing combat and interfaces (except KotOR's crazee Data-things and shifting stuff), it just comes as part of the learning curve for me, so I can usually handle all interfaces because I get used to them as I start. I basically learn how to use them, heh.

 

[taks]

Yes, there is an expansion (only in German for now), which you could have easily checked in our game database:
http://www.rpgcodex.com/gamedetails.php?id=48

well excuuuuuuse me. i was unaware of this fact. had i previously heard of an expansion, maybe i would have looked.

mark

 

[taks]

i never had a problem learning the combat... i just don't like it. i don't think it should be a requirement that i "learn" how to use an interface. by the same token, i don't enjoy clickfest twitchoramas...

mark

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I dont require myself to do it, it just comes in the curve for me. I get used to it and it works fine, which is why I have a hard time getting people who say 'the interface sucks' because it seems normal to me (one to name might be System Shock 1, but I actually liked that interface, was organized).

 

[taks]

i think for certain types of games, it is to be expected. for example, to hang with the really good FPS shooter types, you really have to have a solid command of the joystick/gamepad things. i have a buddy that built his own. watching folks like that strafe across a room taking out other players is almost sickening (literally, if you aren't used to the view)... but to require such coordinated moves in an rpg??? ugh, no thanks.

oh, just to make a final point, FPS games qualify as clickfest twitchoramas, in my book at least

mark

 

[DarkUnderlord]

you have to time your actions with the keys to get maximum impact and continuous action, i.e. hit the swing button right as your PCs backswing nears its apex,

You sure it's not a golf game? It sure sounds like one.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I have to agree with taks, I hated Gothic's combat. It's too much like a damned arcade game - and not a really good arcade game, either.

 

[Killzig]

i just picked this game up. played it for a day and i'm on my way to return it now. that interface is hideous. the graphics aren't anything special and the story/world has no appeal to me.

 

[ecliptic]

Meh, I didn't mind it. It was solid enough, though it got somewhat repeteitive, as you would largely only do one combat move. I spent more time exploring than I did fighting though, so either way it didn't bug me too much.

 

[Lemon]

i haven't heard that... i've actually heard it's MORE of a crpg than most others wrt roleplaying. it's just that combat is more along the lines of "action" since it requires player skills to master.

mark

How is the combat handled? Action doesn't bother me, however, if its anything like SoulBringer I want nothing to do with it.

I struggled far too long with that monstrosity.

anyway.

Its simliar in concept to Die By The Sword or Blade Of Darkness. In all things simple, if you swung left you should probably swing right next. Stats are still important, strength thresholds to use weapons, a skill rating that dictates the variety and length of your combos. You can get by on stats and push attack till they're all dead but its a rewarding effort to properly block and strafe. When they charge, roll to the left or right and slash their exposed flank - you do much more damage. Parry their chop and use that moment to attack.

It wouldn't work if the AI wasn't challenging, I've had wolves find their way behind me, shadowbeasts leap down on me, Orcs bound up broken hills that took me the last ten minutes to climb. And then the food chain, creatures do eat each other - you can distract pursuing wolves by wandering through that flock of sheep. Orc after you? Flee towards town and have the guards dispatch it. You can flee from anything on two legs (four can be a problem.)

Morrowind was dull in many ways, but combat was perhaps a worst aspect - Some three spells of differing power and expense and then the click hold and face enemy melee? For realtime twitch is the answer, make it interactive and require the player to think.

 

[Sammael]

I say it's a well-deserved award. I haven't played KotOR much, but its interface was drastically worse than that of Gothic II (I have to hold down a mouse buttonand click on the other to move around freely by default? LOLZ).

 

[taks]

in another thread you said combat was slightly improved in gothic 2, didn't you sammael? or was it just the interface in general? combat is what's keeping me away from #2 since the world actually seems a bit better - even the story - than the first (remembering that story line preferences are entirely subjective, i hated the first).

mark