Review Arcania: Gothic 4 Review Extravaganza

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Gothic 4: Arcania; JoWood Productions

<p>More reviews for the <em>best game in the Arcania series</em> surfaced, let's have a look.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/arcaniaagothictale/review.html" target="_blank">According to Gamespot</a> Arcania has been dumbed down into a generic action role-playing game. 5/10.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Unlike its more interesting predecessors, Arcania: Gothic 4 is a commonplace action-RPG with boring quests, rudimentary controls, and dreary character development. All of these flaws make the game difficult to get emotionally involved in, which is the kiss of death for an epic RPG like this one that demands dozens of hours of commitment.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>PC Gamer <em>never had to adapt their combat strategy</em> for instance, <a href="http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/10/13/arcania-gothic-4-review/" target="_blank">which resulted in 76/100</a>, as everyone knows thinking hurts.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Arcania&rsquo;s systems may be shallow, but I still became completely hooked. The game transitions effortlessly from open areas to claustrophobic dungeons, from mountain ranges to tightly packed towns. I fell easily into the rhythm of exploring, fighting off a mob, rounding the next corner and exploring some more. Arcania&rsquo;s greatest strength is its comforting sense of rhythm and its gorgeous, gradually unravelling world. The expert pacing had me rocketing through the 15 hours or so it took to complete the main quest.</p>
<p>Gothic veterans may be left cold by this uncomplicated outing for the series, but for those looking for a good old-fashioned fantasy romp, Arcania has its charms. It&rsquo;s predictable and shallow, with horrendous voice work, but if you go in expecting no surprises, there&rsquo;s some incredibly addictive adventuring to be had.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/10/18/impressions-arcania-gothic-4/" target="_blank">RPS offer some impressions:</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>That didn&rsquo;t happen because the game is awful (it&rsquo;s not; if you want so absolute a qualifier, tell me a suitable term that lies perfectly between &lsquo;awful&rsquo; and &lsquo; tolerable,&rsquo; and that&rsquo;ll do the trick nicely), but because I felt like I was wasting my time. To be mediocre, to inspire no emotion &ndash; that&rsquo;s the worst crime of all, most especially for a roleplaying game, something that&rsquo;s supposed to inspire a feeling of adventure in an unknown land, a sense of otherness, place and purpose. I felt nothing. No care for anyone or anything &ndash; even the salt-tingle compulsion of levelling up and looting barely activated the hungry lizard-portion of my brain. I didn&rsquo;t feel hate, anger or even contempt. I felt nothing.</p>
<p>Here&rsquo;s what Gothic 4 is: it&rsquo;s an MMORPG without the MMO. It&rsquo;s mindless, time-consuming fetch quests, running along roads and skipping past characterless dialogue from characterless characters until they give you your next, fetch-based objective. Without a sense of being in a living world, the emptiness of such pursuits is inescapable.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/100135-arcania-gothic-4-reviews.html">GB</a></p>

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Could this herald the beginning of people finally getting tired of the new shit? Could we have reached the singularity point where even Gamespot reviewers are sick of dumbing-down and claim that the less AAA previous titles were in fact better?

Or did they just forget their bribe money?

I want to believe

 

[Vibalist]

Here’s what Gothic 4 is: it’s an MMORPG without the MMO. It’s mindless, time-consuming fetch quests, running along roads and skipping past characterless dialogue from characterless characters until they give you your next, fetch-based objective. Without a sense of being in a living world, the emptiness of such pursuits is inescapable.

but but but this describes Oblivion perfectly and yet no one pointed this out. Why?

 

[Malakal]

Could this herald the beginning of people finally getting tired of the new shit? Could we have reached the singularity point where even Gamespot reviewers are sick of dumbing-down and claim that the less AAA previous titles were in fact better?

Or did they just forget their bribe money?

I want to believe

People might hate it but the question is WILL THEY BUY IT. People were really pissed about Modern Warfare 2 and guess what, sheeple bought it anyway.

 

[Roguey]

In terms of systems, it’s all present and correct: streamlined and straightforward, devoid of the obliqueness of Risen’s inventory and skill tree.

That crazy old casual is at it with his nonsense again. Arcania wasn't dumbed down properly, it needs to be caressed in that special way. You need the illusion of challenge, not "no challenge." Bethesda and Bioware understand, these clueless Germans didn't.

 

[commie]

In terms of systems, it’s all present and correct: streamlined and straightforward, devoid of the obliqueness of Risen’s inventory and skill tree.

That crazy old casual is at it with his nonsense again. Arcania wasn't dumbed down properly, it needs to be caressed in that special way. You need the illusion of challenge, not "no challenge." Bethesda and Bioware understand, these clueless Germans didn't.

I'm missing something: there was obliqueness in Risen's inventory? I thought that putting something in inventory, then opening it and finding it there with a double click to use wasn't that hardcore! Unless it's the very idea of an inventory that is the problem here in which case I understand the confusion and gnashing of teeth! Inventory? In an RPG? Whatever will we do!

 

[Azrael the cat]

Could this herald the beginning of people finally getting tired of the new shit? Could we have reached the singularity point where even Gamespot reviewers are sick of dumbing-down and claim that the less AAA previous titles were in fact better?

Or did they just forget their bribe money?

I want to believe

People might hate it but the question is WILL THEY BUY IT. People were really pissed about Modern Warfare 2 and guess what, sheeple bought it anyway.

Not so unreasonable for it to be a 'sheeple' issue yet. Mind you, I get cautious as soon as I hear that term - always seems a little convenient that those afflicted by sheeplism just happen to be people who disagree with the speaker, and odd how no fan of the concept ever describes themself as a sheeple despite their own mind being the only solid basis they have for extrapolating how others reason.

But my douchery aside, it's understandable that consumers purchase according to the company's 'recent average' rather than the most recent game released. If a good (speaking subjectively here, not saying any particular company IS good) company has a shite game, then if you haven't been following info about personnel changes it's reasonable to view that as an outlier, and to hold high expectations for the next game. Same for a company with a shite record - a good game could be a once-off. It makes sense that fans are gained and lost slowly - so it takes a few flops before fans stop buying, but it also will take a run of well-received games before those fans consider giving you another go. And in any event, a poor game's quality isn't likely to affect sales of THAT game - game sales are front-loaded, and the market is mostly poorly informed (not helped by shite game journalism), so sales are going to be affected more by the previous game's quality than the current one.

If MW3 is received as badly as MW2, and MW4 still sells bucketloads, then I'll join you in the 'sheeple'isms.

 

[Shannow]

OT: Azrael: Sheeple: People who parrot mainstream "truths" without any critical reflection on their own part. Usually confounded by the very concept of critical reflection. And in most cases I see the term is used correctly. Sadly in this case it seems to be as you say.


Seems JoWood is done for. Sadly, that won't have any impact on the market.

 

[Misterhamper]

How was MW2 badly recieved? I haven't tried it myself and don't plan to, but it got User Score (14,299 votes) 8.8 on GameSpot, that is pretty well recieved I would think together with mostly 9+/10 scores....