- Joined
- Jun 18, 2002
- Messages
- 28,357
Tags: Gothic 4: Arcania; JoWood Productions; Spellbound
Darth Roxor tells us all how much he enjoyed Gothic: Arcanum IV - Spellbound's Magical Scrotum. In his review he talks about the game' deep sense of immersion:
... improvements the game has made over Oblivion:
... the highly enjoyable role-playing aspects:
... and even the meaning behind the game's title itself, buried deep within the game's lore:
In the end he enjoyed it immensely and recommends you should all pick yourselves up a copy. 5 stars.
Darth Roxor tells us all how much he enjoyed Gothic: Arcanum IV - Spellbound's Magical Scrotum. In his review he talks about the game' deep sense of immersion:
That's right. The whole game is, basically, a linear progression through a handful of extremely small and hideously closed areas. Each time you want to advance from one section to another, you have to do all main quest-related tasks to remove the obstacles that block your path. These obstacles often feel half-arsed and could have been easily omitted, but alas. For instance, to travel from the city of Stewark to the Valley of Blood (bonus points for the very original name), you have to obtain permission from the duke. Okay, fine. But the whole checkpoint leading to the valley is just a shoddy wooden gate with a trapdoor and one guard. Why exactly can't I just knock the guard out and proceed anyway? Just because. There's no sense in asking yourself 'why?' while playing this game. In the magical, mystical lands of Argaan, things rarely make sense. And it wouldn't be so glaringly bad if it happened only once, but no, it's abused all the time. Also, there are so many artificial barriers blocking you from going further that it's ridiculous. Every section is surrounded by an impenetrable mountain range and some auxiliary roads leading out that are always blocked. Another funny thing is, you also never return to the sections you've previously unlocked. Just forget about them and move on, citizen.
... improvements the game has made over Oblivion:
I know it often seems far-fetched to call something 'worse than Oblivion', but I think this game has done it.
... the highly enjoyable role-playing aspects:
Thanks to the 'interface elements', you can make this game 100% idiot-friendly. Minimap? Check. Quest compass? Check. Flashing weapon telling you when to click? Check. Roleplay activities? Che... wait, what are roleplaying activities? These, gentle readers, are all sorts of things that you can use to LARP the night away, as they don't influence the game in any way.
... and even the meaning behind the game's title itself, buried deep within the game's lore:
And I still have no idea as to why, exactly, it's called 'Arcania'...
In the end he enjoyed it immensely and recommends you should all pick yourselves up a copy. 5 stars.
:D 
