Arcania: Gothic 4 is a good game

[Chuck Norris]

Calling something shit is easy. I can call the whole universe shit and move on with it. ( many people do this, actually ) The challenging thing is giving a rational, logical and arguable reason for your opinion to make it worthwhile for others to hear. At least I'm judging a game that I have spent +30 hours with it and I am pretty much familiar with all of its aspects. I gave my reasons why I liked it. I even posted some nice screen-shots to show you how beautiful this game is. I know what a shit game is and I'm pretty sure Arcania isn't one. It's been a long time I haven't played a game for 7-8 hours straight. But this happened again with Arcania and that's why I respect it. Compared to some well received games ( not here, generally ) like Torchlight, Kingdoms of Amalur, Skyrim , etc. it's painful to see how unfair Arcania has been treated.

Maybe it was my fault to try to convince Codex to give Arcania another chance. This community is just way too stubborn. You can't change anything about it. No matter how much I write why Arcania isn't that bad, you guys are just gonna repeat what was on your mind 2 years ago over and over again. So go ahead and call Arcania shit. I don't care. I said my part.

What are your thoughts on Risen 2, Chuck?

It was disappointing. When it comes to Piranha Bytes, my expectations are just way too high. Maybe one of the reasons I liked Arcania was the fact that I thought it's gonna be one of the worst games I'm gonna play. Level of expectations is very important on how I'm gonna judge a game.

Level of expectation shouldn't cloud your judgment and prevent you from seeing things they way they are.

It doesn't. It's not like I pull pros and cons out of air based on my level of expectations. It just highlights good or bad things about the game for me depending on how low or high it is. Everyone's like this I guess.

BTW, it feels like I'm a jew between a bunch of neo-nazists. Isn't there anyone else who finished the game and liked it?

 

[Outlander]

Level of expectation shouldn't cloud your judgment and prevent you from seeing things they way they are.

 

[Brayko]

I never said it was "shit". Most people who say it's "shit" (without providing reasons) are most likely Gothic/PB fanboys. I'm saying that it had potential to be great, but was altogether a product of JoWoods overbearing desperation to get something out that would sell well and giving the devs a restricted and rushed work environment to try to save their own asses. The final product was well, I guess I lied...Shit.

 

[Metro]

I'm saying it's shit. How anyone could not is beyond me. The quests and writing are more shallow than World of Warcraft. To say Arcania had potential (outside of its visuals) is to say you never even played the game and merely looked at screenshots/watched videos. It is insultingly bad.

Yeah, we get it.

 

[Micmu]

SOMEBODY MOVE THIS SHIT TO POPAMOLE SUBFORUM ALREADY

Presence of this shit here is insulting.

 

[Brayko]

I'm saying it's shit. How anyone could not is beyond me. The quests and writing are more shallow than World of Warcraft. To say Arcania had potential (outside of its visuals) is to say you never even played the game and merely looked at screenshots/watched videos. It is insultingly bad.

Yeah, we get it.

I did play the game quite a ways through, but fair enough. (RPG's are a secondary genre to me).

 

[titus]

Calling something shit is easy. I can call the whole universe shit and move on with it. ( many people do this, actually ) The challenging thing is giving a rational, logical and arguable reason for your opinion to make it worthwhile for others to hear. At least I'm judging a game that I have spent +30 hours with it and I am pretty much familiar with all of its aspects. I gave my reasons why I liked it. I even posted some nice screen-shots to show you how beautiful this game is. I know what a shit game is and I'm pretty sure Arcania isn't one. It's been a long time I haven't played a game for 7-8 hours straight. But this happened again with Arcania and that's why I respect it. Compared to some well received games ( not here, generally ) like Torchlight, Kingdoms of Amalur, Skyrim , etc. it's painful to see how unfair Arcania has been treated.

Maybe it was my fault to try to convince Codex to give Arcania another chance. This community is just way too stubborn. You can't change anything about it. No matter how much I write why Arcania isn't that bad, you guys are just gonna repeat what was on your mind 2 years ago over and over again. So go ahead and call Arcania shit. I don't care. I said my part.

What are your thoughts on Risen 2, Chuck?

It was disappointing. When it comes to Piranha Bytes, my expectations are just way too high. Maybe one of the reasons I liked Arcania was the fact that I thought it's gonna be one of the worst games I'm gonna play. Level of expectations is very important on how I'm gonna judge a game.

Level of expectation shouldn't cloud your judgment and prevent you from seeing things they way they are.

It doesn't. It's not like I pull pros and cons out of air based on my level of expectations. It just highlights good or bad things about the game for me depending on how low or high it is. Everyone's like this I guess.

BTW, it feels like I'm a jew between a bunch of neo-nazists. Isn't there anyone else who finished the game and liked it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I played it for a few hours. Banal, boring shit. Sure it's somewhat pretty, but who cares? My desktop image is also pretty, is that a good RPG? The reason why you don't get any arguments/reason of being shit is because it's been said already for a hundred times. Who the fuck cares about Arcania - "Gothic 4" anymore?

So there you go, the game is shit.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

If you want to play a pseudo-RPG for its visuals, play Skyrim.

Arcania was an insult to Gothic fans and JoWood definitely do not deserve your money for it. Still, the real-life Chuck Norris is a complete fucktard so I guess I shouldn't be surprised someone with his pseudonym on the Codex likes trashy games.

 

[Metro]

(RPG's are a secondary genre to me).

 

[Brayko]

I much prefer strategy games?

 

[Turjan]

I much prefer strategy games?

Now that you mention that, I seem to gravitate into that direction myself lately. I still love RPGs, but anything with dragons and elves cannot really interest me much anymore at the moment. You also find these in strategy games, but they don't dominate the genre as much.

 

[Darth Roxor]

My reaction to this thread

 

[Murezor]

Geez, to be honest Arcania is probably the worst game which I played last few years. Additionaly, this... construct is apparently "action cRPG"... Yeah, and I'm a mudcrab.

Really, in this construct is only one good thing: landscapes. Nothing more; dialogues are stupid, not silly, just stupid and unrealistic at all. Main quest is... I don't know, becouse after three or four hours I gave up, but I guess it's very similar to side-quest, it's mean boring and boring and boring. The genius of eventfull and nonlinear side-quests is however other story, worthy to write a book, as same as issue of our Zero Hero - I didn't saw so uncharismatic protagonist for a very long time. Ech, when I compare him with oryginal Nameless... Unless the King, Diego and other old-time comrades there aren't any evidences that construct have something in common with Gothic series.

 

[Orma]

 

[taxalot]

I'm quite sure Arcania would have gotten much more decent reviews if they separated it from the Gothic universe and gave it another name. I only played the demo ; can't say I was overwhelmed, but I was not screaming at its awfulness until I saw Diego again.

 

[Mastermind]

I'm saying it's shit. How anyone could not is beyond me. The quests and writing are more shallow than World of Warcraft. To say Arcania had potential (outside of its visuals) is to say you never even played the game and merely looked at screenshots/watched videos. It is insultingly bad.

Quests and writing...

The worst part about the gothics series (and the main reason why I never put more than half an hour in 1/2) was the shit combat. Actually shit combat is a staple of PB games which is why I'm never buying any of their games again unless they end up as a 2-3 dollar sale on steam. Arcania had excellent combat, with fluid controls that didn't need to be activated 4-5 times before your tourette paraplegic protagonist swung his sword. It was marred only by the shit character system that could have used a lot more variety. The difficulty level could have been ramped up too, though that might have just been a side effect of my playing as a mage. Hit and run works very well in RPGs, a genre notorious for shit AI. The story and character were Shakespearean level genius. Only a complete fucktard, who doesn't get the Monthy Pythonesque humor behind it all and takes the whole thing seriously would think they're shit. Arcania is subtle parody at its finest, a work of unrivaled genius by the Da Vincis of our time. By insulting the story and characters you merely reveal your own lack of taste and breeding.

 

[Mastermind]

If you want to play a pseudo-RPG for its visuals, play Skyrim.

Arcania was an insult to Gothic fans and JoWood definitely do not deserve your money for it. Still, the real-life Chuck Norris is a complete fucktard so I guess I shouldn't be surprised someone with his pseudonym on the Codex likes trashy games.

If you're a Gothic fan and you go a single day without being insulted then society has failed in its duty.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Even if it wasn't a Gothic game it would still be banal and boring. There's no sense of character progression because of how shit and dull the leveling system is and they castrated the exploration. The devs hadn't played a single Gothic game and it showed.

 

[Average Manatee]

Do you really want to like the same game as someone who white knighted Hellgate London?

Fuck off. Hellgate London was a pretty good game.

Thread may proceed w/ regards to Arcania though.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Arcania is subtle parody at its finest

The main character repeating 'LUL IT'S LIKE EVERYONE HAS A PROBLEM THAT ONLY I CAN SOLVE BY RUNNING STUPID ERRANDS WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THIS' in every second quest dialogue is SUBTLE?

 

[ohWOW]

I think it was funny.

 

[Chuck Norris]

Arcania is subtle parody at its finest

The main character repeating 'LUL IT'S LIKE EVERYONE HAS A PROBLEM THAT ONLY I CAN SOLVE BY RUNNING STUPID ERRANDS WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THIS' in every second quest dialogue is SUBTLE?

90% of the RPGs with side quests are like this. You just go help everyone like a dumbfuck without any sense of proper motivation. Even the previous Gothics were like this.

Even if it wasn't a Gothic game it would still be banal and boring. There's no sense of character progression because of how shit and dull the leveling system is and they castrated the exploration. The devs hadn't played a single Gothic game and it showed.

Actually, there's a huge sense of progression in Arcania. Every time you reach a milestone in a certain skill, you see how much you have improved in it. You change a fireball into an inferno and you see how enemies who needed 4-5 hits to die with a fireball, die with 2 or 3 inferno hits. You reach 6 combo in melee and you see how easier it is to fight the enemies compared to 4 hit combo. If this isn't a sense of progression, then what is? Actually, one of the things I liked about Arcania was the fact that it maintained a perfect balance between level-up progression and armor and weapons progression. In most of the RPGs in the recent memory ( like Dark souls ), one outweighs the other. But in Arcania, you need strong weapons as much as you need strength. You need strong spells as much as you need a huge mana pool. You are progressing with every level-up and every equipment with higher stats and you feel it. Especially if you play the game in Gothic difficulty and limit your use of potions.

 

[ohWOW]

All you need to do while playing Gothic difficulty is to eat a SHITLOAD of apples when you take damage. Better than any potion.

 

[epikitscheesy]

I'm quite sure Arcania would have gotten much more decent reviews if they separated it from the Gothic universe and gave it another name. I only played the demo ; can't say I was overwhelmed, but I was not screaming at its awfulness until I saw Diego again.

Were you talking about the dialogue or the looks of him? Because I thought character design was the only thing spellbound did right, a far more convincing transition from the first two Gothic's low poly faces than PB's vain attempt in Gothic 3.
In Arcania, Diego actually looks like Diego. As a result, the dialogue is even more cringeworthy.

 

[Kraszu]

I'm saying it's shit. How anyone could not is beyond me. The quests and writing are more shallow than World of Warcraft. To say Arcania had potential (outside of its visuals) is to say you never even played the game and merely looked at screenshots/watched videos. It is insultingly bad.

Quests and writing...

The worst part about the gothics series (and the main reason why I never put more than half an hour in 1/2) was the shit combat. Actually shit combat is a staple of PB games which is why I'm never buying any of their games again unless they end up as a 2-3 dollar sale on steam. Arcania had excellent combat, with fluid controls that didn't need to be activated 4-5 times before your tourette paraplegic protagonist swung his sword.

The controls are fluid, but Gothic is one of the few games where you character doesn't break the laws of physics when you smash the buttons hopping for something awesome to happen. I had tried it multiple times paying attention to this mythical unresponsive controls, and it was always the case that when my char was in position to do some move then he would execute it instantly.