I've finally learned to appreciate Gothic.

[McPlusle]

I bought Gothic I & II about four or five years ago and I remember the first time I played it I walked out of the Old Camp, got killed by a fly, and thought "this shit is impossible". Let's just say I was even dumber then than I am now. Last night I returned to the game and despite only being about three hours in, I'm floored. I've visited all three camps (but have mostly done Old Camp quests), stabbed the fuck out of Mud, and gotten to Level 4 (but I've spent very few skill points so far). When I first got my 1hand training and then killed those flies outside the Old Camp, I felt so fucking cool. It's one thing to make your damage/accuracy better when you upgrade a weapon skill; completely giving you new animations/moves is going way beyond the call of duty for the genre. So yeah, now I'm really into it.

TL;DR I was blind but now I can see

 

[McPlusle]

Unfortunately, I think my playthrough may have been prematurely killed. I'd been having issues with various bugs the entire way through (often involving getting permanently stuck on geometry or certain AIs shutting down) but now one of the main quests (the one in the Freemine which I believe is close to the end of the game) is completely fucked, with every attempt resulting in all NPCs shutting down, Gorn getting stuck on objects (mainly ladders), or Gorn turning hostile and killing me. But I do think I've gotten far enough in the game to say that I now think Gothic is great. Its atmosphere and approaches to both character progression and world design are sublime. Maybe someday I'll get to really finish it.

 

[Maggot]

Are you using the system pack?

 

[Sarkile]

I bought Gothic I & II about four or five years ago and I remember the first time I played it I walked out of the Old Camp, got killed by a fly, and thought "this shit is impossible". Let's just say I was even dumber then than I am now. Last night I returned to the game and despite only being about three hours in, I'm floored. I've visited all three camps (but have mostly done Old Camp quests), stabbed the fuck out of Mud, and gotten to Level 4 (but I've spent very few skill points so far). When I first got my 1hand training and then killed those flies outside the Old Camp, I felt so fucking cool. It's one thing to make your damage/accuracy better when you upgrade a weapon skill; completely giving you new animations/moves is going way beyond the call of duty for the genre. So yeah, now I'm really into it.

TL;DR I was blind but now I can see

Improving attack animations with character skill is an awesome feature that I wish more games would utilize.

 

[McPlusle]

Are you using the system pack?

Yes, this is with the system pack. Is that the catalyst of the issue or is it supposed to fix it?

 

[krilcebre]

I managed to finish Gothic 2 and NotR 25 times, and every time i managed to discover something I haven't before. That feeling when you finally get from rookie to being proficient with weapons. I have a feeling that it would be dissed today tho, as most of the people would stop playing in first 2-3 hours because "combat is shitty", without even realizing your whole animation set changes after training for some time (it's still a little clunky, but I find it enjoyable).

 

[Darth Roxor]

every attempt resulting in all NPCs shutting down, Gorn getting stuck on objects (mainly ladders), or Gorn turning hostile and killing me.

ah, the classic

i remember i had that on my first playthrough as well

fwiw tho i also remember gorn only knocking me out, not killing me, so i could just take my beatings all the time and endure until the quest was finished

 

[TemplarGR]

Gothic, one of the best games ever made, is a flawed gem, really, has aged extremely poorly, and quite frankly is a game i have a problem playing today. Despite it being one of the games i have the best memories from. It is just that janky. I don't think bad about anyone who cannot play it today.

Still, it is fine for you if you could overcome all the problems and immerse yourself into it, because in some aspects it hasn't been surpassed to this day. I wish i could turn back time 18 years ago, so i could experience it again for the first time...

 

[Doktor Best]

Gothic is love, Gothic is life.

 

[SlamDunk]

I bought Gothic I & II about four or five years ago and I remember the first time I played it I walked out of the Old Camp, got killed by a fly, and thought "this shit is impossible". Let's just say I was even dumber then than I am now. Last night I returned to the game and despite only being about three hours in, I'm floored. I've visited all three camps (but have mostly done Old Camp quests), stabbed the fuck out of Mud, and gotten to Level 4 (but I've spent very few skill points so far). When I first got my 1hand training and then killed those flies outside the Old Camp, I felt so fucking cool. It's one thing to make your damage/accuracy better when you upgrade a weapon skill; completely giving you new animations/moves is going way beyond the call of duty for the genre. So yeah, now I'm really into it.

TL;DR I was blind but now I can see

Only 17 years and change late but... better late than never!

I was blown away by the demo, back in the day, and bought the game as soon as it was available. Gothic 2: Night of the Raven is still my Best Game Ever but Gothic stole my heart. With Gothic, Piranha Bytes showed the world how a proper action RPG is made. Then with Gothic 2 PB showed how to properly add content to a game with the Night of the Raven addon.

The Piranha Bytes of the past was comparable to Looking Glass. Both studios passionately created something truly novel and smart. PC gaming lost a lot of its core when those two developer houses died (LG physically, PB spiritually).

 

[HoboForEternity]

I was kinda the same i tried gothic. It was in 2014 or something, i tried it, the control felt like ass, it gave me motion sickness moving around and gave up. A year later I gave it another chance, made it to the old camp and finally it all clicked while exploring the game. I got used to the control, as my character grew stronger, the world started to open up bits by bits and was immersed in it.

 

[Black Angel]

I bought Gothic I & II about four or five years ago and I remember the first time I played it I walked out of the Old Camp, got killed by a fly, and thought "this shit is impossible". Let's just say I was even dumber then than I am now. Last night I returned to the game and despite only being about three hours in, I'm floored. I've visited all three camps (but have mostly done Old Camp quests), stabbed the fuck out of Mud, and gotten to Level 4 (but I've spent very few skill points so far). When I first got my 1hand training and then killed those flies outside the Old Camp, I felt so fucking cool. It's one thing to make your damage/accuracy better when you upgrade a weapon skill; completely giving you new animations/moves is going way beyond the call of duty for the genre. So yeah, now I'm really into it.

TL;DR I was blind but now I can see

Improving attack animations with character skill is an awesome feature that I wish more games would utilize.

To me, making it easier for players to play to the rhythm of the action gameplay as we invest more and more into character skills is definitely the direction that Action-RPGs should be going to. If only there's similar implementation but for FPS-RPG hybrids like New Vegas...

 

[Sigourn]

I'm still upset I can't get Gothic II to run properly at max settings. I kept having slowdowns near the "mansion" of the "New Camp", right in the area where there is a sheperd.

 

[Steezus]

I'm still upset I can't get Gothic II to run properly at max settings. I kept having slowdowns near the "mansion" of the "New Camp", right in the area where there is a sheperd.

Are you playing on a laptop by any chance?

 

[Sigourn]

I'm still upset I can't get Gothic II to run properly at max settings. I kept having slowdowns near the "mansion" of the "New Camp", right in the area where there is a sheperd.

Are you playing on a laptop by any chance?

Nope. I have an 1GB VRAM AMD card, so maybe that's the problem.

 

[Steezus]

Granted, Gothic 2 is not really well optimized, but that should be enough to run the game.

I only brought up laptops because the game can't properly recognize dedicated graphics cards and usually just hogs some intel chip instead of the real card.

 

[JDR13]

Unfortunately, I think my playthrough may have been prematurely killed. I'd been having issues with various bugs the entire way through (often involving getting permanently stuck on geometry or certain AIs shutting down) but now one of the main quests (the one in the Freemine which I believe is close to the end of the game) is completely fucked, with every attempt resulting in all NPCs shutting down, Gorn getting stuck on objects (mainly ladders), or Gorn turning hostile and killing me. But I do think I've gotten far enough in the game to say that I now think Gothic is great. Its atmosphere and approaches to both character progression and world design are sublime. Maybe someday I'll get to really finish it.

That sucks. I've spent a lot of time in Gothuc 1 & 2 over the years, and I don't think I've never seen an NPC shut down. You mean they just stop moving?

I remember Gorn turning hostile on me though. Unfortunately, that's a common occurence. I think there's an option to tell him to wait at the entrance isn't there?

 

[Elex]

and gotten to Level 4 (but I've spent very few skill points so far).

a classic.
keep point until you can train the stuff you need earlier as possibile.


Al the good PB games have that in common: you can replay them and get a strong character earlier and earlier each time you replay them.
And at the same time you make the early game even harder, because for optimize your character, you keep the training point or go explore some harder part of the map for get some stuff or talk to some NPC.

One day PB will learn how to make a really good ending part in a game. maybe.

 

[Morkar Left]

I bought Gothic I & II about four or five years ago and I remember the first time I played it I walked out of the Old Camp, got killed by a fly, and thought "this shit is impossible".

You will have a lot of fun with ELEX!. It has an even higher learning curve (but you can tweak with difficulty).

Glad you finally saw the light! G2 can become a bit repetitive at the end but overall a good game that keeps you entertained a long while.

 

[Hevnknekt]

One day PB will learn how to make a really good ending part in a game. maybe.

Risen 3 actually had a very decent end map, and perhaps the least terrible final boss fight of any PB game. Alas it was ruined by how terribly unbalanced the game was (zero mid-end game challenge despite handicapping yourself), and the horrifically underwhelming ending cutscene.

 

[adddeed]

PB is one of fav developers.
Risen 2 is my favorite of their games, even though lots of people dont like it. Elex though is amazing and probaly their best effort.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Risen 3 actually had a very decent end map, and perhaps the least terrible final boss fight of any PB game.

are you fucking shitting me

the final boss is a reskin of a generic shadowlord

the end map is just a slaughterfest of generic shadow creatures

get the hell out of here


I'd say Gothic 1 would probably have the best end map and ELEX the best boss of the bunch - at least it's neither a reskin nor a zelda level.

 

[krilcebre]

Risen 3 is the only PB game I couldn't get myself to play after a few hours. At least Risen 2, as shitty as it is, had some charm to it.

 

[JDR13]

I enjoyed all the Risen games, but Risen is the best by far. That game actually has decent melee combat that requires more than just rolling around. Also has the best atmosphere of the three imo.

Risen 2 & 3 seemed like attempts to be more mainstream or something. They improved the exploration in Risen 3 (compared to Risen 2), but the game felt artificially long to me. The last island was just a slog and completely unnecessary.

 

[krilcebre]

Yep, Risen 1 was definitely the best of the 3, but it isn't saying much as the quality of other 2 is pretty low. I still enjoyed Risen 2 tho.