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

[Sol Invictus]

The combat is slightly improved over the original but it still feels wrong. As an action player I've gotten used to more fluid controls like those exhibited in Jedi Academy and BG&E and Gothic 2 really goes against that fluidity. The mouselook feels extremely sluggish and doesn't work correctly together with strafe. You can't circlestrafe or run around diagonally, and this makes the game really difficult to play because you can only move in four directions as a result. Even KOTOR and Morrowind allowed diagonal movements so this really hurts the experience. It's especially annoying that you tend to get killed when attempting to 'block' as there's no way to run away from certain combats depending on the angle.

 

[Realbumpbert]

The combat is frustrating in the extreme as you're starting out, but overall I found it a welcome break from the bothersome click-fest of Morrowind and the clicking-of-a-different-sort from top-down RPGs. It's good fun!

One of the best moments in the game was when I dispatched a hulking troll with a walking stick. :D

 

[taks]

i never minded the clicking involved with top-down games since i always focused on my mages, anyway, so it wasn't just "click here to hit here," but more of a browse through my list of options to see what was best.

too bad about gothic 2... i wish they had taken a few insights from these boards concerning combat. at the very least, a good cross-section of fan tastes is represented and rarely does anybody get all gushy and wax poetic about action based combat (nor clickfests).

oh well..

mark

 

[Realbumpbert]

Hm, I don't think the combat is bad at all. It's just hard to make the transition from turn-based tactics or what have you to the style of Gothic.