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My current obsession
17 years ago
General
Gothic 3! It's fan-fucking-tastic!
Uhm. Lemme start over. Ok. Ever since
skidd got me into it, I've been a big fan of the Gothic series. It's an obscure trilogy of action RPGs that are expansive, engaging and BRUTALLY DIFFICULT. FUCKING ICE WOLVES.
Uhm. Ok. So it's like, Gothic 1 and 2 are free-roaming, persistent world kind of games. Kind of like Oblivion, but on a much smaller scale. I've actually preferred the world they take place in over any Elder Scrolls game because, despite being much smaller, they're INSANELY detailed. Whereas Oblivion is all heightmapped, Gothic 1 and 2 look lovingly hand-crafted. Densely forested cliffs, overhanging plateaus, caves everywhere ... REAL caves, not just doors leading to a new area.
But Gothic 3! It's like ... it's HUGE, it feels like an Elder Scrolls game in its sheer massivity, and yet it retains that lovingly crafted feel of the last two games! It's a beautiful game, not just because of its graphical prowess, but because the landscape itself is a work of art!
And it's epic in its scope! In Gothic 1 and 2, you basically had to choose between three factions, and then go through a fairly linear story to get to the ending. Here, there are apparently three possible endings, and something like half a dozen factions that you can freelance around in ... and it's fascinating, because you don't have to take the "good" route if you don't want to! See, because orcs have taken over all the cities in the central landmass, right, and there are a group of rebels trying to retake them. And in any other game you'd be working with the rebels and being the hero and all that, but here, you don't HAVE to! You could instead work for the orcs, gain their trust, and actually flush out the resistance! In fact, it's in your best interest to exploit all the groups as much as you can, working them against each other!
What's today, Thursday? I think I've been playing this every chance I get since ... Sunday afternoon, I think. Everyone else is playing Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead and Prince of Persia, and I'm like "I'm playing GOTHIC 3, FUCK YEAH" and they all look at me funny.
It didn't get very good reviews when it came out in '06. Mostly because it was buggy, I think. Even Skidd told me he was disappointed with it. But it's been patched! Granted, it's still glitchy on occasion, but ... but you've just got to look PAST that! Gothic 2 was glitchy too! And yeah, it's brutally difficult, and you'll die a thousand times, but that's part of what makes it SATISFYING!
It's ... it's SO GOOD!
Uhm. Lemme start over. Ok. Ever since
skidd got me into it, I've been a big fan of the Gothic series. It's an obscure trilogy of action RPGs that are expansive, engaging and BRUTALLY DIFFICULT. FUCKING ICE WOLVES.Uhm. Ok. So it's like, Gothic 1 and 2 are free-roaming, persistent world kind of games. Kind of like Oblivion, but on a much smaller scale. I've actually preferred the world they take place in over any Elder Scrolls game because, despite being much smaller, they're INSANELY detailed. Whereas Oblivion is all heightmapped, Gothic 1 and 2 look lovingly hand-crafted. Densely forested cliffs, overhanging plateaus, caves everywhere ... REAL caves, not just doors leading to a new area.
But Gothic 3! It's like ... it's HUGE, it feels like an Elder Scrolls game in its sheer massivity, and yet it retains that lovingly crafted feel of the last two games! It's a beautiful game, not just because of its graphical prowess, but because the landscape itself is a work of art!
And it's epic in its scope! In Gothic 1 and 2, you basically had to choose between three factions, and then go through a fairly linear story to get to the ending. Here, there are apparently three possible endings, and something like half a dozen factions that you can freelance around in ... and it's fascinating, because you don't have to take the "good" route if you don't want to! See, because orcs have taken over all the cities in the central landmass, right, and there are a group of rebels trying to retake them. And in any other game you'd be working with the rebels and being the hero and all that, but here, you don't HAVE to! You could instead work for the orcs, gain their trust, and actually flush out the resistance! In fact, it's in your best interest to exploit all the groups as much as you can, working them against each other!
What's today, Thursday? I think I've been playing this every chance I get since ... Sunday afternoon, I think. Everyone else is playing Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead and Prince of Persia, and I'm like "I'm playing GOTHIC 3, FUCK YEAH" and they all look at me funny.
It didn't get very good reviews when it came out in '06. Mostly because it was buggy, I think. Even Skidd told me he was disappointed with it. But it's been patched! Granted, it's still glitchy on occasion, but ... but you've just got to look PAST that! Gothic 2 was glitchy too! And yeah, it's brutally difficult, and you'll die a thousand times, but that's part of what makes it SATISFYING!
It's ... it's SO GOOD!
... Which is one thing I DON'T like about Gothic 3, admittedly. Fighting against armed opponents feels too easy, and fighting against beasts feels too hard. I took down literally over a hundred orcs mostly by myself in an ore mine in Nordmar, but if I get in a fight with more than four ice wolves at a time I'll end up either torn to shreds or running for my life.
Stemming from the old song of the publisher pushing the developer. But, that does not mean that I do not replay the game now and then. I replay all of them.
Gothic 4 is on its way, and I have high hoped for that one as well, even though I think I remember Pyranha bytes no longer works on it.
Ah well.. all in all.. I really want a robe of the fire magicians for real. Those things are cool.
I hate to sound like a part of some unpleaseable fanbase or something, but to turn it into a boring 2 button luck-fest is really lame (I spent like 15 hours restarting to try ranged, melee, and magic, and I just couldn't go on :/ ).
Maybe it's just because I wasn't expecting much. Everyone is dissing the game, and I go into it with really low expectations and get blown away.
I don't even bother buying new games anymore :/
On the other hand, orc fights have been a joke ever since I learned dual-sword fighting. It's like they become dazzled and confused if you come at them with your swords swinging. It's not unusual for me to be in the center of half a dozen of them or more, using my strong attack to take out several at once, and never take a hit because THEY NEVER FIGHT BACK.
And it's funny how everyone talks about how hard the arena fights are, and what an honor it is to win them, but I mean, going against the strongest fighter is like squashing a mosquito compared to overthrowing a city of several dozen orcs by yourself.
But I still like it! =D
Because if I'm gonna play it on PC, then almost undoubtedly I'll have to wait even longer, since I doubt my current top PC is strong enough, and I probably won't get one of sufficient power for more than 2 years.
Gothic... *swooooon* Gothic 2 - my favourite game of all time
I'm an RPG fanatic, personally... Favourites are Planescape: Torment, Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura and Vampire - Masquerade: Bloodlines. First two are somewhat dated and the modern cliques aren't entirely enthralled by ye olde isometric perspective
To me, "RPGs" like Elder Scrolls feel more like non-linear/open-ended adventure games than RPGs.
I also have to agree - one of the things that made me fall in love with Gothic is its difficulty - especially in Gothic II when you become a Fire Magician. It really feels as though you've accomplished something rather than been spoon-fed through the game and treated like an invalid.