I thought they were considered masterpieces mainly because they bribed Gamestar / PC Action / all the other bullshit review mags into giving it really good ratings. (Not sure if "bribed" is the correct term: They bought many full-page advertisement pages so the magazine gave the product an excellent rating in order to keep the cash flowing.)
@@samyotix I mean: I don't know about that, it's mostly just them being excellent games and almost all German speaking RPG fans knowing about them and loving them for their great qualities. The very good to great German voice acting (especially compared to the English dub) also helps, of course.
@@samyotix No, they ARE masterpieces. And to be honest I even doubt the writers at Gamestar etc know what ads are in the next paper when they write the tests.
Yes of course but imagine the publicity Pirahna Bytes would have today and the content they would have done. Maybe not go down the Arcania route but down the Gothic 1 and 2 route
@@Kacp3rrak If I remember correctly, Gothic 3 was the last Gothic title done by Piranha Bytes themselves, with the addon and followup titles being made by different studios and developers who bought the Gothic license, while they went on to make the Risen series.
Glad to see Gothic gets even a tiny bit of recognition in Western world. Gothic games have a massive following here in Slavic Europe, probably even bigger than in Germany with some of Polish parodies, remixes etc. getting millions of views on TH-cam. I just replayed G1 and G2 few months ago with some graphical mods and yes those games are as good as I remember them from 20 years ago. I also recommend playing first Risen, spiritual successor of first Gothic.
Hmm interesting. That explains why i found Gothic 2 in a polish store many years ago. I was wondering why they would sell a german game. I guess Gothic also paved the way for the witcher series in poland then?
Ayem Bromor dis is ma house and these are my guuurls i like mah guuurls. Dat bish made out with part of mah savings a really valuable golden dish eeh? If i get holdovhar ill give har what for 😅😅
Bromor is literally just Tommy Wiseau who somehow got transported to the Gothic world by accident and hes trying his best to fit in and make ends meet.
This... i want to make a rpg someday and i believe that even ¨bad¨ voice acting but that is kinda memorable, isn't bad to begin with. let's be honest, of course that the petty merchant and the poor beggar are going to sound like fucking idiots.
@@jarlfenrir Problem with two voices in one NPC come with the Night of the Raven expansion where they needed to record additional lines without the same voice actors being available.
One important thing in my opinion: you have to find everything by that not accurate map and NPC directions, and the world is not too big to make that task a big issue. What I like about Gothic I and II is that the world is not too big, it is just right size.
The feeling of immersion that I got from playing gothic 1 and 2 was never reproduced since then. These 2 games were made by gamers who made their dreams come true.
we got the Risen games , made by the same guys who made Gothic... and u get the same feeling playing them, but yeah u are right, games like these do not exist anymore. It is funny how over time games got downgraded instead of upgraded
In regards to the voice acting: I feel so sorry for all of you who don't unterstand german. Especially Gothic 1 has amazing voice acting where if feel like you're missing out on a huge part of the game's experience if you don't play in german.
It's the same in the polish version, up to this day Gothic is considered to have one of the best video game voice acting in the Polish language. It's all done by professional polish actors that you can still hear in more recent works like The Witcher for example. But if the german voice acting is as good as you say, then it means that it's even more impressive on the german side, since I don't think it was done by professionals?
at least for once its the other way around. normally german voice acting sucks for american games/movies. now we can enjoy and they have to suffer haha!
It's a shame that they don't make games like that anymore. Since 2008 I keep replaying Gothic 1 and 2 to this day, lost track of how many times I did - and it never gets boring.
0:41 : """"the immersive design of Gothic 1 and 2 is timelessly brilliant """"""" . My thoughts exactly !!! even today I look at Gothic 1 and I still see a timeless masterpiece with almost no flaws !!!! incredible !!!!
G1 and 2 truly are mastepieces. Even Witcher devs took notes from them when making witcher games. Newer piranha bytes games are so uninteresting to me. To this day they failed to make a decent combat system since G2.
Actually i like "Risen 1"- when it comes to combat- the best out of Pirahna`s games. It was fast paced, intuitive and very unforgiving, especially, when we talk about first chapter- and every squrrel and slug can take their day out on ya... And God forbbid you stumble upon black wolf or better yet ash beast... And i would argue- it is even more unfrogiving, than first "Gothic", when it comes to planned experience points distribution. In first "Gothic" you could learn one handed, two handed, bows, crossbows, reach 100 points in dexterity and strength without potions and rings, and still have some leftovers to learn thievery and some magic- and if you like spending time killing creatures you summoned- you can learn all six magic circles... In first "Risen"? No can do. You either go ranged with average melee, or melee with average ranged, but not both, and sure as hell can`t learn all weapons types- i remember, how i maxed on sword and crossbow, first time i ever played, with 20 or 30 points of both strength and dexterity, because i was more interested in being able to parry and do long combos, rather than do lot of damage- and of course locpicking and prospecting and sneaking etc.... Then, for the fuck of it, i wanted to learn the axes... And then was sent to ruins to take on giant scorpions, ash beasts and lizardmen... i think i ended game with 80 points of strength and 50 of dexterity- out of 200 possible- and only because i can buy and find potions, and food that gives experience- you haven`t lived, till you ate 300 shark fins(slow as hell) to get 4500 experience... I do see problems with this game- how constricted it feels, how they went basically with mix of elements from "Gothic" 1 and 2- and at some points game holds our hands(like with nautilus spell instruction next to the hole...), but quite frankly- i like mechanics from that game. Story is so- so, but it did feel, like "Gothic" when first boar just got me locked in and bashed through the defenses, and killed me in 2 hits :) I really felt like a little shit again- just like when i tried to pickaxe first goblin in "Gothic"- one above Abandoned Mine... "Gothic" story, Risen" mechanic- i assume, we can agree on that would be nice :)
I see great potential in Elex, but it's just very rough around the edges, perhaps more so in certain ways - significant ways - than say, gothic 2. Like the progression system can be rather whack with you possibly ending up finishing like 80% of the game before joining a faction and then just going through the rest of the 20% in a heartbeat. An issue with character progression when most skills & especially stats are requirements for weapons, and weapons being the main factor deciding how strong your character was. Combat system needs a bit of refining on the hit boxes, but it still has that euro-jank clunky feel that you have you can make smooth, but have to mastering it to do so, just like in G1/2. However, that's fixable so I have hopes for Elex 2, as besides that the game offers has that Gothic 1 & 2 style over it.
Gothic 1 and 2 have a special place in my heart, I used to play them with my friend when we were both around 7-8 years old. It was crazy to experiment with the cheats and feel like a god, but what was even crazier was when we learned that we can progress in the game without cheats. We played the game to the maximum when we could do so, such a great time it was. And when I come back to it sometimes, the game holds up pretty well still.
These games where made with love and not for making a ton of money. It was a time that is lost today. Iam from Germany. Played these when I was young and Iam coming back to these games from time to time.
Another element in conversations that contributes greatly to immersion is that YOUR speech is also fully voiced, including saying stuff in between when it makes sense without even asking player to click it, pretty much like Shepard in ME. This helps tremendously to create a realistic conversation that makes sense and sounds believable, unlike all those other RPGs when you just click the line and the NPC replies to that immediately. They probably think this helps immerse players with the protagonist, but it actually only makes it worse.
The german voice acting is a masterpiece! Bodo Henkel as Xardas or Christian Wewerka as the nameless hero are so greate voice actors. There are legends for the german Gothic Community. But also all other voice actors are very very very good. They all spoke many diffrent Characters but you can give me one line without gameplay and I can name you the Character which they spoke even if it is a generic one. This is maybe the best german voice acting in gaming history. Not maybe it is the best german voice in gaming history! But unfortunately a few of them already died. RIP VATRAS. RIP LESTER.
I'm pretty sure Xardas, Saturas, and Corristo having the same voice was deliberate, as it makes it ambiguous as to who is narrating the intro. The same thing applied in Polish and German versions as far as I could tell.
Like Bethesda and Morrowind/Oblivion many, many Character are sharing voices. Most or near all of the important NPC have there own, while the standart ones have like 5-10 diffrent ones to show a kinda cliche stereotype. Soft, brutal, ruff etc etc. But if was baffled at the sorry excuse of voice acting of the english one. I only knew the german, and to be honest, not the best for sure, but you remember many many punchlines. Spoken in a ruff voice, threatening you or else. None of that accent crap. Clear and simple german.
Yeah. For me the voice acting was really not a deal breaker even though I played the North American version. On the contrary, I like how the ruffian and thuggish voice of the convicts further lended to the prison atmosphere in the 2 games
@@Fion355 having multiple characters voiced by the same voice actor isn't necessarily a problem. A professional voice actor can manipulate his voice to a degree and take on varying demeanors so 2 NPCs voiced by the same person might still appear very different in character. I actually think they did a good job with that in Gothic, I feel like it's much worse in games like Oblivion or Skyrim, in Skyrim you literally can get 3 guards standing next to each other with exactly the same voice and the exact same lines, now that is immersion breaking.
Any other Aussies 🇦🇺 in this comment section that love the Gothic games. To me they are my favorite games of all time (of any genre) these games manage to do just about everything I could hope as far as creating an immersive world. They where really ambitious and vary much ahead of their time imo.
having such a specifically tailored control that does not use the mouse is part of it, I think. Another is the constant feeling of growing stronger due to the absolute numbers used in damage calculations (armor protects you from as much damage as is stated apart from 5 minimum damage; works for enemies, too) so you constantly encounter new enemies that are at first basically invincible, then challenging but you can win and a few levels up you're killing multiples in one fight; and this feeling happens throughout most of a normal playthrough.
One of the intangible successes that the first to Gothic games hit perfectly is finding that balance of letting you discover the world on your own and figure things out for yourself without leaving you running in circles and totally frustrated. The first game did have one or two of those frustrating moments but, for the most part, if you don't know where to go, you can use your common sense and some trial-and-error to find your next objective. Having a unique enough landscape for you to find your way around until you can afford to find a map is still a little bit of genius in the Gothic games that I don't think I have seen repeated since then. But you can't just take any open world RPG and retro fit it with PB features -- it has to be designed from the ground up that way. Earning fast travel is another great design feature that I wish we saw more often. But unless PB listens to the healthy criticism that they got on Elex, I don' think that we will ever see that style of game again. Too much emphasis on being big and huge, and not enough emphasis on building worlds with charm and character. All open world games have gone in this direction.
Entering the new camp, there was some NPC dude who made me get him a bunch of shit and when I collected it all he said something along the lines of "what a sucker you are, now get lost". So I lured an Orc into Old Camp guards, took his weapon after he died and proceeded to murder my way through the new camp with the op weapon, which also got me Lars' axe before chapter 2 even started. Still one of my favorite video game moments, some 20 years later.
@@hgtugdz25 I like the graphics in the old game way better than the new ones from the remake teaser. They just have so much more personality. Also the new design for the Hero in the remake sucks
@@kingdennis2763 the reamje does suck they should pirania bites should just buy the game back and dont change the graphics or the hero so we cab have a real gothic 3 and 4 hoppefully they still know how to do amazing games
Awesome video! You really nailed it with the reasons what makes the first two Gothics such awesome games! I really hope Alkimia is listening 🙏 RIP Piranha Bytes 💀
Gothic 1+2 are true masterpieces that are ahead of their time even now. Some games came close: Risen, Witcher, Elder Scrolls and probably a few more. None were able to recreate the kind of atmosphere Gothic emits. Kingdom Come Deliverance may be the only exception.
I feel like Risen was when Pyranha Bytes went downhill. It still was a great RPG and I had a lot of fun playing it. Than came Risen 2-3 that i pülayed both like 20 minutes just to exit. Than there is Elex which feels like it has the mechanics of Gothic 3 but 12 years later.
I would like to take a moment and talk about something that was not mentioned here: Fast travel. In gothic games fast travel is a game mechanic that u can acces by finding teleportation runes and using them. You gain acces to them later in the game when you probably saw the whole game and in the context of the game it makes sence.
anyone else only just now playing this masterpiece in 2023?!?!? haha Thanks for this, Nocturnal Rambler :) Your channel hits all the right notes with me. And I read on your website your tips for Elex and it has helped me immensely. Playing Elex and Gothic 1 at the moment. Plan on play through the entire Gothic trilogy and your channel inspired me to do it.
Engine and hardware limitations were essential for old games being fun and the devs having to use clever tricks to make their games work. The game making you go back to the starting areas to take quests from people who you already completed quests for is great for immersion and having investment in those characters. If the hardware and engine could handle it I doubt they would even think of making you go back, they'd just create a new area and all your quests would be from new NPCs with 2 lines of dialogue. Gothic 3 and Bethesda games are like this. Once you complete a quest and an area, you don't have to go back, forget that area existed and move to the next area. There's only so much data a game could have back then, only so many locations and characters the engine can render so they get reused and it's for the better. Khorinis becomes your home, it's not just the low level starting area you quest in and move on.
There is something about the central/eastern europeans that know how to make a slower more immersive deep game. Gothic1&2, Stalker, Mafia 1, Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Actually, referring to the Healthbar, I don't mind modern games implementing a "bloody screen" or "screen red" or "blurring vision" when your Health is very low and almost depleted. (some of those games don't even show you a Healthbar at all and let you guess how much more you can take) I find it to be fitting for those particular games. I agree that it wouldn't fit with Gothic, but I don't think it's "ruining the immersion in newer games" in general, also Fallout3/new vegas/4, have the "crippling" that makes you move slower when you're injured, ...and even if not in that way, but somehow I think showing how your character is bleeding (okay I think a bit of that is doable in the options of Gothic, if I remember correctly) or hurt/injured/wounded and how that influences his ability to flee from a battle, would have been a valid aspect, though I guess that was simply not possible back then, just saying that some other ways of dealing with the "Healthbar" or "Health" and displaying the overall condition of a character, is not something I would consider immersion breaking in most games, (I agree that some exaggerate with that, though) even nowadays
I am also a long time gothic fan. I played gothic and gothic 2 countless times. but i couldn't really but a finger on why i like them so much and why the atmosphere is so great. You did a really good job explaining why they are so good. I really wish we had more games likes these.
Polish dubbing is top tier and it's the version I grew up with. I remember back in high school when I wanted to be a TH-camr and decided to record a Gothic Let's Play in english. When I first heard Diego, I kid you not, I cracked laughing for 5 minutes straight.
This video is doing a great job explaining, why I'm so in love with these games and why they're such a memorable experience even with their age in mind. These games easily built the most immersive and living world and atmossphere I've ever seen in any video game, even (or, sadly, especially) newer ones just seem to be unable to do what Gothic did 20 years ago. And I think it aged like fine wine, the graphics maybe aren't exactly what you would call photo-realistic, but they're old enough to not have that scary/creepy 'wannabe-realistic' look of mid-2000s games, its almost like a bit of a 'comic look'. The controls are a bit to get into, but once you've understood them, its really ok and feels right. Lastly, while the english voicing seems to be horrible, I played it in german (cause I am german myself) and these voices were really nice and fitting. I could talk hours about these games but you managed to get it into one video, precise and on point. Kudos! Ngl doe, everyone should try these, maybe even in german with english subs, its really good, russian and polish voices are said to be really nice aswell. G1 hasn't become my favorite game for nothing... Playing Gothic 1 and 2 early if not at the absolute beginning of my gaming journey made me as picky as I am about games now lmao So you might give it a try! If it won't work (I mean its old), visit WorldOfGothic! There are guides to make it work and a lot of threads regarding the game.
You know what? I've played Gothic 1+2 almost 20 years ago. Those set the bar sooo high, I didn't like most of the RPG games or find them somewhat acceptable including Skyrim. Well. I can see, you had the similar experience. Judging by your other contents :) Thanks for all them dude. Keep up good work.
I got gifted the gothic series from a German friend on steam. I had no idea what they said since it was in German and I had no idea how I would switch it to english
A brilliant game. I have sunk so many hours into this. Loved min maxing, early over leveling, and getting the great items early, its so fun once you know your way around the game.
Great review for the greatest games ever produced. Its crazy how good the games still are in 2021. Every decision in game design from immersion to rewarding experience, toughness to smart world design is still top notch.
They really are timeless, I feel. Apart from the dated graphics (which I think still look stylistically good, and can be improved with texture and resolution mods) and the idiosyncratic controls (which were weird even for their time), everything else still holds up extremely well.
Something to point out about the voice acting, is that the game was developed in German primarily, so they had no part in the English voice acting, in the German versions there are also voices that double up (because it was likely voiced by only a handful of people), but they all fit the world and are used throughout all 3 games.
Hey thanks for your review here. I initally got interested in Gothic because of Mandalore but was on the fence about buying cuz it looked a little janky. You convinced me to go ahead and take the plunge. The detail and craftsmanship to make emergent gameplay happen just doesnt exist like this anymore
I wish THQ Nordic had a consultant like TNR in their Gothic remake team... The the demo almost feels like a mockery to this video. Now, since the game will happen, I can only hope they listen to the fans of Gothic and not people who just want another modern generic RPG...
Oh I still remember, how Gothic taught me "Don't go into a forest at night, It'll get you killed...like immediately, even if you get the chance to run for your life, a shadowrunner is faster than you... " xD
Harod: Look at me, I am so strong I can hold the hot steel in my hand in midair when beating it instead of using an anvil, but I'm gonna do it right next to an anvil, so so people won't think I can't afford one
One of my favorite lines and one that is stuck with me for all these years was when the carpenter asked me “do you know how to work with wood?“ and the Hero replies “the only thing I know how to do with wood is make a fire”
Nailed it. Modern games do half as much and then proceed to tout them as features. Honestly, it's just a shame no other games care as much. These games changed the way I think about games, I was lucky that I was adamant enough to get through the initial confusion and play it back in my teens. I thought CDProjekt might've taken the negative feedback for the minimap to heart and designed better, but the Cyberpunk gameplay I've seen tells me otherwise.
This is the best game series I ever had played. I hope they rework some of the design choices they did in the remake Demo, because the main character was too talkative and pcs where to friendly in the beginning.
Remake isn't from the same studio and it doesn't seme, that the new studio care about creating an immersive expirience. (First minutes into the demo everything explodes and its fire everywhere ..... feels like a bad action movie .. totally different vibe compared to the original) but I hope they'll jettison their design decisions.
The remake design is beyond repair. After 10 minutes I realized that the creators had no clue what Gothic was about, everything feels wrong, the atmosphere is so bright and way too beautiful, it supposed to be a dark colony. Your character behaves like Chuck Norris. The game tells you every stupid detail via distracting buttons and destroy immersion I could name 100 more things. Everything is wrong with this feels like a bad imitation of Witcher
The worlds of Gothic and Gothic 2 were compact enough and designed so well that PB could work with in-world descriptions because they literally built the world by hand and everything was put there with intention. There are no two places which feel the same, i.e. the big forest near Khorinis feels very different than the one behind Onar's farm. Compare this to Gothic 3 where I often had absolutely no idea where I was anymore. Varant? Yes, it's a desert, it's supposed to be vast and empty, but trecking through it often felt more like a chore than an adventure. Nordmar? Dear god, how often did I get completely lost in those ravines because they all looked the same and the map was absolutely useless. It's so tragic to see how PB got things so right with Gothic 2 and then proceed to unlearn everything with Gothic 3 and never return to form after that. Gothic 3 could've been a great game with more time and polish.
PB made a terrible mistake with G3 which was to develop an engine in the same time as the game. I consumed most of their time, resources etc. and little to nothing left for actual game. G3 would be probably a very good game if they licenced a stable engine, like Morrowind's one and devoted themselves to creating a plausible world and plot.
Gothic ruined open world games for me forever. It just set a standard so high that no other game ever met it again. In Gothic, the open world exists to serve the story. It's not an open world to muck around in with a thin excuse for a plot slapped on. Maybe Witcher 3, but also not really.
@Yora For me Kingdom Come Deliverance kind of (as in almost) did the trick. Other than that, complete agreement, Gothic 1+2 are nothing less than masterpieces.
absolutely how i feel. people play thousands of hours on skyrim and i can't even get down twenty over 3 installs and help of mods of this pale shit. meanwhile i replayed both gothic 1 and 2 for like 30 times the past 20 years
15:00 Had to go back and rewatch that scene, because I've been too invested into seeing how you're handling a shadow beast. So much your narration, that I've followed until this point, suddenly turned into background-noise.^^ Btw I've never considered a 2h weapon, since I prefer fast 1h weapons. 2h is better at keeping enemies at bay, but love to bombard my target with many hits, and also be quick enough to hit it before it gets too close.
In fact Lobarts fetch quest is much more straight forward. Letting you maskerade as a farm boy to get into the City would be a total RPG thing to do. Lobarts never mentions this as a method. He simply has things to do for a day jobber and you offer your service as a day jobber. And as such (who potentially could work more often or longer) you can buy the farm clothes. Not more not less. A job that needs to be done and a day jobber offering to do it. That's Gothic's believable world building
I love these games, they might be my favorite games of all time, and i do consider them masterpieces, but i just can't close my eyes about some things, that frustrate me about them... My only few problems with the first two Gothic games are: The balancing in G1, where it was too easy to gain experience, because you can just beat up everyone, with almost no consequences, once you get a bit stronger, and it was very easy to exploit that. I think the developers tried to convey that the Colony has no laws, and as long as you're stronger, you can beat up people and get away with it. You can achieve 100 strength and get the best one-handed sword and the second-best two-handed weapon in the game, while also be a master at both styles of melee combat and clear the entire overworld map, including the orc lands, and also beat up all people in the Old, Smap and New Camps (ask if you want to know how) all in Chapter 1 with zero consequence... that is of course, if you know how to progress to achieve all that. You also get filthy rich by doing that. I had 23k ore, and over 1000 unsold weapons and a ton of potions and other items before chapter 2. Of course, i don't recommend playing like that. I did it, just see how much i can abuse the game, and i also did it in my 6th or 7th playthrough of the game. Any new player of G1 should experience the game blind and face the difficulties we all did back in the day. Still, that doesn't change the fact that you cane easily break the balance if you put and two together and realize how the rules of the Colony work. In Gothic 2, Piranha Bytes fixed most of these flaws, and these changes also made a lot of sense, because you're no longer in the lawless lands of the Colony, and you can no longer get away with crime (at least most crimes), if you have witnesses. Even more than that, if you beat up somebody, they might end up hating you and refusing to trade or talk to you for the rest of the game, unless you use an Oblivion spell on them. I think that's amazing and adds to the immersion a lot.
Still Gothic 2 wasn't without flaws, and here, my only problems with the game, is with the damage calculation, and the attribute balancing. I hate that you get diminishing returns for spending learning points in attributes, and you're forced to look for stone tablets and some rare plants that are almost impossible to find without a guide. Looking out for Dragonroot is a total BS and i hate it. And because of it, you also need to spend at least 21 learning points for Alchemy and 35 points to learn how to read the stone tablets. It's a chore raising attributes in G2, period! They should've let the attribute gain to be 5 for 5 until you reach 100 of the attribute you're raising, then after that the training should be 5 for 10 (and just for the one you're raising, but for all of them). On top of that, almost all attribute plants and attribute stone tablets should be removed from the game, maybe leave just 2 of each type as a bonus if you find them. Also, Alchemy should be a general skill that requires maybe 20 points to master, i don't like that you have to spend points for individual recipes, and look for different trainers that can teach them. The damage calculation in Gothic 1 was 100 times better than in Gothic 2. It's super frustrating that in G2, unless you hit with critical, you basically do lame damage. I had 110 strength, 30% One-Handed skill and an 80 damage sword with a 6% bonus to the one-handed skill.... and with all that it takes me 3-4 hits to kill a Scavanger, a Bloodfly or a Molerat, unless i perform a critical hit, which then kills them instantly... it basically makes no difference if i'm using my 80 damage sword or a f'n branch to fight these low-level enemies and that's once again, a total BS! Fighting humans is unfair and unbalanced too. With 36% chance to crit, i almost never get the crits when i need them the most, but the enemies always crit me and kill me with one or two shots, before i can crit them, even though i already hit them 5-6 times in that same battle with a supposed 36% chance to hit... which makes the combat way too much luck based than it should be, and i hate that! You ain't going to get far as a new player, unless you learn how to fight without getting hit.... and that takes some time and practice. While i love that the game requires actual skill and knowledge in that regard, the critical hits are just too overpowered, while the non-critical ones are just useless - the first needs nerfing and the second needs to be boosted to make the combat more enjoyable, while still keeping the challenge... otherwise, it's hard to have fun with it until you get 70%+ crit chance, which usually happens past the halfway point of the game. Everything else about these games, screams - Masterpiece! They where super ahead of their time when it comes to the pure RPG element. There are no games even to this day, in which the player is so influential to the game world. And that's just a small part of the magic of Gothic 1 & 2. I'm not even gonna talk about the music the atmosphere, and the masterful open world building, exploration and enemy placement. They are brilliant in keeping they player curious and surprised all the time. Just compare that with the overrated boring trash world that Skyrim has.
In case you don't know, Gothic 1 and 2 were also very popular in Poland. I loved both games. Too bad G3 wasn't as good, but still, it was a decent attempt.
Have you played Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos yet? It’s a total conversion mod for Gothic 2, taking place before the events of Gothic 1. Anyways, it’s absolutely fantastic, and I highly recommend it. It’s basically a whole new Gothic game for free.
Funny how the downvotes are at 0,01%. I completely agree with the narrative of this video and apparently, so does everyone else. The first time I played Gothic I still remember telling my friends back then "This is such a great game... I wonder what games will be like in the future with Gothic's formula. I can't wait!" Sadly, this never happened and I've never had any feeling even remotely close to what Gothic caused again.
Thank you for putting together this awesome video. Gothic felt like a far better game than Morrowind, which was its contemporary at the time. Gothic felt like a truly seamless and immersive experience. I wish more games gave players the same sense of immersion as Gothic.
From the other hand for example, full VO localization in Polish was a masterpiece at the time and helped a loot sell and popularize this games in Poland :) Even to the point that we have full game size free mod (prequel) in production with full VO - kronikimyrtany.pl/index_en.html
Thank you for this review. The Gothic is an amazing game. It is truly unique. It has a logical, believable, and immersive world. For me it is the pinnacle of gaming.
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Good to see that Gothic is still in the people's heart and mind!
Some legends never die, warms my heart to see
Truee
and on their PCs :p
german world of gothic is still very active.
It has a special place there.
The German voice acting for the games is excellent, btw., which is why Gothic I and II are widely considered true masterpieces in Germany.
I thought they were considered masterpieces mainly because they bribed Gamestar / PC Action / all the other bullshit review mags into giving it really good ratings. (Not sure if "bribed" is the correct term: They bought many full-page advertisement pages so the magazine gave the product an excellent rating in order to keep the cash flowing.)
@@samyotix I mean: I don't know about that, it's mostly just them being excellent games and almost all German speaking RPG fans knowing about them and loving them for their great qualities. The very good to great German voice acting (especially compared to the English dub) also helps, of course.
@@samyotix No, they ARE masterpieces. And to be honest I even doubt the writers at Gamestar etc know what ads are in the next paper when they write the tests.
im german it is excellent
same with Polish audio, really great job, only con is that some characters have 2 different voice actors in G2 Night of the Raven
Alternate Universe where Piranha Bytes is pretty huge and Bethesda isn't.
Now that's a dream...
Everybody who is petty huge makes the mistakes...
Yes of course but imagine the publicity Pirahna Bytes would have today and the content they would have done. Maybe not go down the Arcania route but down the Gothic 1 and 2 route
@@Kacp3rrak If I remember correctly, Gothic 3 was the last Gothic title done by Piranha Bytes themselves, with the addon and followup titles being made by different studios and developers who bought the Gothic license, while they went on to make the Risen series.
@@Norbert_Sattler good point, good point.
@@Kacp3rrak Allot of original developers did left, but they last game Elex was pretty good.
Glad to see Gothic gets even a tiny bit of recognition in Western world. Gothic games have a massive following here in Slavic Europe, probably even bigger than in Germany with some of Polish parodies, remixes etc. getting millions of views on TH-cam. I just replayed G1 and G2 few months ago with some graphical mods and yes those games are as good as I remember them from 20 years ago. I also recommend playing first Risen, spiritual successor of first Gothic.
Now I wish I could understand those languages...
id say popularity is the same but you guys have a higher population.
Hmm interesting. That explains why i found Gothic 2 in a polish store many years ago. I was wondering why they would sell a german game. I guess Gothic also paved the way for the witcher series in poland then?
@@Maggifix00 it did indeed!
@@Maggifix00 Yes it did, Witcher devs said they were inspired by Gothic.
Bromor legit has the best voice, its so memorable.
Ayem Bromor dis is ma house and these are my guuurls i like mah guuurls. Dat bish made out with part of mah savings a really valuable golden dish eeh? If i get holdovhar ill give har what for 😅😅
@@studenastrana273
Hahahaha you nailed it flawlessly
Bromor smol brain
Bromor is literally just Tommy Wiseau who somehow got transported to the Gothic world by accident and hes trying his best to fit in and make ends meet.
This... i want to make a rpg someday and i believe that even ¨bad¨ voice acting but that is kinda memorable, isn't bad to begin with.
let's be honest, of course that the petty merchant and the poor beggar are going to sound like fucking idiots.
9:08 - lectors in Polish version are outstanding and this is also why it become so popular here
But still there is an issue with repeating voices. Sometimes NPCs are even talking with two voices...
@@jarlfenrir Problem with two voices in one NPC come with the Night of the Raven expansion where they needed to record additional lines without the same voice actors being available.
One important thing in my opinion: you have to find everything by that not accurate map and NPC directions, and the world is not too big to make that task a big issue. What I like about Gothic I and II is that the world is not too big, it is just right size.
The feeling of immersion that I got from playing gothic 1 and 2 was never reproduced since then. These 2 games were made by gamers who made their dreams come true.
We need a new game as good as this two. They simply dont exist anymore.
I would love to see a *real* Gothic 4 or something like that
we got the Risen games , made by the same guys who made Gothic... and u get the same feeling playing them, but yeah u are right, games like these do not exist anymore. It is funny how over time games got downgraded instead of upgraded
@@TheWolf-se8hs I only get that feeling with Risen 1 and only the first chapter of it.
@@TheWolf-se8hs Nowadays its not about Quality of gameplay and immersion but about how much money they can milk from the public.
@@ninetynein6853 If the public consists of cows they will be milked.
In regards to the voice acting: I feel so sorry for all of you who don't unterstand german. Especially Gothic 1 has amazing voice acting where if feel like you're missing out on a huge part of the game's experience if you don't play in german.
It's the same in the polish version, up to this day Gothic is considered to have one of the best video game voice acting in the Polish language. It's all done by professional polish actors that you can still hear in more recent works like The Witcher for example. But if the german voice acting is as good as you say, then it means that it's even more impressive on the german side, since I don't think it was done by professionals?
@@hanzeronori3856 It was done by professional voice actors
yes, yes. the german voice acting is just amazing. I also heard great things about the polish one, no surprise it has a huge audience there
Yea i finished all the games in Polish before i started them in English and im sorry but the english voice acting is just....poop
at least for once its the other way around. normally german voice acting sucks for american games/movies. now we can enjoy and they have to suffer haha!
Gothic series is huge in Poland and it gets much needed love here
Is there anyone actually living in Poland? cause you all seem to be living in the UK
@@swordofdanu ...and Germany :P
@@swordofdanuyes, but our government works hard to ruin it
It's a shame that they don't make games like that anymore. Since 2008 I keep replaying Gothic 1 and 2 to this day, lost track of how many times I did - and it never gets boring.
I think I've easily played them dozens of time. Probably more than 2 dozen times. Maybe even 3
I really like this series dedicated to Gothic. Thanks a lot.
Immersion is probably the greatest asset of these games. And hardly matched today.
Gothic, a game that has aged incredibly well and horribly at the same time. Either way still one of the best RPG games ever.
and both 1 and 2 still get mods and overhauls to this day which is insane for a over 20 year old game
Still plays and looks like it did in 2001.
I actually prefer the original textures without the dx11 renderer.
0:41 : """"the immersive design of Gothic 1 and 2 is timelessly brilliant """"""" .
My thoughts exactly !!! even today I look at Gothic 1 and I still see a timeless masterpiece with almost no flaws !!!! incredible !!!!
Every year on my birthday , before I blow the cake candles I wish for gothic 1 and 2 remakes, EvErY SiNgLe YeAr!
G1 and 2 truly are mastepieces. Even Witcher devs took notes from them when making witcher games. Newer piranha bytes games are so uninteresting to me. To this day they failed to make a decent combat system since G2.
Actually i like "Risen 1"- when it comes to combat- the best out of Pirahna`s games. It was fast paced, intuitive and very unforgiving, especially, when we talk about first chapter- and every squrrel and slug can take their day out on ya... And God forbbid you stumble upon black wolf or better yet ash beast... And i would argue- it is even more unfrogiving, than first "Gothic", when it comes to planned experience points distribution. In first "Gothic" you could learn one handed, two handed, bows, crossbows, reach 100 points in dexterity and strength without potions and rings, and still have some leftovers to learn thievery and some magic- and if you like spending time killing creatures you summoned- you can learn all six magic circles...
In first "Risen"? No can do. You either go ranged with average melee, or melee with average ranged, but not both, and sure as hell can`t learn all weapons types- i remember, how i maxed on sword and crossbow, first time i ever played, with 20 or 30 points of both strength and dexterity, because i was more interested in being able to parry and do long combos, rather than do lot of damage- and of course locpicking and prospecting and sneaking etc.... Then, for the fuck of it, i wanted to learn the axes... And then was sent to ruins to take on giant scorpions, ash beasts and lizardmen... i think i ended game with 80 points of strength and 50 of dexterity- out of 200 possible- and only because i can buy and find potions, and food that gives experience- you haven`t lived, till you ate 300 shark fins(slow as hell) to get 4500 experience...
I do see problems with this game- how constricted it feels, how they went basically with mix of elements from "Gothic" 1 and 2- and at some points game holds our hands(like with nautilus spell instruction next to the hole...), but quite frankly- i like mechanics from that game. Story is so- so, but it did feel, like "Gothic" when first boar just got me locked in and bashed through the defenses, and killed me in 2 hits :) I really felt like a little shit again- just like when i tried to pickaxe first goblin in "Gothic"- one above Abandoned Mine...
"Gothic" story, Risen" mechanic- i assume, we can agree on that would be nice :)
@@heretyk_1337 Yeah but Risen was made at around the same time
@@ninetynein6853 Same time as what?
I see great potential in Elex, but it's just very rough around the edges, perhaps more so in certain ways - significant ways - than say, gothic 2. Like the progression system can be rather whack with you possibly ending up finishing like 80% of the game before joining a faction and then just going through the rest of the 20% in a heartbeat. An issue with character progression when most skills & especially stats are requirements for weapons, and weapons being the main factor deciding how strong your character was.
Combat system needs a bit of refining on the hit boxes, but it still has that euro-jank clunky feel that you have you can make smooth, but have to mastering it to do so, just like in G1/2.
However, that's fixable so I have hopes for Elex 2, as besides that the game offers has that Gothic 1 & 2 style over it.
They're good but certainly no masterpieces. That would mean that other aspects are as good but that's not really the case
What I really liked about Gothic is how it never barred you from taking your chances with higher level creatures.
Gothic 1 and 2 have a special place in my heart, I used to play them with my friend when we were both around 7-8 years old. It was crazy to experiment with the cheats and feel like a god, but what was even crazier was when we learned that we can progress in the game without cheats. We played the game to the maximum when we could do so, such a great time it was. And when I come back to it sometimes, the game holds up pretty well still.
These games where made with love and not for making a ton of money. It was a time that is lost today.
Iam from Germany. Played these when I was young and Iam coming back to these games from time to time.
Another element in conversations that contributes greatly to immersion is that YOUR speech is also fully voiced, including saying stuff in between when it makes sense without even asking player to click it, pretty much like Shepard in ME. This helps tremendously to create a realistic conversation that makes sense and sounds believable, unlike all those other RPGs when you just click the line and the NPC replies to that immediately. They probably think this helps immerse players with the protagonist, but it actually only makes it worse.
The german voice acting is a masterpiece! Bodo Henkel as Xardas or Christian Wewerka as the nameless hero are so greate voice actors. There are legends for the german Gothic Community. But also all other voice actors are very very very good. They all spoke many diffrent Characters but you can give me one line without gameplay and I can name you the Character which they spoke even if it is a generic one. This is maybe the best german voice acting in gaming history. Not maybe it is the best german voice in gaming history! But unfortunately a few of them already died. RIP VATRAS. RIP LESTER.
8:11
love how the focus locked on Gorn which made you miss a hit on the snapper
gothic players know it too well
I feel very privileged that i got to play these masterpieces as a child.
I'm pretty sure Xardas, Saturas, and Corristo having the same voice was deliberate, as it makes it ambiguous as to who is narrating the intro. The same thing applied in Polish and German versions as far as I could tell.
Like Bethesda and Morrowind/Oblivion many, many Character are sharing voices. Most or near all of the important NPC have there own, while the standart ones have like 5-10 diffrent ones to show a kinda cliche stereotype. Soft, brutal, ruff etc etc. But if was baffled at the sorry excuse of voice acting of the english one. I only knew the german, and to be honest, not the best for sure, but you remember many many punchlines. Spoken in a ruff voice, threatening you or else. None of that accent crap. Clear and simple german.
Yeah. For me the voice acting was really not a deal breaker even though I played the North American version. On the contrary, I like how the ruffian and thuggish voice of the convicts further lended to the prison atmosphere in the 2 games
@@Fion355 having multiple characters voiced by the same voice actor isn't necessarily a problem. A professional voice actor can manipulate his voice to a degree and take on varying demeanors so 2 NPCs voiced by the same person might still appear very different in character. I actually think they did a good job with that in Gothic, I feel like it's much worse in games like Oblivion or Skyrim, in Skyrim you literally can get 3 guards standing next to each other with exactly the same voice and the exact same lines, now that is immersion breaking.
Any other Aussies 🇦🇺 in this comment section that love the Gothic games. To me they are my favorite games of all time (of any genre) these games manage to do just about everything I could hope as far as creating an immersive world. They where really ambitious and vary much ahead of their time imo.
having such a specifically tailored control that does not use the mouse is part of it, I think. Another is the constant feeling of growing stronger due to the absolute numbers used in damage calculations (armor protects you from as much damage as is stated apart from 5 minimum damage; works for enemies, too) so you constantly encounter new enemies that are at first basically invincible, then challenging but you can win and a few levels up you're killing multiples in one fight; and this feeling happens throughout most of a normal playthrough.
One of the intangible successes that the first to Gothic games hit perfectly is finding that balance of letting you discover the world on your own and figure things out for yourself without leaving you running in circles and totally frustrated. The first game did have one or two of those frustrating moments but, for the most part, if you don't know where to go, you can use your common sense and some trial-and-error to find your next objective. Having a unique enough landscape for you to find your way around until you can afford to find a map is still a little bit of genius in the Gothic games that I don't think I have seen repeated since then. But you can't just take any open world RPG and retro fit it with PB features -- it has to be designed from the ground up that way. Earning fast travel is another great design feature that I wish we saw more often. But unless PB listens to the healthy criticism that they got on Elex, I don' think that we will ever see that style of game again. Too much emphasis on being big and huge, and not enough emphasis on building worlds with charm and character. All open world games have gone in this direction.
Entering the new camp, there was some NPC dude who made me get him a bunch of shit and when I collected it all he said something along the lines of "what a sucker you are, now get lost".
So I lured an Orc into Old Camp guards, took his weapon after he died and proceeded to murder my way through the new camp with the op weapon, which also got me Lars' axe before chapter 2 even started.
Still one of my favorite video game moments, some 20 years later.
I wish they made these games with today's graphics!
i would rathere have the classic textures and looks
@@hgtugdz25 I like the graphics in the old game way better than the new ones from the remake teaser. They just have so much more personality. Also the new design for the Hero in the remake sucks
@@kingdennis2763 the reamje does suck they should pirania bites should just buy the game back and dont change the graphics or the hero so we cab have a real gothic 3 and 4 hoppefully they still know how to do amazing games
There will be a remake of gothic 1 it seems...
Awesome video! You really nailed it with the reasons what makes the first two Gothics such awesome games! I really hope Alkimia is listening 🙏
RIP Piranha Bytes 💀
This excellent video must be very nostalgic to all us early 2000s teenagers who played Gothic 1&2 :)
Getting to see Mud beaten up again is so statisfying.
It's 2022 and I'm playing it right now!!! Never get tired from this amazing game 🔥
Me too! Started Gothic 1 a couple of days ago. I already played it six times or so. But it never gets old.
The feeling of progression is even better in gothic, when at some point Cor Angar tells you that you are the most powerful man in the colony.
Best thing about this game is that there are many new mods up today making the game even more legendary.
Why did I miss these titles completely? These look awesome.
Better get them fast good sir.
I highly recommend them
Gothic 1+2 are true masterpieces that are ahead of their time even now. Some games came close: Risen, Witcher, Elder Scrolls and probably a few more. None were able to recreate the kind of atmosphere Gothic emits. Kingdom Come Deliverance may be the only exception.
I feel like Risen was when Pyranha Bytes went downhill. It still was a great RPG and I had a lot of fun playing it. Than came Risen 2-3 that i pülayed both like 20 minutes just to exit. Than there is Elex which feels like it has the mechanics of Gothic 3 but 12 years later.
Nice video. I wish more games followed this sort of methodology!
I love Gothic...Much love from India 🇮🇳
Same here bhai. The first 2 games are particularly my most favorite rpgs
I would like to take a moment and talk about something that was not mentioned here: Fast travel. In gothic games fast travel is a game mechanic that u can acces by finding teleportation runes and using them. You gain acces to them later in the game when you probably saw the whole game and in the context of the game it makes sence.
anyone else only just now playing this masterpiece in 2023?!?!? haha
Thanks for this, Nocturnal Rambler :)
Your channel hits all the right notes with me. And I read on your website your tips for Elex and it has helped me immensely. Playing Elex and Gothic 1 at the moment. Plan on play through the entire Gothic trilogy and your channel inspired me to do it.
Engine and hardware limitations were essential for old games being fun and the devs having to use clever tricks to make their games work. The game making you go back to the starting areas to take quests from people who you already completed quests for is great for immersion and having investment in those characters. If the hardware and engine could handle it I doubt they would even think of making you go back, they'd just create a new area and all your quests would be from new NPCs with 2 lines of dialogue. Gothic 3 and Bethesda games are like this. Once you complete a quest and an area, you don't have to go back, forget that area existed and move to the next area.
There's only so much data a game could have back then, only so many locations and characters the engine can render so they get reused and it's for the better. Khorinis becomes your home, it's not just the low level starting area you quest in and move on.
There is something about the central/eastern europeans that know how to make a slower more immersive deep game.
Gothic1&2, Stalker, Mafia 1, Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Actually, referring to the Healthbar, I don't mind modern games implementing a "bloody screen" or "screen red" or "blurring vision" when your Health is very low and almost depleted. (some of those games don't even show you a Healthbar at all and let you guess how much more you can take) I find it to be fitting for those particular games. I agree that it wouldn't fit with Gothic, but I don't think it's "ruining the immersion in newer games" in general, also Fallout3/new vegas/4, have the "crippling" that makes you move slower when you're injured, ...and even if not in that way, but somehow I think showing how your character is bleeding (okay I think a bit of that is doable in the options of Gothic, if I remember correctly) or hurt/injured/wounded and how that influences his ability to flee from a battle, would have been a valid aspect, though I guess that was simply not possible back then, just saying that some other ways of dealing with the "Healthbar" or "Health" and displaying the overall condition of a character, is not something I would consider immersion breaking in most games, (I agree that some exaggerate with that, though) even nowadays
I liked the way, injuries have been shown in the game afro samurai
I am also a long time gothic fan. I played gothic and gothic 2 countless times. but i couldn't really but a finger on why i like them so much and why the atmosphere is so great. You did a really good job explaining why they are so good. I really wish we had more games likes these.
"brilliantly timeless" and "contextual"
Games nowadays can learn so much from Gothic!
Damn, I should play both Gothics again. They totally enchanted me all those 15 years ago.
You nailed it with this analysis. I've always wondered about this series and you've convinced me to try it. Thanks.
There will never be another game like gothic 1 or 2...
I hate this fact. but you're right.
Polish dubbing is top tier and it's the version I grew up with. I remember back in high school when I wanted to be a TH-camr and decided to record a Gothic Let's Play in english. When I first heard Diego, I kid you not, I cracked laughing for 5 minutes straight.
This video is doing a great job explaining, why I'm so in love with these games and why they're such a memorable experience even with their age in mind.
These games easily built the most immersive and living world and atmossphere I've ever seen in any video game, even (or, sadly, especially) newer ones just seem to be unable to do what Gothic did 20 years ago.
And I think it aged like fine wine, the graphics maybe aren't exactly what you would call photo-realistic, but they're old enough to not have that scary/creepy 'wannabe-realistic' look of mid-2000s games, its almost like a bit of a 'comic look'.
The controls are a bit to get into, but once you've understood them, its really ok and feels right.
Lastly, while the english voicing seems to be horrible, I played it in german (cause I am german myself) and these voices were really nice and fitting.
I could talk hours about these games but you managed to get it into one video, precise and on point. Kudos!
Ngl doe, everyone should try these, maybe even in german with english subs, its really good, russian and polish voices are said to be really nice aswell. G1 hasn't become my favorite game for nothing...
Playing Gothic 1 and 2 early if not at the absolute beginning of my gaming journey made me as picky as I am about games now lmao
So you might give it a try! If it won't work (I mean its old), visit WorldOfGothic! There are guides to make it work and a lot of threads regarding the game.
I didnt remember the graphics details but i will never forget how this game made me feel
Polish voice acting in Gothic is just the best.
One of the best analysis' of what made gothic 1 and 2 the masterpieces they are
Wow! Great analysis of 2 great games!! I think all (future) game-developers should watch this.
You know what? I've played Gothic 1+2 almost 20 years ago. Those set the bar sooo high, I didn't like most of the RPG games or find them somewhat acceptable including Skyrim. Well. I can see, you had the similar experience. Judging by your other contents :) Thanks for all them dude. Keep up good work.
I got gifted the gothic series from a German friend on steam.
I had no idea what they said since it was in German and I had no idea how I would switch it to english
Time to learn german as the german game design is phenomenal.
voice*
Gothic 1 and 2 were such great games. To this day my siblings and I quote the "random dialogue snippets" with glee.
They say that when someone mentions Gothic anywhere around the World, there will be an European who will re-install it. Today that European is me.
I finished Gothic 1 a few years ago, it is my best rpg by far. Still didn’t finish the second one.
2:20 Here you see a true Gothic player having a shit ton of saves.
A brilliant game. I have sunk so many hours into this. Loved min maxing, early over leveling, and getting the great items early, its so fun once you know your way around the game.
Imagine the talent,intellect of yesterday with the graphics of today..I guess originality is a thing of the past..(=
Great review for the greatest games ever produced. Its crazy how good the games still are in 2021. Every decision in game design from immersion to rewarding experience, toughness to smart world design is still top notch.
They really are timeless, I feel. Apart from the dated graphics (which I think still look stylistically good, and can be improved with texture and resolution mods) and the idiosyncratic controls (which were weird even for their time), everything else still holds up extremely well.
Something to point out about the voice acting, is that the game was developed in German primarily, so they had no part in the English voice acting, in the German versions there are also voices that double up (because it was likely voiced by only a handful of people), but they all fit the world and are used throughout all 3 games.
Hey thanks for your review here. I initally got interested in Gothic because of Mandalore but was on the fence about buying cuz it looked a little janky. You convinced me to go ahead and take the plunge. The detail and craftsmanship to make emergent gameplay happen just doesnt exist like this anymore
4:52 in the short flash that textbox was on the screen, i read is as:
"What are you doing here?"
"LSD"
XD
Gothic 1 and 2 are still one of the game industry's greatest works of art
I wish THQ Nordic had a consultant like TNR in their Gothic remake team... The the demo almost feels like a mockery to this video.
Now, since the game will happen, I can only hope they listen to the fans of Gothic and not people who just want another modern generic RPG...
2021 developers should play it to learn thing of two, from two decade old piece of masterpiece.
Oh I still remember, how Gothic taught me "Don't go into a forest at night, It'll get you killed...like immediately, even if you get the chance to run for your life, a shadowrunner is faster than you... " xD
oooh the shadowbeast ... i used to turn into those and hunt down humans .. good times :))
@@predattak I remember wrecking a group of bandits as a shadowbeast
I'd love it if they re-release G1 and 2 with the current state of the engine used with Elex, that would be amazing
Entering the Valley of Mines on the 26-th level with Claw of Beliar and a couple of firestorm scrolls. The dynamic difficulty as it is.
Harod: Look at me, I am so strong I can hold the hot steel in my hand in midair when beating it instead of using an anvil, but I'm gonna do it right next to an anvil, so so people won't think I can't afford one
Very well said! Gothic 1 & 2 are the best RPG's of all time imo. Hope the remake can show that to the new generation.
One of my favorite lines and one that is stuck with me for all these years was when the carpenter asked me “do you know how to work with wood?“ and the Hero replies “the only thing I know how to do with wood is make a fire”
Nailed it. Modern games do half as much and then proceed to tout them as features. Honestly, it's just a shame no other games care as much.
These games changed the way I think about games, I was lucky that I was adamant enough to get through the initial confusion and play it back in my teens.
I thought CDProjekt might've taken the negative feedback for the minimap to heart and designed better, but the Cyberpunk gameplay I've seen tells me otherwise.
This is the best game series I ever had played. I hope they rework some of the design choices they did in the remake Demo, because the main character was too talkative and pcs where to friendly in the beginning.
Remake isn't from the same studio and it doesn't seme, that the new studio care about creating an immersive expirience. (First minutes into the demo everything explodes and its fire everywhere ..... feels like a bad action movie .. totally different vibe compared to the original) but I hope they'll jettison their design decisions.
The remake design is beyond repair. After 10 minutes I realized that the creators had no clue what Gothic was about, everything feels wrong, the atmosphere is so bright and way too beautiful, it supposed to be a dark colony. Your character behaves like Chuck Norris. The game tells you every stupid detail via distracting buttons and destroy immersion I could name 100 more things. Everything is wrong with this feels like a bad imitation of Witcher
Woooow I literally thought about tracking gothic down the other day! My nostalgias are burning :(
Even the German government acknowledged the Gothic games it's that prolific.
The worlds of Gothic and Gothic 2 were compact enough and designed so well that PB could work with in-world descriptions because they literally built the world by hand and everything was put there with intention. There are no two places which feel the same, i.e. the big forest near Khorinis feels very different than the one behind Onar's farm. Compare this to Gothic 3 where I often had absolutely no idea where I was anymore. Varant? Yes, it's a desert, it's supposed to be vast and empty, but trecking through it often felt more like a chore than an adventure. Nordmar? Dear god, how often did I get completely lost in those ravines because they all looked the same and the map was absolutely useless.
It's so tragic to see how PB got things so right with Gothic 2 and then proceed to unlearn everything with Gothic 3 and never return to form after that. Gothic 3 could've been a great game with more time and polish.
PB made a terrible mistake with G3 which was to develop an engine in the same time as the game. I consumed most of their time, resources etc. and little to nothing left for actual game. G3 would be probably a very good game if they licenced a stable engine, like Morrowind's one and devoted themselves to creating a plausible world and plot.
Gothic ruined open world games for me forever. It just set a standard so high that no other game ever met it again.
In Gothic, the open world exists to serve the story. It's not an open world to muck around in with a thin excuse for a plot slapped on.
Maybe Witcher 3, but also not really.
I know the feeling cannot play witcher3 because it diesnt feel right
@Yora For me Kingdom Come Deliverance kind of (as in almost) did the trick. Other than that, complete agreement, Gothic 1+2 are nothing less than masterpieces.
Same for me. Except for the Witcher 3 point. I actually felt like witcher 3 being the only game that surpassed gothic 1+2 for me.
absolutely how i feel. people play thousands of hours on skyrim and i can't even get down twenty over 3 installs and help of mods of this pale shit. meanwhile i replayed both gothic 1 and 2 for like 30 times the past 20 years
PRAISE GERALDO DEL RIVERO
15:00 Had to go back and rewatch that scene, because I've been too invested into seeing how you're handling a shadow beast. So much your narration, that I've followed until this point, suddenly turned into background-noise.^^
Btw I've never considered a 2h weapon, since I prefer fast 1h weapons. 2h is better at keeping enemies at bay, but love to bombard my target with many hits, and also be quick enough to hit it before it gets too close.
In fact Lobarts fetch quest is much more straight forward. Letting you maskerade as a farm boy to get into the City would be a total RPG thing to do. Lobarts never mentions this as a method. He simply has things to do for a day jobber and you offer your service as a day jobber. And as such (who potentially could work more often or longer) you can buy the farm clothes. Not more not less. A job that needs to be done and a day jobber offering to do it. That's Gothic's believable world building
Great analysis much respect for that
I love these games, they might be my favorite games of all time, and i do consider them masterpieces, but i just can't close my eyes about some things, that frustrate me about them...
My only few problems with the first two Gothic games are:
The balancing in G1, where it was too easy to gain experience, because you can just beat up everyone, with almost no consequences, once you get a bit stronger, and it was very easy to exploit that. I think the developers tried to convey that the Colony has no laws, and as long as you're stronger, you can beat up people and get away with it. You can achieve 100 strength and get the best one-handed sword and the second-best two-handed weapon in the game, while also be a master at both styles of melee combat and clear the entire overworld map, including the orc lands, and also beat up all people in the Old, Smap and New Camps (ask if you want to know how) all in Chapter 1 with zero consequence... that is of course, if you know how to progress to achieve all that. You also get filthy rich by doing that. I had 23k ore, and over 1000 unsold weapons and a ton of potions and other items before chapter 2. Of course, i don't recommend playing like that. I did it, just see how much i can abuse the game, and i also did it in my 6th or 7th playthrough of the game. Any new player of G1 should experience the game blind and face the difficulties we all did back in the day. Still, that doesn't change the fact that you cane easily break the balance if you put and two together and realize how the rules of the Colony work.
In Gothic 2, Piranha Bytes fixed most of these flaws, and these changes also made a lot of sense, because you're no longer in the lawless lands of the Colony, and you can no longer get away with crime (at least most crimes), if you have witnesses. Even more than that, if you beat up somebody, they might end up hating you and refusing to trade or talk to you for the rest of the game, unless you use an Oblivion spell on them. I think that's amazing and adds to the immersion a lot.
Still Gothic 2 wasn't without flaws, and here, my only problems with the game, is with the damage calculation, and the attribute balancing. I hate that you get diminishing returns for spending learning points in attributes, and you're forced to look for stone tablets and some rare plants that are almost impossible to find without a guide. Looking out for Dragonroot is a total BS and i hate it.
And because of it, you also need to spend at least 21 learning points for Alchemy and 35 points to learn how to read the stone tablets. It's a chore raising attributes in G2, period! They should've let the attribute gain to be 5 for 5 until you reach 100 of the attribute you're raising, then after that the training should be 5 for 10 (and just for the one you're raising, but for all of them). On top of that, almost all attribute plants and attribute stone tablets should be removed from the game, maybe leave just 2 of each type as a bonus if you find them. Also, Alchemy should be a general skill that requires maybe 20 points to master, i don't like that you have to spend points for individual recipes, and look for different trainers that can teach them.
The damage calculation in Gothic 1 was 100 times better than in Gothic 2. It's super frustrating that in G2, unless you hit with critical, you basically do lame damage. I had 110 strength, 30% One-Handed skill and an 80 damage sword with a 6% bonus to the one-handed skill.... and with all that it takes me 3-4 hits to kill a Scavanger, a Bloodfly or a Molerat, unless i perform a critical hit, which then kills them instantly... it basically makes no difference if i'm using my 80 damage sword or a f'n branch to fight these low-level enemies and that's once again, a total BS!
Fighting humans is unfair and unbalanced too. With 36% chance to crit, i almost never get the crits when i need them the most, but the enemies always crit me and kill me with one or two shots, before i can crit them, even though i already hit them 5-6 times in that same battle with a supposed 36% chance to hit... which makes the combat way too much luck based than it should be, and i hate that!
You ain't going to get far as a new player, unless you learn how to fight without getting hit.... and that takes some time and practice. While i love that the game requires actual skill and knowledge in that regard, the critical hits are just too overpowered, while the non-critical ones are just useless - the first needs nerfing and the second needs to be boosted to make the combat more enjoyable, while still keeping the challenge... otherwise, it's hard to have fun with it until you get 70%+ crit chance, which usually happens past the halfway point of the game.
Everything else about these games, screams - Masterpiece! They where super ahead of their time when it comes to the pure RPG element. There are no games even to this day, in which the player is so influential to the game world. And that's just a small part of the magic of Gothic 1 & 2. I'm not even gonna talk about the music the atmosphere, and the masterful open world building, exploration and enemy placement. They are brilliant in keeping they player curious and surprised all the time. Just compare that with the overrated boring trash world that Skyrim has.
In case you don't know, Gothic 1 and 2 were also very popular in Poland. I loved both games. Too bad G3 wasn't as good, but still, it was a decent attempt.
THQ nordic should watch this video
Gothic games are the best rpg games in every way possible,they are epic,the are awesome,they are everything
this game was known for having great voice acting in polish language tho
Have you played Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos yet? It’s a total conversion mod for Gothic 2, taking place before the events of Gothic 1. Anyways, it’s absolutely fantastic, and I highly recommend it. It’s basically a whole new Gothic game for free.
Funny how the downvotes are at 0,01%. I completely agree with the narrative of this video and apparently, so does everyone else. The first time I played Gothic I still remember telling my friends back then "This is such a great game... I wonder what games will be like in the future with Gothic's formula. I can't wait!"
Sadly, this never happened and I've never had any feeling even remotely close to what Gothic caused again.
U must bring ULUMULU
You Friend Ur'Shak make Ulu-mulu for friend. Brothers kill friend no Ulu-mulu
Thank you for putting together this awesome video. Gothic felt like a far better game than Morrowind, which was its contemporary at the time. Gothic felt like a truly seamless and immersive experience. I wish more games gave players the same sense of immersion as Gothic.
From the other hand for example, full VO localization in Polish was a masterpiece at the time and helped a loot sell and popularize this games in Poland :) Even to the point that we have full game size free mod (prequel) in production with full VO - kronikimyrtany.pl/index_en.html
How many green apples have been eaten to improve dexterity? :) Ahh...nostalgia.
Thank you for this review. The Gothic is an amazing game. It is truly unique. It has a logical, believable, and immersive world. For me it is the pinnacle of gaming.
At 10:38 you can also steal those clothes, but if he sees you afterwards wearing them, he will attack you for that