Summary
Gimme more Gothic!
The Good
I hope you haven't missed the first
Gothic; it was an excellent game, a sleeper hit that brought fame to its developer, a small and unknown German company.
Here comes the inevitable sequel; like most good sequels, it retains what made its predecessor great and expands it. Basically, it's the same good old stuff, only more of it. Rock solid, balanced role-playing? Check. Fun, exciting action combat? Check. Multiple paths in story line, different factions to join? Check. Vast, beautiful world with plenty of stuff to find and areas to explore? Check. Interesting NPCs with their own schedules? Check.
There is more of everything. The world is much bigger than in the first game. We have a full-fledged large town that lives its own life. It is surrounded by huge wilderness areas, as well as many smaller points of interest. In fact, the entire world of the first game appears in "Gothic II" as one of its locations!
Like the first game, "Gothic II" is just so fun to play. It's a difficult and very rewarding game. You'll be working hard to make your character stronger. You'll take quests and hunt for valuable items. There is a lot of attention to detail and many creative touches that make the series different. Town inhabitants work during the day and then go to taverns or smoke pot with friends. People attend to their daily duties, listen to religious ceremonies, and go to have sex with whores. Just like in real life.
You sleep in beds, learn how to make your own swords by a blacksmith, and fry meat in a pan. Monsters are truly ferocious, and if you have the appropriate skill, you can skin an animal and sell its pelt. The life shown in "Gothic II" is believable and realistic. Like its predecessor, it has a lot of personality.
The story has a couple of nice twists up its sleeve, but all those small quests you'll undertake are actually more interesting than the main story arc, a bit like in
Oblivion. Most of the sub-quests feel fresh and are fun to try out. There is a lot of non-linearity in the game, both in the way you shape your character and in the quests you must perform in order to get to your goal. The different paths eventually merge into one, but there's still plenty of replay value to have here.
I usually don't care for action-based combat in RPGs. I like it easy and forgettable, to allow myself to dedicate my attention to more interesting things. But the combat system in "Gothic II" (same as in the first game) is quite interesting, without being either too simplistic or too convoluted and artificial. You have three kinds of attacks and the possibility to physically block. The attacks are a combination of pressing the mouse button and direction keys. This system really works well, even though not everyone will be satisfied with its emphasis on precision and timing.
The game's high difficulty level doesn't allow you to roam its world freely like a tourist, but it also creates great suspense and adds to the game's realism. There is a feeling of danger; you know it when you spot an enemy you haven't seen before and your knees go weak when you see that it spotted you and is running towards you with a ferocious growl.
But if you become strong enough to face those beasts, you'll find a vast, wonderful world to explore. You'll want to reach every corner of it, to make every quests, to explore and to discover. "Gothic II" is a game of action, a role-playing game, but also a wonderful open-ended adventure, a virtual reality that will make you addicted to it.
The Bad
There is no adjustable difficulty level in "Gothic II". The only available difficulty level is certainly not for novice players. Be prepared to die. Be prepared to be frustrated. You'll never know when you'll encounter an enemy who will decimate in a couple of seconds. Very often you'll be killed in one hit, sometimes without even realizing what hit you. And it's really annoying when several enemies attack you at once; unless you manage to lure them away one by one, you'll almost certainly die. Like the first game, "Gothic II" actually becomes easier when you advance to later stages, but it's still pretty harsh to the player.
I think the first Gothic had a cooler vibe. The prison colony was a cooler place than the rather standard medieval world in "Gothic II". I missed the darkness of that first world, and especially the strong beginning of the story, which is unfortunately quite mild in the sequel.
The Bottom Line
Content: solid
"Gothic II" doesn't quite have the same cool setting as its predecessor; nor does it contain a wealth of information about its world, like in
Elder Scrolls games. Its main plot is also neither complex nor particularly meaningful (even though there are a couple of nice twists in it). But it serves its purpose well, and the developers' attention to detail makes up for lack of true depth.
Fun: very high
It's addictive, it can eat up large chunks of your time without you noticing it; there is always something to do, stuff to find, areas to explore, quests to do, and enemies to fight. The combat is slick and satisfying, decidedly among the best of its kind, and the the role-playing system is nearly perfectly balanced: it just feels great to develop your character and to grow stronger. Enough said.
Personality: high
Here is where "Gothic II" beats
Morrowind and
Oblivion. Everything feels more adequate here. The world is alive and is always changing; the dialogues are for the most part well-written; the characters are interesting, and they actually have very convincing schedules. Even though it has a generic medieval setting (compared to the first Gothic), the game feels at times wonderfully realistic.
Sensual appeal: very high
Please note that my rating categories do not correspond to the usual technical evaluation of graphics and music. Sensual appeal doesn't equal high-tech graphics. Yes, the graphics of "Gothic II" are not top-notch, but its world is still beautiful. The city and the mountains, the sea and the wilderness, the gentle accompanying music, the sound effects - you'll want to stay in this world, to look at it and to listen to it.
What is better: Gothic series or the latest Elder Scrolls games? It's hard to answer. Morrowind and Oblivion have more complex role-playing system, more detailed, larger worlds; Gothic has a stronger personality, more sense of urgency; it'll compel you to finish it more than an Elder Scrolls game. In the end, I find both series excellent, and I don't see why you can't enjoy them both.
Oh, and any game in which you can have sex with a whore (and even see a beautiful movie clip of the action) is a winner in my book.
