[Ninja Dodo]

This is by far the best RPG I have ever played (the original is a close second though)... and I've played Morrowind.

It almost feels like an action-adventure, cause it's low on boring stats, focusing instead on an interesting story with characters that you actually care about. Instead of crawling around across endless valleys and plains, you jog through beautiful landscapes and setlements. The people you talk to are actually interesting and the dialogue is believable and personal, unlike Morrowind or Neverwinter Nights where you can only select the same old drawn-out descriptions that no person would ever give you in a conversation or you’re told to "go to the south end of the room" (which is like a few meters away).
In Gothic at one point I was given a letter from someone by another person I knew, who handed it over saying: "I'm sorry I opened it, I was too curious… I didn’t really understand any of it, though."
I was amazed! Any other game would’ve just pulled something like "I have a letter for you from .... . Here it is."

While I enjoyed playing Morrowind, I didn’t find any location genuinely interesting, every time just another city with people to get assignments from. In Gothic the places really feel like somewhere that would be interesting to explore… and they’re all very different.

Big things actually happen in Gothic from the second you start. I’ve seen people go to war, defend a castle under siege, try to negotiate peace… and lots of other things, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. I’ve played through quite a lot of Morrowind and the most I’ve done is get a job running errands. Neverwinter Nights I didn’t even play more than the demo cause I couldn’t stand the abysmal dialogue and I didn’t really like the controls either.

The controls are another thing that work in favour of Gothic. It’s quite different from most games and it takes a little getting used to but when you do it's excellent. The combat system is especially good. Instead of boring *click* - *click* - *click* (with 99% chance of not hitting anything) ad nauseam, you can actually control the swing of your blade through clever timing and use of the arrow keys.. and you have to time your blocks carefully as well… by far the most fun combat system I’ve come across.

Of course, no game is perfect and this one is no exception. I wouldn’t say it’s too hard at the beginning - you just need to pick your battles wisely - but I do agree that the game becomes a bit too easy towards the end. It would also have been nice to have a little bit more freedom of choice when it comes to classes. In the original game you could train to be both a mage and a warrior but in this game it was either or… although there is one warrior class that can do a few spells. It's also not as big as Morrowind, but that can be considered a good thing because you spend less time just trying to get somewhere and besides... for all its scale Morrowind isn't half as epic as Gothic. There's so much more going on.

What it lacks in scale and class-choice it more than makes up for in depth, character and style... a truly grand game.

[Kingzjester]

I gotta play this one some time soon when I get a new graphic card. Tell me, though, is the story always the same, no matter what side you pick, like in the original? Cause I thought that was the weakest point in the game--good story, it just kills the replay value.

[Crescent Moon]

^^Same here. I've heard so much good stuff about Gothic 2. Now if only I had a better computer...*starts saving dimes*

[Ninja Dodo]

I haven't replayed it yet, but I think the ultimate outcome is always the same, although the events that lead to it do change to some extent.

Hm, I think there's a whole other thread in this...

[Ninja Dodo]

I replayed this recently and chose to play as a mage instead of a mercenary and although the plot doesn't change significantly, the perspective on the story is quite different and a number of questions left by the first play-through were answered this time around.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Ooh, finally read this review. Thanks, Ninsie Dodsie. I'll most likely get this if I spot it for cheap at EB Games. But for now I'm saving my money for the upcoming Fable and....wooHOO!!....Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines!

[Aquarius]

Nice review, Ninja, which I 100% agree to. Gothic2 is certainly one of the best games I played in the recent 5 years. What I found most impressive is the size of the world you can discover in this game, its diversity and liveliness, and all that without any in-between loading. I never felt so much "immersed" into a game like in this one. When you're in a Gothic2 forest or a swamp at night this feels so "real" like in no other game.

By the way, without the fights and with some more puzzles Gothic2 is the kind of game I'd regard as a good example of how a nonlinear adventure should look like.

[ConcreteRancor]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Ooh, finally read this review. Thanks, Ninsie Dodsie. I'll most likely get this if I spot it for cheap at EB Games. But for now I'm saving my money for the upcoming Fable and....wooHOO!!.... Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines!

And HL2 of course, right? Since Bloodlines won't come out until after that, I mean.

[Ninja Dodo]

By the way, for those looking to play this game.... I highly recommend you play the original game (named simply "Gothic") first. Although you can enjoy number 2 just fine without, playing the original first gives the whole thing a lot more depth and generally just adds to the awesomeness.