Yeah, it’s been awhile, but iirc I played G1 with keyboard only. I never got into G2. I wanted it to be more like G1.
Right, I played G1 keyboard only. It does make the trading screens more intuitive apart from anything else.
Actually there were players who mapped the controls to a controller with some software and reported it improved things quite a bit.
I loved the controls back then. My configuration was ASDW + mouse. Then [CTRL or the LMB] let the game know you wanted to start some action, and A, S, D or W chose which action.
Three years or so ago I’ve replayed G2 Gold with the brilliant Night of the Raven add-in. The game is still wonderfull and I recognized many places, but I found the start a bit too slow for today’s taste, and the controls only okay.
The thing to remember about the Gothic and G2 controls is that they’re not intuitive. So don’t try on your own. Just ask and you’ll understand the controls in 3 minutes and master them in less than 15.
Gothic and G2’s killer feature was the world design. At that time nobody was better at creating compact but open worlds. PB squeezed an enormous amount of hand-crafted(!) content into worlds which looked much bigger than they actually were, especially by making use of the 3rd dimension.
Gothic 1 also had a setting inspired by Escape from New York, which added to the atmosphere quite a bit. The NPCs were more remarkable than they are in today’s games.
G2 improved the world even more, but scaled back on the NPCs a bit. The add-in brought more characters from Gothic back and increased the content density to enormous depth, while adding another beautiful region. This is why G2 Gold is considered to be PB’s peak.
Gothic 3 is hit or miss. Piranha Bytes bit off more than they could chew. The release version was a train wreck. Not much improved until PB and their publisher JoWooD had an ugly divorce. Then JoWooD funded a community patch (CP) which in the end fixed more than 1000(!) issues. But even with access to the source code there’s only so much they could do. The combat is still only okay-ish. The game itself has been fixed to a point where it is playable without major problems. Now that PB has the rights back, the community patch is officially sanctioned. PB took over JoWooD’s decision to ship all digital and boxed versions with the CP automatically installed.
G3 was MUCH bigger than G2. It had a beautifully designed world which stood at or at least near the top of the genre until just a few years ago, when the open world hype attracted AAA money. A fully tweaked G3 is still a rather pleasant look, except for the animations.
The game itself is worth a shot. Just roll the dice. Get away from the coast ASAP. The good stuff happens on the inside of the continent. Then give it 5 more hours and make a decision. I’ve played it 10 years after release, saved at the branching point for the 3 endings and played all 3. It took me close to 150 hours, of which 120 were good to great for me. It was worth my time … but I know Gothic 3 is a game I’ll never touch again.
The easiest starting point for PB’s classic games is the first Risen. It’s basically Gothic 2 in a new setting, with solid graphics, harmless control and IMHO a fine combat system. If you like it and decide you want 10-20% more brilliancy, then go back to the Gothics.
You monster.
I think I used joy2key to remap (most but not all) keyboard controls to a gamepad. Not 100% sure though. It was a long time ago. ;)
The first two games are great! I’m not sure I would bother with G3. I don’t remember liking it at all.
If I went back today I could find my way around in Gothic 3 no bother at all, and probably in 1 and 2 too. I couldn’t tell you a single location in any of the Risens, or Elex.
I couldn’t do much with Gothic 3, but to this day I can still run laps around the Valley of Mines and Khorinis in my head. (I’m not sure I could remember how to get around using a keyboard, however.)
The first Risen had some nice stuff going on in it. Harbour Town is still pretty clear in my mind. I confess I was never all that enthused about any of the Piranha Bytes stuff that came after.
Skipped the Gothics because the controls are ass, and played everything that came after. Risen, Elex…(UI is still ass and the localization is shit)
I feel like the studio just makes the same game over and over again.
Hey nice, this is getting a Switch Port. It’s the only game by this developer that I’ve actually played and finished. I tried to get into Gothic II multiple times, but could never get over the initial hump of getting my ass kicked no matter which direction I went. I felt like in the first game, it was a lot more obvious where the weaker enemies were, and once you beat them, you level up enough that you can then beat tougher enemies, and so on. In the second game, I couldn’t find that first group of enemies that I could beat.
Still, I have fond memories of the first game. I still chuckle at the first time someone kicked my ass, and then knelt at my body and looted me. LOL. It doesn’t feel so good for the shoe to be on the other foot. Plus I loved that you could follow each NPC throughout the day and see their daily routine. I know Oblivion did this too later, but Gothic did it so much better. Their animations for eating and working and sleeping were all better than what Bethesda did years later.
Edit: Sept 28th release date.
Man, this game was fun. I remember the challenge of navigating a prison camp, dodging bullies and finding a safe place to sleep. Then, after leveling a bit, the sheer satisfaction of chasing the bullies to shake them down and walking into some rando’s hut, kicking them out and sleeping on their mat. Fake prison can change you.
Only played this once a few years ago, and it was good, but the most memorable thing about it to me was the faction that toked on their hookahs all day lol I hadn’t seen anything like that in any game up to that time (and probably after). I think the developers were big advocates of ze ganja ;)
Take this with a grain of salt because I didn’t see the primary source:
The fan forums say THQ officially confirmed in a YT video that the bug fixes will be ported back into the Steam and GOG versions. Could take some time though.
Yes, the Gothic Remake is coming.
But it’s important to note the Gothic Remake is not what’s going to be on Switch next month. It’s a port of the original game (with bug fixes, and presumably a control overhaul, to play it with controllers, I’m very curious if they pull that off).
I, much to my shame, never played gothic 1. I started with 2 and absolutely loved it - figuring out how to progress was incredibly fun, and fighting something well above your level was great. In some ways, it reminded me of the old King’s Bounty games, where you had to figure out how to move around the map to win fights and get stronger so you could unlock other parts of the game. But what was neat was that with enough skill and luck (and maybe some cheese?) you could take some pretty hard fights early on and open a lot of options. Or you could get 1-shot over and over and learn that indeed you were a complete weakling. Also, there was interesting stuff and loot EVERYWHERE, so exploring was always rewarding.
Gothic 2 was always my favorite of the series, and while some of the other games (Gothic 3, Risen) were also pretty fun and janky, G2 has the best memories for me.
I never did get around to ELEX 2. That seems to have gotten mixed reviews - like the game was half finished and just a slog, so I’ve skipped that, but will probably grab it some day when it’s deeply on sale to at least play the first half.
I’m wishlisted for G1, and really looking forward to finally checking this out!
Before you play Elex 2, which is PB weakest game, prioritize Archolos.
Yup, that’s in my backlog already!