I am playing the PC version and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. I have played and finished all of the Gothic games and after about 20 hours into Arcania, I can say it easily stacks up to the other games in the series with none of the technical problems that plagued the previous games. The Gothic universe continues to be expanded in Arcania and the story is well fleshed out and compelling enough to keep me interested with characters from the previous games appearing throughout. The Gothic world has always been a unique and quirky one with lots of humorous dialogue and characters,The hooka pipe and Swampweed along with some cool monsters annoying goblins and the best Orcs of any game outside of WOW are all here. The combat controls are tight and responsive with both ranged and melee combat mixing perfectly. I really like the return of the unlimited inventory which avoids the tedium found in similar games. Quest tracking and the map are very well done and overall this is by far the most polished game in the series. Gothic has always suffered in comparison to similar games in the genre such as the Elder Scrolls, however if you enjoyed the previous games in the series and have found the world of Gothic a fun place to explore you will also enjoy Arcania.
I completed the game at around 52 hours and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Arcania has its faults but nothing that really detracts from the gameplay and story in any significant way. My biggest complaint was that the game was not as open to exploration compared to previous Gothic games but the levels were designed well enough that I didn't feel like I was on rails. There are some elements that were left unfinished but these were easy to overlook. I finished Witcher recently and it had more than its share of flaws but I thought it was excellent. Ignore the critics and try the game for yourself.
Out of all the obscure and incredibly hard to get-into European CRPGs this hobby has played host to, none have a more devoted and fanatic fanbase than Germany's famed Gothic series. With its startlingly advanced NPC sche... Read Full Review
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