How does this compare to games like The Witcher?

[E39]

As the title says, I'd like to know how this game compares to Witcher. Obviously not Wild Hunt but the first one.

[Oneeyed]

It is completely different:

Gothic 2 has a story as well but you can go wherever you want whenever you want to. There are no real restrictions for an experienced gamer. You can even go into restricted areas like the valley of mines in the first chapter if you know how.

The Witcher has a restricted area by area system. First you have to do everything in the castle. After you have done you are allowed to enter the outskirts of the city. And after you have followed the story there you are allowed to enter the city and so on. There is no way around it.

Gothic 2 has only three cutscenes while The Witcher is filled with cutscenes.

The combat system is different as well. I personally think Gothic's combat system is harder but maybe it is just my taste. As a downside you can cheese your way through Gothic 2 if you know how to.

In The Witcher you have only the witcher signs as magic. In Gothic you can obtain spell scrolls and cast them or you can choose a magic path in which you can use magic without needing scrolls

In Gothic 2 you can choose a class (paladine, dragon hunter or mage) while in The Witcher you play the witcher and cannot choose any class.

Decisions in The Witcher change the course of the story (at least a little bit) but in Gothic 2 no decision of yours change anything in the main story.

But both are real classics worth of playing. As a gothic fan you will find it hard to play The Witcher in the beginning because of the different combat system. But as a The Witcher fan you will find the gothic controls and combat system abysmal in the beginning.

[E39]

Originally posted by Oneeyed:

It is completely different:

Gothic 2 has a story as well but you can go wherever you want whenever you want to. There are no real restrictions for an experienced gamer. You can even go into restricted areas like the valley of mines in the first chapter if you know how.

The Witcher has a restricted area by area system. First you have to do everything in the castle. After you have done you are allowed to enter the outskirts of the city. And after you have followed the story there you are allowed to enter the city and so on. There is no way around it.

Gothic 2 has only three cutscenes while The Witcher is filled with cutscenes.

The combat system is different as well. I personally think Gothic's combat system is harder but maybe it is just my taste. As a downside you can cheese your way through Gothic 2 if you know how to.

In The Witcher you have only the witcher signs as magic. In Gothic you can obtain spell scrolls and cast them or you can choose a magic path in which you can use magic without needing scrolls

In Gothic 2 you can choose a class (paladine, dragon hunter or mage) while in The Witcher you play the witcher and cannot choose any class.

Decisions in The Witcher change the course of the story (at least a little bit) but in Gothic 2 no decision of yours change anything in the main story.

But both are real classics worth of playing. As a gothic fan you will find it hard to play The Witcher in the beginning because of the different combat system. But as a The Witcher fan you will find the gothic controls and combat system abysmal in the beginning.

Okay, so you would say its similar to TES?

[Oneeyed]

No absolutely not. But I won't make an even more elaborate list to tell you how different they are.

[Yoshimo / NoGameNoLife]

gothis is.... -story wise- 10/10 for me, how you listen to every word npc's drop - if you would read this story flat out of a book i would say.... 7+/10

Gameplay is diffrent from any other game released at that time.

And yes, you can cheese your way trough the game with a certain spell that i shall not name.

This spell will reduce combt to pre-combat-casting and just standing in place.

when i will find gothic 1 on steam with a fair price ill do a re run 1-4 to have the Khorinis feel

[E39]

Originally posted by Oneeyed:

No absolutely not. But I won't make an even more elaborate list to tell you how different they are.

Okay, I see. So its one of those games where you have to play it to understand it?

[Shrapnel]

G2 the best of the series, but G1 was, for its time, mind blowing to me.
All goes downhill after NotR

[Ash vs. Himself]

It is closer to Elder Scrolls than the Witcher though. Gothic is kind of like a smaller Elder Scrolls, a low budget one, where if you wander off the beaten path you're going to wish you hadn't. There is a lot of charm and personal touch to the island. I bought it because I was looking for something like Morrowind at the time, and while it wasn't quite like Morrowind in the end, it filled that need in a much more satisfying way.

There really is nothing else like it out there.

[Oneeyed]

Originally posted by Simon Lee Zombie:

It is closer to Elder Scrolls than the Witcher though. Gothic is kind of like a smaller Elder Scrolls, a low budget one, where if you wander off the beaten path you're going to wish you hadn't. There is a lot of charm and personal touch to the island. I bought it because I was looking for something like Morrowind at the time, and while it wasn't quite like Morrowind in the end, it filled that need in a much more satisfying way.

There really is nothing else like it out there.

I wouldn't say that. Arx Fatalis while playing completely underground does feel a lot like Gothic and vice versa.

[Ash vs. Himself]

You know...I've never played it. The underground thing always kind of turned me off. I may have to just go ahead and do it.

[Oneeyed]

I know the feeling. First time I saw it I felt the same. Then it was lying around a year or so and I finally gave it a serious try and it was amazing. But the quest structure is completely different. There is no quest log and solving some of the quests is really really hard if you have never played it before. But it is a very unique gem. If you try it out don't forget to download Arx Libertatis Patch. Some guy reworked to source code and made the game much more stable.

Originally posted by Simon Lee Zombie:

You know...I've never played it. The underground thing always kind of turned me off. I may have to just go ahead and do it.

[Ash vs. Himself]

I will, I just bought it on GOG. I'll give it a go this week.

[Ocsabat]

Originally posted by Simon Lee Zombie:

I will, I just bought it on GOG. I'll give it a go this week.

Before you get started you may want to visit the forum. It's recommeded that you install "Arx Libertaris". It's a revamp of the game that addresses performance issues and makes it more compatible with modern hardware. Without the fix, the game gets a bit herky jerky when mouse cursor is active and when accessing menues.

Make sure you run the Arx Libertaris exe instead of the Arx Fatalis or you won't benefit from the fixes.

Like Gothic, the controls are rather unique. They take a bit of getting used to.

[Oneeyed]

Originally posted by Ocsabat:

...

Like Gothic, the controls are rather unique. They take a bit of getting used to.

That's a bit of an understatement. First time you play Arx the controls are a real pain in the a*s: The constant switching between "look mode" and "take mode". And there is a difference between crouching and sneaking (but according to LPs on youtube most players won't ever get that). In addition drawing the runes takes some practise. (draw them smaller helps a lot) And if you don't know you can pre-cast up to three spells than you are really screwed because for a first play through you have to rely on magic. There is no way around that because otherwise you won't get past the Ylsides.