Gothic 2 is a good game

I'm about 1/3 of the way through it, and I'm amazed at
the diversity of the characters and plot. The game is
actually telling a story with a strong connection to
Gothic 1. I chose the way of the Mercenary ( first time
through ), and while difficult, I've managed to complete
all the quests to become a Merc. Seems the Mercs
become the Rebels / Royals in Gothic 3 ... which is
not in line with the story I see in Gothic 2. Makes me
wonder if PB hired new game writers to continue the
series, and they never read the plot. Maybe there's
a better connection later in this game .. Gothic 2 ?
Now, I'm on a quest for Lee to gain the help of the
Paladins in Khorinis to fight the dragons and Orcs.
Lee is a major character in the game, but in Gothic 3,
Lee is so minor, that I never approach him. Gothic 2
is not well connected to Gothic 3 ... probably because
Gothic 3 is in such an unfinished state.

I can only guess as to why PB took such a different
path in G3. I think it was because G2 is really
difficult. You don't become a strong fighter easily
in G2. Obviously the G2 combat control system
moved to a more mouse-friendly system than that
of G1 ... which was ridiculous. And as I get further
in G2, and gain skill with the sword, I can tell that
the "blocking" in G2 became the side-step in G3.
Which is fine ... and actually better once I learned it.
Most gamers are too dumb to learn the timed side
step in G3, so they complain about "unbalanced"
combat. The G2 and G3 combat controls are
essentially the same if you know how to set it up
in G2.

At some point, I'm going to play Gothic 1 ... but
not before I figure out a way to get past the beyond
stupid Quake keybd setup. By now, I'm sure some
body has already done that ... just like in G2 ..
AlterEgo did it, and did it well.

johns

I'm about 20 hours into this game, and I'm still a
combat novice. I have to use exploits to kill a meatbug.
This level of difficulty must have destroyed the games
reputation when it first came out. I've found lots of
forum posts from that time saying they tried it for
a few days, and could not master the combat controls.
So they quit ... in about 2001. I spend a whole lot of
time in the game just wandering in the woods and
fields gathering healing plants. There's no other way
to survive the terrific hit-point loss in every combat.
This turns a 50 hour game into a 150 hour game.
And about the time you think you are strong enough
to win most fights, you get much much stronger
opponents ... and more of them. A single level-up
takes 2 to 3 hours in-game, and only if you can
gather enough healing potions and plants. Experience
points are waaay to low. I can return from a 4 hour
in-game quest, and get 200 experience points .. of
the 4000 I need for a single level-up. So far, I've spent
no LP on my bow or crossbow skills. All of it has to
go to dexterity, strength, and single-hand sword. Nothing
to 2-handed sword. In one battle against a huge bat
winged monster, I tried the sword maybe 20 times
.... with 20 restarts. The bat-beast could kill me with
one hit. I outsmarted the coders and found an exploit.
If I stood in one spot where I could just see the beast,
I could fire arrows which were slowly reducing its
hit points. 50 arrows later, and half the hit points
were gone. I switched back to the sword and looked
for exploits with it. I found one. If I sheathed the sword,
I could carefully walk closer to the beast, but not too
close. Then, since I have a Long Sword, I could swing
and immediately hit block and backup, and I could
get about 5 hit points each time. Each swing took
about 20 seconds to carefully set up, or the beast
would get me with one stroke. I did this probably
30 times to kill the bat-beast. Got 800 experience
points for over an hour in-game hard work. I get
the impression that the coders who wrote the game
think all this is funny. In other words PB took a
sadistic attitude towards its customers while
developing Gothic 2, and destroyed its reputation.
Gothic 3 eases that greatly, but it took them
nearly 6 years to write it, and I can just imagine
the cost ... for a game that already had a bad
reputation. I bought Gothic 3 brand new for $29.
And then I bought Gothic 2 Gold for $9 used at
Amazon. Now you can buy all 3 games G1, G2,
and G3 in a bundle for about $19. When I look
at the tremendous amount of work that went into
these 3 games, I am just shocked. Clearly I am
seeing a financial and managerial disaster that
has no equal. These 3 games are high art. And
the people who wrote them probably did not make
a dime. And it is about to get even more ridiculous
.... they think they can take this level of adult art
to the consoles, and the kids will put up with the
difficulty. No way.

johns