Gothic III

[tmx]

actaully i didnt buy it yet, havent released in US yet i think. but i'm wondering if anyone else in europe got it already. and give us some impression on the game, and how it compared to oblivion.

[SerpentofShadow]

I know Switch has it. He's been playing it like crazy lately. Thankfully he's also responsible and still does his P.S. work, haha. I've been questioning him on every little thing about Gothic 3 (i'm a huge fan of the first two games). So if there are any specific questions he will probably be able to attempt an answer. :)

 

Which reminds me.... Switch or anyone else that has G3 now, how is the dual wielding system? Was it implimented well? Can any weapon (one handed only obviously) be used, are there special "off hand" weapons, or is there one weapon that when equipped it puts a weapon in each hand? Personally i'm hoping for the you choose which two weapons to equip.

 

Gothic 3 is supposed to come out here in the US on the 13th... *can't wait* I just hope another issue like with Night of the Raven expansion for Gothic 2 doesn't happen.

[Malchik]

I also have it, following Switch's recommendation. I prefer it to Oblivion for many reasons although it has a few irritations (which game doesn't?). There is no equality of sexes here - women are absent except as slaves and dancers. The lack of availability of small or detailed area maps (unless I have missed them somewhere along the line) means it is easy to miss things. The rather vague directions most NPCs give don't help. But with perseverence you can succeed in finding everything. The one thing that makes life difficult is the system of showing quests as completed before you have reported back to the NPC who gave you the quest. With the very strong probability of having 50-100 open quests at any time trying to establish who gave you the quest in the first place to go back and get the reward is a bit of a chore. Maybe Switch, who has been playing it longer, knows an answer.

 

Re dual-wielding.

 

Yes you can (as do some of your adversaries) although I believe it is only one-handed blade weapons. But then I haven't tried axes, the only other one-handed weapons in the game, as I have not trained in that skill. You equip the blades yourself so they do not have to be the same. However dual-wielding is a skill you have to learn and need to be several levels advanced before you can. Also finding a trainer who can teach the skill is not that easy. So far I have found only one and as yet no one to do the higher 'master iof two weapons' skill.

 

Magical weapons are relatively rare (afaik you cannot enchant your own) but as you progress you can learn to forge magical weapons of certain types. I have not looked to hint sites as yet so I do not know how many different types are available.

 

The difficulty slider appears to be somewhat arbitrary. Unlike MW or Oblivion many monsters attack in large numbers - and I mean anywhere between eight and twenty. Since I have not had the game long there are probably ways of dealing with this I have not sussed out but getting past them is by no means easy even with the slider set as low as possible. The solution is probably to use magical attacks but I did not initially start down the magic user route and prefer to play as a fighter the first time around. Again Switch may have some answers.

 

Anyway if you can cope with the niggles you'll enjoy it. But if you prefer the Oblivion style of spoon-feeding, you'll hate it.

[SerpentofShadow]

Sounds similar enough to the original two (aside from dual wielding being added). Thanks a ton for the answers, Malchik. Are there still shrines (like from Gothic 2) that you can pray to for bonuses? The map thing could be a pain as imo Gothic 1 and 2 had good maps to work with (if you bought them). Groups of monsters were always a huge pain in Gothic 1 and 2, mainly because of the targeting/blocking system. Which reminds me, what is the blocking system like? In Gothic 1 you could block indefinetly while in Gothic 2 it only lasted a few seconds (thus requiring the right timing). Are there still crossbows as well as bows?

 

Also, if any of you have played the original two games and now play Gothic 3, can you tell me how many NPCs make a reappearence? Do NOT tell me who, only the number, please.

[Abramul]

...The one thing that makes life difficult is the system of showing quests as completed before you have reported back to the NPC who gave you the quest. With the very strong probability of having 50-100 open quests at any time trying to establish who gave you the quest in the first place to go back and get the reward is a bit of a chore.

 

...

Easy solution: Take notes. In my opinion, any game that's not fully linear should include an in-game text editor, but I have yet to see any that have that. Morrowind is the closest I've seen, and it is still quite far...

[SerpentofShadow]

...The one thing that makes life difficult is the system of showing quests as completed before you have reported back to the NPC who gave you the quest. With the very strong probability of having 50-100 open quests at any time trying to establish who gave you the quest in the first place to go back and get the reward is a bit of a chore.

 

...

Easy solution: Take notes. In my opinion, any game that's not fully linear should include an in-game text editor, but I have yet to see any that have that. Morrowind is the closest I've seen, and it is still quite far...

 

Neverwinter Nights had one, but the single player was so incredibly linear and obvious that it didn't need it.

[Switch]

Ah, glad to hear you got it Malchik. Seems to be quite a quality title, if you can put up with the few niggles and bugs it has. About those... :P

 

The one thing that makes life difficult is the system of showing quests as completed before you have reported back to the NPC who gave you the quest. With the very strong probability of having 50-100 open quests at any time trying to establish who gave you the quest in the first place to go back and get the reward is a bit of a chore. Maybe Switch, who has been playing it longer, knows an answer.

Yes, that is a pain. As Abramul says, the only solution is taking notes I think. I have a small book I use for that sort of stuff, especially when the journal doesn't bother to record something important such as a hint from an NPC.

 

The difficulty slider appears to be somewhat arbitrary. Unlike MW or Oblivion many monsters attack in large numbers - and I mean anywhere between eight and twenty. Since I have not had the game long there are probably ways of dealing with this I have not sussed out but getting past them is by no means easy even with the slider set as low as possible. The solution is probably to use magical attacks but I did not initially start down the magic user route and prefer to play as a fighter the first time around. Again Switch may have some answers.

Another solution is to use ranged weaponry. I've gone with the fighter/hunter style personally, and armed with a bow I can take down large groups of monsters without *too* much trouble. I still die sometimes and often have to retreat though. The bow is a very effective weapon, and you can pick enemies off from afar, sprint away, heal, come back and try again if they're too tough for you in melee. Another thing that helps is praying at shrines to Beliar/Innos and getting +20 health upgrades, if you are going to be getting up close and personal. Even at very little skill, the bow is still your best option if you don't want to go for magic I think.

 

Sounds similar enough to the original two (aside from dual wielding being added). Thanks a ton for the answers, Malchik. Are there still shrines (like from Gothic 2) that you can pray to for bonuses? The map thing could be a pain as imo Gothic 1 and 2 had good maps to work with (if you bought them). Groups of monsters were always a huge pain in Gothic 1 and 2, mainly because of the targeting/blocking system. Which reminds me, what is the blocking system like? In Gothic 1 you could block indefinetly while in Gothic 2 it only lasted a few seconds (thus requiring the right timing). Are there still crossbows as well as bows?

 

Also, if any of you have played the original two games and now play Gothic 3, can you tell me how many NPCs make a reappearence? Do NOT tell me who, only the number, please.

About the shrines, as I say above, yes, there are. You can pray to them and spend LP and gold to get boosts to health, mana, and endurance, stats that trainers don't cover. Quite handy.

 

The blocking system is set up so that you can block non-stop, but each strike to your shield drains endurance, and while your shield is up your endurance doesn't restore. Once your endurance drops to nothing, your shield lowers. So extended periods of blocking aren't advisable. ^^

 

And yes, there are crossbows, though they fall under the fighter skill tree, rather than hunter. They mainly require strength to use, and are quite slow to reload. I prefer the bow.

 

Number of character cameos from previous games? About six, thus far, I think. One of them I didn't recognise, but you found out who he was anyway as he told you where he was from.

[Malchik]

I realised I should be taking notes too late for the current game. A pointer for those who come to it fresh. Do record not only name of quest giver but also exactly where the quest giver is. The quests are listed by nearest town only and the givers may be on farms or roads NOT so near by.

 

As for previous games, I haven't played them but there seem to be quite a lot of old friends (and enemies). All the old water mages for one thing who know you and sundry goodies and baddies.

 

I have started to use a bow and running away to heal. Nothing except wolves and their ilk seems to follow very far. Having just cleared the mine for the Hammer Clan single handed that meant about twenty times.

 

The game does crash occasionally with such interesting comments as 'where is the guru'! I quick save all the time and do a full save two or three times a session.

 

I haven't found anywhere to buy detailed maps in game and the world map is of little use esp in the north.

[dcyphure]

are the graphics much better than oblivion?

 

what frame rates do those who have it get and your system spec?

 

compared to oblivions land size, how large is gothic3 and do NPC's have 24hr schedules like oblivions?

[Malchik]

As an opinion I would say the graphics are ALMOST but not quite as good.

 

Moving around is seamless, none of those annoying Oblivion messages while you wait. Fast travel is possible between quest giving locations after you have first been to them and found a suitable teleport stone (not always easy). Locations outside these are not reachable by fast travel.

 

The land is divided into three provinces. The central province is rather like Cyrodiil with lakes, rivers, forests and fields etc. Flora is less varied and the plants containing ingredients do jump out at you rather. They are not as realistic as Oblivion. (With minor exceptions the ingred plants grow in all three provinces which seems unlikely in reality but there you go.) The central province has twelve centres of habitation from which you can get quests. The northern province is mountains, ice and snow and very difficult to find your way around in. This has I believe four quest giving areas although I have not explored it much yet. The south is sand desert with about seven quest giving areas.

 

Because of this variety it seems bigger than Oblivion although I am not sure it actually is.

 

NPC voices are more varied and named characters all have their own dialogue until quests are completed when they tend to tell you to go away. They mostly have schedules that include eating and drinking, smoking, dancing, sleeping and working. Work activities I have seen them doing include, hammering, sawing, fishing, gardening, digging, mining, carrying loads, using anvil and whetstone, sweeping, ranting and getting stoned on weed. There are others I can't recall off the top of my head.

 

On installation I had to download a sizeable patch but there are still bugs. On my system now and then the lighting goes funny and it swaps between light and dark as if it was a thunderstorm (but it isn't). It is very intermittent and can be cured by saving and restarting.

 

As ever in this type of game I think they overdo the monsters. As far as I can tell they do not grow in number or variety or change their stats as the player levels up. (I encountered a dragon at level 2). However I'd prefer it if someone else confirmed that.

 

If you need more details you'd better buy it.