After years of separation from Diego, Xardas and the rest of the memorable team, I finally decided to make up for the third part of the Nameless Hero’s adventures. I sincerely love the first two editions, having been through them many times in the past. Back then, however, I was just a teenager with a weak computer and a lack of understanding of the RPG genre. So, driven by a huge sentiment, I launched Gothic 3 and got quite a shock from the very beginning. Why?
The first thing that caught my eye was the frequent drops in animation. It is so strange that the production in question has almost 15 springs on the back of its neck! It should be added that I was playing on powerful equipment that could handle the latest titles without any problems. It is true that the developers botched the optimization and did not avoid many errors, but I thought that after such a time and the appropriate patches (version 1.75.14) the game will be nice. Well, that was the first disappointment.
Huge world
Many ills are probably closely related to focusing on a much larger world, open to unfettered exploration from the very beginning. And it must be admitted that there is a lot to visit – apart from Myrtana, abundant in green areas, we will travel through the frosty backwoods of Nordmar and the sandy Varant. From the first moments of the digital journey, I soaked in the original atmosphere known to fans of Piranha Bytes games, which – although a bit thinned – is ubiquitous here as well.
It is very happy that the graphic design has aged quite well and there is still something to hang your eye on. Everywhere there is a variety of flora and fauna – sometimes you can even come across fierce clashes of aggressive beasts. But what was most important to me – there were dark caves and valuable treasures to discover. After all, the decision to extend the available areas of land so significantly, in the end, did not turn out to be good for the game. The previous parts showed how to skillfully condense the content, thanks to which the presented world was more coherent and the characters more believable.
This time, a lot of places are emptied in the eye, and individual elements (enemies, items) often seem to be accidentally implemented on the map, just to develop the area. Basically, I felt a lack of finishing touches in the context of designing the location, as if the creators had no idea how to properly fill such a cavernous land. A lot of good can be said about music. The carefully prepared compositions have an exorbitant impact on the overall perception of the game and are one of its strongest points.
Saga Bezimiennego
The plot of Gothic 3 continues the story known from previous installments. I will not go into its meanders, after all, this is not a review; However, I would like to draw your attention to the whole. The story is painfully clichéd and does not surprise with anything, but the dialogues and characters themselves are pretty good. There was no shortage of what distinguished the prototype – a world built on clear and at the same time strict rules, the non-observance of which can be deplorable. Our actions have consequences – the NPCs do not give a damn and do not forget about the offenses of the Nameless Hero.
Every step we come across tough characters – types from under the dark star who do not live in a dispassionate tone what they think about us. Do we need help from them or do we want to gain something? Sure, but the pedestal here is the rule that the hand washes the hand. This brutal reality is one of the main aspects for which I love this series. A huge advantage is also the non-linearity of the plot, and thus – freedom in taking further actions and different paths leading to the finale.
From Zero To Hero
Another successful solution, in line with the Gothic lineage, is the system of craftsmanship and learning new skills from teachers. The German studio has created unique mechanics that distinguish their productions from other representatives of the genre. These elements add a pinch of realism to the character progression process. Without the guides, it is not difficult to wander like a child in the fog in the initial hours of the game and die again and again; the enemies deal severe damage and we fall after a few hits.
Nevertheless, it is enough to patiently follow the guidelines taken from the dialogues, fill the cabza with gold and step by step – preferably with caution – develop your character. If we spend the gold and science points well, we will eventually become a one-man army. It was this feeling of gradually growing in strength that largely encouraged me to continue playing. On the other hand, some things – deeply rooted in the DNA of the cycle – have not changed, remaining a real salt in the eye even for the angelically patient players.
I would like 10 carrots
First of all, let’s take the tasks – the vast majority of them consist in delivering something to the client (so-called fetch quests ) or eliminating specific goals. Oh, bring it, pass it, sweep away, which in the long run gets deadly tedious. There is not much room here to raise important issues, which would make you think deeper for a moment. I know, the series has already got us used to it and maybe I required too much, looking through the prism of newer, more story-oriented titles. However, I believe that those responsible for the narrative could have done better in this matter.
Moreover, I was very often offended by certain omissions and decisions of designers. Well, often inadvertently you can easily cut off access to quests , or make it impossible to obtain an item or skill. This has to do with the death or disappearance of an important character and the reputation system, for example. Alone, stopping with the rebels and taking the cities from the enemy’s hands, at one point I was unable to move freely in the enemy areas, being immediately attacked by members of the Assassins or Orcs factions.
Consequently, I was unable to learn the skills of Master of Two Blades and Murder in aggressive Ishtara. Many quests became unavailable, so a considerable amount of experience points flew over my nose. If it wasn’t for a solidly developed character, I would be in a dot – I would have to go back to the previous saves or start the game from the beginning. By the way, the quick save quickly became my close friend, especially during the aforementioned city mirroring.
During such battles, we fight a crowd of bloodthirsty adversaries pouring out from everywhere, rushing towards us as one man. At a low level of characters, we have a slim chance of survival, unless we save ourselves by drawing the enemy army to various beasts – the more dangerous, the better. Usually, we are also helped by various allies, but unfortunately they quickly fall under a barrage of blows, leaving us alone on the battlefield.
Therefore, if we want to keep the NPCs alive, it will be necessary to load the game regularly. Especially since our genius friends are prone to dying frequently for various reasons – here they will fall into the abyss, there they will engage in an unnecessary fight with stray beasts or they simply will not cope with the exhausting fight. Allies also like to get stuck somewhere or disappear – even in the patched version, the game has to deal with numerous bugs.
Fire and wood
Now it is the turn of the crude, if not wooden, melee combat system. Admittedly, it has evolved somewhat from the ancestors, but it is still unintuitive (especially the sense of distance), not to mention numb animations. Basically, I did not enjoy the warrior, it was even a tedious and at the same time irritating duty. Many times I got the shoemaker’s passion, encountering opponents, attacking relentlessly, with no chance of retaliation. I was also not amused when I regularly had to get up from the ground after receiving a powerful punch. And God forbid you fight a larger group of mascarons or individuals who practice magic.
For the lion’s share of the adventure, the ideal tactic was to replace a few cuts and quickly retreat to replenish your vitality – and so around Maciej. The bow has also become my inseparable companion. The game of jumping to hard-to-reach places and sewing arrows at helpless unfortunates, reminiscent of overgrown hedgehogs after giving up the ghost, turned out to be salutary. Considering the aforementioned adversities, most of the skirmishes were a torture until I started to kill my opponents with a few swings of a weapon. I deliberately do not mention witchcraft here, because playing with magically gifted heroes has never been fun for me.
After all…
As you can see, I complained a lot, but I had good reason to be. Gothic 3 does not avoid annoying solutions, in addition, shortcomings on many levels are visible at first glance. In the case of previous editions it was similar, but there the scale of everything was much smaller, so the errors did not offend that much. The huge world we deal with in the three is impressive, but it brings with it many problems and pitfalls, both in the context of narration, gameplay and optimization.
Despite everything, I felt the ubiquitous spirit of my predecessors, this difficult to define element of magic, providing the adventures of the Nameless with a crowd of fans in our country. In moments of doubt, what kept me from uninstalling the game was its unique atmosphere, which was made up of several important factors. Among them you can certainly mention the great Polish location, a group of memorable heroes, wonderful music and characteristic locations, even asking for in-depth exploration.
Gothic can be loved or hated, and this theme has been polarizing players for years. I immediately fell in love with the first two editions, despite their obvious flaws, and to this day I have an indescribable fondness for them. After completing the third part, the romantic feeling weakened a bit, but I did not change my attitude to the achievements of the Piranha Bytes team.
These are specific titles that are worth giving a chance even today, especially if you are fans of extraordinary RPGs . Certainly, some of you will be painfully disappointed at the very beginning of the game, but when you turn a blind eye to the peculiarities of the series, you will most likely be absorbed for dozens of hours.