Jabberwocky
True Synaesthete
I know most of you already have this game, and are probably tired of reading "personal" reviews. But I am posting this on the small chance that someone who wasn't sure about the game before will read it and decide to take the plunge.
I'm not very far into the game, but I just want to tell everyone how much fun I'm having. Why?.. because I have been reading forums for a month now that largely consist of whining and complaining about how "the game's not this... the game's not that"... I was starting to wonder if I should have ordered the CE or not! (And I don't say that to offend anyone, I respect the intelligence of the other contributors of these forums, but after experiencing the game first-hand I am inclined to say most of the complaints are a little exaggerated.)
Glad I followed my instinct... Here's my impressions so far:
Graphics and performance: I haven't downloaded or applied any software tweaks, I wanted to see what it would do straight out of the box. I haven't even adjusted any of the settings through the game menu. They are all set to default which is medium. So far I haven't experienced ANY major problems or noticed any major graphical glitches. No crashes... seems very stable. Load times are long, but not anywhere as bad as they were made out to be. (maybe I'm just really patient) The game stutters and stammers a bit on occassion, but overall the framrate is better than the first two games were when I got them. In fact, the opening fight with the Orcs couldn't have been smoother, I was flabbergasted by the fluidity of the whole ordeal. I think the world is absolutely beautiful, even on medium settings, and I honestly don't know how anyone could say otherwise.
Gameplay and design: I was scared about the voice acting upon learning that it was an all-new cast. My fears have been allayed however, now that I've heard it. I know I'm going to get rocks thrown at me for this... but... I like the hero's voice better NOW. He sounds more confident to me, as opposed to an "unlikely hero" unsure of himself. And his pitch is still close enough to the original that it doesn't seem like an appalling substitute. The one voice that I wish had remained original from G1 is Diego's. You can't help but love his voice in the first game. Still, his current voice is better than G2's, and is therefore STILL an improvement.
I've heard complaints about incomplete dialogue among the "old friends" of the hero. While I admit that it is very brief at the start of the game, it does not seem out of place to me. After all, the hero and his friends have just been sailing for a month together, so what would really need to be said in addition to what's presented? WE may have spent the last couple years away from them, but THEY are in daily association with one another. It would be a little unrealistic for them to say things like "Wow, what a trip! How 'bout that one part when such-and-such happened?" While that might clue some newcomers in on what happened in the past, it would be very out of place and therefore "fake".
I'm playing with the up-to-date version, and didn't experience some of the combat woes that I've read about. There definitely is a problem with stun-lock that needs to be addressed. I got stun-locked to death by a scavenger, and that's just WRONG. Nevertheless, it isn't impossible to work with, and if you keep swinging, it actually makes the creatures EASIER to kill than in previous games. I have mixed feelings about this. As far as story continuity is concerned, it makes sense that my "fresh off the boat" hero is able to easily dispatch lizards, after all, he's been doing it for a while now. As far as gameplay is concerned however, it is not nearly so challenging as the first games, and as a hard-core Gothic gamer, that's a bad thing in my opinion.
The music is the best I've ever heard. 'nuff said.
In conclusion, I think this game deserves respect for what it IS, and less complaining about what it was WISHED it to be. If you can get past all of that, then you will love Gothic 3!
I'm not very far into the game, but I just want to tell everyone how much fun I'm having. Why?.. because I have been reading forums for a month now that largely consist of whining and complaining about how "the game's not this... the game's not that"... I was starting to wonder if I should have ordered the CE or not! (And I don't say that to offend anyone, I respect the intelligence of the other contributors of these forums, but after experiencing the game first-hand I am inclined to say most of the complaints are a little exaggerated.)
Glad I followed my instinct... Here's my impressions so far:
Graphics and performance: I haven't downloaded or applied any software tweaks, I wanted to see what it would do straight out of the box. I haven't even adjusted any of the settings through the game menu. They are all set to default which is medium. So far I haven't experienced ANY major problems or noticed any major graphical glitches. No crashes... seems very stable. Load times are long, but not anywhere as bad as they were made out to be. (maybe I'm just really patient) The game stutters and stammers a bit on occassion, but overall the framrate is better than the first two games were when I got them. In fact, the opening fight with the Orcs couldn't have been smoother, I was flabbergasted by the fluidity of the whole ordeal. I think the world is absolutely beautiful, even on medium settings, and I honestly don't know how anyone could say otherwise.
Gameplay and design: I was scared about the voice acting upon learning that it was an all-new cast. My fears have been allayed however, now that I've heard it. I know I'm going to get rocks thrown at me for this... but... I like the hero's voice better NOW. He sounds more confident to me, as opposed to an "unlikely hero" unsure of himself. And his pitch is still close enough to the original that it doesn't seem like an appalling substitute. The one voice that I wish had remained original from G1 is Diego's. You can't help but love his voice in the first game. Still, his current voice is better than G2's, and is therefore STILL an improvement.
I've heard complaints about incomplete dialogue among the "old friends" of the hero. While I admit that it is very brief at the start of the game, it does not seem out of place to me. After all, the hero and his friends have just been sailing for a month together, so what would really need to be said in addition to what's presented? WE may have spent the last couple years away from them, but THEY are in daily association with one another. It would be a little unrealistic for them to say things like "Wow, what a trip! How 'bout that one part when such-and-such happened?" While that might clue some newcomers in on what happened in the past, it would be very out of place and therefore "fake".
I'm playing with the up-to-date version, and didn't experience some of the combat woes that I've read about. There definitely is a problem with stun-lock that needs to be addressed. I got stun-locked to death by a scavenger, and that's just WRONG. Nevertheless, it isn't impossible to work with, and if you keep swinging, it actually makes the creatures EASIER to kill than in previous games. I have mixed feelings about this. As far as story continuity is concerned, it makes sense that my "fresh off the boat" hero is able to easily dispatch lizards, after all, he's been doing it for a while now. As far as gameplay is concerned however, it is not nearly so challenging as the first games, and as a hard-core Gothic gamer, that's a bad thing in my opinion.
The music is the best I've ever heard. 'nuff said.
In conclusion, I think this game deserves respect for what it IS, and less complaining about what it was WISHED it to be. If you can get past all of that, then you will love Gothic 3!