Arcania - Demo, Release Window & Other Tidbits

Dhruin

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Joined
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The video interview (at the bottom of the article) with Marcus Reutner from JoWood is in English.
 
Another port, huh- well, count me out.
 
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Oct 3, 2007
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Am i missing something? A demo is coming out and the game is expected to come out this year? The only info i have seen of the game is a few screenshots and a video. I haven't read any details on the game. I thought the game was at least another year away. What am i missing here?
 
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Somebody posted the new GameStar video. Will probably be removed soon.
 
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Developed for the 360 means it just slipped down my gaming list even further. Right now it's at bargain bin level!!
 
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Idk that looks pretty decent. Much better than it did.

It still appears to have issues though. The demo will prove much.
 
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i think it looks a bit better than two worlds. the combat looks a bit hack and slash. also the beige left gauge is possibly stamina but i never saw it move meanwhile the character (its not supposed to be the nameless one anymore right?) ran pretty fast. i'm guessing that feature hasn't been implemented yet. the enviroments are nice and varied, though while the combat seems less "up in it" the enviroments seem smaller than the gothics. and that's coming from a dev that packed a whole lot into its worlds both horizontaly and vertically. the dialog seems decent, though i obviously have no idea what they are saying. its good that the quest markers and minimap can be turned off as well. oh and i'm pretty sure that was gorn and diego making cameos. if they are in it i hope they get done better justice than in gothic 3.

also before you guys flip out too much about that console comment you should probably see that as jowoods doing as spellbound to my knowledge hasn't made anything but pc games. what the publisher wants, sees and values, isn't necessarily what the devs focus on in the game in all cases.
 
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People that glow and have !s over their heads....
Either archery is crap Gothics style or the reviewer wasn't interested in digging it, i also didn't like sword fighting with all those slashes.
The interface isn't bad .
I didn't understood lockpicking mini game and they avoid showing sneaking - thieving .
Nice choice starting the review by attacking cattle lol
 
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It's quite funny that they have different color/brightness settings fir the US and EU versions :)

(you can see it in the gamestar video at around 5'47)
 
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To me the game looks more like Gothic 3 , than Gothic 1,2 (combat wise)

Also can anyone explain me the split between Risen and Gothic ?

Is it made by same team? What happened there?
 
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I'm not convinced (yet) that they've really *understood* what makes a Gothic game - but I guess I'll be willing to give it a try :) In any case, streamlined controls can't really be a bad thing? And as for the "new modern" rpg features, it appears you can turn them off.
 
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Basically Pyranha Bytes went with a new publisher to do Risen while the old publisher who still has the right (JoWood) contracted Spellbound to do Gothic IV (Arcania).
And it still isn't looking good, honestly, I mean, yeah the graphics are good, the atmosphere (color palette and lighting) seems a lot better than the screenshots (since those were made for the American version), but the gameplay doesn't convince me. The lockpicking minigame, argh, they already had a perfectly functional one, why change it?
 
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Well. As I see it. You can never have enough of Gothic :)

So..Piranha Bytes obviously had success with Risen. I expect we will see more of that (i really hope so)

And Spellbound is making another Gothic game :)
 
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I am still enjoying/playing G2 + NotR at the moment, a couple of months ago I finished G1. I finished G3 years ago. I played Risen last fall. But I'm curious…
I'm not convinced (yet) that they've really *understood* what makes a Gothic game (…)

what's the definition of "a Gothic game"? And what have you seen in that vid that makes you think they may not have understood the essentials?
 
I think essence of "Gothic game" would be: If something is not broken dont fix it.

Simply do not change gameplay elements that worked good.

Gothic 3 went and changed lot of them , while Risen kept all what worked well in G1-2.
 
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But I'm curious…

what's the definition of "a Gothic game"?
For me:

An emphasis on environmental realism rather than abstract, rule-based gaming. Gothic 1 in particular, despite being action-based, is the conceptual opposite to most ARPGs. Not that I dislike abstract, rule-based RPGs. That's perfect for both turn-based Wizardry style games and Diablo clones, but the Gothic series ploughs its own, more immersive, furrow.

World leader in terrain design. Morrowind is the only real competitor when it comes to landscaping.

Free-roaming and dangerous world where the player either learns to stand on his/her own two feet or dies. No handholding here. And when I say free-roaming I mean *free*. The non-revisitable zone-based system proposed for "ArcAniA: A genesis of a Gothic 4 tale or whatever it's called today" is utterly counter Gothic

Meaningful, if extremely lightweight, character development. Investing stat points has an immediate and tangible effect on gameplay.

Good balance between action-based player skill and stat-based character skill.

No inventory micromanagement. Thank God. Nothing distracts from exploration like inventory limits.
 
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