Gothic 3 - Review @ AceGamez

AceGamez has posted their rather epic review of Gothic 3 today. The mixed review awards the game a fairly high 8/10 score while also noting many problems and bugs, saying:

Ultimately I think that Gothic 3 is a niche game - it's not for the casual or action-gamer, but the hardcore RPG gamer, and it is the hardcore player who will see this diamond in the rough for what it truly is. Unlike the horrific launch of Dungeon Lords, which eventually revealed that there wasn't much of value beneath the buggy exterior, Gothic 3 has a tremendous world of role-play available for those willing to persevere - and I strongly recommend the game to players in this category, who also have the behemoth computer power needed to run the game in the first place. Sadly though, for most people, that means just stay away.

More information.

Actually, auto saves of some sort would be nice. When I play a game, especially a fairly immersive one, I don't like to jump out of it and worry myself about when to save. Once when I was first playing Fallout I played for 5 or 6 hours and then died. I went to load and found I hadn't saved the game since I started. Whoops…

How would they be done in Gothic3? I dunno. Given some of the difficulties of Gothic3 you are unlikely to get far without learning to hit the quicksave key every few minutes I suppose.

Well, if autosaves take 30 seconds, then I'll prefer to just save manually if you don't mind.

I'm not saying that Gothic 3 *shouldn't* have an autosave, but the review I read tossed it off as a criticism like it was trivial and obvious. I was merely pointing out that it is neither. Do you save after certain quest types? Certain number of quests? Certain time passage? How much should be user-specifiable? Ultimately I decided that "I dunno" was about the best answer I had.

i don't think there is any need for the commentary you provided in the intial post. this is 'rpgwatch' and news postings should be unbiased, not a place for people who post news to pimp one game and poop on another. leave that to the follow up comments.

Originally Posted by a guest
i don't think there is any need for the commentary you provided in the intial post. this is 'rpgwatch' and news postings should be unbiased, not a place for people who post news to pimp one game and poop on another. leave that to the follow up comments.

Very good point and I completely agree - and apologize. Read the review as is - I'm removing my commentary, but putting it here for posterity.

By the time you finish reading this review, you'll pretty much know my complete opinion on everything related to Gothic 3. As I have completed the game and both of my reviews, I've opened myself up to reading reviews at other sites and found I missed a few things. First, I somehow overlooked comparing the game to Oblivion. Next, I failed to tear the game apart for failing to stop idiots who can't read manuals or on-screen text and who are ignorant of bartering systems from dumping all of their worldly posessions on one side of a balance and clicking 'Trade' and getting nothing in return. Finally, I should really have taken issue with the fact that the game didn't provide auto-saves at … um … level transitions … no … er … chapter ends … no, that isn't it … um … I dunno.

AceGomez nailed it. This was the type of review that got me to play Ultima 9 about 3 years later when most of the bugs were out and I had the rig to run the game. While Ultima 9 was really an anomaly in the series, it was a great game in its own right. I'm glad there were enough positive Ultima 9 reviews to always keep the game as a likely future purchase.

Actually, I quite enjoyed the extra comments!! Excellent review as usual Mike!!

Originally Posted by Thaurin
Well, if autosaves take 30 seconds, then I'll prefer to just save manually if you don't mind.

Somehow Gothic2 managed to do saves in like 2 seconds. I think they goofed up how they save the game in G3.

And then there is loading which takes several minutes….

gothic 3 saves take no longer than gothic 1 saves though if you played it when it came out. i'm sure gothic 3 after its patched and the 'average' computer catches up in months or years it will play like a dream.