Is Gothic 3 a good game?

Originally Posted by BillSeurer
… I've played it 3 times now and it always starts off fun but I have to force myself to slog on through after about the half way mark.

I've played it three times too and I agree about the middle although I think it picks up a bit near the end (I really love Nordmar). Overall a very good game usually underrated. I'm pretty sure I'll play it again eventually.

I loved it and played it for what felt like years, but I never finished it. Towards the end of my longest play through I'd have to force myself, with gritted teeth, to sit there and play. Eventually it got the better of me.

Actually I hated Nordmar. It was purposely designed to make you walk forever to get to someplace you could see if you could even find the stupid place. That and important NPCs would fall to their deaths off the cliffs.

In some ways, Gothic 3 is the best of the Gothic series. In other ways…well, not so much. For a small example: PB finally fixed the awful U.I. and controls of the first 2 games, but somewhere along the way, they screwed up the strong combat mechanics of the previous Gothics, which rendered the improved U.I./controls of Gothic 3 as somewhat trivial. I would much rather wrestle with a poor U.I. and have rewarding combat than have a good U.I. with poorly designed combat mechanics. This is just one example of trading one problem for a new, more severe one.

One aspect that made Gothic 3 immensely enjoyable for me was the town liberation/takeover element. Not only were these quests simply a lot of fun and rewarding to complete, but they did a great job of conveying a believable war-time atmosphere in an open-world fantasy setting with a great sense of player impact on this conflict. This aspect of Gothic 3 made it worth playing for many enjoyable hours, despite some of the poor elements of the game. I wish Skyrim would have had a similar war-time feel to its Civil War - it just doesn't feel as if it's really happening in the same way that Gothic 3's war feels. (This doesn't really matter in the long run though, considering that Skyrim is miles ahead of Gothic 3 in every other conceivable area )

All in all, I think that Gothic 3 is (at least at times) a very good game that suffered under the weight of its own ambitions and a rushed release which tarnished the reputation of the game thanks to a wide range of technical problems upon release. While many of the bugs and other technical issues have been fixed over time, some elements are unfortunately just a part of the game forever, such as the poor combat and other design flaws. "Untapped Potential" was the lasting impression I got from Pyranha Bytes' most ambitious game to date, but despite the lingering feeling of knowing that the game could have turned out better, it was still an enjoyable experience.

I hated Nordmar. A fucking maze.
The desert had some of the best stuff. Many clever dialogs. A lot of Gothic feeling. Unfortunately it was too realistic. Meaning too much of absolutely nothing. The main area was mixed. The early locations were rather weak. Others were much better.

I agree pretty much with Gorath about Nordmar. Total suck job. I loved the desert. I naturally gravitate to arid regions, even when I vacation.
The main reason I like G1-3 is because of the exploration and finding hidden spots with some evidence of a past incident or encounter. Like a skeleton with a ring or old weapon laying around. Sometimes I'll just try to climb around the inaccessible hills or mountains to see if I can get up to a certain spot and see what's there.

I hated Nordmar. A tedious icy hell. Although that was the point I suspect. I hated Varant too … Diablo clone whack-a-mole gameplay. I hated Gothic 3 in general as it simply wasn't the same game as Gothic 1 and 2. It just wasn't. And still isn't even with the community patches. Even at the latest version it's still nothing like G1/2.

But G3 *is a good game* thanks to the community but it's still not quite a Gothic game. A real Gothic game has a sense of place. A real living sense of place. Gothic 3 comes close, but it still feels like a MMO in contrast. Patched, a good game. Just not a good Gothic game.