Will you be buying Arcania: Gothic 4? And tv about zombies!!

So I was just looking at the World of Gothic forums to see if there was anything interesting about the new Gothic game. I already preordered my 360 copy and I was excited. But after reading some of the comments and poll results I'm a little worried. There seems to be a lot of animosity toward it based on the demo.

I get the feeling a lot of the animosity is from people who think of themselves as hardcore, true believers of the Gothic franchise, and since this game doesn't live up to their expectations of what a Gothic game should be (and I'm not saying that it does or doesn't or that that is not a valid viewpoint) that they'll never, ever play it and that's that, even if it's a really good game in it's own right. Its the same sort of thing when Fallout 3 came out. Some of the fans of the series just wouldn't even consider playing it because they saw it as some sort of cop out.

So I was wondering if anyone has played the demo and for some reason has decided NOT to buy it, and who is NOT of the above mentioned category of player. If you genuinely didn't like it based on it's own merrits what did you think was wrong with it?

And if you plan to buy and are excited tell me about that too.

It looks pretty good in the demo footage I've seen, but maybe I should hold off a bit and read some reviews. I'm petty sure I'll be playing NV for the next six weeks. But I've been playing F3 for the last month and I'm starting to get sick of the sight of it, and it would be a shame to spoil Vegas because I'm just burned out on Fallout.

I would post this over at the world of gothic forum but sometimes some of those true believers can be a bit hostile. One time on the no mutants allowed forum, during the debate about whether or not F3 is a "proper" Fallout game, I mentioned that people should just judge it on it's own merrits and that I thought it would be silly to miss out on what might be a good game. Oh boy, did I get shown the door.

Oh and on an unrelated note, there's a tv series coming out at the end of Oct called The Walking Dead about a zombie apocalyse. You heard me baby! I just want to spread the word. "Will it be out in your home country of New Zealand, Phil?" I hear you ask. Pffft, hells no. That's an absurd idea. That's why I thank god for the internet! If not for the net I would never even heard of Warehouse 13, Sanctuary, Caprica and I would have only seen the first half of Stargate Universe until they yanked it like they always do with new shows because it wasn't a ratings smash after two episodes.

New Zealand TV sucks.

I'm definetly buying it. Like DArtagnan has stated several times - we don't get enough free roaming RPGs these days to pass one up.

Overall I don't think it's going to blow me away, but the world seems interesting enough, the combat system worked out okay (at least in melee; I've heard people having a very easy time with ranged attacks) and the main quest looks like it could be interesting (based on the involvement of Diego and the scene at the end of the demo).

I'm expecting it to be roughly on par with Ego Draconis, Two Worlds and so on, which means below PBs games, but still more than good enough to be worth the money.

Maylander said:

I'm definetly buying it. Like DArtagnan has stated several times - we don't get enough free roaming RPGs these days to pass one up.

Overall I don't think it's going to blow me away, but the world seems interesting enough, the combat system worked out okay (at least in melee; I've heard people having a very easy time with ranged attacks) and the main quest looks like it could be interesting (based on the involvement of Diego and the scene at the end of the demo).

I'm expecting it to be roughly on par with Ego Draconis, Two Worlds and so on, which means below PBs games, but still more than good enough to be worth the money.

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Good to hear. It'd be cool if they used the original voice actors for the boys, like Diego and Gorn. Diego particularly was excellent in Gothic 1.

I love those guys.

I have no idea why his voice changed so dramatically from G1 to G2. I think I read the reason somewhere, but I don't recall it.

And yes, his voice in G1 was great.

Simple: different voice actor.

I am playing the Arcania demo at the moment, not really impressed. However I'm gone think about wether or not buying it.
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St1300

Definitely not buying it, there's just too many better games for me to play in the near future.

I'll admit it does have a bit to do with me being a "hardcore Gothic fan", as you put it, but in all honesty, even if the game didn't have Gothic in the title I still would have thought the demo was horrible.

I might consider picking it up a few months down the road, when it's in the bargain bin.

I'll get it eventually, but not right away. Fallout: NV looks like it will take most of my time.

As for the zombie TV series, I've been shouting about that from the rooftops for a few weeks. The TV series is based off the graphic novel of the same name. Robert Kirkman has injected me with a new enthusiasm for everything "zombie". The comics are just beautifully written and delves much deeper into character development and interaction within this zompocolypse.

If you're interested in the TV show then you will definitely love the novels. I haven't bought any comics in at least over 10 years now(I never really was into comics), but I wanted to try this out. Everyone was singing it's praises in the comments section of some Dead State info article (can't remember which site). I'll warn you now, once you read the first one you'll spend every cent you have to get the rest of them. They are just that good.

The best part about the is the fact they stay true to the original type of zombies. Gone are the runner, mutant beasts, talking and intelligent zombies. In their place is something more deadly than any "special" type of zombie. A slow creeping horror that never rests and is always hungry.

After reading some of these novels (I still don't have them all yet) I can't wait for Dead State to get released. I think they are trying to make a game very similar to The Walking Dead. Zombies are in the background, but it's how man deals with man that is the main focus of the game and comics.

Ok, enough praising The Walking Dead. If you want to know more check out their website, here.

Please, please, please Double Bear don't screw the game up or give up on this. I haven't anticipated a game this much since the Quest for Glory series.

Oh, one last zombie game that took me by surprise. Dead Rising 2 isn't that bad. It's an all action game, but they got the zombies right at least. They have the slow shambling hordes of zombies that you whack your way through. They are nothing by themselves, but get a large crowd and you're in trouble. The character interaction leaves a lot to be desired and the timed quests are annoying, but it's a fun game if you're into action games.

EDV said:

Simple: different voice actor.

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Yes, of course, that is a well known fact. What I don't understand is why - the one in G1 worked out great, but in G2 it was all "HUH?".

I remember a lot of people, including reviewers, were baffled by the change in Diego's voice, as he was such an important character.

human_male said:

So I was wondering if anyone has played the demo and for some reason has decided NOT to buy it, and who is NOT of the above mentioned category of player. If you genuinely didn't like it based on it's own merrits what did you think was wrong with it?

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Well, I'll give this a shot. I must add that I'm still not entirely convinced that I'll skip it, but the demo definitely made me want to wait for more comments on the whole game. I *am* a hardcore Gothic fan, but I realized a long time ago that G4 would be a different kind of game, and I simply look to PB and their Risen games for the "real thing". Therefore I tried the demo with an open mind, judging it for what it was...

My "excitement curve" went a bit like this. At the very beginning of the demo I was immediately disappointed with the quality/content of the dialogs I was presented with. Then, after playing for a while, my excitement began to rise somewhat - because the game is actually quite polished and works well for that it is. Then, as the demo continued, it unfortunately just kept dropping towards outright boredom.

The reason why I eventually got bored was primarily that the game was WAY too easy and WAY too generous in handing out stuff. In the hour or so that it took to play the demo I plowed through undead knights, paladins, golems, mine crawlers, black wolves etc. I never died once, nor was I ever even close to being short on supplies.

I just felt that I was "funnelled" through endless (narrow and linear) corridors filled with trivially easy creatures for me to slay.

Whether I'll buy it or not now depends on whether the game opens up or not. I'm not convinced that simply playing the game on "hard" or "gothic" will be enough to make it interesting. I might end up dying now and again - but I'll probably still be dying in endless linear corridors filled with loot and critters

human_male said:

That's why I thank god for the internet! If not for the net I would never even heard of Warehouse 13, Sanctuary, Caprica.

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Just curious, how much do you like Caprica? I think it's ok by itself, but I find it a huge disappointment compared to Battlestar Galactica.

Yup, I'll most likely be getting it. Like Maylander - I'm a huge fan of open world games like this, and they have to suck ROYALLY before I pass one up.

That said, if I hear from people around here that the full game has the same balance issues - before I manage to rush out and get it, I might hold back until it's patched up, assuming it will be.

But, beyond the balance - I'm fine with the other "dumbing down" aspects, because it's exactly what I expected. I know it's not going to be at the same level as Gothic - and that's ok.

I love Gothic 1 and 2, and I know it is "ArcaniA" and not really "Gothic 4". I won't buy it, because the demo was just cheesy, to say it politely. And I don't like most of the game design decisions. And it didn't make any fun, it was just too easy.
So why should I buy it?

KasperFauerby said:

The reason why I eventually got bored was primarily that the game was WAY too easy and WAY too generous in handing out stuff. In the hour or so that it took to play the demo I plowed through undead knights, paladins, golems, mine crawlers, black wolves etc. I never died once, nor was I ever even close to being short on supplies.

I just felt that I was "funnelled" through endless (narrow and linear) corridors filled with trivially easy creatures for me to slay.

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Oh dear. That sounds terrible. Maybe it's just the demo that's like that. Here's hoping.

DArtagnan said:

Yup, I'll most likely be getting it. Like Maylander - I'm a huge fan of open world games like this, and they have to suck ROYALLY before I pass one up.

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Same here exactly. It would have to be practically unplayable for me to not want to at least give it a good go.

human_male said:

I get the feeling a lot of the animosity is from people who think of themselves as hardcore, true believers of the Gothic franchise,

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Yes, that's the reason why I'm never there. These people are kind of fanatic in my view.

Plus, it's too much of other things for me there … machismo, for example. It's as if people there would say : "Gothic is a game for REAL men !"

I think I've already posted it here, but once I decided to analyse the social structure of Gothic 1 and wrote in the JoWood forums that I would like to see a Gothic game with the social structure reversed.

My, was I flamed ! This was the point when I decided not to meddle with any Gothic fans on the internet at all, and therefore I stayed clear of WOG.

My prejudice was even more fuelled when I heard of Gothic 2 NOTR making the game much harder as wished by the "community".

But I guess everyone here knows that already.


And back to the topic : Of course I'll buy it ! - Later, as low-budget sftware.
There are too many other gaes that come first in my "catalogue", among them is the newly translated "Tales Of Monkey Island", which is said to come in a boxed form into Germany ! Yay !

JDR13 said:

Just curious, how much do you like Caprica? I think it's ok by itself, but I find it a huge disappointment compared to Battlestar Galactica.

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Actually it bored me to death. But I think it's an important program in that it's a spin off of Galactica and that show has a lot of fans who would be interested in it, but they don't even know about it because the tv channels aren't interested in it.

skavenhorde said:

I'll get it eventually, but not right away. Fallout: NV looks like it will take most of my time.

As for the zombie TV series, I've been shouting about that from the rooftops for a few weeks. The TV series is based off the graphic novel of the same name. Robert Kirkman has injected me with a new enthusiasm for everything "zombie". The comics are just beautifully written and delves much deeper into character development and interaction within this zompocolypse.

If you're interested in the TV show then you will definitely love the novels. I haven't bought any comics in at least over 10 years now(I never really was into comics), but I wanted to try this out. Everyone was singing it's praises in the comments section of some Dead State info article (can't remember which site). I'll warn you now, once you read the first one you'll spend every cent you have to get the rest of them. They are just that good.

The best part about the is the fact they stay true to the original type of zombies. Gone are the runner, mutant beasts, talking and intelligent zombies. In their place is something more deadly than any "special" type of zombie. A slow creeping horror that never rests and is always hungry.

After reading some of these novels (I still don't have them all yet) I can't wait for Dead State to get released. I think they are trying to make a game very similar to The Walking Dead. Zombies are in the background, but it's how man deals with man that is the main focus of the game and comics.

Ok, enough praising The Walking Dead. If you want to know more check out their website, here.

Please, please, please Double Bear don't screw the game up or give up on this. I haven't anticipated a game this much since the Quest for Glory series.

Oh, one last zombie game that took me by surprise. Dead Rising 2 isn't that bad. It's an all action game, but they got the zombies right at least. They have the slow shambling hordes of zombies that you whack your way through. They are nothing by themselves, but get a large crowd and you're in trouble. The character interaction leaves a lot to be desired and the timed quests are annoying, but it's a fun game if you're into action games.

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Cheers man. I'll keep my eye out for the novels and Dead State, that sounds sweet. Unfortunately didn't like Dead Rising 2 but did think they nailed the zombies. I like those kind of zombies too, the traditional zombies. I'm definitely a zombie traditionalist. I'm not a fan of the neo zombies, who are living people infected with some kind of crazy virus, or super zombies like in the last Resident Evil movie.

Oh, and that's another thing… new Resident Evil movie!

human_male said:

Oh, and that's another thing… new Resident Evil movie!

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Meh… my girlfriend wants to see that, but I have no interest at all. I thought the first RE was pretty good for a film based on a video game, but the sequels were terrible.

Angry Joe's review of Resident Evil: Afterlife was what made me decide to pass on it. For the first half of the review he just rants about 3D movies, but after that he starts reviewing the movie on it's merits. A little funny, not his best stuff.

I like 3D movies if they are done right. I even have the 3D glasses from Nvidia for gaming, so I really don't understand his hatred for anything 3D. I did understand his opinion on the movie.

I haven't seen the movie and won't until it's on HBO. I just have no interest in the movie series and I barely have an interest in the games anymore.

Won't be buying it most likely. I like the older Gothic games but am not really that attached to them. But the demo of Arcania was not good if you ask me. Classic example of a pretty exterior and not much else. I hate to bring the term up but yeah... dumbed down.

That said, final decision will depend on the reception/reviews from here and other places.