Witcher Would Gothic players love the Witcher?

A question for those who have played the Witcher. Is this game similar to the gothic series in terms of atmosphere and "gritty" realism? I've been looking for gothic style games for a while, but haven't found any, so I'd be very much interested in buying the Witcher if it was similar in style to the Gothics.

Good question, I've been wondering the same thing. I've heard that the level of freedom(exploration) is somewhat lacking in comparison.

Exploration is totally limited in The Witcher compared to the Gothic games.

But that aside... I would have to say (and this is about the third or fourth time to say it) "This is finally the game that I will enjoy playing as much as Gothic 1 or 2."

I'm barely into chapter 1, but I absolutely love the game already. This is coming from a die-hard Gothic fan btw The level of "gritty realism" surpasses even the legendary Gothic series by at least a light year or two!

disclaimer: JDR is correct in his assumption: If you played Gothic only for the exploration then you may not be satisfied with The Witcher...

Not a Gothic fanatic, but it's hard for me to imagine anyone who enjoyed that game not enjoying the Witcher. I've just got my copy and not played but an hour or two, but I can't visualize anyone who got off on Gothic's brand of tough anti-hero, cynical and complex interactions and intense combat not enjoying this game, even though it's in no way a carbon copy--definitely it's own separate thing.

Thanks for the info! As for exploration, I've was never really interested in geographical exploration, but I really did like the explorations of the towns and camps meeting with NPC's etc in the gothics. Are the populated areas at least a bit large and explorable?

That would depend on what you mean by "similar in style."

Similar in atmosphere and artistic tilt? Most definitely. I'd even say it's similar in gameplay, only it succeeds where Gothic succeeds only partially or fails altogether -- that is, hitting things with swords (or lobbing magic at them) is much more fun in The Witcher than in any of the Gothics.

However, one thing it doesn't have is Gothic's wide-open world where your exploration is restricted by running into really nasty critters. It's not a "corridor" game by any means and it opens up as you get deeper in, but it's not the wide-open sandbox that Gothics are.

I'm a Gothic fan -- that is, IMO Gothics attempted something that's missing from almost all other cRPG's, and even where they failed, IMO they failed for good reasons rather than for bad ones (e.g. they attempted something glorious that was just too hard for them to do). IMO The Witcher succeeds everywhere Gothic failed, and in many of the core areas where Gothic succeeded too.

So... I'd bet you like it. Unless you're extremely turned off by loading screens or are specifically looking for the wide-open world feel in Gothic.

I don't agree, I feel combat in Gothic is more interactive and more fun in the long run, but the learning curve might be a bit too steep. What gameplay style people prefer is a matter of taste though.

I read an interview recently that the atmosphere is, indeed, partially inspired by Gothic, and that is definetly something you notice. The Witcher is the only 3D game, except G1-2, I've ever played that manages to create a good, realistic atmosphere. It feels great.

The main city in The Witcher is bigger than any of those in Gothic, but divided into zones that require loading inbetween. Even though it feels great, due to the fact that it's divided, and the fact that you need to load every time you enter/exit a house, you don't get the same feeling of the city being "whole". That is a unique feeling that I've only really encountered in Gothic. The NPCs are usually very interesting though, and you meet more than enough interesting characters along the way.

Basically, if you're looking for Gothic style exploration and combat, The Witcher might not be the ideal game. However, if you're looking for a game with a similar atmosphere, a dark world, and a great story, The Witcher is definetly for you! I personally love the Gothic games, I consider 1-2 (w/NotR) to be among the best games I've ever played, and I feel The Witcher, along with NWN2/MotB, are the best games I've played since NotR came out.

I'm looking forward to an add-on or sequal already, if they ever make one. I feel the world in The Witcher has much to offer, so it would be fun to explolre it even more.

Edit: Oh, and welcome to the forums!

As i wrote somewhere else. Witcher is a better sequel to Gothic 1-2 then what Gothic 3 manage to be. That said, if gothic 3 would have kept the combat system, it would have been better then Witcher.

Oh, do i make sense?

Probably not!

Maylander said:

I don't agree, I feel combat in Gothic is more interactive and more fun in the long run, but the learning curve might be a bit too steep. What gameplay style people prefer is a matter of taste though.

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I would have to agree, I prefer the 'full' control I have over my character in Gothic 1 and 2. The Witcher combat looks much better, but feels more like turn-based to me, which I've never liked.

Don't get me wrong... the combat is very cool looking and the control over it adequate enough for me to really like this game.

Gothic was huge in the free form exploration, but it was the reality/grittyness of it that drew me as well, as well as a dark and mature story.
Witcher has plenty of this, and like someone else said: To me Gothic was THE end all in an RPG. Not anymore. This game has taken it to the next level in it's polished finish, its ambiance, everything.
But ya, if you're only about exploration: Dont even bother.
As far as non-linear, this thing is practically on rails.
And still Gothic's superior.

I'm a die hard gothic fan and I think witcher is game of the year material or to be frank its "one of the best crpgs ever" material

Witcher has similar kind of atmosphere as gothics have. The world isn't nice and good deeds are rarely rewarded. Magic is the rarest thing and those who can do magic are very powerfull (much like mages and paladins in gothic). Gombat in witcher is bloody and brutally fast. You can nearly feel in your backbone when the sword slices through human flesh. The main difference is that gothic allows a stonger control over your character, but at the end of day the combat system in witcher works like a charm and is a ton of fun. What these both games have in common is how skills affect your combat styles and efficiency. I was overjoyed when I put my first silver talent on my group style and unlocked the third combo moves.

Npcs are memorable personalities and gameworld is full of life. Its very hard to describe it, but when you are walking in the streets of Vizima you will forget that its a mere gameworld. you'll begin to wonder what is behind that dark corner

I think the biggest watershed between gothic and witcher is exploration. In gothic you are free to go where ever you want (if you can handle the bests), in witcher the exploration is more limited. The game is divided in chapters and In every chapter you'll get to see a new area. However Witcher doesn't feel that linear because quests and obstacles can be solved so many different ways. In addition there is plenty of room for exploration: houses, treasures, hidden sidequests, random encounters, minigames..you don't feel limited like in jade empire or kotor.

I think the world is even darker and realist than the one of Gothic.

As for Gothic 3 being a superior game if they had kept the same combat system as G1 and 2... I disagree there. G3 problem is far deeper than simply the combat system, which I agree is part of the problem. G3 is mostly a huge and empty world where quests, dialogues and npc are fairly uninteresting. I agree that G3 offers more freedom than «The Witcher» but beside this and less frequent(but longer) loading times, I fail to see anything that would make G3 a superior game.