The Very First Try

I did not enjoy this game very much, and only finished it because it was Gothic. While the community patch improves the combat, it is still not very good. The quests are horribly repetitive. Most characters are underdeveloped. The loot is not fun.

The landscapes however are very nice, with the exception of Nordmar. I also liked the ending, which felt like a nice closure. I can confidently say that I will never play Gothic 3 again. Ever.

Originally Posted by Grandor Dragon
I also liked the ending, which felt like a nice closure.

What path did you choose?

I still think Gothic 3 (when patched) was one of the top 5 crpgs of the last five years.

Originally Posted by JDR13
What path did you choose?

I still think Gothic 3 (when patched) was one of the top 5 crpgs of the last five years.

Heh I actually agree.

I think I only finished 5 RPGs that were released in the last five years…so yeah, it would be in my top 5 as well But at the bottom. Yes, I ever prefer Mass Effect and Fallout 3 over this, despite their individual flaws.

As for the ending:

@Grandor Dragon
That is a "failed" ending and does not conform to the Adanos discipline.

I played all 3 endings. You can delay the decision for such a long time that it hardly takes more than an hour or two per ending.

Ahh, very good Gorath, Innos, orcs, Beliar, but did you ever consider there might be a path for Adanos?

I think the PBs forgot about that one

Originally Posted by Wulf
Ahh, very good Gorath, Innos, orcs, Beliar, but did you ever consider there might be a path for Adanos?

Which one would that be?

I didn't consider anything. I only wanted it to end.

O.k, i'll keep it simple. It was PB who first hinted without actually suggesting (so as not to make it obvious)

They said (prior to G3 release) you can ignore if you so wish the three obvious endings and make your *own way* in the game (as in not-obvious, an unknown-conclusion) and very obviously via Adanos and the druid stones - but then with all the bugs and any possible data tampering of added patches, as a serious gothic follower i gave up trying so we will never know.

That's what all the fuss was about with G1 - - i actually found it, i know what it is and what it does and i can tell you it is an amazing awesome situation.

PB said "they would approach (albeit in a slightly differnt manner) the same situation as in G1 again with G3 (Re:- conflict of the gods) - again, nobody, not one player can work out what to do to achieve this alternate solution.

So even having studied in depth G1 and know what is needed, after extensive experimenting i decided never try again and same with G3 - it is extremely too complex to understand yet simple if you know how.

I feel proud to have enabled it all those (seven) years ago. Nobody wants to know anymore its all "water under the bridge" from a dedicated gamer point of view it's very sad yet i bow to PB and their mastery of 'deciet' or better still "the fine line of playing a disciplined role to the gods" is almost impossible.


G3 takes the same role position as G1…by way of being faithfull to the requirement of the gods, not to open the portal with Xardas but instead by way of Adanos, its a detour (quest branching with 'held-until-later' consequences) and probably held near to the ending similar to the other three, if you don't see it you didn't enable it, same as in G1.

Beautiful isn't it?

I'm going to jump in here for just a moment to comment that Wulf's fascination with the Gothic games reminds me very much of the fascination some folks have with the real world and some of its real mysteries.

Is there anyone left on Earth who hasn't read Chariots of the Gods? Anyone who hasn't stopped to think about the questions it raised? Anyone who, whether they bought into them or not, didn't enjoy the time they spent considering them?

IMO, Wulf has to be considered one of the greatest fans of this genre. He confided in me, from time to time, and I enjoyed every moment of it. And he changed my way of looking at these games. Any CRPG worth its salt will contain epoch mysteries waiting to be discovered and solved by the player.

Originally Posted by Squeek
IMO, Wulf has to be considered one of the greatest fans of this genre. He confided in me, from time to time, and I enjoyed every moment of it. And he changed my way of looking at these games. Any CRPG worth its salt will contain epoch mysteries waiting to be discovered and solved by the player.

But do you actually understand anything Wulf is saying?

He's talking about the Chromanin of GI, where there is supposedly another way to finish the quest and you would meet an old man who does something.

Unfortunately, Wulf didn't seem to be able to replicate his success in finding the old man and all that led to was flaming towards him from some people of the Dot community.

I was actually looking forward to it, but I guess it didn't come to fruition.
Apparently what I believe Wulf is saying is that there might be a questline to get to an Adanos ending. However, he is also saying that if there is one, you would have to follow a very precise set of guidelines(quests) in the right way that it would be close to impossible to actually get to that ending and so he has decided he would not pursue this way of thinking anymore.

I would wish he did though.
I think I can ask Wulf anything about GI now and he would be able to answer it without any problem.

Sadly, I have neither the time nor the patience to play all these games completely.
I've finished GI once, with Jemy's walkthrough. I finished GII once, mostly on my own, tried the addon but got a stupid bug that didn't allow me through so I quit that one. I'm still in Nordmar for GIII.

Hope this helps JDR

I was actually joking when I said that. I was a member of RPGDot as well, and I was present during the whole Cromanin debate. I spent quite a few hours looking for anything extra myself.

Iirc a few people claimed that there was nothing extra to be found, and that they could confirm that because they had actually looked through the code.

Oh, alright

Alot of things annoyed me about Gothic 3 as well.. If you compare it to the first two games it really doesn't measure up.

The first annoying thing I found was the voice acting for the main characters had changed, and thus their personality with it.. Although that happened between G1 and G2 as well. The dialogue itself was rather short and irrelevent to start with as well.

I think the most annoying thing is the complete inconsistency in the Gothic story though, I may have missed something the first time I played G3 through but there was no explanation as to why the orcs are suddenly speaking to humans and using human structures as their own. Yeah sure Xardas ended the war, but he also taught the entire orc race english while you were at sea? I remember ur-shak (i think thats the shamans name from the first two) struggled to speak coherent english and only in rare cases would orcs themselves not attack a human.

The other thing is the kings claim to have purposly sent the hero to the barrier, but in G2 the collapse of the barrier is what shifted the war towards the orcs side, when you also consider that in G3 you can decide to help the orcs and destroy the humans this also seems like a rather sloppy plotline.

There are other numerous little things that bug me, because to me a story makes a game and G3 broke the entire story of the series. Lee never bothers following up his quest to find the king, instead he ends up in Nordmar fighting orcs? Cor Angar who says hes tired of fighting becomes an arena master? Xardas, who in G2 specifically makes a tower to bring you back with decides to hide far away from you? If Thorus got rounded up by the orcs where did the rest of the characters from Khoronis go? The guild system in G3 is retarded as well, in G1 and G2 you earn a sense of status from your guild, you're either a feared mercenary or a respected mage etc. In G3 I'm just a random dude, helping the rebels for a while then helping the orcs then deciding who I want to screw over in the end. Followed by similiar situations in Varant and then just helping a bunch of random clans in Nordmar. I won't go on with the rest but there is alot about G3 that just seems stupid.

Personally I would have liked to see the group stay together, set up a camp at the ship (instead of "pirates" quickly stealing it somehow) and work together to either take out revenge on the king for throwing them behind the barrier, or get back at xardas for using our hero in G2.. or maybe doing the right thing and helping the humans I don't know but something a little more consistent with the previous games. G3 is fun as a stand alone game, the crappy story and repetetive nature reminds me of WoW but compared to G1 and G2 it's nothing. One can only hope G4 improves the storyline.

One can only hope G4 improves the storyline.

There are two Gothic 4 - Arcania and Risen. Arcania seems to be a game like Gothic 3, while Risen to be like old, good Gothics. Maybe you'll be interested in Risen? It comes out in October.

I don't know a great deal about G4 atm, I only just got back into playing the series, about half way through G2 and a tiny bit into G3

Originally Posted by yeberion
I may have missed something the first time I played G3 through but there was no explanation as to why the orcs are suddenly speaking to humans and using human structures as their own. Yeah sure Xardas ended the war, but he also taught the entire orc race english while you were at sea? I remember ur-shak (i think thats the shamans name from the first two) struggled to speak coherent english and only in rare cases would orcs themselves not attack a human.

Maybe you should just try reading the manual next time.

The orcs who first held Nordmar under control and now have Myrtana under their thumb hold nothing in common with the primitive outcasts on Khorinis. These orcs have a highly developed culture based on strength and honor combined with enough intelligence to conduct a campaign that ultimately subjugated the largest realm in the known world, Rhobar’s empire, almost completely.

Yet, they did not leave behind death and destruction; rather they subdued the
territories with a cunning policy of “divide and conquer”. They are the lords
and humans are the slaves – that much is certain. Any attempt at an uprising
or a rebellion is punished with immediate execution. However, the occupiers
know that the humans still make up the majority of the population and a general
uprising would be extremely dangerous for them.

Your other points are valid though, and you won't find very many people arguing that Gothic 3 was as good as the first 2 games.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Maybe you should just try reading the manual next time.

That is still inconsistent.. The orcs at Khoronis arrived on boats after the barrier fell and fenced off the swamp area.. According to Thorus they rounded up everyone at Khoronis and brought them to Myrtana, after which he adopted their culture as his own, so they obviously are the same group of orcs.