I can’t believe its not Gothic. Oh wait, thats because it really isn’t Gothic!
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Year: 2010
Played on: PS4
Also on: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Developer: Spellbound Entertainment, Blackforest Games
Publisher: JoWood Entertainment, Nordic Games
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Hey, this isn’t Gothic at all!
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Date posted: October 13, 2017
PREMISE
What can you say about the Gothic games? It is a really underrated series that everyone should play, especially 2. I haven’t played 2 yet, but I believe what anyone says, which is why, during this review, I will be mixing ammonia and bleach because I heard its good aromatherapy. For those who don’t know, Gothic is not about a group of teenagers listening to terrible music and cutting themselves. It is a series of open-worldish CRPGs where you go around die easily. No seriously- Gothics claim to fame is being much harder then most games like it, as choosing the wrong encounter can be last. You so much look at an enemy wrong, and its game over. Its a series that makes you think, as every thing you do is an important choice that affects you in the long run.
Arcania, (ArcaniA if your a spaz) on the other hand, is about mashing the attack button while going a linear path that leads to cave #62573835. As you can gather from how I titled it, Arcania is not a Gothic game, and not a good game either.
Ask yourself- is this someone you can trust? A Mads Mikkelsen wannabe?
The story is simple. You play as some guy, not the original guy from the first three games, as he grows up on some god-forsaken island. He has to do three tasks in order to get his dick wet, but SPOILERS- his island gets destroyed by some random assholes. So he goes to an even bigger island, vowing revenge on who-gives-a-crap, and is told to find some anvil that the bad guys are trying to find. He then keeps getting blocked by various people, usually some asshat blocking a bridge. He then does random quests until he can move though the super linear world, occasionally going in to two- count’em TWO- different types of dungeons- caves and temples. That’s about it… Also, you don’t know who the antagonist is until near the end of game- you just kind of kill him and then fight some demon chick later. Almost forgot to mention, you meet some characters from the original games, but they really don’t do much and just kinda disappear from the story.
PROS?
The game is easy (on the normal difficulty) until the end, where they decided that mages could just five shot you regardless of what armor your wearing. The combat is a joke- you can reach a point that if you put so many points in melee, you can pretty much stunlock every enemy in the game. There is also a magic system, and bow and arrows, but who cares. The few pros I would give this game is that there is at least a lot of loot…. even though gold feels completely worthless, especially near the end of the game. There is also a terrible crafting system you’ll never use! (Except to make an OP fire ax near the end of the game).
See that mountain? You can’t climb it! Or that castle. or those trees. or that waterfall…
CONS
This game has problems, even more problems then me! Every area looks the same- even the swamp looks like a generic high fantasy forest! As mentioned before the game is NOT open world like previous titles- you pretty much move from little hub to next. Wanna venture out to what look likes an explorable area? Don’t- the game kills you if you dare go where it doesn’t want you! Also, the game has no real dialogue options- no “karma” system or anything- you just talk to people and are forced to do one action. You can also go into people houses and take what you want- no guards are going to stop you. You also can’t hurt most non-enemy npc’s unless you have to progress the story. So in other words, its like living in Detroit.
There are several reasons why this is not a Gothic game. It has hardly anything to with the previous games outside a few character cameos, its linear as ruler on a straight guy, your actions have little to no consequences, there are no factions to join, and most importantly of all, there’s no cool skybox like there was in the first game! What the hell!
No seriously. That’s one hell of a skybox!
FINAL VERDICT
When all is said and done, I didn’t completely hate Arcania. It’s just that when compared to the other excellent games in the series, it just falls flat on its face, just like me when I get out of bed in the morning. I got this game for $1 in a humble bundle, so it wasn’t that bad for the price. I feel sorry for anyone who paid more for it, though. Can only recommend if you played the original 3 games (yes, even 3) and maybe Risen ( a similar game to Gothic made by the original devs) to death and that you can get it dirt cheap.
Agree? Disagree? Good! Leave a comment about how terrible my taste is in the comments below!
Gamer's Edge 