Gothic 4

Agricola

Released on October 15th Demo is out now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw1h019qO5Y

Anyone going to be buying this? I havent played the older games but wouldnt mind getting my teeth into an Oblivion like RPG again.

humanji

I played 3 and wasn't really too hooked in to it. I assumed it would be right up my street, but there's something about it that just felt off. That said, I'm thinking of getting this when it comes out. I'll try the demo over the weekend and see how it is.

Kiith

I felt the same thing with Gothic 3. It was just missing...something. I just couldnt keep myself interested in it for long enough to get properly hooked. Will give this demo a go tonight though.

Spear

I've played a good bit of the demo, and so far:

combat is simple and quick enough. The annoying habit of your character doing pain animations once hit, and getting stuck in a cycle of animation/hit/animation until death is gone. So combat against multiple enemies is no longer certain death.

The graphics engine seemed not really different from the last ones (Risen included), but runs fast and smooth enough. The menus for inventory etc. are plain and uninspiring.

Voice acting wasn't too impressive. Lots of out-of-place American accents, something they had mostly avoided in the past.


Overall, it seems a lot more friendly, and more thought out than G3 was.

Agricola

From looking at that demo playthrough, I think I see what your talking about. It seems abit staged, and alittle sterile. I think after playing RPGs like Mass Effect 2, its like a case of going backwards to be dealing with ropey voice acting, cardboard cut-out cannon fodder enemies and very simple " go there, get me that, bring it back, ill give you this" missions.

Probably worth waiting for the reviews but looks like one to miss until it drops in price. There seems to be alot better coming out in the next couple of months.

Jumpy

I was a G2 and G3 addict. I cant wait.

Jumpy

Diego is old in it now. Although I dont even know how he is still alive, I cant quite get the timeframe this is supposed to be set in.
Combat is better than before, its almost like Arkham Asylum in the ability to leap between foes. But the whole game has been simplified. Its less "sandbox". Roads to places outside your current quest zone are blocked.
Also they dumbed down NPC AI. They will stand there now while you are getting beaten on. In G3 they used to shout stuff and attack the wild animals and monsters.
You have the ability to use any weapon and armour now as well, there is no strength requirements.
As I said, its been simplified. Doesnt feel as "Gothic" as the previous games.

Spear

Jumpy wrote: »

As I said, its been simplified. Doesnt feel as "Gothic" as the previous games.

They cut out some bad stuff, but also the good stuff. It's incredibly linear, there's only one long path to follow. Sometimes there's a brief, open area, but that's just an illusion ultimately, it's the same path, just wider. There's no exploration, nothing to discover yourself, since you're led by the nose to everything. There's no factions to balance between, support or betray. There's plenty of interactable things around, campfires, alchemists desk, but unlike the earlier games, they don't do anything, just play a pointless animation. It's like the devs watched Youtube videos of the previous entries and tried to recreate the experience from that alone. I can't recommend this to anyone, not the dedicated fans and not the casual player either.

Jumpy

No, this will ruin Gothic for any previous players. Just played some more now, seriously bored.

Kiith

It's a pretty bog standard rpg from what i've played of it. Nothing to raise it above any other game. I'll probably play it some more, but i can;t see it getting more then a few hours out of me.

Spear wrote: »

There's plenty of interactable things around, campfires, alchemists desk, but unlike the earlier games, they don't do anything, just play a pointless animation.

I was wondering what the hell they were for. I sat at the wetstone for 5 minutes trying to improve my rusty sword, but nothing happend. What the hell was the point in even putting the animations in?

Jumpy

You can turn off the mode that allows you to interact with useless objects.

Sephiroth_dude

Are there any game breaking bugs in it?

Spear

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Are there any game breaking bugs in it?

Not really, but there's not much to glitch given the simplicity of it.

There's a glitch with cutscenes showing as black, but you can view them direct from the folder.