Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Grows on you"

As a Gothic player, from the first one when it released, to the Forsaken Gods expansion (bug central anyone? :) ), I was excited waiting for Gothic 4 or Arcania as they decided to name it.

The game still has the feeling of Gothic of old, the lore continues where it was left off, of course you can't be the old king so you are given the helm of a youth that takes over the series. With the background you are given, it has potential to be the protagonist for a couple other chapters (given I haven't finished the game yet).

The two major bad points that I've noticed to this point are:

-Constricted map: In previous Gothics you could explore to your heart's content, specially G3 which boasted a huge world. G4 reverts back to the small guided map of G1 and G2, black walls in the map define which course you'll be taking.

-Instant questing: Before you used to take some time to finish quests, explore, find resources, people, etc, on your way to a quest, in G4 everything is within arm's reach and the longest quest has taken 5mins to finish.

Of course true to Gothic gaming, whether good or bad, the lack of armor and weaponry customization is still there.

The skill system is better organized than before, yet it seems to be a raw, incomplete version of a Two Worlds or similar RPG skill tree system.

Yet with all those flaws the game still draws you in, makes you not want to stop playing and pulls you from RL like it's predecessors have. If you're a RPG lover, give it a try, it won't be as deep as Witcher, or as huge as Gothic 3, but it is enough to keep you entertained until an expansion comes out.