A little rough around the edges, but a great start to the Gothic series

User Rating: 8.5 | Gothic PC
Gothic 1 and 2 are more or less on equal ground when it comes to gameplay and graphics. Gothic 2 is much bigger than Gothic 1, in fact pretty much the entire gameworld of Gothic 1 is contained within Gothic 2.

In my mind, while Gothic 2 is a nice step forward in many regards, I still feel that the story of Gothic 1 is more engaging than its sequel. Undead dragons can't beat the story of the Sleeper, the mysterious creature from another dimension who manipulates people's minds as they sleep. The game's atmosphere is creepy and tense, more so than any other RPG I've played, with the possible exception of Planescape: Torment.

If you've already played Gothic 2 and liked it, it won't be an anticlimax to play Gothic 1. The personality of Gothic 1 is quite different from #2, so it's unlikely you'll get a feeling of deja vu.